Volume 125 Issue 42
kansan.com
Monday, November 5, 2012
PRESEASON PRIMING
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
Withey looks to live up to his All-American status in the team's last exhibition game
ETHAN PADWAY
epadway@kansan.com
In the first exhibition game, senior center Jeff Withey didn't have the dominating presence expected of a player selected as an honorable mention AP All-American.
In fact, Withey's performance was rather forgettable for a center playing with a significant size advantage.
However, he will get a second chance when the Jayhawks take on Washburn in their final exhibition game of the season tonight at 7 p.m. in Allen Fieldhouse.
"Jeff doesn't play as well against small guys; he never has, historically," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "He's always played better against big guys."
More time in the game will also mean more opportunities for Withey to show off his jump-hook that he's been working on with assistant coach Norm Roberts. He wants the shot to be a focal point of his offensive game this year.
Washburn will trot out a bigger lineup in 6-foot-8 Bobby Chapman and 6-foot-9 Joseph Smith. With that pair, the Ichabds will likely try to work the ball down low more often than Emporia State, which only scored 14 points in the paint and attempted 26 3-pointers.
But it was a shot that looked off against Emporia State.
"This week of practice has been tough, and coach has been on us," Withey said. "We're definitely going to have a lot more energy and be ready to play for this game a lot more than last week."
More action in the paint means
more opportunities for Withey, the 2011-12 Big 12 leader in blocks, to send an opponent's shot attempt spiraling back down to the floor.
The game against Washburn is actually Kansas' sixth exhibition game of the season, as they played four games in Europe over the summer.
Eliiah Johnson said. "You got to ask yourself, what would be the negative? And there's definitely no negative about it."
"I don't have the proof yet, but I feel like in my gut it definitely helped us," senior guard
But the defense is still in the same place as it would be, as the coaches put most of the emphasis on the offense.
Despite playing at the Division II level, Washburn still enters the Fieldhouse with confidence after playing tough against Kansas State and Oklahoma earlier in the preseason.
Self feels that the increased practices allowed during the summer, as well as the games, have helped his team get farther offensively than they have in the past.
Senior center Jeff Withey tries to move around his opponent to get to the goal during Tuesday's game against Emporia State University in Allen Fieldhouse, where the Hawks won 88-54. The Hawkins will play Washburn tonight.
Like the Jayhawks, the Ichabods begin the season with Lofty expectations, ranked fourth in the NABC top 25 coaches poll for the Division II level after making it to the second round of the Division II tournament last season.
"I see it as a big game for both of us," Johnson said. "With them coming in with such high standards for their year, and for us as well, I think it's a good test for both schools. I feel like we'll both go out and play hard."
ASHLEIGH LEF/KANSAN
— Edited by Nikki Wentling
FOOTBALL
Jayhawks shut down by Baylor
Baylor running back Lache Seastrunk, right, scores on Kansas linebacker Ben Heeney (31), left, in the first half of Saturday's game in Waco, Texas.
BLAKE SCHUSTER
bschuster@kansan.com
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WACO, TEXAS — It would be one thing if Kansas lost a well-fought game, or if the Jayhawks had simply been overpowered. It's quite another to lose the game in preparation, but that's what happened in the Jayhawks' 41-14 loss to the Baylor Bears on Saturday.
In the week leading up the game, some Kansas players decided to take it easy in practice.
"There were some things that we showed in practice this week that we weren't necessarily executing to our full ability," said senior left tackle Tanner Hawkinson. "It showed up during the game. It just shows you have to go out and take each practice 100 percent."
Hawkinson said Kansas wasn't getting off of its combo blocks up front, and blockers were missing assignments all during the practice week. It certainly didn't help Kansas when the trend carried over to Saturday.
That's particularly important as Baylor won by playing the game everyone assumed it would, even the lavhawks.
"Everything they did is exactly what we expected," Senior defensive lineman Josh Williams said. "An offense like that you've got to do everything you can to hold them to a minimum."
Kansas allowed the Bears to create time and space for their star wide receiver Terrance Williams to make catches. The Jayhawks gave up 137-yards and a touchdown on 11 receptions to the Big 12's leading receiver.
"He has good speed, and they have a great scheme around him," Senior cornerback Greg Brown said, who was tasked with covering Williams. "They know what kind of coverage they have and bring it to his advantage."
The one time Brown had Williams beat, he intercepted the ball near the goal line. But the play was called back on an offsides penalty.
that was called on Kansas.
The next play, Baylor went right back to Williams on the same route. This time he had no trouble beating a fatigued Brown to the back of the end zone to put the Bears up 7-0.
