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KANSAN.COM/SPORTS | MONDAY, FEB. 20, 2017
KU closing in on 13th consecutive Big 12 title
JORDAN WOLF
@JordanWolKU
Senior forward Landen Lucas grabs a rebound against Texas on Jan 21. Lucas finished the game with 14 total rebounds.
Baxter Schanze/KANSAN
With 11 seconds left in No.3 Kansas' game against No.4 Baylor Saturday, senior center Landen Lucas held the fate of the game in his hands.
He wasn't putting up a game-winning shot — that was senior guard Frank Mason III on the play immediately before. But when Mason's layup bounced off the rim, Lucas found himself corralling the rebound. His putback attempt resulted in a foul, sending him to the line.
Lucas hit both free throws, securing a 67-65 win in another tight win over Baylor for Kansas. Lucas finished with eight points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Lucas struggled recently from the line. In the Jay-hawks' most recent game against West Virginia, he shot just 2-of-7 on free throws. Had Kansas not pulled off a miraculous upset, he would've likely faced sharp criticism for this poor performance. But the Jayhawks did, and Lucas avoided catching any blame. He joked about his poor showing on Twitter after the game, saying "Don't worry y'all I'm about to get in the gym and shoot some free throws."
Lucas wasn't the only one
to hit important free throws. Mason went 8-of-8 from the line as well, on his way to a game-high 23 points. He also hit 7-of-12 field goals and dished out eight assists, rounding out a solid all-around performance.
Also playing well for the Jayhawks was freshman guard Josh Jackson, who scored 16 points on 50 percent shooting. Junior guard Devonte' Graham contributed seven points and seven rebounds.
Kansas coach Bill Self got an unusually high output from his bench, as sophomore guard Lagerald Vick scored eight points in as many minutes. Freshman forward Mitch Lightfoot and sophomore forward Carlton
Bragg Jr. also provided good minutes off the bench despite not accumulating many statistics.
With just four games left to play in the regular season, Kansas appears to have its thirteenth consecutive Big 12 championship locked up. The Jayhawks now hold a three-game lead in the conference, and only need to win once more to clinch at least a share of the title.
Kansas is one victory away from tying a record 13-straight conference titles by John Wooden and his UCLA team from 1961 to 1975.
The Jayhawks will get their first chance at the feat Wednesday, when they return home to face TCU. Kansas narrowly escaped their last meeting with the Horned Frogs, an 86-80 road victory in December. The game also serves a special purpose, as Jayhawk legend and 2008 National Champion Brandon Rush will return to Lawrence for his jersey retirement ceremony, in what could prove to be an eventful, emotional night.
Missy Minear/KANSAN
**Missjj Minear/KANSAN**
Then-freshman outfielder Devin Foyle hits the ball against Wichita State in 2016. Foyle has one run, two hits and one RBI in the 2017 season opener.
Opening Day victory for KU
MITCH GEORGE @MitchLGeorge
Kansas baseball coach Ritch Price made it very clear in his opening press conference — this is going to be one of the youngest teams he's fielded in quite some time.
"That swing by Cosentino was absolutely huge." Price said. "He has tremendous pop in his bat for a freshman infielder and has a chance to be a really good player. That was a professional ballpark and he smoked that pitch like a professional hitter."
On the first pitch of his second collegiate at-bat with runners on first and third, Cosentino connected with a pitch from The Citadel pitcher J.P. Sears and drove it over the right field wall — recording a three-run homer, and his first career hit.
There were three freshmen and three sophomores penciled into the lineup card when Kansas defeated The Citadel 7-5 on Friday Feb. 17, in the Charleston Crab House Challenge.
As a freshman out of Leawood, infielder James Cosentino did not hesitate in making an impact on his new team.
Cosentino's home run broke the scoreless tie held between the two teams. Unbeknown to the players, the hit would spark a six-run explosion in the fifth inning.
Later in the same frame, sophomore infielder David Kyriacou drove another pitch out of the ballpark to extend the Jayhawk lead to 5-0.
This hit drove in freshman outfielder Peyton Grassanovits, who scored his first collegiate on the play.
"It was good to see Rackoski give us five good innings," Price said. "I would have liked to see him pitch through the sixth, but that is the longest he has gone for us as we have only been working guys out for four innings at a time in the preseason. It is a start he can build on and he could be a difference maker for us."
Associated Press Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving reacts during the second half of a game against the Washington Wizards on Feb. 6. Irving recently spoke about his flat-earth beliefs on the "Road Trippin" podcast.
