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Sports THE UNIVERSITY DAILY K MONDAY JANUARY 26, 2008 WWW.KANSAN.COM
JAYHAWKS WIN MEET RACE PERSONAL BESTS
MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 2009
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Team beats South Dakota and Northern Iowa. SWIMMING & DIVING I 9A
CYCLONES BENEFIT FROM RARE RECRUIT
Craig Brackins scores 42 points against Jayhawks. MORNING BREW I 11A
KANSAS 82, IOWA STATE 67
PAGE 12A
Collins outshined in Ames
ISU's Brackins scores 42 points in Kansas victory
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com
AMES, Iowa — Rap blared. Sherron Collins bellowed and the rest of the Jawhaws cheered.
Kansas' locker room on the southwest side of Hilton Coliseum got a little rowdy after its 82-67 victory against Iowa State on Saturday. That was no surprise. Not after Kansas started Big 12 Conference play 4-0 and established itself as one of the conference's main contenders.
"It feels like it's coming together," Collins, a junior guard, said. "We're finding out about ourselves. We're not there yet, but we're finding an identity."
Collins is the largest part of that identity. He tied a career high 26 points and added five assists and four rebounds in a contest where Kansas never trailed.
Arguably, Collins compiled the best game of his career. Undoubtedly, Collins put on the second best performance of the game. But the day belonged to Iowa State forward Craig Brackins.
Brackins, a sophomore, scored 42 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. He was two points away from breaking the Big 12 scoring record — recorded by Kansas State's Michael Beasley last year against Baylor — and scored the most points by any single player against Kansas since Oklahoma State's Randy Rutherford exploded for 45 in 1995.
"I felt locked in the whole game," Brackins said.
Brackins and Collins established themselves early as their team's stars. Kansas roared out to a 12-3 lead, but Brackins scored 22 first-half points to keep Iowa State in the game.
Collins was just as impressive in the first half. He made his first six shots and scored 18 points in the opening 12 minutes. Kansas coach Bill Self described Collins as "unbelievable."
"I told Sherron after the game,
"The good news is you were great,
Self said." "The bad news is you
SEE COLLINS ON PAGE 7A
Weston White/KANSAN
Junior guard Sherron Collins pounds his chest after hitting a basket during the first half. Collins led the the Jayhawks against Iowa State with 26 points Saturday afternoon. The Jayhawks won 82-6 and move to 15-4 on the season.
COMMENTARY
Jayhawks now best home team
Just in case you were busy, here are the Cliffs Notes of what transpired inside Hilton
Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.
1. The Jayhawks beat another inferior Big 12 North team on the road and improved to 4-0 in the conference — keeping pace with the Oklahoma Sooners, who thumped Baylor and improved to 5-0.
2. Sherron Collins scored 26 points and became the 51st player in Kansas history to score 1,000 points.
3. Iowa State's brilliant sophomore forward Craig Brackins scored 42 points and made 11 of 19 field goals. Meanwhile, the rest of the Cyclones made just eight of their 36 shots from the field. Yep, it was a rough day for everyone in Ames except, of course, for the Brackins family.
And that was about it. The Jayhawks shot the ball well, played adequate defense and picked up a victory. It was run of the mill. Pretty standard stuff.
But to know the story of Saturday, you can't rely on the Cliffs Notes, SparkNotes or any other superficial summary you can scrounge up.
And that's because the most intriguing Jayhawk storyline on Saturday took root in South Bend, Indiana, where the third-ranked Connecticut Huskies knocked off Luke Harangody and No. 19 Notre Dame 69-61.
Notre Dame had won 45 straight games on its home floor, the longest streak in the country. Itd been almost three years since the Fighting Irish had lost inside the Joyce Center.
Now that streak is over, and the nation's longest home court winning streak resides here in Lawrence.
Kansas has won 35 straight games at Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas hasn't lost a home game since losing to Texas A&M 69-66 in 2007.
This may not be a big deal to
SEE DODD ON PAGE 6A
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Jayhawks hang tough against Wildcats
BY JAYSON JENKS
jjenks@kansan.com
Make no mistake, coach Bonnie Henrickson isn't a believer in moral victories. But after watching her team cling to a chance at victory until the final minute, even Henrickson put a positive spin on Kansas' 59-50 loss to No. 18 Kansas State on Saturday.
"I couldn't be more proud of the toughness and resiliency our kids showed," Henrickson said. "We answered a run in the first half and two weeks ago we didn't have an answer for anything."
True, the Jayhawks have now lost three straight games and four of their last five. But against K-State on Saturday, Kansas finally showed signs of a team ready to compete in the Big 12. And that's exactly what the Jayhawks needed.
After back-to-back disappointing losses to Texas Tech and Nebraska, the question entering the Sunflower Showdown wasn't if Kansas could win, but how much the Jayhawks would lose by.
"We're not happy right now or anything," junior forward Danielle McCray said. "But, I mean, there are some times you have to find the good things. But it's not enough in this league for us. We just have to keep moving forward and not settle for this game and this loss."
First, Kansas limited K-State's ultra-talented point guard Shalee Lehning. Lehning scored just four first-half points and had more turnovers (four) than assists (two). In the last Sunflower Showdown, it was Lehning's penetration and precision passing that sparked K-State's offense.
On Saturday, Kansas couldn't have played a much better first half. Sure, the Jayhawks trailed 26-23 and made just 31 percent of their shots. But the Jayhawks followed through on Henrickson's pregame points of emphasis.
"I thought we stayed more active — mentally and physically — to move and get in passing angles," Henrickson said. "Over there, we had nothing. We didn't fly around or do anything."
For Kansas, just as important as stopping Lehning was getting McCray going. McCray scored just seven points — her lowest total of the season — in Manhattan. On Saturday, McCray scored 26 points, and when K-State seemed on the brink of pulling away, McCray delivered.
Magnifying McCray's performance was the continued absence of junior guard Sade Morris. Morris, Kansas' second leading scorer, didn't play for the second consecutive game after suffering from a Grade 2 concussion on Jan. 17.
Providing a spark for Kansas' offense was freshman forward Aishah Sutherland. Arguably the Jayhawks' most athletic player, Sutherland hadn't played in three games. Against K-State she scored a career-high nine points, including seven in the first half, and pulled down 12 rebounds.
Henrickson said she decided to play Sutherland to counter the athleticism of K-State's Marlies Gipson. While Gipson scored 23 points and took over late in the game,
Sutherland's potential was obvious.
Throughout much of the game, Kansas kept K-State from building a double-digit lead. In the second half, Kansas cut K-State's lead to three on multiple occasions. But each time the Wildcats responded to reassert themselves.
"I think what you see today is the player the kid can be," Henrickson said. "And I think she can get better and better."
While the Wildcats didn't explode for a big run on Saturday, their 6-0 burst in the final three minutes was just as devastating. After junior guard LaChelda Jacobs' free-throw line jumper slimmed K-State's lead to 48-45, the Wildcats rattled off six unanswered points that essentially sealed the Jawhaws' fate.
"It's my job and my responsibility and what I want to do is give our kids credit," Hendrickson said, "I thought they hung tough and showed some toughness with a good team."
Edited by Jesse Trimble
Junior guard Danielle McCray loses control of the ball at the last moment as she tries to execute a layup during Saturday's game against Kansas State in Allen Fieldhouse. K-State defeated the Lajhawks 59-50.
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