Volume 125 Issue 75
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
kansan.com
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
COMMENTARY
"We put ourselves in a very tough position knowing there's very little margin for error, but the guys usually respond favorably when the stage is pretty bright," Self said.
Big-time teams perform when the lights are brightest. The lights will be bright in Stillwater Wednesday night.
— Edited by Madison Schultz
Jayhawks' confidence at an all-time high
Big 12 road trips are, by nature, quite hostile. The trip to Stillwater to face Oklahoma State, the team that handed Kansas its first loss of the three-game losing streak, is one of the toughest in the conference. Add to the ferocity of Gallager-Iba arena the fact that the Jayhawks enter the game tied for first place in the conference with the Cowboys, and there's no better time than the present for a surge in confidence.
For Kansas players, coaches and fans this return to confidence had to happen and happen right now.
Because the Jayhawks are in the homestretch. The stretch of unfinished Big 12 business that makes or breaks Big 12 conference pionships. The toughest games of the 2013 stretch for the Jayhawks won't take place in the friendly confines of Allen Fieldhouse.
Why the sense of urgency?
In seeking to regain sole ownership of the Big 12, Kansas faces two of the toughest scoring guards in the conference in Marcus Smart and Markel Brown.
In their first meeting at Allen Fieldhouse, Brown scored 19 points in the first 15 minutes of play in the first half. In the second, Smart took over, scoring 15 points to cap the Cowboys' 85-80 victory on James Naismith Court. The win snapped a 33-game home winning streak for the Jawhaws.
It's no secret. Kansas has its confidence back.
"We'll find out a lot more about ourselves on Wednesday," coach Bill Self said. "That'll be as hard of a game as we have this year going to Stillwater and winning."
The door is wide open in the Big 12. A victory Wednesday night would put Kansas in control of its own destiny. Take care of business in the games you have to win, and a ninth straight title banner is on its way.
As much as it hurt at the time, the loss may be just the ammunition the Jayhawks needed to ensure a victory in Stillwater. Revenge is a powerful motivational tool in sports. This time around, the Jayhawks have even more to play for.
The combination of the environment of Gallagher-Iba, conference standings and the revenge factor make Wednesday night's match-up in Stillwater the toughest the Jayhawks will see in this regular season. Many fans questioned the toughness of this Jayhawk team during the three-game losing streak. Recent wins have quelled the anxiety, but the question still lingers.
BASEBALL
UPWARD BOUND
Kansas falls 9-7 to Nevada, but the team is confident in its potential
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Pitcher Frank Duncan throws a pitch during last season's game against the Texas A&M Aggies. The team's task this year is to focus on base paths.
tgraff@kansan.com
TREVOR GRAFF
toreff@tongee.com
The scoreboard read 8-7 in favor of the Jayhawks, but that quickly changed as Gerig's two-strike double rallied the Wolfpack for a third time, scoring two runs and sealing Nevada's 9-7 victory.
Nevada Wolfpack pinch-hitter Brad Gerig walked to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
"You just have to keep battling through it," senior shortstop Kevin Kuntz said. "It was back and forth the whole game. Obviously, it was tough, slipping on that one throw away early. You just have to compete in every innings."
The Jayhawks held three leads in Monday's game four matchup with the wolfpack. The Jayhawks started the scoring in the first inning, posting a run after Kevin Kuntz scored on an Alex DeLeon sac fly.
"With the bat change, it's become an emphasis for a lot of teams in college baseball," Price said. "We're trying to do the same thing. We're trying to start runners and steal bases and play hit-and-run. When you do that well, you put a lot of pressure on the opposing club."
"It was a well-played baseball game," coach Ritch Price said. "For the opening series of the year for two clubs, all four games were very well played. It was very competitive, and we had the opportunity to win three out of four and couldn't get that final out."
The game continued in shootout fashion, with the Jayhawks giving up two runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to set up the 8-7 deficit that carried into the ninth inning.
In game one, Kansas pitcher Frank Duncan led the Jayhawks to an 11-4 victory over future top-
"It's my game, so I'm really comfortable with that." Kuntz said. "I just do what I can, like hit the ball on the ground, to try to move runners up. I can lay down the sac bunt if I need to. It's always been my game, so I just try to do it the best I can."
This aggression on the base paths became a part of Coach Price's philosophy after the NCAA adopted its BBCOR regulations in 2010.
15 Major League prospect Bradley Shipley. The Jayhawks posted seven runs in the eighth inning to claim a victory in the first game of the year.
Kansas closer Robert Kahana drew the task of closing out the Wolfpack. Kahana entered the game in the eighth inning after the Jayhawks had used four other members of the bullpen. In his
"You have to be one of the most competitive guys in America," Price said. "It's one of those things when you throw a pitch that's borderline, if it's called a ball, you have to find a way to fight through that thing and literally compete every single pitch. You have to locate, and you have to grind."
