Volume 125 Issue 73
kansan.com
Mondav. February 18,2013
COMMENTARY
Kansas will fight for Big 12 title
What a weekend. The Kansas men's basketball team demolished the Texas Longhorns with a 26-point victory on College GameDay.
Former Kansas great Mario Chalmers stood at center court in front of fans and former players like Nick Collison, Wayne Simien and Thomas Robinson, and watched his jersey hang in the rafters of Allen Fieldhouse.
The Jayhawks have their swagger back.
Freshman guard Ben McLemore slammed a 360 degree dunk. Senior center Jeff Withey passed Texas' Chris Mihm as the Big 12's all-time blocked shots leader.
Offense finally started to click, defense smothered the Longhorns and the determination for Kansas ninth straight Big 12 title was back.
Even though the Jayhawks are back in sync, they still have a tough challenge ahead.
As many know, the Big 12 currently has a three-way tie first place among Kansas, Kansas State and Oklahoma State.
Kansas sits ahead of the other two programs, but the Jayhawks have the hardest remaining schedule.
Sure, home games against TCU,
West Virginia and Texas Tech aren't
alarming, but the three away games
are a big concern.
On Wednesday, the Jayhawks traveled to No. 17 Oklahoma State to average a home loss that snapped a 33-game winning streak.
Five days later, the squad travels to Ames, Iowa to face Iowa State in the Hilton Magic. No team this year has gone to Hilton Coliseum and left with a victory.
Then, to finish the regular season, the Jayhawks head south to take on Baylor, a team that is always dangerous with the talent that the Bears possess.
That's quite the road trip, especially when you compare the Jayhawks schedule to the other two schools.
After beating Baylor by 20 points, the Kansas State Wildcats have West Virginia, Texas Tech and TCU at home. The three road games left are Texas, Baylor and Oklahoma State, which could be trouble, but the Wildcats have won against all of those teams.
Keep in mind that Kansas hasn't been the best road team in the B12.
Oklahoma State is peaking at the right time, winning seven straight games. The Cowboys do travel to Iowa State, but all of the tough games are at home, which gives Oklahoma State an advantage over Kansas State and Kansas.
Besides winning against Ohio State and Texas Tech, Kansas' largest victory was by five points against Texas and West Virginia.
Last year, the Jayhawks had to battle at Kansas State, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State to finish out the season.
Still, this isn't something new to Kansas basketball.
On the bright side, tough stretches of games like this can prepare the jayhawks for a great NCAA tournament run. The mental toughness builds in this stretch.
If Kansas wants to win its ninth straight Big 12 title, the Jayhawks have no choice but to win these games. If the Jayhawks lose one game, they will have to hope for a loss to keep them in the running for the conference title.
Edited by Brian Sisk
V
KANSAS 73. TEXAS 47
The student body — in full force for ESPN's College GameDav — throws shredded newspaper before Saturday's tipoff against the Texas Longhorns at Allen Fieldhouse.
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
OLD MEETS NEW
Former players return for Texas game, Chalmers' jersey retirement
RYAN MCCARTHEY
rmccarthey@kansan.com
It was a special night in the Fieldhouse with Mario Chalmers' number rising into the rafters.
The arena showed off a blend of old and new schools in Kansas' 73-47 victory over Texas.
Chalmers walked onto Naismith court at halftime and gave a well-thought out speech to the sellout crowd just after the cord had been pulled to reveal his jersey.
On the other hand the videos scrolled across the board hanging over the court with booming sounds blasting out of the speakers exciting the student section and possibly the recruits sitting in the stands.
And for the most part the game on the floor did not match the intensity surrounding it. Kansas cruised to a comfortable lead thanks to its
defense and the Longhorns' inability to knock down open shots.
That all changed when freshman guard Ben McLemore made a whirlwind 360 dunk with 4:11 remaining, raising the Kansas fans out of their seats before driving home for the night.
"I didn't think he was going to try to do that," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "He slowed down to go off too, and I was like 'What is he doing', and then he did it."
Although McLemore's highlight slam rivaled the performances of the pros in the slam dunk competition in the NBA, the much improved play by senior Elijah Johnson played Kansas in the free flowing momentum they showed against Kansas State last Monday.
