PAGE 6
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2011
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
KANSAS 67, GEORGETOWN 63
BASKETBALL REWIND
Kansas 37 | 30 — 67
Georgetown 35 28----63
JAYHAWK STAT LEADERS
Points
Robinson 20
Rebounds
Assists
Johnson
Robinson 12
4
GAME TO REMEMBER
Thomas Robinson, junior forward
The junior forward dazzled as he went for 20 points and 12 rebounds in 35 minutes of play. Kansas winning the EA Sports Maui invitational will hinge on Robinson staying on the floor and being productive. He limited his fouls to three against the Hoyas by playing smart defense and not committing fouls 40 feet away from the basket.
Robinson
GAME TO FORGET
Jeff Withey, junior center
Witley played only 13 minutes because of foul trouble. He picked up his fifth on a pretty questionable call, one that announcer Jay Blas called, "Iame," with 8:10 in the game, which left Kansas relatively small. He scored two points and grabbed six rebounds, but he will need to stay on the floor with a long and athletic UCLA team.
Withey
PRIME PLAYS
FIRST HALF (SCORE AFTER PLAY)
5. 33- Thomas Robinson sets a screen for Elijah Johnson, rolls to the basket and catches the lob from Johnson for the dunk. 24-21 Kansas.
0.05- Kevin Young gambles on a potential steal on a last second pass to Otto Porter. Young misses, giving Porter a wide open three-point attempt and he nails it.
35-32 Kansas.
SECOND HALF
3. 11- After Kansas failed to convert on a three-on-one opportunity, Georgetown gets into transition and Jason Clark hits a three-pointer, cutting the Kansas lead to 61-58.
0. 16- With a two-point lead and under thirty seconds remaining, Kansas moves the ball to avoid the Georgetown pressure. Travis Reelfon is fouled and converts both free throws, giving Kansas the 67-63 lead.
NOTES
CHRIS BRONSON/KANSAN
- The final four of Duke, Michigan, UCLA and Kansas have combined for 19 national titles and 52 Final Four appearances
- Thomas Robinson recorded his third double-double in as many games
- *With the win over Georgetown, Kansas will face UCLA for the third consecutive season. The Jayhawks have won the previous two meetings
- Monday night's game was just the second meeting between the two teams. Georgetown won the first match with a 70-57 win in the 1987 NCAA Tournament
Player FG-FGA 3FG-3FGA Rebs A Pts
Tyshawn Taylor 5-9 3-3 1 2 16
Elijah Johnson 4-9 1-6 3 4 9
Travis Releford 4-4 0-0 4 0 10
Jeff Withey 1-3 0-0 6 0 2
Thomas Robinson 7-14 0-0 12 1 20
Conner Teahan 1-6 1-5 2 3 5
Justin Wesley 1-2 0-0 1 0 3
Naadir Tharpe 1-3 0-2 1 1 2
Kevin Young 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 24-51 5-16 31 11 67
GEORGETOWN
Junior forward Thomas Robinson lands a slam dunk during the first half of Monday's opening round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational against Georgetown. Robinson finished with 20 points, leading Kansas to a 67-63 victory.
Player FG-FGA 3FG-3FGA Rebs A Pts
Jason Clark 5-13 2-6 5 1 15
Hollis Thompson 5-10 2-6 5 0 14
Henry Sims 2-8 0-0 6 1 8
Markel Starks 3-5 0-2 2 0 7
Nate Lubick 1-5 0-2 4 2 4
Otto Porter 5-9 2-5 5 2 12
Greg Whittington 1-6 1-4 2 0 3
Tyler Adams 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 22-56 7-25 31 6 83
Robinson creates havoc again
KORY CARPENTER
kcarpenter@kansan.com
Thomas Robinson was expected to be a consistent performer this season. He wowed professional scouts this summer at numerous camps, and with the departure of forwards Marcus and Markieff Morris from last year's team, Robinson was given the chance to impress those scouts this year on the court. It's still very early, but Robinson is certainly showing that the preseason accolades, which included first-team All-American honors by CBS, were solid predictions.
After the season-opening victory against Towson, in which Robinson finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds, he was asked if he could average a double-double this season. His response mimicked his often-seen but rarely-heard mentality both on and off the court.
Through three games, Robinson has lived up to that, scoring double-digit points and rebounds in every contest. After his 20 points and 12 rebounds against Georgetown Monday night, he's now averaging 16.3 points and 11.6 rebounds, in the face of double-teams by opposing defenses. He faced the same kind of pressure against the Hoya defense in the Jayhawks' 67-63 win. The Hoyas mixed double-teams with aggressive help defense and zones all night in attempts to slow down the 6-foot-9 Robinson.
"I don't see why not," he said.
with just three fouls and was able to play with the veracity to which college basketball fans have become accustomed.
Nothing seemed to work for Georgetown. Robinson had five dunks on the night, including a trio of alley-oops which brought the pro-Kansas crowd to a roar.
Edited by Joel Petterson
A noticeable improvement in Robinson's game has been his moments away from the basket. He's added a jump shot to his repertoire, and while he hasn't taken too many of them this season, his comfort on the perimeter added another dimension to his game which opposing coaches and players didn't see last year.
On multiple occasions against Georgetown, Robinson left the paint to set a screen for a guard. Because of the possible threat outside, Hoya defenders had to come
out a little further than he might like to guard Robinson.
It gave Robinson the extra second he needed to slip to the basket, catch the lob in mid-air and finish the dunk.
The one question many fans
had with Robinson was the early fouls he encountered against Towson and Kentucky. In both games, he was forced to play somewhat timidly on defense after committing early fouls. That wasn't the case Monday night, as he finished
CHRIS BRONSON/KANSAN
Coach Bill Self argues a call after a penalty in the first half of Monday night's game against Georgetown at the EA Sports Maui Invitational at the Lahaina Civic Center.
---
1