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THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2009
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Kansas stunned in Lubbock
Junior guard Sherron Collins and momenter center Cole Aldrich struggle to gain possession after an unsuccessful short attempt during the second half of Wednesday night's game against Texas Tech. The Red haiders defeated the Javahiers 84-65. By virtue of Oklahoma's loss to Missouri, Kansas will receive at least a share of the R12 12-man season championship.
Jayhawks get share of Big 12 title but celebration must wait
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com
LUBBOCK, Texas — Kansas clinched a share of the Big 12 Conference regular season championship Wednesday. No one seemed to notice.
The hayhaws received no trophy. They didn't celebrate. They didn't feel like the top team in the Big 12. How could they? Kansas suffered an embarrassing 84-65 defeat to Texas Tech, the 11th place team in the Big 12, at United Spirit Arena.
"Yeah, I'm ecstatic," Kansas coach Billy Self said sarcastically. "I told our guys, 'Yeah, congratulations, we win our league and get beat by 19'"
But by virtue of Missouri's 73-64 victory against Oklahoma at Mizzou Arena, Kansas is assured the No.1 seed in the Big 12 Conference tournament next week in Oklahoma City, Kansas (25-5, 13-2) can also win the Big 12 outright with a victory against Texas Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.
The Jayhawks were not interested in discussing that. Why would they be? A disastrous effort from the entire team enabled Texas Tech to win only its third Big 12 game of the season.
"Everybody was just kind of off their mark tonight," sophomore center Cole Aldrich said.
Junior guard Sherron Collins, who averaged 25.5 points in two games last week, went 3-for-19 from the field for 11 points. Aldrich, who averaged 14 rebounds per game in the last four games, recorded only three rebounds to go with eight points against the Red Raiders.
technical fouls
Sophomore guard Brady Morningstar failed in his assignment of guarding Texas Tech's Alan Voskuil, who had a career-high 35 points and nine three-point shots on his senior night. Sell and freshman forward Marcus Morris ruined Jayhawk comeback attempts in the second half with
On a night where the Kansas women's basketball team recorded the biggest victory of coach Bonnie Henrickson's career at Kansas — a 69-45 victory against No. 5 Baylor — Self suffered possibly his worst defeat.
"We had no post presence inside. We had nobody else making shots. Our whole team, collectively, played very, very poor all around." Self said. "Coaching,
It was Kansas' third straight defeat at United Spirit Arena, a building Self has never won in with the lahwacks. But their defeats in 2005 and 2007 came down to the final possessions.
execution, everything was poor. They whipped us in every capacity."
the lavhawks.
Wednesday, the Red Raiders started to saddle up and ride off into the sunset immediately. That part wasn't anything unusual for
MEN'S REWIND PAGE 4B
Like their last two road games at Kansas State and Oklahoma, Kansas followed its road routine at the beginning of the first half by falling behind by double digits immediately. The Red Raiders' lead got as large as 18 points when Voskui made two free throws with four and a half min-
SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 4B
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COMMENTARY
For full coverage of the men's basketball game against Texas Tech, check out the Rewind on page 4B.
Women succeed while men disappoint
Here's hoping a shockingly bad night from the men's basketball team doesn't overshadow a historically good one for the women.
For much of the first half last night I mulled over whether No. 9 Kansas' effort against the Big 12's 11th ranked team was worthy of mention in this column's lead paragraph. After all, the Kansas women's basketball team earned a colossal 69-45 victory over No. 5 Baylor at Allen Fieldhouse in arguably the program's proudest achievement in some time.
Junior guard Danielle McCray's 35-point effort belongs alongside the finest performances in the Phog. This player and this win is just what the program needed. Now on to darker developments.
An improbable fifth-straight Big 12 title was gift-wrapped by the team Kansas tamed last Sunday. No. 12 Missouri shocked No. 5 Oklahoma, guaranteeing at least a share of the Big 12 regular season crown and clearing the path for Kansas to secure the title outright.
But foul trouble from the court to sideline, 3-for-19 shooting by junior guard Sherron Collins, a banged up and beaten down sophomore center Cole Aldrich and a pass by freshman guard Travis Releford to a referee were just a sampling of the comedy of errors that derailed the Jayhawks last night.
