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Sports THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FINAL BASKETBALL TICKET PICKUP TODAY
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18,2009
Pick up tickets for last two home games, against Missouri and Texas
CANADIAN TRANSFER MESHES WITH TEAM
WWW.KANSAN.COM
New shortstop is finding his place in experienced infield. BASEBALL17B
READY FOR THE REMATCH
Diante Garrett (left) and Craig Brackins went crazy after Brackins drained one of his trio of three-pointers in Iowa State's January game against Kansas. Brackins finished with a career-high 42 points, two slays of the Rin 17's single name scoring run...
Weston White/KANSAN
Team prepares to face Brackins
lowa State forward won't surprise Kansas this time
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com
The way Kansas coach Bill Self looks at it, Craig Brackins' trip to Lawrence tonight isn't all bad news.
"We've left ourselves some wiggle room to try to hold him under 42." Self said.
Brackins scored 42 points against the Jayhawks when they traveled to Ames, Iowa, to play the Cyclones in January. From Self's perspective, it can't get much worse when Kansas (20-5, 9-1) takes on Iowa State (13-12, 2-8) at 7 p.m.
Self said he was convinced that was part of the issue in Kansas' 82-67 victory against Iowa State earlier in the season. Brackins' outburst wasn't totally the jayhaws' fault.
But Self isn't offering any predictions. Not when it comes to Brackins' production. Self knows that if Brackins gets into a rhythm, he can be unstoppable.
"After watching the tape, he made some hard shots," Self said "We probably guarded him better
KANSAS VS.
IOWA STATE
Allen Fieldhouse
7 p.m.
TV:Channel 8,15
Go to Kansan.com for live commentary throughout the game.
than what I thought, but he was really good that day.
The first problem for Kansas is matching up with Brackins, a 6-foot-10, 230-pound forward from Palmdale, Calif. All of Kansas' forwards are at a disadvantage against Brackins.
Freshmen forwards Marcus and Markieff Morris aren't great defenders, and Brackins is quicker than both of the twins. Self uses junior guard Mario Little as a forward, but Brackins towers over the 6 foot-5 Little.
Marcus might be the best option because he spent most of the first game guarding Brackins. Marcus said he could use what he learned
in that game to improve in the sec round.
"I know what kind of a player he is now," Marcus said. "I know that the best thing is not even letting him catch it."
Throughout the season. Self I's usually opted to stick sophomore guard Brady Morningstar on the opposing team's best player. Self says Morningstar is the Jayhawks' best defender.
So could Morningstar get a shot at guarding Brackins? Nope. The size disadvantage would be too much for the 6-foot-3 Morningstar.
"He might be a little too tall" Morningstar said. "The first game, obviously, he just had a back of a game and killed us in every way. Hopefully this Wednesday we can contain him a little better."
Morningstar's suggestions for slowing Brackins include denying entry passes and getting a hand in his face to contest every shot. The layhawks also need to keep him
PAGE 1B
Kansas State suspends Clemente for one game
Denis Clemente has managed to add more fire to the rivalry between Kansas and Kansas State.
SEE BRACKINSON PAGE2B
Kansas State coach Frank Martin suspended Clemente,
a junior guard, from playing Tuesday against North Carolina Central for a slap that officials didn't
notice during Saturday's 85-74 Kansas victory.
Clemente
Kansas coach Bill Self said the slap was obvious on the tape.
Clemente received a technical foul for elbowing sophomore guard Brady Morningstar on Saturday, but replays of the game showed that Clemente also slapped sophomore guard Tyrel Reed on the head after making a free-throw attempt.
but he also said he wasn't doing anything about it.
"I'm not calling attention to it," Self said. "But yeah, I saw it. You can't help but see it if you watch the tape."
The Jayhawks said they were not concerned about i
"I didn't know anything about it until today when people started talking about it" Reed said Monday. "It's over and done with."
An issue that has irked Self, however, is an allegation made by GoPowercat.com editor Tim Fitzgerald. On his online show, "The Overdrive," Fitzgerald said players on Kansas' bench insulted Clemente by asking about his green card.
Self said that wasn't true. The player's said they knew nothing about it.
