KANSAS 75, MISSOURI 58
Kansas pummels listless Mizzou
Kansas bounces back to dominate Border Showdown with team's timely shooting, excellent defense
BY JAYSON JENKS
jjenks@kansan.com
During Monday's practice, coach Bonnie Henrickson became an observer, at least for a little bit.
In the lajawhaks' first practice since a 33-point loss at Kansas State, two of Henrickson's players filled in as disciplinarians. Junior guard Sade Morris and sophomore forward Nicollette Smith not only verbally backed it up in Kansas' 75-58 victory against rival Missouri.
"They were fussing at everybody, and they were getting on everybody." Hirrickson said. "I was just standing and watching."
And that's exactly what Kansas needed.
That the two stepped up - and held teammates accountable - coming off the K-State loss is just as important as the 17-point victory against Missouri. Morris led the Jayhawks (12-3, 1-1) with 20 points, and Smith chipped in a season-high 16.
Early in the first half, with Missouri's full-court press and trap disrupting timing, Smith buried three three-pointers from nearly identical spots on the court. Smith's three-pointers came at just the right time. The layhawks' offense appeared thrown by the Tigers' pressure during the game's opening 10 minutes.
But as halftime neared, Kansas became more at ease - primarily because the jayhawks' defense kept the Tigers from scoring and, subsequently, setting up their press.
"I really haven't been hitting that much in practice." Smith said. "It was nice to get my confidence up, especially because our team seemed to be struggling offensively besides those threes."
"We know how to beat the press," Morris said. "We just had to relax
and realize that we've beaten this press before. It's just a press"
The layhawks closed the first half on a 15-8 run, including a 9-0 stretch where Kansas built a lead as big as nine. Morris drove the length of the court for a layup as the half expired, giving Kansas a 36-29 lead.
More impressive than any offensive iridicator was the way Kansas played on the defensive end. The Jawhaws held the Tigers to 30-percent shooting and allowed few easy points.
At one point midway through the first half, Missoum guard Rae-Shara Brown made a fall away jumper as the shot clock expired after Kansas had clamped down for 34 seconds of solid defense. Instead of showing frustration, Henrickson and her staff applauded the defensive effort.
"The numbers aren't reflective - we only forced 11 turnovers - but we forced a lot of tough twos," Henrickson said. "I thought we were a lot more active, a lot more disruptive. You just can't let people get comfortable with timing and spacing."
That's what happened to Kansas' leading scorer, junior forward Danielle McCray.
On a night when she scored only 12 points, McCray saved two well-timed three-pointers for the second half. With just under 14 minutes left, McCray's three-pointer put Kansas in front 52-36 - its biggest lead to that point.
Weston White/KANSAN
Then, with Missouri beginning to slowly stir, McCray hit another three to reassert Kansas to a 5-41 advantage. In the second half, the Jayhawks never let the Tigers get closer than six.
"I thought that tonight showed huge maturity by us to come out like we did." Smith said.
Edited by Andrew Wiebe
Junior guard Sade Morris puts up a shot over a Missouri defender. Morris lead the Jayhawks with 20 points and also contributed three rebounds in the Jayhawks 75-58 win over Missouri Wednesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Freshman funk defeated Tyshawn Taylor emerges as third offensive option
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com
Kansas coach Bill Self thought Tyshawn Taylor might have contracted a dreaded case of the freshman slump. Taylor felt like he had lost confidence.
The freshman point guard had only scored 10 points with two assists and four turnovers in Kansas last two games. Everyone seemed to be worried about Taylor. Everyone except junior guard Sherron Collins.
Collins knew all that talk was nonsense. Collins, who says Taylor is almost like a little brother, expected him to break out. Collins was right. Taylor scored 20 points and had four rebounds, three assists and two steals to lead Kansas to an 87-71 victory against Kansas State in its Big 12 Conference opener.
If the question before the game was who will emerge as Kansas' third option behind Collins and sophomore center Cole Aldrich, Taylor gave a resounding answer.
