KU 103, ESU 58
5B
THE INUNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 12, 2008
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Freshman forward Markieff Morris tries to secure a rebound during Tuesday night's game at Allen Fieldhouse. Morris grabbed three boards and recorded five points and two steals on the night.
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points and 26 rebounds. As a team, Emporia State pulled down just 23 rebounds. Aldrich said the team's final rebounding tally of 44-23 was inspired by Self's halftime speech.
"He said, 'Go out and win the boards by 20.' Aldrich said. "He gave us a little incentive about practice being a little shorter. Instead of eight hours it's only six and a half."
Self said he liked the defensive improvement from last week but still wasn't satisfied with the movement of his big men. Freshman forward Marcus Morris, who fouled out in seven minutes against Washburn, made tremendous defensive strides. He had two steals and one block, but most importantly, he committed just one foul.
"It gets a little better each time," Morris said. "It's hard to keep follow-
insomebody around the screens, but if you want to win, that's a sacrifice you're going to have to make."
Defensively, Kansas held Emporia State to 36 percent from the floor and 19 percent from beyond the arc. The Hornets also managed just 16 points in the paint.
In certain stretches it seemed like Kansas couldn't miss a shot. Aldrich finished 7-of-10 while Releford and the Morris twins missed one shot each. Even seldom-used senior center Matt Kleinmann made his only shot of the game.
Self emphasized that shots wouldn't always fall like that. Aldrich pointed out that the undersized Hornets also played a game at Wichita State on Monday night, depleting them even further. With that in mind, Aldrich said the key was to focus on his own game and not that of the people he pushed around.
"We tried to do what we wanted to do." Aldrich said. "We wanted to really get up on defense, get the ball inside and I think we did a really good job of that tonight."
Edited by Scott R. Toland
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Sure, Brady Morningstar and Tyrel Reed looked good in the exhibition games, but they aren't expected to average 15 points a game like Collins and Aldrich each need to for the Jayhawks to win a lot of games. Anything that Reed and Morningstar can provide this team is a bonus, and it remains to be seen whether their hot starts will continue once the competition improves.
And yes, some of the new-comers, including Tyshawn Taylor, Quintrell Thomas and the Morris twins, will become good players by the end of the season and be counted on in key situations. But for now, this team belongs to two players — Collins and Aldrich. The Jayhawks will live and die this season by the performance of its two key players.
The two barely played in the second half but were standing and cheering for their team-mates the entire time. When walk-on Brennan Bechard hit a three-pointer late in the game for his first points of the night, it was Aldrich who was the first to jump to his feet and make the three-point signal with his hands. When walk-on Jordan juenemann made his Jayhawk debut, it was Collins who led the charge and waved his towel as juenemann. Hays freshman, scored on a layup for his first career points.
y night in Allen Fieldhouse. All 14 players who suited up scored points for the Javahawks.
RAINS (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
The only two remaining players who even played in the championship game against Memphis appear ready to put this young and inexperienced team on their shoulders — hoping to lead them to a 20th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance in the process.
"We have two standouts and we need to play through those two guys," Self said. "We'll do it by committee with everybody else."
"I think it's going to be like that mostly all year," said freshman Marcus Morris. "They are two great leaders and two veterans that were here last year, and they know how it is."
— Edited by Lauren Keith
Junior guard Tyrone Appleton dives for a loose ball during Tuesday's game at Allen Fieldhouse. Appleton was one of 14 Jayhawks who scored on the night, hitting both of his shots from the floor and 2 of 3 from the free throw line.
Jon Goering/KANSAN
VIEW FROM PRESS ROW
Freshman forward Marcus Morris poked the ball away from the Emporia State point guard midway through the first half. Freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor grabbed the loose ball and
IT WAS OVER WHEN...
found sophomore guard Brady Morningstar streaking down the court for an easy layup. The play came seconds after Kansas started a 19-1 run to put the game out of reach for Emporia State.
GAME TO REMEMBER...
