SAN
2008
SPORTS
BREAKING DOWN BORDER SHOWDOWN
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Kansas goes up against the Missouri Tigers and Chase Daniel in Kansas City, Mo. 18B
VOLLEYBALL SENIORS PREPARE FOR FINALE
ANSAM by
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WWW.KANSAN.COM
TUES. AY, NOVEMBER 25, 2008
Natalie Uhart and Savannah Noyes will have their last performance on the team. VOLLEYBALL | 6B
COMMENTARY
PAGE 1B
Rookies are a blast to watch
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Snaphot, Tyshawn Taylor races past every one down the floor and rolls the ball off his fingertips into the hoop a second before the first half hurry rounds
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They already won one. This was the first test of the season for the baby Jayhawks. They'd fallen asleep for a half against UMKC before winning, and they'd hung up a banner and slapped around Florida Gulf Coast, but they hadn't really played anybody. Not until Monday night.
Yeah, youth movements are a blast. The kids can make you forget all about those Rush and Chalmers guys.
KANSAS 73, WASHINGTON 54
Edited by Jennifer Torline
But they're also going to take fans on adventures most nights, and they're going to win their fair share of the big games.
Snapshot: Taylor bulldozes into the lane and snacks into Darnell Gant early in the first half. Charge. Marcus Morris does the exact same on the next possession.
The Huskies were a real team from a major conference. They have Jon Brockman. He led the nation in rebounding last year. They have Justin Dentmon. In his career, he had started 55 more games than the entire Kansas roster.
Yeah, youth movements have their dark spots. The kids can make you want to throw a shoe at the TV.
They're both seniors. When they combined for 19 points in the Sweet 16 against Connecticut in 2006, Quintrell Thomas and Travis Releford weren't old enough to attend a junior-senior prom. Taylor didn't have a driver's license.
Now they were on the same court, playing the same game. And for the most part, the inexperience didn't show.
And that's really what this team showed in Monday night's 73-54 victory against Washington. At times, the layhawks are going to frustrate. They're going to give Bill Self migrains. They're going to hit lower points than Citigroup stocks.
Marcus got open for a quick layup in the early minutes. Markieff Morris made one in traffic a while later. They combined for 17 points and eight rebounds. Taylor snuck up on Washington guard Isaiah Thomas for a huge block. He sparked Kansas' game-change run with that play.
"We knew it was a big game," Taylor said.
"We were out of control." Self said. "It was like a runaway train."
You can never tell with young players. With a core of freshmen and sophomores, unpredictability reigns.
But the train never derailed. Not even close. Other young teams haven't been nearly as fortunate in the early season.
On the Monday night before Thanksgiving three years ago, a young Kansas team also faced its first test of the season, Arizona. The Wildcats had most of their nucleus back from a team that made the Elite Eight the previous year.
But so does excitement. Youth movements really are a blast.
And that night, the lajahways did what an inexperienced team does. They crumbled. Then-freshman Mario Chalmers threw the ball away seven times. Then-freshman Brandon Rush did so four times.
The Jayhawks scored fewer points than they had in 12 years. They turned the ball over more times than they had in eight years. It was ugly. The performance was nearly the opposite of this Kansas team.
Taylor could play like Releford, who got only mop-up minutes. The Morris twins could play like Thomas, who got into early foul trouble and never recovered.
On Monday, the layhawks played with a youthful glow, a composure that allowed them to not worry that they were on the national stage for the first time since Sherron Collins, Cole Aldrich and a bunch of players who are now scattered across the world in different jerseys cut down the nets in April.
Who knows whether they can keep it up? Kansas has a tougher test tonight against Syracuse. Some of the foolish mistakes that didn't matter against Washington could cost the lavwhaws.
**Cole Aldrich dunks** over Washington guard laisha Thomas in the first half Monday night's game at the Spirits Center in Kansas City, Mo. Aldrich finished with 16 points on 6-for-12 shooting and pulled down nine rebounds.
Jon Goering/KANSAN
November fireworks
Jayhawks cruise against Huskies
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com*
KANAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas guard Tyshawn Taylor and Washington guard Isaiah Thomas used to be friends.
Taylor, a freshman, played against Thomas a couple times over the years in AAU tournaments. But in the Hawkens' 73-54 victory against the Huskies, Taylor may have severed their relationship permanently.
With four minutes to go in the first half, Thomas stole a Taylor pass and sprinted down the court all alone to attempt a layup. Only Taylor caught him and swatted the shot attempt toward the Jayhawk band behind the basket.
"I thought he was going to dunk it, so I kind of slowed down." Taylor said. "But when I saw that he was jumping up slow I said, 'I have to go get that.'"
The Sprint Center erupted in cheers and high fives. And the game was never the same. Kansas led only 26-22 before Taylor's block. For the next 15 minutes of play, the Jayhawks outscored the Huskies 26-9.