"I think this game put Tyshawn on the map." Collins said. "Everyone is going to have to respect him."
For more men's basketball news and insight, check Kansan.com for "Blog" Allen and The Jay Report podcast. Case Keefer posts predictions and news from press conferences on "Blog" Allen before every
The Jayhawks jumped out to an 18-0 lead to start the game behind 13 combined points from Taylor, Collins and Aldrich.
game, then posts his Double Overtime coverage, which includes player ratings and musings, after each contest. Keefer and Taylor Bern also bring you The Jay Report, an audio podcast with opinion on Kansas and anything else they feel like discussing.
@KANSAN.COM
Collins said Self challenged the Jayhawks to get off to a fast start by telling them in practice that the Wildcats would come out and "punk" them early. It was the other way around.
"When we hit them with it, they were just surprised," Collins said. "They couldn't counter it very well."
Taylor was the primary reason why Kansas State never took the lead. Among his brightest moments was a blocked three-point attempt by Kansas State's Fred Brown that led to junior guard Mario Little's first field goal at Kansas on the other end.
His aggressiveness paid off as he got to the free-throw line for 13 shots. Taylor made nine of them.
"I just felt like I had to step up," Taylor said. "I've been hearing a lot about Tyshawn not playing good, the twins not playing good so I felt like my time was now."
Despite Taylor's intensity, the Wildcats roared back to make it a
SEE TAYLOR ON PAGE 3B
Ryan McGeeney/KANSAN
COMMENTARY
Freshman guard Yishawn Taylor reaches past Kansas State defender Victor Ojelleye for a layup during Tuesday night's game in Allen Field House. Taylor scored 20 points throughout the game, contributing heavily to the Jayhawks' 87-71 victory against the Wildcats.
Hawks playing well now
The thing about early conference match-ups is that there is a sense
of urgency that is not experienced by a league's teams in unison any other time of year
Forget preseason polls and expectations. Contenders and pretenders can either set the tone for a championship season or find themselves swiftly passed by.
This is why last night's women's basketball Border Showdown had the feeling of a gladiatorial contest; the victor moved along and the loser succumbed to whatever beast one's Greco-Roman imagination can fathom. The contestants: Missouri — 2-14 in the Big 12 last season — and Kansas — a program yet to find its way in the conference this millennium.
Kansas 75, Missouri 58.
After the 1999-00 season, Kansas plummeted and has yet to recover. Including this year's 1-1 start, the Jayhawks are 29-101(.223) in the Big 12 since 2000-01. During that stretch, they have yet to win more than five conference games — their lowest point occurred in 2001-02 when they finished 0-16.
Reagan 5.15 Missouri 6.0.
Before Sade Morris' buzzer-bearing layup at the half, the two squads spent much of the half dead even in scoring and debit-lipping errors. When the two weren't answering each other with baskets, a Kansas turnover here (they had 20) and a foul there (they had 25) kept it close. Morris' basket at the buzzer over a cloud of defenders sent her team to the locker room with a momentum not relinquished upon return.
Both teams needed this win, but Kansas needed it more. After winning the inaugural Big 12 regular season championship in 1996-97, the Jayhawks followed with three straight 11-5 finishes until being hit hard by their own Y2K bug.
Considering Jan. 10's Massacre in Manhattan, the Jayhawks desperately needed to leave the court with their chirs up last night. A poor conference record just might be enough to quality for postseason play. But more often than not, averaging 3.5 conference wins over eight seasons usually is a prognosis of a flawed squad.
Handling the Tigers in Allen FieIdhouse — where Kansas is now 9:0 — was imperative in gaining the momentum necessary to face a strong Big 12 slate ahead. Eight more games again ranked opponents loom. And Saturday's opponent, urranked Texas Tech, topped N 16 Texas last week.
1
Try staring down that schedule with a 0-2 record.
Edited by Grant Treaster