Freshman
forward
Quintrell
Thomas
Thomas
didn't
exactly dazzle
the Allen
fieldhouse
Thomas
crowd. He recorded five points four rebounds and two blocks. Thomas will always remember
this game, however, because it was his first start as a Jayhawk. Thomas started at the power forward position, making him the first of the seven Kansas newcomers to start an exhibition game at Allen Fieldhouse. No one would have expected Thomas to crack the starting lineup first, because he was the lowest-ranked Kansas recruit out of high school.
GAME TO FORGET...
Freshman forward Markieff Morris.
It was Markieff's brother, Marcus, who struggled and fouled
Morris
out in seven minutes in kansas' first exhibition game. Against Emporia State, Markieff made
enough blunders for the both of them. He did record five points and three rebounds, but his three turnovers were more memorable. Markieff's most egregious error came near the end of the first half when he tried to wrestle a rebound away from another player. Problem: The other player was teammate Travis Releford. The play resulted in a traveling call and a Kansas turnover.
COACH SPEAK
have been identified and are very apparent."
"I feel like I know more about us than I knew about us last Monday after two exhibition games. Certainly, our weaknesses
— Kansas coach Bill Self
PRIME PLAYS
- Case Keefer
FIRST HALF
16:36 — Tyrel Reed missed a three-pointer from the corner, but Cole Aldrich was there with the rebound and putback. Aldrich's score put Kansas up 11-5 and forced an early Emporia State timeout.
10:13 — Aldrich blocked his third shot of the game and pushed an outlet pass to Conner Teahan, who laid it in to push the lead to 29-18.
9:07 — Thanks to a Marcus Morris block and solid pressure defense, Kansas forced a shot clock violation. Emporia State moved the ball around but found no space and never got off a shot.
SECOND HALF
16:18 — Kansas' stellar first-half shooting percentage was dwindling with every clanger, but Sherron Collins ended the drought with a deep trey from the left wing. The Jayhawks had missed five consecutive shots before Collins buried the shot.
26. 7 — Freshman walk-on Jordan Juenemann took a pass from Bechard and laid it in to make the final score 103-58. With his bucket, every Kansas newcomer except injured Mario Little has scored this season. When Juenemann made his shot the most celebratory Jayhawk was Little, who dropped his crutches and hobbled up and down the bench in excitement.
GAMENOTES
2:11 — Brennan Bechard only took one shot, but he made it count. Bechard drained a three-pointer to break the century mark, putting Kansas up 101-56.
A LITTLE DANCING
Taylor Bern
Junior guard Mario Little might not be able to play basketball yet, but he can already dance.
Little, who is out until at least December with a stress fracture in his lower left leg, joined his team and entertained himself while they warmed up for the first two exhibition games. The Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year has danced on his crutches to the Jayhawk Band during both shoot-arounds.
10:15 — Senior Matt Kleinmann enters the game to uproarious cheers. A fan favorite, Kleinmann's entrance usually signifies the end of any hope for the opposing team. That was certainly the case on Tuesday, as Big Red played his first minutes with Kansas ahead by more than 30.
Robinson, the starting point guard from last year's NCAA Championship team, played professionally in Turkey for the last two months before moving back to the states last week.
The Reno Bighorns, a National Basketball Developmental League expansion franchise, selected Robinson in the second round of the NBDL Draft last weekend.
Don't worry — the moves weren't too intense.
ROBINSON PICKED IN THE NBDL DRAFT
Former Jayhawk Russell Robin son will play in America this year after all.
Robinson was the 23rd player picked.
The NBDL is the NBA's official development league.
SPECIAL STAR-SPANGLED BANNER SINGER
Emporia State coach David Moe's eyes weren't fixated on the American flag during the singing of the National Anthem, but no one could blame him.
Moe's 11-year old daughter, Lyndi, sung the National Anthem and received a rousing ovation from the student section. Lyndi even sported a Jayhawk T-shirt instead of any Hornet apparel.
David was a graduate assistant at Kansas during the 1988 season when the Jayhawks won the national championship.
JUWANNA MAN
Freshman walk-on Jordan Juenemann made his first appearance in the game against Emporia State.
He checked in with four and a half minutes remaining in the game to a slight cheer from the fans who were still in attendance. He scored Kansas' final two points on a layup with 26 seconds remaining.
— Case Keefer