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Mason, Mykhailiuk shine in 42-point win over Emporia State
Missy Minear/KANSAN Freshman guard Josh Jackson dunks during the second half against Emporia State on Nov. 6. The Jayhawks defeated the Hornets 104-62.
BRIAN MINI
@brianminimum
n its last tune-up before heading to Hawaii, Kansas saw some notable improvements. Field goal percentage was up and turnovers were down double digits in Kansas' 104-62 win against Emporia State.
After being disappointed with the team's effort last Tuesday, Self made a change to the starting lineup, replacing sophomore forward Carlton Bragg Jr. with sophomore guard Lagerald Vick.
Mykhailiuk has made a name for himself as a viable scorer from range as well as inside. The 6-foot-8 guard scored 12 points in the first half and finished with 16 points.
Neither Vick nor Bragg made a difference in the first half of the game, but for the second exhibition game in a row, junior guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk seemed to be poised for a breakout season.
"I was trying to be aggressive, rebound the ball, play defense, a little bit of everything," Mykhailiuk said.
Bragg, on the other hand, struggled coming off the bench. The sophomore finished with just four rebounds and had five turnovers in his 15 minutes.
In his second game as a Jayhawk, freshman guard Josh Jackson filled the stat sheet with 11 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two blocks. Jackson even had an opportunity to play some point guard in the second half with Vick as the only other guard on the floor.
I was trying to be aggressive, rebound the ball play defense a little bit of everything."
Sviatoslav mykhaliliu*
Junior guard
"I felt a lot better this game than I did last game," Jackson said. "It was natural for me to be nervous as a freshman."
The freshman offensive standout this game
was forward Udoka Azubuike, who converted on six alley-oop attempts on his way to 13 points. Azubuike was also solid defensively with seven rebounds and three blocked shots.
"I love watching Udoka play," fellow freshman Jackson said. "He's a force inside ... It makes our jobs really easy, just put the ball up there and nine times out of 10 he'll get up there."
After fouling out in just eight minutes against Washburn, Azubuike only committed three fouls and excited the Allen Fieldhouse crowd every time the ball came near him.
"I think our big guys were better and Udoka is one of the better lob catchers around," coach Bill Self said. "He's someone that not many
people can match as far as a big body and athleticism."
As he did last game, senior guard Frank Mason III did it all for Kansas. The second-team All-Big 12 guard finished with 17 points and five assists, most of which came in the first half.
Not only did the Jayhawks score 12 more points than their last game, but they were also able to hold their opponent to 12 less points this time around.
Emporia State started the game shooting well, hitting a trio of threes that tied the game at 11. As a whole, Kansas held Emporia State to 30 percent shooting, in part because of Kansas' nine blocks.
Kansas' first regular season game is against Indiana on Friday, Nov. 11 in Hawaii.
KANSAN.COM/SPORTS | MONDAY, NOV. 7, 2016
Volleyball wins in four-set road battle
▶ TIFFANY LITTLER
@tlitt33
In their last meeting, the Jayhawks swept the Sooners (13-12, 4-8) at home.
Andrea Ringgenberg/KANSAN Junior right side hitter Kelsie Payne goes for a spike during the game against Kansas State on Oct. 12. Kansas won the match in three sets.
This time in Norman on Oklahoma's home court, the victory for Kansas (22-2, 11-1) didn't come as easy. This time took four sets (23-25, 25-23, 25-20, 27-25).
"I'm just really proud of the fight. We know our execution wasn't at the highest level, but there was some want out there," Kansas coach Ray Bechard said. "That was a critical match and it could've been one that, after back-to-back five setters, that for one reason or another, we could have faded away. But we certainly didn't and I'm very proud of them."
Kansas struggled to stop the Oklahoma offense early in the first set as they led the whole way. Coming into the match, the Sooners ranked second in the Big 12 in hitting percentage (.253). The Jayhawks got their first lead in the second set as senior setter Maggie Anderson recorded an ace to put Kansas up 8-7.
