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HAWKS MEET TIGERS FOR RIVAL MATCHUP
Sports THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Offense needs to battle through full court pressure. GAME DAY I 10B
WISSEL EXPERIENCES CONFIDENCE BOOST
WWW.KANSAN.COM
One-mile special meets provisional qualifications. TRACK & FIELD 18B
MONDAY,FEBRUARY 9,2009
PAGE1B
KANSAS 78, OKLAHOMA STATE 67
Self says game left 'bad taste' despite win
BY CASE KEEFER
ckeefer@kansan.com
He had enough choices.
Kansas coach Bill Self could have focused on a number of positives that transpired for his team in a 78-67 victory against Oklahoma State on Saturday.
Option A: For the first time this season, junior guard Mario little led the team in scoring with 13 points.
"I did?" Little asked. "Aborigintime."
Option B: SophAmore center Cole Aldrich recorded a career-high 18 rebounds — the most by a Jawhawk since Wayne Simien had 20, four years ago against Kansas State.
"It's tough," Aldrich said. "It takes a lot out of you to get 18 boards."
Option C. Junior guard Sheron Collins held Okiahorma State's Byron Eaton to eight points on 2-for-6 shooting, preventing a repeat from last season when the Cowboys beat the Jayhawks 61-60 because of a career-high 26 points from Eaton.
"We just weren't going to let that happen." Collins said. "Especially not in our house."
None of the above.
"We finished the game miserably," Self said. "The last taste I have in my mouth is how we finished the game."
So, which did self choose after the victory that improved Kansas to 8-0 in Big 12 Conference play and increased its home court winning streak to 37 games?
The layhawks couldn't have started much better. They stormed out to a 22-12 lead eight minutes into the game behind two three-pointers from Collins. Oklahoma State never trimmed the deficit below 10.
After freshman guard Travis Releford threw down an alley-op from Collins – who finished with 12 points and four assists – with nine minutes remaining in the game, Kansas had its biggest lead
SEEBASKETBALL ON PAGE 4B
MEN'S BASKETBALL
REWIND PAGE4B
Forful coverage of the Kansas vs. Oklahoma State men's basketball game, check out the Rewind on page 48.
Sophomore center Cole Aldrich hangs on the rim after slamming down a dunk Saturday afternoon. Aldrich finished with 12 points and 18 rebounds in the Javahighs 78-67 victory over the Cowboys.
Weston White/KANSAN
Jayhawks lack the intensity to stay with Mizzou
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Junior guard
Sade Morris
drives past a
Missouri defender
during Saturday
afternoon's game
in Columbia.
Tiger led
through the second half
and won 74-60.
BY JAYSON JENKS
ijenks@kansan.com
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
COLUMBIA.Mo. — The halftime speech coach Bonnie Henrickson delivered inside Mizzou Arena Saturday afternoon was standard: cut the lead, make a run.
With Kansas trailing Missouri by 11 at halftime, the simplicity of Henrickson's talk didn't invalidate its importance.
Not only was a season sweep of a rival up for grabs, but, thinking of the big picture, the Jayhawks needed to secure a second consecutive conference win to keep realistic NCAA tournament hopes alive.
Kansas' response after halftime? An offensive foul, two turnovers and one made free throw on its first four offensive possessions, forcing Henrickson to call a timeout to "stop the bleeding."
"Once they felt good about them.
selves, they started pressuring us more," junior forward Danielle McCray said. "And we kind of just crawled under our shell and let them dictate how we're going to play. They got more aggressive as the game went on and we just rolled over"
After their 74-60 loss, the layhawks didn't have an explanation for their perceived lack of intensity. Coming off their first victory in five games earlier in the week, Kansas viewed the Missouri game as a chance to build.
Turns out, the Tigers only sent the Jayhawks in reverse.
Instead of appearing eagerly in need of a victory, Kansas simply went through the motions in every facet of the game.
"This is a game we thought we could win and needed to win if we want to make the tournament," junior guard Sade Morris said. "We didn't come out and do that today."
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
PAGE 6B
For full coverage of the Kansas vs. Missouri women's basketball game, check out page 6B.
At the halfway point in the Big 12 season, Kansas finds itself 2,6, again, for the second straight year. And for the second straight year, the Jayhawks have yet to win a conference game on the road.
In Kansas' last two road games
SEEWOMEN'S ON PAGE6B
COMMENTARY
Balanced attack keys Jayhawks victory
Sherron Collins never flipped on his famous kill switch Saturday.
For the first time this year, the Kansas Jayhawks looked like a team, rather than Collins & Co.
It was a performance similar to ones seen last year (although last year's team actually fell to the Cowboys) in that there was no dominant offensive performance by an individual. The whole, as the saying goes, was greater than the sum of its parts.
"That's what made our team so good last year," sophomore center Cole Aldrich said. "It wasn't one team member. It wasn't Mario, it wasn't Sherron, it wasn't Brandon or Sasha or anybody who dominated every game. It was a whole collective group effort."
The layhawks' team performance was highlighted by a superb defensive effort in the first half. Kansas increased its lead to 22-12 on a triple by junior guard Mario Little and never looked back from there. Aldrich, whose 18 rebounds were a career high, led the defensive effort and the layhawks held Oklahoma State to 26.5 percent shooting in the first half.
A previously unseen balance on the offensive end also contributed to the win. Collins, Aldrich and freshman Tyshawn
"I don't think they got a lot of good looks the first, maybe, 25 minutes of the game," coach Bill Self said. "We got out to a lead and they never cut it to single figures, so there were some good things that happened."
Taylor each contributed 12 points while Little led the team with 13. Two others — Brady Momirgutar and Marcus Morris — added nine points.
"That third score is pretty much going to be Mario most of the time," Collins said. "He knows how to score. He knows how to play the game."
Kansas was criticized often early in the season about its lack of a third consistent scoring option. The emergence of a healthy Little for the Jayhawks has them thinking they may have found their man.
Little's presence has certainly been felt recently. After struggling through the final three games of non-conference play with injuries hobbling both his left leg and left hand, Little has found his stroke in Bie 12 play
"He's just got a natural feel to slither around in (the middle of a zone)." Self said. "He took a couple of marginal shots, but he's getting better and he's getting more comfortable."
But Little was just the front man on Saturday. It was the first time this season that the layhawks had seen such a balanced offensive front.
"That's one thing that we're trying to do this year," Aldrich said, "is just get everybody involved."
Edited by Sam Speer