THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013
PAGE 9B
KANSAS TIPOFF
AT A GLANCE
Kansas will be looking for some serious revenge after losing to the 238th ranked team in the country. At this point, it appears the game in Forth Worth was an anomaly including one of the worst halves of basketball in Kansas history. Still, the Jayhawks have superior talent to the Horned Frogs and on paper it appears they should be able to handle this team when the game is in Allen Fieldhouse this time.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Perry Ellis, forward
The freshman from Wichita has shown flashes of brilliance, but there's been very few games where he's got extensive minutes. If Kansas gets out to a major lead.
Ellis
look for Ellis to be inserted into the lineup where he can show off what he's been able to do in practice. Ellis is a solid player who eventually will be a major contributor for the Jayhawks. Look for him to possibly play 10 or 15 minutes more than his allotted time.
Will The Jayhaws lose against the Horned Frogs?
QUESTION MARK
No. Kansas is a top 10 in the country that played its worst game of the season against TCU this year. They will come out and play with intensity and emotion, and possibly some revenge. Plus, this being TCU's first trip to the Fieldhouse in a long time has to have some shock value.
BIG JAY WILL CHEER IF.
Kansas continues to play like they did last week against Texas and Kansas State. The fluidity and coolness the Jayhawks played with in those games is the amount of confidence needed for Kansas to make a deep run in March. As long as Johnson and Tharpe both take control of this team, there's a good chance for Kansas to be better the next few weeks.
NUMBERS
270 – The number of positions Kansas was behind TCU in the Ken Pomery rankings when they lost the last time.
13. 6-Kansas' first-half field goal percentage against TCU.
7412 The attendance at the Kansas-TCU game on Feb. 6
Kansas seeks revenge Saturday Jayhawks have a chance for redemption
KANSAS (22-4,10-3)
Johnson
STARTERS
ELIJAH JOHNSON, GUARD
For the first time in weeks, Johnson has shown more aggressiveness around the rim while also being passive when Naadir Tharpe needs to take over the game. Johnson is not all the way back to his original form from earlier in the season, but he's definitely more comfortable and continues to stay humble. Johnson struggled in the last game to go three of 12 with only eight points in 31 minutes of play against the Horned Frogs on Feb. 6.
McLemor
Releford
BEN MCLEMORE. GUARD
What else is there to say about McLemore? The impressive freshman pulled off a 360 dunk to perfection against Texas. He wore a chicken head in the 'Harlem Shake' video. And now he's a contender for Big 12 Player of the Year. The only place for improvement is for him to be more aggressive, and if he can learn to dribble a little better, he'll be even more lethal. At the moment, McLemore is staying ahead of Danny Manning's pace for freshman record with his 16.7 ppg.
Young
TRAVIS RELEFORD, GUARD
Releford's defense continues to be an ultimate glue guy for this team helping with offensive and defensive rebounding for the Jayhawks. Releford remains one of the staple players for this team, and his ability to knock down open threes at the moment contributes to his overall success. He scored a team-high 15 points against Texas. Releford is shooting 56.8 percent the last six games.
KEVIN YOUNG. FORWARD
Freshman forward Perry Ellis got the start off Young the last time these two teams faced off, but don't expect that to be the case this time. Young continues to be an important energy guy for the Jayhawks and will be a vital part of Kansas cruising to a victory against TCU. Young's role on the team continues to change throughout year, and he appears to be going with the flow for the most part. Eximite him to keep trucking along.
Withey
With his two blocks on Saturday against Texas, Withey broke the Big 12 career blocks record of former Longhorns Chris Mihim. Withey played 33 minutes in the last meeting in Forth Worth with 12 points and eight rebounds. Withey struggled with the Horned Frogs' smaller players, but it might have been a bad game like everyone else that day. At this point, Withey is marching closer to All-American status, and there's no sign of stopping. Withey leads the Big 12 and is third nationally with 4 blocked shots per game.
JEFF WITHEY. CENTER
NO. 9 KANSAS VS. TCU
3 P.M., ALLEN FIELDHOUSE, LAWRENCE, KAN
TCU
(10-16, 1-12)
STARTERS
KYAN ANDERSON. GUARD
Anderson joins Green as the only two players to start every game this season, and he leads TCU in scoring with 11.2 points per game. Since being held to eight points against the Jayhawks earlier this month, Anderson has scored in double figures in four straight games. He is in the top-10 in the Big 12 in both assists and steals.
Anderson
NATE BUTLER LIND, GUARD
The senior doesn't bring much of a scoring threat to the table, but his 42 assists show he is capable of helping Anderson distribute the ball across the floor. His biggest contributions will probably come on defense, where he's totaled 16 blocks and 24 steals, both of which rank second on the team. He did reach 10 points in the first game against Kansas.
GARLON GREEN, FORWARD
One of only two Horned Frogs to start every game this season, Green is second on the team with 10.2 points per game, including a 20-point outing against Kansas in Fort Worth on Feb. 6. But he's scored in single digits in three of the past four games, shooting 12-47.
Green
CONNELL CROSSLAND, FORWARD
Crossland grabbed 15 rebounds in the first meeting this season between the schools and contributed eight points. He is second on the team with 5.9 rebounds per game. Crossland spits starts with Devonta Abron and Adrick McKinney, but he's the least likely one to be on the court in a tight game. The senior shoots only 45 percent from the free throw line.
Crossland
DEVONTA ABRON, FORWARD
Although not known for being a scorer, Abron's 12 points against Oklahoma earlier this month was only one point shy of trying his career high. But of all Horned Frogs with at least 100 shot attempts on the season, Abron's 55 percent shooting is the best. He also leads the team with 19 blocks.
Abron
TCU
TIPOFF
AT A GLANCE
TCU hasn't won a conference game since beating Kansas, which remains its only conference win of the season. It's a stretch to say the Horned Frogs could replicate its feat and sweep the season series against Kansas, especially since the Jayhawks have won two of their last three games by more than 20 points. The fact that it's noteworthy that the Horned Frogs last loss to Texas, which was only their second conference loss, by single digits sums up the program's state.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Green
Garlic Green, forward
He had 20 points when the Horned Frogs defeated Kansas in early February on 7-13 shootings. The senior is only 6-foot-7, so if he starts to heat up again, Bill Self
could let defensive specialist Travis Reiford have a turn to guard him. Green also led TCU in scoring in its last game Feb. 19 against Texas, but he needs to be more active on the glass for the Horned Frogs to pull off the upset tonight.
QUESTION MARK
Can the Horned Frogs pull off the upset again?
TCU held Kansas to 13 points in the first half when the two schools first met on Feb. 6. But even then, the Horned Frogs only won by seven points because they really didn't play that much better than Kansas. Logic suggests that the Horned Frogs couldn't coerce Kansas into playing that bad of a first half again. But TCU already pulled off the upset once and it could be even more focused to play now that it gets an opportunity to knock off Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse.
BABY JAY WILL WEEP IF..
Kansas doubts itself. The Jayhawks got open looks at the basket that they routinely missed during their first loss to the Horned Frogs, and their offensive struggles seemed to become more contagious as the game wore on. If Kansas starts slowly again offensively, it needs to remember that its style of basketball has helped it win 21 games so far this season. With Reileford and McLemore, Kansas has the weapons to create easy offense through transition buckets.
PREDICTION:
NUMBERS
54. 2 - TCU is the only team in the Big 12 that scores under 60 points per game, and their 54.2 points per game is 345th nationally.
226 - The Horned Frogs' No. 226 RPI is the worst in the Big 12 conference and they join Texas Tech as the only two Big 12 teams to have an RPI higher than 200.
Kansas 74, TCU 50