---
sports
KANSAN.COM/SPORTS | MONDAY, FEB. 13, 2017
Josh Jackson's heroics save the day for Kansas
▶ BRIAN MINI
@brianminimum
With five seconds left in a tied game, Jackson took advantage of senior center Landen Lucas' pick and was fouled on an otherwise-unobstructed path to the basket.
in a back and forth game, with senior guard Frank Mason III on the bench for the final shot, freshman guard Josh Jackson took the reins for No. 3 Kansas against Texas Tech.
Jackson made 1-of-2 free throws to give Kansas an 80-79 win in Lubbock.
"Landen made a great screen which freed him and he had a head of steam driving it downhill," coach Bill Self said in a postgame radio interview.
Jackson set a season-high with 31 points on an efficient 12-of-15 shooting. He also finished with 11 rebounds to give him another double-double, his fourth in the last five games.
"That was probably the most complete game he's played since he's been here," Self said about Jackson's performance in his postgame press conference.
One of Kansas' biggest issues was foul trouble.
Mason fouled out with 3:05 in the game after only playing 26 minutes. He ended the game with just 12 points, five rebounds and no assists.
"We got 26 minutes from him before he fouled out," Self said. "He wasn't himself and that was pretty obvious."
The other player who struggled with fouls was Lucas with four, although Lucas did contribute 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting and an important off-the-ball play to set up Jackson's go-ahead free throws.
That was probably the most complete game he's played since he's been here."
Bill Self Kansas coach
Aside from Jackson and Lucas, there were only sparse contributions from other Jayhawks.
the floor.
Junior guard Svi Myhailiuk had three three-pointers and fellow junior guard Devonte' Graham had six assists, but they were a combined 5-of-18 shooting from
Kansas was outrebounded 38-32, but the Jayhawks were able to keep it close because of their 40 percent three-point shooting.
"We couldn't guard them and they couldn't guard us," Self said.
Kansas shot 49 percent for the game, while Texas Tech shot 48 percent.
One reason Kansas was able to keep the game close was the lack of turnovers. The game was relatively clean on both sides, but Kansas only turned the ball over nine times.
Another was bench points. Texas Tech's only bench points came from an Aaron Ross jumper in the first half.
Texas Tech hasn't beat Kansas since March 4,2009. With the win, Kansas remains one game ahead of Baylor in the Big 12.
The Jayhawks only had nine themselves, but sophomore guard Lagerald Vick had seven points, two of which came from a one handed dunk that gave Kansas a momentary lead late in the game.
Kansas' next game is at home against West Virginia on Feb.13.
Associated Press Kansas' Josh Jackson, top, dunks the ball during an NCAA basketball game against Texas Tech, Saturday, Feb. 11. 2017 in Lubbock, Texas.
Associated Press
Associated Press
Kansas Frank Mason III celebrates with Josh Jackson after he scored the game-winning free throw during an NCAA basketball game against Texas Tech, Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017 in Lubbock, Texas.
Rolstad: Tough road ahead
SKYLAR ROLSTAD
@SkyRolSports
It was a typical trap game: an away game against the third-to-last Big 12 team in Texas Tech before a formidable stretch where No. 3 Kansas faces No. 11 West Virginia and No. 6 Baylor.
A loss in Lubbock, Texas, on Saturday would have made plenty of sense.
It looked that way during the action, too.
Few things were similar to Kansas' other games. Senior guard Frank Mason III actually played significantly fewer minutes than normal, as he fouled out after playing 26 minutes. However, if you had watched a single second of the game, you'd know that the day offered no rest for Mason. Mason recovered an initially slow performance by ending up with 12 points and five rebounds.
Despite the flipped script, Kansas heads back to Lawrence to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers with an 80-79 win in hand. For once, Mason wasn't out of this world. Jackson compensated — because someone had to - and Kansas claimed what should have been a routine conference win.
Associated Press
Some things never change for the Jayhawks. Freshman guard Josh Jackson was still impressive, setting a season-high in points with 31 and sinking the game-winning free throw.
Kansas still allowed the opponent's big man a career day. Texas Tech's Zach Smith finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Kansas had a tough day on the boards, losing the rebound battle to Texas Tech.
Saturday's game might have trickled down to an exciting finish, but it was the most average game of the season for Kansas.