"When you're having fun you don't have to listen to the scouting report," Johnson said. "When
you're having fun you don't have to know the plays. When you're having fun you don't have to know nothing. You just have to go out there and play and that's what were doing right now we're just playing."
Johnson had one of his better nights in recent weeks, scoring with 13 points while also grabbing five boards and dishing out three assists. Most importantly, Johnson limited himself to a single turnover for the evening.
What also might have helped Johnson was the return of Chalmers and the other current and former NBA players in town because of All-Star weekend.
Still Johnson knows he can rely on all his former teammates as he went through his struggles.
"Mario doesn't have to be here to talk," Johnson said. "He'll text me and let me know what they're
thinking. I feel like having all those guys around brought energy. It just comes along with it. It's a good feeling that shoots through your body."
Another milestone moment reached tonight for Kansas came when senior center Jeff Withey surpassed Texas' Chris Mihm for the Big 12 blocks record with the 265th block of his career.
"I put a lot of hard work into getting it," Withey said. "I have a lot more games to play so hopefully I can add something to it and make sure it doesn't get touched for 20-something years."
Withey also put together his ninth double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds to go along with his two blocks.
The other leading scorer for the Jayhawks was senior Travis Releford who knocked down four
of his five 3-point attempts on the night while also helping to lead the team to one of its better defensive efforts of the season.
The Longhorns made 12 shots and shot 21.8 percent for the night.
"It was one of those good solid games, nothing special, but one of those game we are happy get a win" Self said.
Now the Jayhawks' focus turns to a crucial matchup against Oklahoma State on Wednesday night, a game where their best effort will be needed to avenge their lone home loss of the season.
"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.
Edited by Brian Sisk
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Seniors lead victory over No.22 Okla.
MAX GOODWIN mgoodwin@kansan.com
Senior leadership carried the Kansas women's basketball team to an 81-71 victory over No. 22 ranked Oklahoma at Allen Fieldhouse on Sunday.
the three seniors, Angel Goodrich, Monica Engelman, and Carolyn Davis, combined for 62 of the jayhawks' 81 points, and it was the second consecutive game in which Engelman has scored over 20 points.
It has become a theme that in each of Kansas' most recent wins, going back to the victory over Iowa State, the seniors have acted as leaders and played like veterans.
"There's poise and compose." Kansas coach Bonnie Henrickson said. "There's a sense of calm, not without a heartbeat, but their huddles are tighter, their voices are louder."
As Henrickson said, when Oklahoma made a second half run and cut the lead to single digits, it was Angel Goodrich who had the answer Goodrich and Engelman were able to
get the ball to Davis and make important free throws.
The lead was seven points, the closest it was in the second half, with 5.33 left in the half when Davis began demanding the ball. Oklahoma was right in the middle of making a second half run that seemed inevitable, but Davis caught the ball in the post, turned and scored.
Davis and her teammates are familiar with fighting back from double-digit margins in the second half as they did against TCU and Iowa State, but against Oklahoma on Sunday it was the Jayhawks trying to hold off Oklahoma's run. Herickson and Davis both agreed that those situations gave them a lesson of how to handle the lead.
Henrickson said she made
"I felt like we were slowing up," Davis said. "We had to keep pushing the tempo. We had to keep attacking. We couldn't up. I was trying to get my teammates to be more aggressive. I knew I had to take over as a senior, as a captain. I just tried to push my teammates to give me the ball."
sure her team knew not to start
playing not to lose, though she
said she did not use those words
as she spoke to them during a
second half timeout.
"Don't you dare stop being aggressive," Henrickson told them in the huddle. "Don't you dare start standing around and watching Angel and Carolyn play."
In the end, Davis had 24 points and 10 rebounds, Engelman had 21 points and five rebounds, and Goodrich had 17 points and 10 assists.
Sophomore Chelsea Gardner also contributed 10 points and nine rebounds in the game.
The win is the second this season for the layhawks over a team ranked in the AP top-25 poll, and gives them a winning record in conference play at 7-6. Kansas still sits at sixth in the conference standings.
Edited by Brian Sisk
TARA BRYANY/KANSAN
Senior guard Angel Goodrich rushes toward the basket for a layup in the second half of Sunda's game against Oklahoma. Goodrich scored 17 points in the 81-71 win.