"Racial slurs, that's not us. That's not even in our character," junior guard Sherron Collins said. "I don't know where that came from, don't know anything about it."
Case Keefer
Junior guard Sade Morris takes the ball to the basket for two points on Feb. 4 against Colorado. Morris scored 13 points in Kansas' 65-54 victory.
victory
Weston White/KANSAN
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
BY JAYSON JENKS
jjenks@kansan.com
Duo working on weaknesses Juniors Danielle McCray and Sade Morris taking steps to improve
Before practice on Monday,
coach Bonnie Henrickson and
juniors Danielle McCray and Sade
Morris spent 25 minutes analyzing
the past.
The routine is normally reserved for point guards, but Henrikson wanted to watch — and actively discuss — every offensive play from Saturday's 69:54 loss against No.2 Oklahoma with her two most experienced players.
"We call them Batman and Robin all the time," Henrickson said, "but they have to play better together and set each other up."
In Kansas' loss to Oklahoma, McCray and Morris combined for 33 points and nine rebounds. But the duo also combined to make just nine of 33 shots and committed six turnovers.
"I refer to both of those two as juniors playing senior minutes," Henrickson said. "We have got to be able to be more consistent. And that's what good teams have. They have kids that are not consistently great or perfect, but you
After lunch Monday, Henrickson watched an edited version of the game to reinforce the need for Morris and McCray to effectively lead the jayhawks when they face Colorado tonight in Boulder.
have to be able to bring what you can bring."
After the game, Henrickson voiced her displeasure with McCray on the defensive end. McCray's offensive numbers have been near the top of the Big 12 throughout the year. But defensively it has been a different story.
The loss to Oklahoma highlighted some of those individual problems for both players.
"That's what great players do; they pay attention to small things every play and don't take a play off." McCray said. "That's where I have to grow my game and not
SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 2B
COMMENTARY
Jayhawks can't take Iowa State for granted
Bill Self and I don't have too much in common. He's wealthy, I'm not. I
But all those distinctions are unimportant compared to the disparity in our respective motivational abilities.
Self has led four teams to Elite Eight berths.
was a star basketball player in his younger years; I was a star debater. He has a borderline obsession with rebounding and team defense, whereas I obsess over ... other stuff
Self crafts athletic young men into well-rounded student athletes
I came really close to reading a book last night.
Self has a national championship and the highest winning percentage in all of college basketball since arriving in Lawrence.
And that's a good thing, because Self will need all of his motivational talents tonight.
You read that right. Bill Self has a difficult task on his hands. He has to convince his young team that they aren't guaranteed a victory. He has to convince them that merely showing up won't be good enough, and that Iowa State could win if the Jawhaws lay an egg.
It sounds easy. How hard can it be to get players fired up to take the court at Allen Fieldhouse? How hard can it be to convince them that every game is a must-win when a conference championship is at stake? It may sound easy, but if it were, the Bill Selfs of the world wouldn't make the money they do.
After all, there are plenty of reasons why teenagers and 20-something would overlook Iowa State. First of all, the game is at Allen Fieldhouse, which has been an impregnable fortress since Acie Law willed his Texas A&M Aggies to victory 37 games ago. Surely Iowa State couldn't be the team to end that streak.
Not the same Iowa State that sits near the bottom of the Big 12 with a 2-8 conference record.
Not when Craig Brackins' 42-point explosion wasn't enough to notch a victory in Ames. Not when Hilton Magic was made to look like a boax last month.
As if that wasn't enough, the game is slotted anonymously on a Wednesday evening that just so happens to take place during the week after Kansas traveled to Columbia and Manhattan, and the week before it travels to Norman
There is substantial wreckage in the rearview mirror and a titanic obstacle looming in the middle of the road. Kansas' young players could hardly be faulted for overlooking the speed bump that Iowa State represents.
This is where Self comes in to the picture. Big coaches are paid big money at big programs to win big games, no doubt about it. But even the most loyal fans grow weary of their teams falling victim to upsets. Sure, fans and boosters love beating ranked teams. But it's even better to be one of those ranked teams. To get there, you have to take care of business on nights where you'd rather just stay home.
Perhaps more than anything else, Self has shown he can motivate his teams to do just that.
Edited by Carly Halvorson