The match wasn't pretty by any means, but
Junior right side hitter Kelsie Payne has had her fair share of awards. This week, she was named to two: the AVCA National Player of the Week and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week.
Saturday, she became the 15th Jayhawk to reach 1,000 career kills as she recorded 21 versus the Sooners. Right after she reached this milestone, she recorded an ace. To add to this, she had seven digs and six blocks.
a few accomplishments came out of Saturday's battle with the Sooners.
"Kelsie got off to a little bit of a slow start... and here's a kid that never played six rotations prior to here and now," Bechard said. "She's contributing from everywhere and to get her 1,000th kill still in her junior year, that means she's doing a lot of things right."
Senior middle blocker Tayler Soucie became the third Jayhawk to reach 500 blocks in her career. This was also the fourth time she recorded 100 blocks in a season. Soucie also recorded nine kills, one assist and one dig.
cialist Tori Miller saw good playing time and recorded 12 digs. Junior outside hitter Madison Rigdon scored 18 points for the Jayhawks as she posted 15 kills, one ace, four digs and four blocks.
Junior setter Ainise Havilli secured the win for Kansas with an ace on match point. She recorded a double-double with 53 assists and 12 digs. Havili also recorded one block.
Junior defensive spe-
Kansas will get a little break as it gets ready to take on TCU (11-11,4-8) at home next Saturday at 4 p.m.
Miranda Anaya/KANSAN
Junior guard Jessica Washington goes up for a layup. The Jayhawks defeated Washburn 81-57 on Nov. 6.
Leaders dominate in win over Washburn
In Sunday's win over Washburn, redshirt junior guard Jessica Washington again delivered on the hype that has surrounded her, notching 21 points and two assists.
After last week's near-triple-double performance, Washington led Kansas to a 81-57 victory in its final exhibition game of the season. Washington insists that her success is due in large part to her teammates' play.
"I always like to be in that type of zone; it's not a different zone," Washington said. "I do realize that whenever I'm on, I'm on. I have to be aware of that, but with my teammates stepping up on defense, it allows me to get those open looks."
"Of course, with our transition defense, making the other team turn the ball over, we can get easy transition points," she said.
Kansas' lackluster scoring last season has helped influence the importance of transition play for the team this year — something that Washington has enjoyed.
Widely considered as one of Kansas' best on-ball defenders, Robertson was able to rack up three steals, four rebounds and 14 points in Kansas' win.
JARED ANDERSON
@|Anderson_383
One player who knows plenty about forcing turnovers is sophomore guard Aisia Robertson.
Coach Brandon Schneider believes that Robertson's growth throughout the past year has been exhibited in her play.
"She's very capable and I think that the big thing for Aisia this year is that she just understands her game a lot more than she did a year ago," Schneider
said. "She understands how to get to her certain spots on the floor and it's back-to-back games now where we've got double figures from her off the bench and we need that, we need production ... I definitely think she brings a lift to our team both offensively and defensively."
After Kansas suffered through foul trouble in its win over Fort Hayes State last weekend, Schneider stressed the importance of discipline on the floor.
In Sunday's game senior forward Caelynn Manning-Allen - who was limited to just nine minutes last weekend played 15 minutes while scoring seven points and grabbing eight rebounds.
"We couldn't play her much in the first half with her foul trouble," Schneider said.
"Caelynn was really good in our trip to Europe, and then she had a groin injury that kept her out for a couple of weeks," Schneider said. "I think she's honestly still trying to work back into her rhythm there, trying to get some confidence back, but she's going to be good for us, we just have to keep her out of foul trouble."
Schneider said Manning-Allen is still getting back into the swing of things after an injury she endured over the summer.
Now that Kansas has finished its exhibition play, it will look to extend its winning streak into the regular season. Kansas opens up regular season play Nov. 13 against Missouri State in Allen Fieldhouse.
— Edited by Chandler Boese
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