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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Jayhawks match up against progressing Towson Tigers
BRIAN HILLIX
Sophomore forward Perry Ellis dribbles down the court Tuesday during the game against lona, where the Jayhawks won 86-66. Kansas will take on the Towson Tigers on Friday at 7 p.m.
bhillix@kansan.com
FRANK WEIRICH/KANSAN
For a team that won just one game two seasons ago, the Towson Tigers are rising quickly.
Towson (3-1) travels to Allen Fieldhouse to face the No. 2 Jayhawks at 7 p.m. on Friday night. After a miserable 1-31 season in 2011-12, the Tigers improved their record to a promising 18-13 last season.
"Who would have thought they would be this good when we scheduled this game two years ago?" coach Bill Self said.
Their bounce back campaign has carried over to this year. Last Tuesday, they knocked off a Temple team that made the Round of 32 at the NCAA Tournament last season.
The game stars two forwards who won Player of the Week in their respective conferences last week. Perry Ellis was named one of two Big 12 Players of the Week after his 24-point outing against Duke at the Champion's Classic. He backed that up with 21 points on lona on Tuesday. The sophomore leads the team averaging 19 points a game and has made 21 of his 29 shot attempts. He is also tied with Joel Embid for the team lead with eight rebounds per night.
A likely candidate to guard Ellis will be Towson senior forward Jerrelle Benimon, the Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Week.
Benimon, the CAA preseason player of the year, has been at the top of his game for the Tigers. After averaging 17 points and 11 rebounds his junior year, Benimon came out of the gate strong and has averaged 21 points and 10 rebounds in his last three games. That included a monster performance in the upset over Temple.
where Benimon recorded 32 points and 10 rebounds.
Benimon led Towson to its most successful season in the CAA a year ago—a big reason for the dramatic turnaround. The Tigers won a school-record 13 conference games and the squad's second-place finish
was the best in the program's history.
Coaches and media have taken note as they selected Towson to finish first in the CAA this season. Self knows the team won't be a pushover.
"Next to Duke, this will be the
best team we have played, so we have to come with a different, more aggressive mindset," Self said.
Unlike Kansas, the Tigers bring back a majority of their contributors from last season as they return four starters. These players combined to average 47 of the team's
68-point average last season.
While trending upward, Towson took a hit on Sunday as it fell on the road 78-44 to the Villanova Wildcats. Kansas (3-0) shrugged off a sloppy first half to defeat Iona 86-66 on Tuesday to remain undefeated.
The last time the two teams met, the Jayhawks defeated the Tigers 100-54 at Allen Fieldhouse during Towson's one-victory season two years ago. Don't expect a similar game on Friday.
Edited by Hannah Barling
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BEN LIPOWITZ/KANSAN
Caroline Jarmoc (9) blocks a Kansas State kill during the Nov. 16 match in Horejsi Family Athletic Center. The Jayhawks beat Iowa State last night to become second in the Big 12 for the first time in the program's history.
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No. 11 Kansas won 25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 25-20 in Ames, Iowa, last night against the No. 21 Iowa State Cyclones for the first time since 2004.
bsheade@kansan.com
Albers
Kansas makes program history, becomes second in conference
Junior right side hitter Chelsea Albers set the tone in the first set with six kills and two blocks.
"Chelsea played awesome," red shirt senior middle blocker Caroline Jarmoc said. "This was her best match of the year. She was connecting well with Erin [McNorton] so we utilized that and Chelsea was our main attacker."
The Jayhawks needed someone to step up in the four-set win last night to help battle to become the second place team in the Big 12 Conference
Edited by Hannah Barling
for the first time in program history. Albers filled that role last night, and head coach Ray Bechard said that Albers was big time.
"She had epic swings and epic kills with only one error," Bechard said. "She got going and kept us in it, and took so many big swings for us. I'm very proud of her and
The Jayhawks have three more matches left, beginning with the Texas Tech Raider on Saturday at the Horejsi Athletic Center at 1 p.m.
Not every aspect of the match was pretty last night. Junior outside hitter Sara McClinton didn't start the match well, hitting three kills on 15 attempts, four errors and a season low -0.67 hitting percentage.
"I personally wanted to beat them with every ounce of my being," said Albers, who ended the night with the team-high 14 kills. "They're a very good school and I haven't beat them at their home since I came to KU. This win was much needed and it feels really good."
"I was very excited, this was the year to do it," Jarmoc said. "I'm super proud of my team and it was a team effort for sure."
"Dockery came in and picked us up and Sara was really happy Dockery played well," Bechard said. "That's what good teams can do, rely on their bench. We needed someone to come in and pick us up and Dockery did that for sure."
In the middle of the second set, Bechard benched McClinton for sophomore outside hitter Tiana Dockery, who finished the game and ended the match with five kills on 13 attempts and only one error.
"She couldn't quite get it going and she knew it." Bechard said.
The Jayhawks excitement of the night was the ability to tie the season series against the Cyclones after they beat Kansas in Lawrence on Oct. 23, and Kansas improved their road record to 10-2. Every player on the Jayhawk roster had not won a match in Ames. A sense of a must win was the feeling before the match.
The Jayhawks are now 21-6 overall and 11-3 in Big 12 Conference play. After the win against Iowa State, Kansas is now second in the Big 12 for the first time in program history.
"Hitting line was working really well and I was trying to be as aggressive as possible," Albers said. "Every swing I hit the ball as hard as I can and being aggressive was the number one thing I was looking at."
The key for Albers attacking last night was trying to be as aggressive against Iowa State, who lead the Big 12 Conference in digs per set.
The Jayhawks will celebrate, but they know they have work left in the season.
this was one of her more complete matches since coming to Kansas."
TULSA, Okla. — Tied at halftime with winless Tulsa, 14th-ranked Wichita State walked off the court to chants of "overrated!"
Following an early season pattern, the Shockers found the offensive rhythm necessary to validate their ranking in the second half.
NCAA
VanVleet, Baker lead No.14 Wichita St.to win
Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker each scored 21 points and Wichita State finished with a 26-6 run to shake free of pesky Tulsa for a 77-54 win Wednesday night in its first road game of the season.
T
The Shockers shot 53.6 percent from the field in the second half after hitting
"We want to change that and play the first half the way that we are playing the second half." VanVleet said. "We know that our ranking can be a shot of energy for the other team at the start of the game. But we know that we can grind on the other team for a while and then we will bust it open."
Leading 51-48 after an inside basket by Tulsa's James Woodward, Wichita State scored the next eight points to force a Golden Hurricane timeout with 8:35 left. Wichita State (5-0) has outscored its opponents by a combined 71 points in the second half the past four games. Tulsa (0-3) was 13 for 30 from the free throw line. In its two home games this season, Tulsa is 30 for 66 from the line.
just 35.7 percent in a first half that ended 31-11.
"We simply have to step up to the line and make shots." Tula head coach Danny Manning said. "We're disappointed and upset that we lost this game. We got beat. There are no moral victories. We have to get better and we have to battle in the second half the way we did in the first half tonight."
Tulsa pulled to 10 points on a 3-pointer by Pat Swilling with 5:39 to play, but VanVieet and Baker took over the game from there. VanVieet notched a 3-pointer on Wichita State's next possession and Baker capped off the Shockers' next two trips down the court with a jumper and a 3-pointer to boost Wichita State's advantage to 71-53 with 3:26 remaining.
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Associated Press
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