Kahana got his first taste of a closer's pressure packed task this season with runners on late in a close game.
two-inning appearance, Kahana recorded two strikeouts and two walks, allowing two earned runs on three hits.
The Jayhawks continued to focus on the base paths continue to produce in Monday's up-and-down battle.
"We just needed to come out there with a lot of energy and just be aggressive and jump on the pitcher early," Kuntz said. "We just wanted to hit the pitcher early in the game and make their starter go a lot of pitches and get to their bullpins. That seemed to work out late in the game today."
In game two, Kansas suffered a 2-1 defeat, in which Kansas couldn't muster the needed run support for a late game victory.
"I thought our pitching was fabulous." Price said. "I compliment their pitching. They grinded, they competed. We had opportunities, and the same guys who struggled today are the same guys who got base hits in game one."
"It's always nice to back up startin-
pitching like we did," senior
third baseman Jordan Dreilling
said. "We gave them that extra
fight late in the games. When Wes
goes out and pitches as well as he
did, it's on us hitters to go out and
finish the job."
In Sunday's game three, the Jayhawks won 6-3 with another solid pitching performance.
The Jayhawks return home to face the Northwestern Wildcats in a four-game series over the weekend. The Jayhawks will start Frank Duncan in game one with first pitch coming at 3 p.m. in Hogland Ballpark.
Edited by Paige Lytle
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Johnson's energy invigorates team
BLAKE SCHUSTER
bschuster@kansan.com
"When Ben sees me smiling, he smiles harder," Johnson said after defeating Kansas State last week. "When Travis sees me feeling confident, he feels more confident. When I'm doing things the right way, Jeff feels better. When I come in feeling great, everybody feeds off it."
If you looked closely at Elijah Johnson the last two games,you might have noticed something different about Kansas' senior point guard.
The Jayhawks have been feeling great. They're riding back-to-back victories of more than 20 points into a Wednesday night showdown at Oklahoma State — the school that knocked Kansas into its funk — looking to avenge a rare loss at Allen Fieldhouse.
He's been holding himself higher, acting more confident and showing it in ways that haven't been seen in some weeks. He's laughing again, having fun — the whole team is, but it's Johnson who's the catalyst behind it all.
The chemistry that highlighted a dominant run in December seems to have returned. We hadn't seen the Jayhawks' happy dance around since a video was released of them celebrating in the locker room after a statement victory at Ohio State on Dec. 22.. Now they're Harlem Shaking before practices.
"I stepped out of my comfort zone doing it, and I think everybody felt the same way," Johnson said of making the Harlem Shake video. "It turned into us having so
much energy, and then, when we went into practice, it carried over. It makes us realize there's not too much time left. Enjoy it."
It wasn't the classic bonding montage from every sports movie, but it was close enough, and it came at a time in the season when Kansas needed it most.
Johnson said the team hadn't been able to enjoy themselves lately. That the Jayhawks were playing for other people instead of themselves, and the fun that was
"There's not a team in America that has fun every time they play at the same consistent level."
BILL SELF Men's Basketball Coach
present in the beginning of the season was nowhere to be found.
Perhaps that's why coach Bill Self was adamant that his group was playing on borrowed time at the start of conference play.
"There're not a team in America that has fun every time they play at the same consistent level," Self said after defeating Texas. "You go through ruts, and you kind of lose your personality, but I think we've got our personality back."
That personality came in the form of freshman guard Ben McLemore dancing in a chicken suit, junior guard Niko Roberts fox-trotting in footed pajamas and junior forward Justin Wesley doing his best caveman impression.
1
If a dance party translates to team unity, the last two games might as well be discos — Withey Block Party videos not withstanding.
"It shows team unity," Self said. "I think our fans like seeing that our guys are real. That's as much as anything for us."
"Coach has been getting on us about being fast a lot," sophomore guard Naadir Tharpe said after the K-State game. "He tells us to just go out there and play. I felt like a lot of times, we really weren't running any sets; we were just out there playing together, and the game was flowing."
Maybe that's what's been making the Jayhawks smile more lately. Maybe it's the victories, but more likely it's a combination. The team is executing in all facets of the game, and that's no accident.
The next time Kansas finds itself lacking the enthusiasm that has seemingly put the team back on track, at least it'll have taped evidence of what it was like to enjoy each other.
"Right now, it's something we can look back on and say, 'When we were going through a bad time, this is when it started to get fun,' Johnson said. "We didn't like seeing each other hurt."
There isn't greater evidence of that flow than when Johnson started off the second half against Texas by scoring Kansas' first seven points, each of which came off a big defensive stop.
Edited by Madison Schultz
A Withey steal, block and defensive rebound all happened on consecutive Texas possessions.
TYLER ROSTE/KANSAN
Senior guard Elijah Johnson driving the lane and dishing off the ball during Saturdays game against the Texas Longhorns. The Jayhawks were victorious with a final score of 73-47.