SWIM TEAM FOCUSES ON MAKING A SPLASH
Big 12 Championships run through the weekend. SWIMMING & DIVING I 6B
YOUNG PITCHER HELPS LEAD TEAM TO VICTORY
Timely hitting also contributed to the Jayhawks' success. BASEBALL 3B
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MEN'S BASKETBALL
Mizzou matchup biggest of the season
Kansas head coach Bill Self claps his hands after a series of back-and-forth three-pointers between Kansas and Oklahoma during the Jayhawks' victory over the Sooners in Norman Monday. With the hawkays now in first place within the Big 12, the outcome of each remaining game in the regular season will affect the team's placement in postseason competition.
Weston White/KANSAN
Hawks look to build on Big 12 lead following OU victory
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com
Collins knows that as defining as Monday's 87-78 victory against Oklahoma at the Lloyd Noble Center was, it will mean little if Kansas trips up against Missouri on Sunday. That's why Collins is already talking about the showdown between the two rivals five days before the game.
It's that time or year again.
It's the point in the college basketball season when the biggest game of the year is always the next game on a team's schedule. It's the part of the season junior guard Sherron Collins lives for.
"We're trying to keep this streak go"
Collins said. "We're going
It's that time of year again.
UP NEXT
Kansas vs. Missouri
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Allen Fieldhouse
TV: CBS (Channel 5, 13)
to play tough. We're going to be ready."
No. 15 Kansas (23-5, 12-1) is alone in first place in the Big 12 Conference after beating Oklahoma. But if No. 8 Missouri (23-4, 10-2) beats Kansas State at 8 tonight in Columbia, Mo., and follows it with a victory at Kansas, the Tigers will suddenly be at the top of the Big 12 standings.
"We control our own destiny so we feel pretty good about it," Collins said. "But we've still got to get there. We've got to go out there and make it happen."
the leader of the lajhawks, Collins said he would make sure his teammates were still focused. He promised practices would be as intense as ever. Collins said Kansas could still get better.
Collins is aware. That's why, as
Although these layhawks are in contention for a Big 12 title just like the teams from the past two years, Kansas coach Bill Self has noticed a difference. Unlike the 2007 and 2008 teams, which were eventual No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, this year's squad
SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 3B
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Young Jayhawks brush off predictions
Ahem. Bear with me for a second, because admissions like this don't come easy.
The thing is, sports writers have a dirty little secret: We aren't actually all that smart. At least I'm not.
Going into Monday's game against Oklahoma, I would have told you that the weight of 51 previous conference championships would sit like a ton of bricks on the young lajawhays' shoulders. I would have told you that, knowing Blake Griffin wouldn't play, Kansas might take a depleted Oklahoma a bit too lightly. I would have told you Oklahoma's fans might take advantage of Kansas' young psyches and rattle the lajawhaws into blowing another tight game.
It's a good thing I don't know what I'm talking about.
That's because the one thing I would not have told you — that Kansas would disregard all the possible sources of pressure and just play — is precisely what happened.
And it's not as if Oklahoma made things easy. Early on, the Sooners held a 22-8 advantage, and it looked as though Kansas might get run out of the Lloyd Noble Center. Frankly, it's what I would have predicted. The crowd was set firmly against Kansas, as was the omnipresent beast that is momentum.
But Kansas — led by Tyshawn Taylor, of all people — just played. And played well enough to take the lead in a matter of minutes.
Kansas held Oklahoma at arm's length until halftime, when the jayhawks led by seven points.
But halftime provided Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel with an opportunity to fire up his troops. Maybe Kansas would come out flat and the Sooners would turn the tide. Again, I half expected that to happen.
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But with more than 10 minutes to play, things could still have gone wrong. The Jayhawks could have gotten too comfortable with their lead, too complacent with Blake Griffin wearing street clothes.
For a while, it looked like that might happen. Oklahoma, powered by a barrage of threes, came roaring back. The 20-point lead shrunk to three, and the Sooner faithful came back to life.
Toni again. I was wrong.
It was Kansas that opened the second half as the best team, stretching its seven-point lead to 20 points.
And again, I was wrong.
Maybe the pressure got to them, or perhaps the Jayhawks did get complacent. Either way, it was over. Sherron Collins took the ball and drilled a guarded three from NBA range. The next possession, he did the same thing. Collins and his younger teammates made the plays necessary to close out the game.
But how did they shrug off all the factors I thought might hurt them?
In his interview on ESPN, Collins gave the answer. He didn't think about Blake Griffin. Nor did he consider adding a 52nd conference championship to Allen Fieldhouse's rafters. Neither the stage nor the crowd got to him
Collins and his teammates did what other media members and I seem unable to grasp — they just played.
Sometimes, I love being wrong.
Edited by Grant Treaster