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SPORTS
12A
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2002
Miles-led Jayhawks dismount Mules,97-70
Aaron Showalter/Kansan
By Jessica Scott
jscott@kansan.com
Kansas sportwriter
Aaron Miles is a tough nut.
Well, at least according to men's basketball cochoy Roy Williams.
But the sophomore point guard didn't crack under increased pressure to score last night, when his team needed added offense because of an injury to senior guard Kirk Hinrich. Instead, Miles ignited the Jayhawks' offense, scoring a career-high 20 points in Kansas' 97-70 victory against Central Missouri State at Allen Fieldhouse.
"Aaron is a tough little nut," Williams said. "He's not afraid to step up there and try to make plays and I think that's the way he was trying to play tonight."
Williams attributed Miles' sudden explosiveness to his hard-nosed attitude.
Miles said that, after the Jayhawks' two losses in New York last week, he was pushing himself to be more offense-oriented.
"The last couple of games I've been trying to get more aggressive," Miles said.
Sophomore guard Aaron Miles takes the ball down court during the first half of last night's game against Central Missouri State. Miles led the team with 7 assists and finished the game with a career-high 20 points.
"Once I'm knocking down shots and making plays, they're going to have to respect me more."
Miles applied constant pressure on the perimeter and hit 2-of-3 shots behind the arc. By halftime, he only needed three more points to tie his previous career high of 16.
After the game, Miles said he didn't listen to those who criticize his scoring ability.
"I hear that a lot, but I can score," he said. "We've got great scorers on our team right now, and sometimes I don't need to score."
Kansas' other two sophomore start
ers, Wayne Simien and Keith Langford, also reached double digits before the break.
Langford, who finished with 23
points, seven rebounds and five assists became the main playmaker at times
SEE MILES ON PAGE 6A
It's not hell freezing over,but the Kansas women's basketball team having a better record than its men's counterpart is shocking.
Kansas women outplay men basketball team
It's been 15 years since the women's team had the better record four games into the season. The Kansas women's team started the 1987-88 season 3-1 while the men were 2-2.
That three-game winning streak should extend to four tomorrow when the Jayhawks face Texas Southern in the Holiday Inn Jayhawk Classic. The Tigers were 11-17 last year and this year's improved Jayhawks should earn their fourth victory easily.
The men have played two more games than the women this season, but even with last night's victory against Central Missouri State, the men are just a game above .500, while the women are undefeated through three games.
This year's non-conference schedules for both teams could still leave the women ahead of the men entering Big 12 Conference play.
This year's women's squad, much improved from last year's team with a 5-25 record because of an influx of young talent, can win all three games left on the schedule against teams with losing records last season. The Jayhawks face just four opponents who had winning records last season and should defeat three of them.
Assuming the Jayhawks defeat Texas Southern, their first game against a team above 500 last year will be Saturday's championship against either Western Michigan (16-15 last year) or Western Illinois (16-12). At home and trying to match last year's victory total, the Jayhawks should continue their unbeaten streak by tipping one of the Midwest directional schools.
Creighton (24-7 last year) should
Levi Chronister
|chronister@kansan.com
be too tough for Kansas, but facing Hampton (17-14) in Allen Fieldhouse should be a gimme for the Jayhawks. Georgia State (21-10) should prove to be a challenge, but Kansas will have a "home crowd" on its side. The game is the first half of the Fiest Shootout in Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo.
The men should win that game. They already have two non-conference losses, though, and could pick up a third or fourth with games against Oregon, UCLA and California still undecided. Toss in a game against current No. 1 Arizona after the Big 12 season has started, and the Jayhawk men could finish with five losses outside of conference play.
It's been four seasons since the women's team had a better non-conference record than the men. In the 1998- 1999 season, the women went 12-5 outside of the Big 12 and the men were 8-4.
The men's team will still finish with a better record in the Big 12 and overall because it is the cream of the conference crop while the women's team is overmatched by nearly every other Big 12 squad. The women should defeat a weak Nebraska team on both meetings and can also defeat Missouri at home.
Still, a 13-14 record after last year's debacle is a big step for the women's team and a giant step toward gaining the respectability of the men's squad.
Coach Williams still baffled by bench performance
Chronister is a Lawrence senior in journalism. He is the Kansan sports editor.
djboyle@hawaii.edu
Kansan sportswriter
By Doyle Murphy
With senior guard Kirk Hinrich and his strained back at his side, Kansas coach Roy Williams was looking for bench players to step up against Central Missouri State last night.
He's still looking.
"I wasn't pleased," Williams said of the subs play after the Jayhawks' 97-70 victory against the Division II school. "You don't have to be a nuclear physicist to figure out we can't turn the ball over and things like that."
The Jayhawks' bench scored just eight points, committed eight of Kansas' 16 turnovers, while recording only two assists in the blowout.
But that doesn't bother Williams,
because he is searching for players who can maintain the team's intensity and run the offense when the starters leave the floor, he said.
In past years, Kansas could count on key reserves like TJ. Pugh, who graduated in 1999, and Jeff Carey, who completed his eligibility last season.
"You can really help us if you don't hurt us," he said.
Carey averaged just 1.9 points per game last season — his best total at Kansas — but that he is exactly the kind of player Williams said this team needed.
Carey was the perfect example of a player who contributed by not committing mental mistakes, Williams said. Carey was not much of a threat to score, but his unselfishness of offense and tough-nosed defensive play provided much-needed breaks for then-junior forwards Nick Collison and Drew Gooden
Williams hasn't given up the search yet. Sophomore guard Michael Lee, junior forward Jeff Graves and freshman guard leff Hawkins are all likely candidates, he said.
Aaron Showalter/Kansan
Kansas' shallow bench has been on the lips of fans for some time, but was also a topic last night from Jayhawk starters.
Junior forward Bryant Nash, who started in Hinrich's place, remains the most promising candidate based on his
"It's a concern," sophomore forward Wayne Simien said after last night's game. "It's definitely something that helped us a lot last year. That might be something we have to play without this season."
Central Missouri State's Vince Haynes drives past freshman forward Moulay Niang (left) and junior forward Bryant Nash late in the second half. The Jayhawks defeated the Mules 90-70 at the Fieldhouse last night.
SEE BENCH ON PAGE 6A
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