The only thing clinched in Lubbock, Texas was the possibility of another madening March first
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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Jayhawks destroy Bears on senior night
Danielle McCray scores a career-high 35 points as Kansas blows out No.5 Baylor to send seniors out on a high note
BY JAYSON JENKS
jjenks@kansan.com
Junior forward Danielle McCray arrived at Kansas three years ago a scorer — the type of player expected to lead a team.
In her first two years, McCray adequately filled Kansas' needs, ranking second on the team in scoring as a freshman and leading the Jayhawks in points per game last season.
But only recently has McCray so visibly flourished as Kansas' go-to offensive player. Wednesday night's 35-point outburst, a career high, in a 69-45 victory against No. 5 Baylor marked Kansas' fourth consecutive victory and the fourth consecutive game in which McCray excelled with the ball in her hands.
"I had the hot hand tonight and everything was going in," McCray said. "And I wasn't going to stop shooting it."
All season, McCray has been expected to carry Kansas offensively. But never this season — or during her career — has McCray so thor-
oughtly and completely filled the role.
talented players is producing and playing well, it just gives the whole team more confidence," assistant coach Katie O'Connor, who works individually with McCray, said.
Facing one of the tougher defensive teams in the Big 12, McCray simply dominated. During a first-half in which McCray scored 23 points, fans actually groaned when a shot missed its mark.
"Any time one of the team's most
"Even though they are a great team, we had to keep throwing punches. We never rolled over."
sas past Baylor, McCray captivated an audience and cemented herself as a premiere scorer in a conference loaded with talented players.
In leading Kan-
DANIELLE MCCRAY Junior forward
"The reason she probably hasn't been heard of as much is we haven't been winning," senior guard Ivana Catic said. "Now that we started winning, hopefully Kansas as a program will get more love and great individuals will as well"
Kansas knows one brilliant individual performance doesn't translate into victories as well as any team in the Big 12. Sophomore center Krysten Boogaard provided the layhawks with a much-needed second opinion
Boogaard scored 18 points,
"She knew that coming out of the gate wed go to her," coach Bonnie Henrickson said. "She handled that well, and we needed that from her."
scored 18 points,
grabbed 11 rebounds
and provided Kansas
with an inside presence.
aside, Kansas' recent turnaround was built on the commitment to fully disrupt opponents offensively.
Individual efforts
Kansas stripped Baylor of any offensive rhythm last night. The Bears made just 19 percent of their first half shots, scoring 17 points.
While Baylor missed open attempts throughout the game, Kansas contested many of Baylor's shots and frustrated a team still ailing from the absence of its best player. junior Danielle Wilson.
"I think everything disrupted us tonight," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said.
Led by Boogaard and McCray, the Jayhawks started the game on a 16-4 run. As the half wore on — and the fans in attendance became more vocal — Kansas continued to increase its lead.
It sure appeared that way early.
"The rational side of you says they're the No. 5 team in the country and you have to stay cautious," Catic said. "But then there's that childish side in you that says 'Oh my God, we're up 30 against Baylor!' We haven't been up by 30 in league play since I've been here."
With three seconds left in the first half, Booagard flung a half court pass to McCray, who tipped the ball to junior guard Sade Morris for a jumper. Kansas jogged into the locker room with an almost unbelievable 42-17 halftime lead.
Still, despite that sense of mystifi-
Edited by Andrew Wiebe
cation, Kansas kept Baylor in-check after halftime.
Early in the second half, Boogaard rattled off seven consecutive points to maintain Kansas' lead. Then, to put the finishing touches on her night, McCray scored seven straight late in the game.
"Even though they are a great team, we had to keep throwing punches," McCray said. "We never rolled over and let them answer."
For full coverage of the Kansas vs. Baylor women's basketball game, check out the Rewind on page 4B.
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Jerry Wang/KANSAN
Junior Guard Danielle McCray jumps for a three point shot against Baylore Wednesday night. McCray contributed 35 points and 8 rebounds in the Jayhawk 69-45 win against the Bears in Allen Fieldhouse.