Freshman pitcher Ryan Zeferjahn then got the call out of the bullpen with runners on first and second base with no outs.
Another performance that won't go overlooked was the effort by Kansas redshirt-junior starting pitcher Sean Rackoski. Rackoski was making his return from a broken thumb sustained in the preseason last year. He contributed five strong innings until he lost command and walked the first two batters of the sixth inning.
The scoring burst was capped off by sophomore outfielder Devin Foyle, who drove in sophomore infielder Rudy Karre with a double.
After walking his first batter into a bases loaded and then striking out the next, Zeferjahn walked The Citadel first baseman Ben Peden, which forced in a run.
The Citadel designated hitter Bryce Leasure proceeded to tighten the game with a two-run double, which knocked Zeferjahn out of the game in favor of junior righthander Tyler Davis.
Associated Press
Davis was able to strike out The Citadel right fielder Barrett Charpia to strand runners on second and third, which proved to be pivotal in the Jayhawks' victory.
After the hit, senior closer Stephen Villines was brought in to pitch the last 2.1 innings of the ballgame. Villines was able to shut out The Citadel for the rest of the afternoon and record his first save of the season.
Junior lefthander Blake Weiman was brought in to hold the runners on base, but Peden struck again with a two-run single up the middle, which pushed the score to 6-5.
Devin Foyle scored an insurance run in the top of the seventh, which marked the final score at 7-5.
In the next inning, Kansas put itself in another compromising situation. After Davis struck out the first two The Citadel batters, three consecutive batters reached base, which loaded the bases with two outs in the inning.
Dzwierzynski: Don't let bad takes discredit good works
BRENDAN DZWIERZYNSKI
@BrendanDzw
Throughout his career built on outlandish quips and goofy sidebars, Charles Barkley's quote about athletes not being role models for kids still resonates above all his other comments. There are arguments both for and against this stance, including that athletes can be exemplary role models for reasons other than their athleticism.
Enter Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving and his belief that Earth is flat.
There's no need to sugarcoat Irving's flat-Earth stance. It's pseudoscience that's been disproven for centuries. It isn't an opinion, it's just patently false. There's a reason Bad Religion's song "Flat Earth Society" opens with singer Greg Graffin belting the word "lie" 18 times in a row. Letting Irving teach kids about science would be ill-advised, but does one erroneous belief mean he can't still be a role model?
Like most off-court issues in sports, it's not a black and white concept. Irving's nonchalance about nonsense is concerning, but it shouldn't disqualify him from being looked at as a potentially positive influence.
Sometimes the archetypical reasons why we consider someone to be exemplary turn out to be misguided. Many jokes were made over All-Star Game weekend at Irving's expense, notably about how his single year at Duke may be a contributing factor to his flat-Earth beliefs. To counter that remark, consider the fact Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green spent four years in college and didn't outright deny the possibility earth is flat when
given the chance.
It's important not to lose sight of the fact that athletes, like all people, are complex, and they contribute both assets and liabilities to society. Promoting flat-Earth foolishness is objectively a liability, but that doesn't completely discredit positives Irving has brought to the world.
It's nearly impossible to argue working with UNICEF and Best Buddies isn't commendable. Irving has dedicated time to both causes, acts which are absolutely deserving of praise.
It's important not to lose sight of the fact that athletes, like all people, are complex."
Barkley's notorious comment and a population that loves to pigeonhole may lead one to believe an individual is either a role model or simply an athlete with nothing else to offer, but that's not a particularly good approach to analyzing people in any walk of life.
Barkley's quote holds the most water if it's viewed as self-descriptive, considering his long history with gambling and alcohol (not that
either is inherently bad, but Barkley hasn't always been one to practice moderation). But on a wider scale, the lives of athletes are too complex to be jammed into one provocative comment.
Michael Jordan is widely known as a jerk off the court (and on it, for that matter), but his story is a go-to example for teaching kids the benefits of hard work. Shaquille O'Neal admitted to cheating on his wife, but has delivered Christmas gifts to needy kids for over 20 years. Even Barkley's strong personality on TV can be used as a lesson about sticking to one's convictions.
Again, this concept isn't reserved for athletes, it pertains to everyone. Every great politician has a bad policy, every influential musician releases a dud album, every trailblazing sports columnist has a take that's a bit too hot.
Irving's flat-earth beliefs deserve ridicule, because, frankly, they're absurd. This lunacy shouldn't instantly discredit his good works, however. Keep an open mind, because athletes truly can be role models, or at least can do some exemplary work.
Don't teach your kids the flat-earth theory, though. That's always a bad idea.
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