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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7. 2013
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
KANSAS TIPOFF
AT A GLANCE
Kansas travels to Oklahoma with a one-game lead in the Big 12 over instate rival Kansas State. Coach Bill Self has said that senior guard Elijah Johnson is his guy and he's sticking with him. Until something different happens on the court, expect Johnson to be running the point guard position. Ben McLemore and Jeff Withey are both contenders for Big 12 Player of the Year, but there's still nine games to go before they head to Kansas City.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Andrew White Ill, guard
His six points
in six skirts in one minute of action raised eyebrows from all the Jayhawk faithful. White is a talented player who continues to get better, but at the moment
White III
,there's a log jam at his guard position (see Travis Releford and Ben McLemore). White will continue to garner more playing time, and as he showed against Oklahoma State, can step up late in a game even if he is coming off the bench cold.
Will Naadir Tharpe's roll off the bench increase?
QUESTION MARK
Bill Self made it clear that Elijah Johnson will be his starting point guard go forward. Tharpe is Kansas' best handler and may be able to help distribute the ball and create some more options for the Jayhawks.
BY THE NUMBERS
2
Ben McLemore is the second leading scorer in the Big 12 (16.4 ppg)
1
Travis Releford leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage
0
Jayhawks without playing time this season
Jayhawks aim to sweep Sooners Kansas won in Lawrence and hopes to in Norman
Johnson
KANSAS
(16-1, 4-0)
STARTERS
At the moment, Elijah Johnson is in a funk, to the say the least. He's tried everything to get out of that funk, but the only way he knows how to get out of it is to just play. Throughout his career, Johnson has shown flashes of brilliance including the NCAA title game run from last season. He's just not a true point guard and is being asked to play that position. Johnson will continue to try hard, but the more he plays and the less he thinks, the old Elijah will come back.
ELIJAH JOHNSON, GUARD
McLemore
NO. 5 KANSAS VS. OKLAHOMA 4 P.M., LLOYD NOBLE CENTER. NORMAN, OKLAHOMA
BEN MCLEMORE. GUARD
Releford
The man from St. Louis continues to shine even when he's not being as aggressive as the coaching staff would like. However, he still on pace to break Danny Manning's freshman record of 14.6 ppg. McLemore is a gifted talent who plays within the flow of the game. At times, he's too unseafish, but this year, he's progressively gotten better at finding the time to step up when the moment's right. Look for another big game from Air McLemore.
The fifth-year senior has been steady as they come for the Jayhawks. He's a good defender, attacks the rim when necessary and has a solid basketball IQ that allows him to make big plays for Kansas. Releford is the senior leader the Jayhawks will ride throughout the season and rightfully so. He understands his position on this team and will do whatever he can to help Kansas make a deep run in March.
TRAVIS RELEFORD, GUARD
Young
KEVIN YOUNG, FORWARD
You're always going to get something interesting out of Kevin Young. Whether it's a steal, a good set on defense or finishing on the other end of an alley-oop, Young is one of those energy guys that every team loves to have, especially when offensive struggles continue to happen. Young's not the most talented player, but he works hard and can come up big in certain moments. Look for Young to be an integral role player for this team in Norman.
Withey is on the verge of being remembered as one of the most prolific shot blockers in Kansas history. He's athletic for his size at 7-feet tall and changes the dynamic of any opponent of the Jayhawks. Withey continues to get better as each game passes into the season despite getting roughed up by some of the big men in the Big 12. However, Withey will remain a big time contender for some major national awards down the stretch.
JEFF WITHEY, CENTER
Withey
OKLAHOMA
BUDDY HIELD, GUARD
Hield
A little experience has gone a long way for Hield. The freshman is averaging nearly 10 points per game in Big 12 play, but it may have come at the cost of his rebounding. Since grabbing 10 boards against Kansas State on Jan. 19 he hasn't been able to grab more than five.
STEVEN PLEDGER, GUARD
Considering Oklahoma's starters each played about 30 minutes in Lawrence, it's fair to say the same recipe will be used in Norman. That formula also centers on the need for Pledger to produce. He also hasn't done much since putting up 20 against Baylor.
Pledger
JE'LON HORNBEAK. GUARD
It hasn't been an easy go for Hornbeak since scoring just one point against Kansas. He's seen his playing time drop below the 20 minute mark in the last few games and hasn't done much with the time he's had. Five points in three games isn't going to help.
Hornbeak
AMATH M'BAYE. FORWARD
M'Baye was the biggest factor last time around. Twelve points, seven rebounds, a steal and he was perfect at the line. At 6-foot-9, he can be disruptive in the paint, but hasn't put up notable numbers since scoring 20 against Baylor last week.
M'Baye
ROMERO OSBY. FORWARD
Last time Oklahoma matched up with Kansas, Osby wasn't the biggest factor, but he was certainly the second biggest. His 12 points and six rebounds helped keep the Jayhawks from pulling away, but four foul hindered his play near the end of the game.
Osby
OKLAHOMA TIPOFF
AT A GLANCE
The Sooners wouldn't let Kansas pull away in Lawrence until the final moments on January, 26th. No one was expecting the Jayhawks to roll Oklahoma but it seems OU may still be exhausted from the playing in Allen Fieldhouse. The Sooners have dropped two of their last three games and have seen their production on offense and defense fall too.
Fitzgerald
PLAYER TO WATCH
Andrew Fitzgerald, forward
The senior earned his first start Monday at Iowa State and led the team with 12 points and seven rebounds. However, he played only 18 minutes because of foul
trouble and eventually fouled out, only the second Sooner to do so this year. If he mimics his Monday offensive production against Kansas, it could help offset a possible poor shooting night from one of the other Oklahoma forwards.
QUESTION MARK
Oklahoma's top three scorers, Osby, M'Baye and Pledger, have combined to shoot less than 40 percent from the field in Oklahoma's past four games. Those figures include the Baylor game, an outlier from the other three games, when the three combined to shoot 20-31 from the field. Oklahoma's other starters are freshman and don't have the scoring touch the Sooners' top three do. Kansas leads the nation in opponent field goal percentage at 35.4 percent, so Oklahoma's scorers need to be on for it to have a shot to take down Kansas.
Will the Sooners' shooting show up?
0
BY THE NUMBERS
3
Largest OU lead on Kansas in the two teams' last meeting
Points in the paint by OU last game against KU
16
Oklahoma national rank for assists per game (12.3)
212
PREDICTION:
BIG JAY WILL CHEER IF...
The Jayhawks' show some confidence in their ball handling. If there's consistent point guard play from Elijah Johnson and Naadir Tharpe, then the Jayhawks will be able to get back on track and play with much more confidence. It's not going to be a perfect fit with Johnson or Tharpe, but if they can stop turning the ball over, Kansas will have a much easier time winning in Norman.
Kansas 76, Oklahoma 52
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BABY JAY WILL WEEP IF...
.
4.
The Sooners score off of second-chance points. The Jayhawks' defense figures to be good enough to keep any of the Sooners from dominating offensively the way Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart and Markel Brown did last Saturday against Kansas. But they also must keep the Sooners from gifting second-chance points from offensive rebounds. Oklahoma is a better offensive rebounding team than the Cowboys were. The Sooners could use the same formula Oklahoma State did to upset Kansas.