ANSAN
2009
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAS
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2009
KU 85, KSU 74
5B
TBALL REWIND
Jerry Wong-Khansai
Kansas State guard Denis Clemente discusses his intentional technical fault with a referee. Kansas went on a 7-run after the foul.
Jerry Wang/KANSAN
An elbow shoots Jayhawks to victory
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BY TAYLOR BERN
tbern@kansan.com
Seven minutes into the second half, Clemente had 20 points and his team trailed by two, 53-51.
MANHATTAN — One ill-advised, elbow-tossing reaction destroyed everything that Kansas State guard Denis Clemente worked for on Saturday.
Then, while Kansas attempted to inbound the ball, Clemente and Kansas' Brady Morningstar got entangled. Morningstar was called for a foul, but as they separated Clemente threw an elbow into Morningstar's back.
The referee was on top of the players and whistled Clemente for an intentional technical foul. The ramifications of that mistake — his only foul of the game still beaten.
Clemente after the game.
"We were down by two and then I got a technical foul and they shot two free throws and we were down by four," he said. "Then they got the ball back and shot a three and we were down by seven. We go down and miss and then they come back and shoot a three and take a 10-point lead.
"I think that's the game right there."
"That's the greatest thing about a rivalry game ... We just love to beat up on each other."
If Clemente's elbow had never met Morningstar's spine, Kansas State may have tied or taken the lead on its next possession. Instead, the Wildcats were forced
to dig out of a double-digit hole that proved to be just a little too deep.
"That was a big deal," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "Usually the ball goes back to K-State, but because the type of technical it was it goes to the other team. It turned out to be a pretty big play for us."
A regular technical would have given the ball back to the Wildcats with a four-point deficit after Sherron Collins' free throws. But because it was an intentional technical, Kansas took the ball and Tyrel Reed drilled a three-pointer. Collins hit another one
COLE ALDRICH Kansas center
Clemente said his foul — which is all he could talk about despite scoring a game-high 26 points
on the Jayhawks' next possession
said. "I'm not going to let anybody punk me in my house."
— was a reaction to a cheap shot from Morningstar.
"He elbowed me in my stomach." he
Whether that's true or not, kids on a playground know the second person to attack is going to be the one to get in trouble.
"Denis was taking a stand," Kansas State coach Frank Martin said. "He's a very prideful kid who doesn't like to lose or back down from anyone."
Collins — who scored 10 of his 19 points after Clemente's foul — said the scuffle fired him up.
upset, but it just pushes me forward and makes me want to play harder."
"When a team comes after one of your players, one of the young guys, it's my job to protect them out there," Collins said. "I get
As the final seconds ticked off the clock, Clemente looked at the scoreboard and started to weep. Would be tears of joy streamed down his face in sadness.
Kansas center Cole Aldrich. whose mask shows he knows something about misplaced
elbows, said that play and the teams combined 49 fouls were what made the game special.
"That's the greatest thing about a rivalry game," Aldrich said. "Everybody's going at it. We just love to beat up on each other."
Edited by Jesse Trimble
WIEBE (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
Sherron Collins' questionable behavior in elevators and freshman forward Markieff Morris' marksmanship with an airsoft gun dotted the white-clad student section.
Even the Kansas Athletics billboard on Highway 70 between Lawrence and Manhattan showed signs of purple. Four enormous painted purple letters — EMW or 'Every Man a Wildcat' — dominated the advertising space intended to promote the Javahaws.
K-State fans were confident before tipoff, but even they couldn't have predicted how thoroughly their team would dominate the first 12 minutes and 25 seconds. Denis Clemente's layup gave the home team a 30-16 advantage, and Kansas' heads went down
Through the resulting din, you could sense what the crowd was thinking. Allen Fieldhouse West was no more. This was their house, and today would be the day they finally excised the final demons The Streak had hung over their heads, proving last year's victory wasn't a fluke.
Thirty-one seconds later, sopho more guard Brady Morningstar buried one of his four three-
pointers to cut the lead to 13. By the time Kansas capped off a 28-13 run with another Morningstar three, closing out the second half trailing by one, the mood inside Bramlage had changed completely.
Jerry Wang/KANSAN
In the second half, Clemente's and Jacob Pullen's three-point strokes dried up and the Jayhawks' triangle-and-two defense began doing its job. Kansas' young players drew on the composure of Self and the dominating play of Aldrich, and the end result was never in doubt after Clemente's elbow sparked a 7-0 run from the visitors.
On the Kansas State bench, Clemente held his head in his hands, the tears flowing freely. Fans shuffled out of the building, and those remaining sarcastically cheered when Aldrich was called for his first foul with just over 30 seconds remaining.
This was, after all, Kansas' house for all intents and purposes. One loss to Michael Beasley and Bill Walker wasn't going to change the fact that the Jayhawks had owned the Wildcats in their own building for more than two decades.
The Streak is over, but, as with anything else, there are always new beginnings.
