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SPORTS
ESPN'S TOP RECRUIT OPTS FOR MEMPHIS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Xavier Henry chose not to become a Jayhawk and instead will be a Tiger in 2009. |5B
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BYE WEEK ENERGIZES VOLLEYBALL TEAM
WWW.KANSAN.COM
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2008
Jayhawks take advantage of week off to prepare to make a run at an NCAA Tournament bid. VOLLEYBALL | 8B
KANSAS 85, FLORIDA GULF COAST 45
PAGE1B
KANSAS COASTS
Freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor flies between two Florida Gulf Coast defenders for a shot during Tuesday night's game at Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhwaks defeated the Eagles 85-45. Taylor scored five points and dished out three assists in the game.
Jon Goerina/KANSAN
Defense holds Florida Gulf Coast to 13 of 55 shots from the field
BY CASE KEEFER
ckeefer@kansan.com
Sherron Collins missed more than five three-pointers in a row in the shoot- around before the game against Florida Gulf Coast.
He rarely missed one again for the rest of the night. Collins shot 4-for-6 from three-point range and scored a career-high 25 points in the 85-45 Jayhawk victory against the Eagles.
"I just knew I was hot," Collins said. "Mostly everything I was putting up was going in. I felt pretty good shooting it."
Collins also led the defensive charge. He barely gave Eagle point guards Reed Baker and Reggie Chambers room to think, let alone run their offense.
Florida Gulf Coast reserved for themselves all the missed shots once the game began. The Eagles converted on only 13 of their 55 shots from the field. One more missed shot and they would have tied the all-time record for least field goals made against Kansas.
It resulted in 24 turnovers by the Eagles with 14 of them coming in the first half.
Sophomore guard Brady Morningstar recorded a steal and a block in the opening two minutes. Florida Gulf Coast shot 12 percent from the field in the first half.
Whether it was smothering defense from Kansas or the ineptitude of Florida Gulf Coast's offense is debatable. Kansas coach Bill Self thought it was a combination of the two.
"They missed shots," Self said. "But any time a team shoots that percentage, you must have done some things defensively."
While the defense locked down the Eagles, the offense got off to a fast start. Collins scored nine points in the first nine minutes as the layhawks started the game with a 13-2 run.
Similar to Sunday's game against UMKC, sophomore center Cole Aldrich got into foul trouble early. Aldrich recorded two fouls in the first three and a half minutes against Florida Gulf Coast — lasting only 30 seconds longer than he did in the first game.
It forced Self to send him to the bench for the majority of the first half. Self said
SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 5B
National Championship banner makes Collins emotional
They turned the lights out. Otherwise,you might have been able to see Sherron Collins's face.
There he stood, 15 minutes before Kansas' game against Florida Gulf Coast. Sherron and the layawks, lined up across the free-throw line in front of their bench. Collins, Kansas' most gifted returner, stood in the dark.
You couldn't see his face as the crowd cheered. You couldn't see his face as he watched "The Shot" one more time on video board. You couldn't see his face as the curtain covering Kansas' 2008 National Championship banner finally fell.
If you could, you might have seen a tear. Well, Collins is maintaining that he almost shed a tear. The video of coach Bill Self's postgame speech, and the faces of his teammates dancing on the floor at the Alarmodome almost got to him. They turned out the lights, so we'll never know for sure. But Collins says he didn't cry.
It's been 226 days since Mario Chalmer's leaping three-pointer rippled the net inside the Alamodome in San Antonio. That's approximately 13,500 hours, if You're messing around with a
"It was really emotional," Collins said. "It really meant a lot for me."
calculator. More than 800,000 minutes,
if you're really bored. Chalmers' shot still
goes in time. And Tuesday they
hung a banner inside Allen Fieldhouse.
Some things are still the same. The old Fieldhouse still smells like popcorn. The rafters are still blue. And Kansas rolled over another sacrificial nonconference opponent, so a few season ticket-holders ducked out early.
But so much has changed since Kansas run to the championship.
The heroes and villains of last March are sprinkled across the country. Davidson guard Stephen Curry, Kansas' precocious Elite Eight opponent, scored 44 points against Oklahoma last night. North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough, overwhelmed by Kansas in the Final Four.
SEE DODD ON PAGE 4B
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Team knocks off defending Big 10 champs on ESPN
Three players score in double digits against Iowa in Tuesday's game which was featured in a 24-hour college basketball marathon
BY DANNY NORDSTROM
dnordstrom@kansan.com
People at Allen Fieldhouse may have thought SpongeBob SquarePants was making a special visit Tuesday with the number of third-graders in the stands.
In reality, all the commotion was really about the women's basketball team. A student section made up almost entirely of elementary school students on a health and
fitness field trip was to thank for the loud shrieks that helped Kansas (2-0) defeat Iowa (1- 7) 65-5.
The Jayhawks were indeed successful yesterday as they defeated the defending Big 10 champs on a nationally televised ESPN game as part of a 24-hour college basketball marathon. Kansas was aided by a younger-than-usual student section when several hundred
"It was clear early that if as good as the crowd, wed ha to be successful," said head coach Bonnie Henrickson.
"LaChelda is a great player. Tonight she showed it. I think she was holding it back in these last two games, and I think this season she's going to bring it out."
Lawrence three-through sixth-graders cheered the jayhaws to victory.
DANIELLE MCCRAY Junior forward
The game started off even as both teams traded baskets for the first 15 minutes. An
junior forward Danielle McCray said. "It's great. It was really loud and I felt like I was at a guys' national championship game."
"It seems like they ate a whole bag of Sour Patch Kids with all that energy."
inside layup by senior forward Marjia Zinic sparked a 10-0 Kansas run during the next four minutes.
Both McCray and junior guard Kelly Kohn knocked down three-pointers during the run to ignite the youthful crowd.
The second half saw a stunning performance by Morris, who sparked the Kar
sparked the Kansas offense. The Jayhawks made an early 8-2 run to make the score 43-30 five minutes into the second half.
McCray helped lead the Javhawks to victory, scoring 15 points with nine rebounds. Also impressive was the all-around play by LaChelda Jacobs. The junior point guard had a career-best 18 points and six assists, going 7-of-11 from the field.
Jacobs' play was definitely contagious, as junior guard Sade Morris, who went 0-6 in the first half, dropped 17 points in the final period.
"LaChelda is a great player," McCray said. "Tonight she showed it. I think she was holding it back in these last two games, and I think this season she's going to bring it out."
Jacobs' defensive pressure was also impressive. Her three steals and dominant defensive presence greatly aided Kansas as it held Iowa to a 28.6 field goal percentage in the second half.
"LaChelda has poise, plays aggressive, and plays confidently, and that can be contagious for this team," Henrickson said.
Edited by Brenna Hawley
Jon Goerina/KANSAN
Junior guard LaChelta Jacobs slices through the Iowa defense for an easy bucket during the second half of Tuesday's game at Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas defeated Iowa 76-55, led by Jacob's '18 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the floor.