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KANSAN.COM/SPORTS | MONDAY, OCT. 24, 2016
Cornerback Brandon Stewart tackles Oklahoma State running back Chris Carson during the Oct. 22 homecoming football game.
Gracie Williams/KANSAN
Kansas doomed by turnovers again in OSU loss
▶ WESLEY DOTSON
@WesleyDee23
Going into Saturday's homecoming game against Oklahoma
State, Kansas had committed 22 turnovers, the most in the nation.
That problem continued against Oklahoma State (5-2, 3-1 Big 12) at Memorial Stadium, and it's a glaring reason why Kansas (1-6, 0-4 Big 12) lost its sixth straight game, 44-20. Kansas committed three turnovers through the afternoon.
"The telling stat, for me, is the 17 points off turnovers [that Oklahoma State scored]," Kansas coach David Beaty said after the game.
Down 17-13 during the Jayhawks' first drive of the second half, senior running back Ke'aun Kinner fumbled, which led to a touchdown pass from Oklahoma State quarterback Mason
Rudolph to running back Chris Carson on the team's next drive.
"The fumble really, really hurt," Beaty said. "That one killed us."
Later in the third quarter, redshirt junior quarterback Montell Cozart threw two costly interceptions.
One involved a strange play in which junior wide receiver LaQuvionte Gonzalez had a deep ball thrown off his helmet and into the
hands of safety Jordan Sterns.
Cozart, who took over as the starter for sophomore quarterback Ryan Willis, played an effective game before his third-quarter mistakes.
He finished with 250 passing yards and a 68-yard touchdown pass to Gonzalez in the first quarter.
Another positive for Kansas was the emergence of the running game. The
Jayhawks finished with 204 rushing yards, led by Kinner with 145.
"I thought Kinner ran really, really well." Beaty said. "The [fumble] was a tough blow, because we were running the ball really well, and he actually had some good runs on that drive."
The Cowboys still managed to outscore the Jayhawks 17-7 in the third quarter, and that proved to be too much of a hurdle to
overcome for Kansas.
"Most teams need to play without turnovers," Beaty said. "For us, we're in such a situation right now that you do feel like you have to play mistake-free football because it's hard to overcome it."
The Jayhawks have now lost the turnover margin in four of their last six games.
"We can't have turnovers," Kinner said. "We've got to play smarter football."
KU No.2 in first coaches poll
▶ CHRISTIAN S. HARDY
@ByHardy
Kansas basketball was ranked No. 2 in USA Today's first coaches poll, released on Thursday morning. The Jayhawks were behind only the Duke Blue Devils, who will play Kansas in the Champions Classic in New York City on Nov. 15.
Kansas finished last year at No. 3 in the poll going into the NCAA Tournament, while Duke was ranked No. 18 at the end of last year.
The next Big 12 team, West Virginia, sat at No. 18 in the poll, down four spots from where the Mountaineers were last season. Texas was the only other Big 12 team to be ranked, coming in at No. 22. Iowa State, Oklahoma, and Kansas State also got votes, but didn't make the top 25.
The coaches' top 25
breaks down like this when it comes to the other conferences: The ACC and Big 10 each have five teams; the Big East and Pac 12 each have three; the West Coast Conference and the American Athletic Conference each have two; the SEC and Atlantic 10 each have one.
- Edited by
Cody Schmitz
JAYHAWKS ON PRE-SEASON WATCH LISTS
Devonte' Graham: Graham comes into his junior year named to the Jerry West Award watch list, which names the season's best shooting guard. Graham will have much higher expectations in 2016. A 27-point performance in a win over Oklahoma last season made him an important player to the Jayhawks through the rest of the year.
photos by Missy Minear
Carlton Bragg Jr.: Bragg will be a versatile asset for the Jayhawks this season. He was named to the Karl Malone Award watch list, which is awarded to the best power forward of the season. Bragg showcased his scoring ability at Late Night in the Phog this year and has expressed excitement at the chance to play more minutes this season. The Kansas frontcourt is tasked with replacing one of last season's best forwards in the nation in Perry Ellis.
Frank Mason III: Along with Devonte' Graham, Frank Mason heads up one of the most powerful backcourts in the nation. Coming to Kansas for his senior year, Mason was named to the Bob Cousy Award watch list, which is awarded to the season's best point guard. Over the last three years at Kansas, Mason has displayed a formidable ability to drive, score and pass.
Andrew Rosenthal/KANSAN
Freshman Jenny Nusbaum starts her heat of the 200-yard freestyle in a meet against Missouri State and North Dakota. The Jayhawks won the meet, defeating North Dakota 122-63 and Missouri State 136-49.
Jayhawks win double dual
LIZ PHAM-TA
@lizpharma
This weekend, the Kansas swim and dive team faced off in a double dual meet against the University of North Dakota and Missouri State University.
Kansas won twelve of the 19 events, surging ahead of North Dakota with a point total of 198-146 and beating out Missouri State 209-130.
Sophomore Libby Walker took first in the 1,000-yard freestyle. This past September, Walker tied with teammate Haley Bishop for first at the CSCAA Open Water Championships. Walker had a ten-second lead over the second place winner, North Dakota's Gabrielle Liedy. Walker clocked in at 10:20.55, while Liedy finished at 10:30.30.
In the 200-yard IM, freshman Elizabeth Amato-Hanner and junior Madison Straight tied in the last leg with a time of
2:07.56.
"[It was good to] see the team perform the way they did in a fairly quick format with event after event," he said. "I thought it was a good way to start the weekend."
Coach Clark Campbell said the race on Friday was a "mixed bag."
On Saturday, the second heat of the women's 400 IM was a close one. Straight stayed with North Dakota's Katie Breault and overpowered her in the last 25 yards of freestyle, snagging the win by .02 seconds. The 100-yard freestyle was another close race, with sophomore Breonna Barker winning by .01 seconds against Missouri State's Loretta Stelnicki in the second heat.
Straight said she was pleasantly surprised how well the team bounced back on the second day, something their coach was looking for after Friday. "I didn't expect our team to do so well at this time,"
Straight said. "I think after yesterday we were really pumped up and felt some more motivation to do well today, and after that tie with Elizabeth, it just motivated me more to do the IM really well."
In the 500-yard freestyle, freshman Jenny Nusbaum won the first heat, leading by four seconds for the majority of the race. Nusbaum ended up clocking a time of 5:04.14.
In the women's 400 freestyle relay, the Kansas' relay team of senior Pia Pavlic, sophomore Taylor Sieperda, Barker, and senior Yulduz Kuchkarova won by one second. Toward the end, the race became close between Kuchkarova and North Dakota's Anna Anderson. Kuchkarova pushed hard in the last 25 yards and finished with a time of 3:31.75.
Kansas' next meet is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 27 against TCU.
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