Edited by Liz Schubauer
Freshman forward Marcus Morris puts up a three-pointer during the first half in the Jayhawk's 85-74 victory at Bramlage Coliseum. Morris leads the team in three-point field goal percentage with 50 percent, followed by guard Brady Morningstar with 47 percent.
@KANSAN.COM
For video of Bill Self's press conference Monday afternoon, go to Kansan.com. Also look for clips from Kansas players as they prepare to host Iowa State Wednesday night.
VIEW FROM PRESS ROW
IT WAS OVER WHEN ...
Freshman guard Travis Releford missed two free-throws with 1:29 remaining and the Jayhawks still got the rebound. The score was 78-72 and if Kansas State would have come down with the board, it could have conceivably cut it to a one-possession game on the other end of the court. Instead, freshman forward Marcus Morris batted the ball back to sophomore guard Tyrel Reed. The Wildcats fouled Reed and he made both free throws to clinch the game.
GAME TO REMEMBER ...
Freshman forward Marcus Morris
Marcus
Kansas coach Bill Self said this was what he has waited for from Marcus, who had a career-high 15 points with seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. Marcus also drained his only three-point attempt made six of his eight free-throws. With such a well-rounded game, what was Marcus happiest about? Well, the fact that he didn't shoot an air ball He hates air balls, which he has a number of this season.
GAME TO FORGET ...
Freshman forward Markieff Morris
Markieff played a season-low five minutes in the game. He can blame his brother. With Marcus playing so well, Self didn't feel much need to rotate in different power forwards. Marcus played 28 minutes and prevented Markieff from getting onto the floor much. Markieff didn't play awful when he did appear. He gathered two points, two fouls and a steal in his five minutes of action.
Markieff
STAT OF THE NIGHT ...
15. That's the number of offensive rebounds Kansas State had. But it was only able to create 13 points from them. Both are perplexing numbers — 15 because it is high and 13 because it is low.
Case Keefer
PRIME PLAYS
FIRST HALF
16:09 — Mario Little bounced a pass behind his back to Cole Aldrich, who finished the nifty pass with a dunk to put Kansas up 11-10. The Jayhawks wouldn't lead again until the second half.
10:02 — Kansas State's Denis Clemente missed just his second three-pointer of the game, but an offensive rebound gave him another shot and he swished his third to go up 26-13.
SECOND HALF
0:03 — Kansas continued to stake its claim as the nation's best team at the end of the first half. This time the buzer-beater came from Brady Morningstar, who pulled the Jayhawks within 43-42 with his third three.
1:38 — Marcus Morris pulled up at the top of the key — his favorite spot on the court — and drilled a three to tie the game 38-38. Morris finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.
14:12 — Sherron Collins' pass came from halfcourt and Aldrich — with a little boost from Tyshawn Taylor — leapt into the air to throw down another emphatic slam. It put the Jayhawks up 53-49 and they would never relinquish the lead.
13:12 — A foul on Morningstar was trumped by an intentional-technical on Clemente. In the subsequent 72 seconds, Kansas extended its lead to 10.
5:35 — The Wildcats' Jacob Pullen, who finished with 22 points, hit a three-pointer while drawing a foul on Morningstar. Pullen's free throw completed a four-point play and pulled Kansas State within 67-65.
4:26 — Aldrich flashes some little-seen emotion after hitting a turnaround jump shot and drawing a foul. It was Kansas' first field goal in more than seven minutes and the free throw put the Jayhawks up 72-67.
— Taylor Bern
GAME NOTES
NEW STARTING LINEUP
For the first time in the last eight games, Kansas coach Bill Self used a different starting lineup.
He inserted sophomore guard Tyrel Reed in place of freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor and junior guard Mario Little in place of freshman forward Marcus Morris.
It was Little's third start of the season and Reed's second.
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"I think Marcus Morris as much as anybody and Tyshawn Taylor keyed that stretch," Self said. "Those two guys, I wasn't very happy with and they didn't play much early. Then, the last eight minutes I thought they were fabulous."
But Taylor ended up playing 22 minutes — three more than Reed's 19. Likewise, Marcus Morris played 28 minutes as opposed to Little's nine. Judging by Self's post-game comments, the move might be short-lived.
TAYLOR TAUNTS CROWD
Tyshawn Taylor is tricky.
Ask the Kansas State student
section. Like at many schools, the Wildcat fans chant "left, right, left" when a player who fouls out walks to the bench and caps it off with a "sit down" when they sit down.
After Taylor fouled out late in the second half, he didn't sit down. He faked it and the student section didn't know what to do. He finally sat down while a Kansas State player shot free-throws, meaning the crowd couldn't yell "sit down."
His playfulness was not funny to the Wildcat fans, as a number of them flipped Taylor off after he refused to sit down.
SPOTTED IN THE CROWD
Former Jayhawk Russell Robinson attended the game at Bramlage Coliseum and sat behind the Kansas bench.
Robinson's NBDL team, the Reno BigHorns, is on break for the All-Star game. Robinson has started 14 games for the Big-Horns and averages nine points and three assists.
Case Keefer