The Baylor passing game backed up the Kansas defense enough to open up the run game, where the Bears gained over 300 rushy- yards. It marked the first game this season Baylor exceeded 300 yards rushing.
Brown said that whenever Kansas outnumbered Baylor in the box, the Bears picked it up and were able to convert.
"Some of the things we had designed to go early in the game were extending our offensive players to their limits." Weis said. "We had to pull it back in. What we wanted to try to do is be wide open in the game to put us in a position to score more points."
When the pass wasn't available and the run wasn't an option, it was up to Senior quarterback Nick Florence to get moving. Florence scrambled 10 times, picking up 32 rushing yards.
But it was the big plays Kansas' defense gave up that disturbed Kansas coach Charlie Weis the most. Four Baylor receivers had catches for 32 yards or longer.
Even with Baylor dominating most of the game, Kansas was only down 20-14 at halftime and was starting to find its groove on offense.
Kansas was stopped on fourth down, and on the ensuing drive, Baylor went 55 yards to the end zone to go up 27-14. The Jayhawks had the perfect play to get back in the game, but quarterback Michael Cumming's pass bounced off the hands of an outstretched Chris Omigie, and into the body of a falling Joe Williams. Weis did say it was Cumming's best pass of
The Jayhawks were in the game until the Bears delivered the knockout blow in the third quarter.
the game, but Williams cradled the interception at the five-yard line for Baylor, killing the Jayhawks momentum.
"It almost was like after that play to Omigie, you could feel the wind go out of the sails," Weis said.
The boat stopped moving with 26 minutes to play.
The plan was straightforward for this game: Baylor would try to score a bevy of points, and Kansas would try to match it. A lull
in practice after a heartbreaking loss to Texas did not help the Jayhawks exceed their season average of 17-points a game.
"Going into this game, we thought we were going to have to score more," Weis said. "If you think you're going to play a game with them and win it 21-17, the only two times this year they've scored 21 points is when they've turned it over a whole bunch."
Edited by Andrew Ruszczyk
Goodrich leads Jayhawks to win
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
IMAX GOODWIN
mggoodwin@kansan.com
The most difficult task for the Fort Hays State Tigers in Sunday's 88-43 exhibition loss against Kansas was just getting the ball past half court, where senior guard Angel Goodrich waited for her next steal.
Goodrich forced three steals in the first half and one more in the second half before leaving the game after playing 25 minutes.
"She is very disciplined," head coach Bonnie Henrickson said. "Angel's quick and she's athletic, but if you don't have discipline to back that up, you're going to be a teacher and a gambler, run yourself out of a play and foul, and Angel doesn't do that."
What Goodrich does do is disrupt the other team's offense and force turnovers. It didn't take long for Goodrich to stop what Fort Hays State wanted to do with their offense.
"The first four or five times down the floor, we couldn't get into anything." Tigers coach Tony Hobson said. "We couldn't run what we wanted to run, so she totally messed it up."
When Fort Hays State did manage to get the ball over half court, getting it in the paint also became a struggle. While limiting the Tigers to eight points in the paint in the first half, the Jayhawks went into the locker room with a 49 to 22 lead, with 20 points off of turnovers.
Senior forward Carolyn Davis continued her recovery from a torn ACL as she played just 12 minutes. The lack of playing time was only because the score of the game Henrickson said, though Davis did miss practice on Wednesday as a precaution against playing too much or a
knee that is still healing.
The Jayhawks improved in the rebounding category from last week's game in which they were out-rebounded by the Washburn Ichabods. Rebounding has been a point of emphasis for the Jayhawks in practice as the team prepares for the regular season, starting Nov. 11 against Idaho State.
At the end of the day, Kansas put together a strong performance in every category, but the 45-point victory came against a Fort Hays State team that was forced to play without their senior point guard Kaiameka Brown.
Brown changed out of her uniform after testing an injury during warm-ups. In her place, Fort Hays State was forced to give playing time to several freshmen guards who struggled with the overwhelming defense of Goodrich.
Regardless of the level of competition, Goodrich had an impressive game, scoring 19 points on just 12 shots with 6 assists. Goodrich played well enough to give freshman point guard Lamaria Cole significant playing time, in which she played well, scoring nine points with an assist and a rebound. Cole is the only true-point guard on the Jayhawks roster to back-up Goodrich.
"I felt like she played well," Goodrich said of Cole. "She pushed the ball, she was aggressive and we need that from her."
Goodrich showed in the exhibition that she is one of the best point guards in the NCAA, but Goodrich said after the game that she is ready to start playing in games that count.
Edited by Andrew Ruszczyk
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