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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2012
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MEN'S BASKETBALI
TARA BRYANT/KANSAN
Senior guard Travis Releford sprints past a Michigan State defender toward the basket. On Tuesday, the Jayhawks lost to the Spartans 67-64 in the Champions Classic.
Jayhawks look to rebound tonight
ETHAN PADWAY
epadway@kansan.com
Instead of having a week to brood over its three-point loss to Michigan State in the Champions Classic, the Kansas men's basketball team gets a chance to hop right back on the court tonight when it tips off against Chattanooga at 7 p.m.
"We can put this one behind
us, and we don't have to go a whole week thinking about this loss," senior guard Travis Releford said after the Champions Classic on Tuesday night. "We get into the gym tomorrow and get ready for the next game."
The Jayhawks had a five-point lead with less than five minutes remaining, but after a late surge by the Spartans, Kansas failed to respond.
The Jayhawks sputtered and could not answer each punch thrown by the Spartans.
"I don't want to take credit for what they did, but we also gave them extra possessions," Releford said. "When we had the lead, we were doing stuff out of character and just turned the ball over there at the end when we were up those few points."
"We didn't run offense down the stretch," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "I thought we actually executed our offense better than we had all year long for about 30 minutes. I thought we had the ball where we wanted to get it. We missed a lot of bunnies, too."
With Chattanooga in town, Kansas is looking to put together its first complete game of the season, where the offense executes and doesn't fade when pressure sets in.
But mostly, the game offers the Jayhawks a chance to put the Champions Classic loss behind them.
signed his national letter of intent to play for the Kansas men's basketball team on Wednesday.
"I'm definitely ready to go out and get the bad taste out of my mouth," freshman forward Jamari Traylor said.
Conner Frankamp, a four-star guard according to rivals.com,
FRANKAMP SIGNS LETTER OF INTENT
Frankamp, a Wichita native gave Kansas an verbal commitment during his sophomore year of high school. The six-foot point guard led Wichita North to the 2012 state quarterfinals. Rivals ranks him as the 30th best player in the 2013 recruiting class.
"I think Conner is one of the best guards we have recruited since we've been here," Kansas coach Bill Self said in a press release. "He can score. He's sneaky athletic and can play the one and the two and will be a great combo guard in our system."
Frankamp currently sits 528 points behind current Kansas forward Perry Ellis as Wichita's alltime leading scorer. If he averages 28 points per game his senior season, FrankAMP could overtake Ellis' record of 2,231 points.
Additionally, the high school standout has extensive international experience. Last summer, Frankamp, with 14.1 points per game, was the leading scorer on the under-17 team that won the gold medal in the 2012 FIBA World Championships.
"Other players enjoy playing with him, and I absolutely love watching him play," Self said.
Florida's Murphy perfect from field against Wisconsin
NCAA
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Erik Murphy tied a career-high with 24 points just days after dealing with an illness, and No. 10 Florida beat 22nd-ranked Wisconsin 74-56 on Wednesday night.
- Edited by Laken Rapier
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Murphy made all 10 of his shots, including two from 3-point range, as the short-handed Gators enjoyed a double-digit lead most of the night. He also had seven rebounds.
The Gators, playing without point guard Scottie Wilbekin (suspension) and forward Casey Prather (concussion), essentially won the game with fast starts in both halves. Florida scored the first nine points of the game and the first seven after intermission.
Sam Dekker and Jared Berggren had 11 points apiece for Wisconsin (1-1).
Mike Rosario added 15 points, four rebounds and four assists for Florida (2-0), and Kenny Boynton chipped in 10.
The Badgers (1-1),meanwhile, came out flat, missing their first six shots — including five from behind the arc.
Murphy was involved in both runs. He made a baseline hook that seemed to get him started early. He added a jumper, a putback and a 3-pointer that pushed the lead to 16-6.
That hole proved too big to overcome against the hot-shooting Gators.
Florida hit 18 of 24 shots (75 percent) in the first 20 minutes and extended the lead to 19 (50-31) early in the second half. Boynton converted the 13th four-point play of his career to open the second
half. Murphy followed with a post basket, and then Boyton added a driving lapup.
The Badgers never cut the lead below 12 the rest of the way.
Murphy had been questionable to play. He missed practice earlier this week with an illness that caused bad headaches, nausea and vomiting. Not only did he play, he also started.
The only negative for Florida was 20 turnovers. Playing without Wilbekin, Rosario and Boynton shared ball-handling duties, and the Gators turned it over 12 times in before the break.
The Gators probably needed his effort after coach Billy Donovan was forced to practice with four upperclassmen and four freshmen earlier in the week. It's unknown when Wilbekin will be reinstated, and Prather could miss at least another week after sustaining two concussions in practice during a nine-day span.
But they had enough offense to make the turnovers negligible.
Freshman Michael Frazier II had eight points and five rebounds for Florida. Fellow forward Will Yeguete finished with nine points and eight boards.
And didn't miss!
It was the first of several challenges before SEC play. The Gators also play UCF, Marquette, Florida State, Arizona and Kansas State before league play—the toughest non-conference slate in Donovan's 17 seasons in Gainesville.
He became the fourth player in school history and 18th in Southeastern Conference history to take at least 10 shots in a game and make them all.
Florida's Erik Murphy (33) shoots a 3-pointer over Wisconsin's Jared Berggren (40) during the first half Wednesday night's game in Gainesville, Fla.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO
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