The Jayhawks can also thank Taylor, who finished with 10 points, for their not losing any momentum when going to the locker room for halftime. Taylor beat the buzzer by less than a second with a layup, and his teammates ran to the locker room clenching their fists and clapping with a 36-22 advantage.
"He's going to be really good," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "He's got a lot to learn but he's going to be really good."
Taylor's game-changing plays were among many from the Jayhawks. Forget
Thanksgiving — Kansas provided so many fireworks in the first half, it felt like Fourth of July weekend.
Aldrich set off the first few explosions in the first half. He elevated over Washington senior forward Jon Brockman to throw down an easy dunk midway through the first half. A minute later, freshman forward Marcus Morris tossed Aldrich the ball down low and he finished with a one-handed jam. Aldrich also played the role of a menace on the defensive end with four blocks.
Aldrich's much-discussed matchup against Brockman, an All-American candidate, turned out to be a draw. Brockman won the rebounding battle, grabbing 18 boards compared to Aldrich's nine.
But Brockman was unable to slow Aldrich offensively. Aldrich finished with 16 points on 6-for-12 shooting, far superior to Brockman's seven points on 2-for-9 shooting.
"We were fortunate enough to play really good defense on him and hold him to seven points, which is not going to happen very often this year for him," Aldrich said.
After Taylor's block at the end of the first half, there was no stopping the Jayhawks. Even when Washington coach Lorenzo Romar tried, it backfired.
Aldrich and Taylor combined for one spark late in the second half for good measure. With two minutes remaining in the game, Taylor flew down the court on a fast-break alongside Aldrich and delivered a chest pass to Aldrich, who refused to slow down and added another dunk.
FOOTBALL
SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 4B
Hawks look to redeem themselves against MU
BY TAYLOR BERN
tbern@kansan.com
Despite all the school records and magical feelings that came with Kansas' run to the Orange Bowl, there's still one glaring imperfection from the '07 season. It's marked by a single vertical line adjacent to the record number of 12 wins.
The man most responsible for striking that stripe in Kansas' loss column was Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel, who completed 40 of 49 passes for 361 yards and three touchdowns in last year's matchup. Daniel's performance sent his team to the Big 12 championship game while Kansas had to sit and wait to find its destination.
Joe Mortensen, then junior linebacker, tackles Missouri junior quarterback Chase Daniel from behind during last year's Border Showdown. Daniel completed 41 of his 50 pass attempts for 368 yards in the game, a statistic the Kansas defense hopes to drastically reduce in Saturday's game.
"It was one of the most highly anticipated Border War Showdowns that there's ever been," Daniel said. "It was a great day for us, obviously, because we were able to get the win. There were a bunch of happy MU fans and a bunch of sad KU fans, and I think that it's going to be the same this year."
Jon Goerina/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
The Jayhawks took the loss in stride on their journey down to Miami, but this time around there's no chance for Kansas to win or lose the North. Missouri has already received the trophy and the Tigers are scheduled to return to Arrowhead Stadium next week for their second consecutive conference title game.
Without a division or conference title to play for, the 2008 Border Showdown boils down to a primal instinct: pride.
"We love playing in this game," linebacker James Holt said. "There's a lot of history to it."
With idle weekends both squads had two weeks to prepare for the regular season finale. The difference is that Missouri is riding a four-game winning streak — its second of the season — while Kansas is reeling after losses in four of its last five.
The 45-35 loss at Nebraska on Nov. 8 was particularly frustrating because a victory would have made this weekend's game a de facto division championship game. Instead, Kansas dropped that contest and the following one against No. 4
Texas to hand the crown to Missouri.
The disappointment after the Texas loss was evident in postgame interviews, but coach Mark Mangino said he didn't expect a hangover effect in Kansas City.
"I don't think that's an issue," Mangino said. "It's a big rivalry. Our kids will be excited and ready to play."
Mangino said the extra week would help repair some wear and tear on his team. However, it's unclear whether that's enough time for offensive weapons Kerry Meier and Jake Sharp to return to the field. Both men missed substantial time in the Texas game because of injuries and last week Mangino said he didn't know
whether they'd be back.
"You can't let a few bumps in the road hinder the way you're going to play and how you believe in yourself and your teammates," Reesing said.
Quarterback Todd Reesing said he wouldn't let that or the lajhwaks' recent struggles get in the way of performing well against the Tigers.
Records don't matter in a rivalry game, but they don't hurt either. Last year's clash of highly ranked foes brought national attention to the Border Showdown. This year it's on a smaller stage but the players care just as much.
studying tape, the extra week also gave Kansas even more time to stew over that singular stripe and ponder what could have been.
In addition to healing wounds and
At 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Kansas will get its opportunity to avenge the sole regret from the best season in KU history.
"I know the temperature's going to be rising for a lot of defensive players, considering last year we didn't put on the best defensive performance of our year," Holt said. "We're just happy we get to go out for another game together and finish off the season."
— Edited by Andy Greenhaw