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KANSAN.COM/SPORTS | THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2016
Georges Niang drives against Kansas forward Perry Ellis. The two will square off in Allen Fieldhouse this Saturday.
File Photo/KANSAN
Perry Ellis pushes past Niang on the road in Ames, Iowa last year.
File Photo/KANSAN
Senior Day against Iowa State marks final regular season battle between two of the Big 12's best
▶ SCOTT CHASEN
@SChasenKU
ast Saturday, Kansas clinched a share of its 17th-consecutive Big 12 title. Two days later, the team clinched it outright, dominating a top 25 Texas team on the road.
Now, there's only one opponent remaining between Kansas and the start of conference tournament play, but that's not the story of this Saturday's game. With it being the last game this year in Allen Fieldhouse, Saturday will be Senior Day.
After losing just one senior last year, the feel is slightly different this time around. Kansas will lose four seniors, one of which was a member of the All-Big 12
First Team last year and expects to be on the All-Big 12 team this year; Perry Ellis.
In fact, it only seems fitting Ellis will face off against Iowa State in his final game, given the team is led by a player who is essentially Ellis' doppleganger when it comes to career path.
Like Ellis, Iowa State senior Georges Niang is part of a group of Big 12 players who have contributed year after year so much that a Twitter search often reveals several jokes about how long they've been at their respective universities.
While in good fun, this speaks to both the talent and consistency of the players.
For Niang, he's averaged double-digits in scoring all four years of college. He's
been one of the best shooting big men in the league year after year and improved a part of his game each season.
On Monday, it was Senior Night for Iowa State. The team eked out a win over the Oklahoma State Cowboys, and when Niang took the floor for his speech he was emotional, pausing several times to wipe his face.
"Man, I don't even know where to begin," Niang said, starting his speech. "I was afraid coming to the game today because I don't want to leave this place."
On the other side sits a Kansas legend, according to some of the coaches in the league. In fact, after an earlier game, West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said he thinks Ellis deserves to be honored
by the University once he's gone.
"He's a great player. I don't know if his number will get retired. I don't know if there's any room up there." Huggins said back on Feb. 9. "He deserves to be up there."
Ellis and Niang have certainly been a part of several fascinating battles in their nearly 300 combined years
— according to Twitter at least — of experience in the Big 12.
Since the beginning, the games have been electric.
In their first meeting as freshmen, Kansas banked-in a three at the buzzer just to force overtime. In the second meeting, it was Elijah Johnson exploding for 39 points, carrying Kansas in another overtime win.
One year later, it truly became a battle of Niang vs. Ellis. In the first meeting of their sophomore seasons, the duo combined for 44 points and 10 rebounds. Later in the Big 12 tournament, they combined for 55 points, as Niang's squad came out on top.
As time has gone on, the two have tested each other. No team has had more success against the Jayhawks than the Cyclones, who have won four of the 10 meetings since Ellis and Niang arrived.
Likewise, Kansas coach Bill Self has been extremely complementary of Niang and has called him one of the toughest players to match up against in the Big 12 in the past.
This all leads to Saturday.
In one final regular season game between the two teams, and potentially the last ever with Ellis and Niang, Kansas has little to play for outside of preserving the No.1 spot in both polls.
However, for the seniors Ellis, forward Jamari Traylor, forward Hunter Mickelson and guard Evan Manning - this game will be their last chance to play at home in front of the 16,300 fans. Allen Fieldhouse is considered one of the top college basketball venues by just about every analyst, and the crowd should be electric and perhaps emotional - for the meeting.
Tip is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday.
- Edited by Cele Fryer
Women's basketball set to battle TCU for second time in a week in Big 12 Tournament
▶ DYLAN SHERWOOD @dmantheman2011
After finishing the regular season with their closest loss in Big 12 play, the Jayhawks are gearing up for the postseason. On Friday, Kansas will open up play in the Big 12 Championship in Oklahoma City as the 10 seed in the tournament.
"For us to have the two possessions where we called timeout and advanced the ball, I thought we were great," Schneider said in a KU Athletics news release after the TCU loss on Monday.
Kansas' opponent is TCU, the seven seed in the tournament. The Jayhawks played the Horned Frogs earlier this week, in the season finale losing on the road 55-52.
Schneider said he liked how his team scored buckets out of timeouts, but free throws down the stretch haunted the Jayhawks. Schneider said he believed in that situation, someone huge would step up and make clutch free throws
Kansas coach Brandon Schneider liked the way his team played, but the team just fell short. He also mentioned how his team has not been in those closing situations, in a late-game scenario.
down the stretch, in order for Kansas to break a long losing streak and earning its first Big 12 win of the season.
"We just couldn't make enough shots or enough free throws to get over the hump," Schneider said.
The first-year coach said he knew what happened in the first meeting of the season just two weeks ago when TCU outplayed Kansas in the second half and Schneider was not pleased the way his team played that night.
We just couldn't make enough shots or enough free throws to get over the hump."
Brandon Schneider Kansas Coach
"I was disappointed in how we represented ourselves, but tonight [Monday] was the exact opposite," Schneider said.
Schneider said he knew his team was not making up excuses for Monday night's game, after being in games against Oklahoma and Texas Tech, both where Kansas blew double-digit leads away.
"They wanted to win this
Even though there is nothing to play for, with a 5-24 record, the team is just looking ahead towards the future of the program, which Schneider has been preaching all season.
one bad," Schneider said. "I feel bad for them."
Schneider said he believed his team could win a game or two late this season, but the result has been the same. Kansas has lost its last 20 games. In fact, Kansas has not won a game since Dec. 13 in a 61-54 overtime win over Navy.
But the Jayhawks can put that streak behind them if they can win just one game in the Big 12 tournament. This is Kansas' last chance to give Schneider his first win over a Big 12 foe in his career at Kansas, and more importantly his team's last chance to display any improvement they may have made this season under his direction.
The winner of the Kansas-TCU game will play the two seed Texas on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Tip off of the first round of the Big 12 Championship from Chesapeake Arena in Oklahoma City, Okla. is at 8:30 p.m. on Friday.
- Edited by Ryan Wright
Paige Stingley/KANSAN Junior guard Timeka O'Neal dribbles the ball down the court on Feb. 29 against TCU. The Jayhawks lost to the Horned Frogs 55-52.
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