Kansas' bench still lagged behind the production of the starters, though it ultimately didn't affect which team won. Sophomore forward Carlton Bragg Jr. replaced senior center Landen Lucas for 12 minutes and recorded two points and two rebounds. Freshman forward Mitch Lightfoot's audition as backup big was successful, but it looks to be over now that Bragg is back
At least Kansas fans know exactly what to expect from this Jayhawks team. Whether the Big 12 title will be a race to the finish or a foregone conclusion will be determined in Kansas' next two games, but this Kansas team continues to figure out how to win against tough Big 12 opposition.
What also looked a little odd was Kansas' excellent shooting, despite the close score. Texas Tech almost accomplished the near-impossible task key to beating the Jayhawks: simply keeping pace. Kansas shot an outstanding 49 percent from the field on the day and shot 40 percent from three.
The only two things the Jayhawks did differently were still not that out of the ordinary. Lucas reached double figures in scoring for the eighth time this season, notching 13 points.
San Francisco 49ers cheerleaders perform the first half of an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals in Santa Clara, Calif. A former 49ers cheerleader fled a federal lawsuit on Jan. 31 alleging NFL executives and team owners are conspiring to suppress wagers for cheerleaders.
from suspension.
The Jayhawks survived the trap game, and that's more than a lot of the leading teams in the nation this season can say for themselves.
Dzwierzynski: It's time to end cheerleading in the NFL
▶ BRENDAN DZWIERZYNSKI @BrendanDzw
Cheerleaders are commonplace in all levels of football. Just like you're guaranteed to see overpriced concessions and coaches overthinking their game plans, seeing cheerleaders at football games is a near certainty. However, just because it's a convention doesn't mean it's the way things should be.
Twenty-six NFL teams have their own cheerleading squads, and all 26 are named in an antitrust lawsuit filed against the league by the cheerleaders themselves days before Super Bowl LI. The suit alleges the NFL intentionally keeps the cheerleaders' wages at a level so low they must support themselves by working day jobs in addition to their cheerleading duties.
Let's not be naive, the obvious reason most of these teams maintain cheerleading
In reality, there's a very simple solution to this issue: get rid of cheerleaders in the NFL.
From Pop Warner leagues through college football, it makes sense why there are cheerleaders. For younger kids, it's an after-school activity, and like any other extracurricular it's just a way to stay busy once classes end.
In college, where school spirit is a major part of the aura of the game, cheerleaders serve an important purpose by executing their namesake duty. But when it comes to the NFL, where the pomp and circumstance is almost nonexistent compared to the college game, there's no good reason to have cheerleaders in this day and age.
squads is for the sex appeal. Sex sells. We all know that. The NFL, an organization that will make a dollar any way it can, is not above using its severely underpaid employees to make a quick buck.
Look all around the league, and you'll see cheerleaders being marketed heavily while being compensated minimally. The Miami Dolphins publish a swimsuit calendar featuring their cheerleaders annually, as do the New Orleans Saints for their Saintsations cheerleading team, while the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders have their own TV show on CMT.
Ignoring the financial implications for the NFL (because frankly the league isn't going to suffer if its franchises no longer operate cheerleading teams), there's no legitimate reason why you need to supply sex appeal on the sidelines every Sunday in the fall. No fans are going to games just to see cheerleaders, and if there are, they may need to reevaluate some priorities and discover the internet.
Considering the needlessness of actual cheerleading in the NFL, along with the blatant and equally unnecessary display of sex appeal, it's hard to defend the current state of cheerleading in professional football. This is only exacerbated when you discover this isn't even the first cheerleading-related lawsuit filed against the league and its franchises in the last four years.
Multiple lawsuits relating to wages for cheerleaders were filed in 2014. Obviously, this is an ongoing problem, one the NFL has dealt with for years. It doesn't make sense to perpetually underpay cheerleaders and have nasty lawsuits pop up frequently when the problem could be solved by accepting the minuscule financial implications and clear PR benefits of ending cheerleading league-wide.
The NFL has enough headaches to deal with, the last thing it needs is another lawsuit from disgruntled employees. Once this lawsuit is resolved, it's in the league's best interest to stop employing cheerleaders. The NFL doesn't even need to worry about the fans in this case (not that it often does); we probably won't even notice the cheerleaders are gone, let alone actively miss them.
+