KANSAN
88
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012
PAGE 9
LEE/KANSAN Jayhawks
EMPORIA STATE 54
REWIND
TRAVIS YOUNG/KANSAN
Freshman guard Rio Adams defends Emporia State senior guard Christ Sights during the first half of the exhibition game against Emporia State. Kansas won the exhibition against Emporia State 88-54.
Freshmen need aggressive mindset for future games
MAX GOODWIN
gwoodwin@kansan.com
The day before Tuesday's game, the first exhibition of the season. Bill Self told reporters during a press conference that he needed his freshmen to be aggressive.
He said it was a mindset that they needed to have.
"We don't need blenders. We need guys to take charge," Self said.
Tuesday night the Kansas
freshmen seemed to play with that message in mind. Perry Ellis took advantage of every shot, going five-for-five from the field and leading the team with 15 points. The talent Ellis possesses shined against Emporia State, but his teammates said after the game that he has shown that and more in practice.
"You see the numbers he has now, but I feel like he could do even better," freshman Landen Lucas said.
TRAVIS YOUNG/KANSAN
"I think he definitely could do better," freshman Ben McLemore said. "He's a great athlete."
Scoring seemed to come easily for Ellis in the 85-54 win. He will not always shoot a perfect percentage, but Tuesday should represent what fans can expect from Ellis offensive. He is a gifted scorer, Self said, but he can still play more aggressively.
Freshman forward Jamari Trayler dunks during the second half of the exhibition game against Emporia State. Traaylor had six total points and four steals. Kansas won the exhibition against Emporia State 88-54.
That goes for all of the freshmen, Self said. Ben McLemore played the most minutes of any of the freshmen and showed aggressiveness at times. One of those times was on a two handed put-back dunk that electrified the crowd in the second half.
"First of all, coach was just telling me I need to crash the boards more often and stuff like that," McLemore said. "When I had my chance to crash the boards, it came off perfect timing and I just dunked it."
"When you screen, screen hard. When you jump, jump as high as you can. When you go after a ball, go after it with two hands." Self said.
GAME TO FORGET
Freshman Jamari Traylor was in the starting lineup along with McLemore and provided his own two-handed jam off an aggressive play. Traylor jumped into the passing lane and stole the ball near half court, leading to his fast break dunk.
Along with an aggressive mindset, Self has also talked about this team playing to their athletic ability. That athletic ability was on display in both Traylor and McLemore's dunks.
Withev
Granted it's an
he only played 18 minutes,
but JEF Withey was nowhere near his best.
"They look like freshmen that can run and jump, but they looked like freshmen." Self said. "They don't know what they're doing, but they try real hard and I thought they both did some good things."
offensive game is still developing, but going 1-5 in the first half won't instill much confidence in coach Bill Self. Withey bounced back in the second half to finish with seven points — two points shy of his 2011-12 average.
UNSUNG HERO
Edited by Brian Sisk
It's going to be fun watching Ben McLemore this year, self said the freshman was a little nervous head.
McLemore
ing into the game but he sure didn't act like it. McLemore finished with 11-points, six rebounds and two booming dunks.
GAME TO REMEMBER
Perry Ellis came off the bench to lead all Kansas scorers with 15 points. The freshman displayed
Ellis
sound footwork in the paint where he notched seven rebounds, six of which came on defense. The Wichita native also made 5 of 7 free throws in his Allen Fieldhouse debut.
"We may have set the NCAA record for substitutions. We were trying to make it difficult on our radio team."
QUOTE OF THE GAME
Self
Coach Bill Self on using many different lineups.
KEY PLAYS
FIRST HALF
(SCORE AFTER PLAY)
11:07 Elijah Johnson sinks a three for Kansas' first lead. 16-14 Kansas
8-11 Nadir Tharpe sinks the second of back to back three pointers in the middle of a three-minute, 15-1 run by the Jayhawks. 13-15 Kansas
6:14 Jamari Traylor steals an Emporia State inbound pass and starts a give and go with Travis Reelford that ends in a one-handed alley-oop to Traylor. 34-15 Kansas
SCHEDULE
SECOND HALF
15:32 Jamira Traylor steals the ball from Kaleb Wright and takes off for a dunk, 51-27 Kansas
*all games in bold are at home
10:42 Elijah Johnson misses a three but Ben McLemore darts through the paint for a put-back slam. 61-36 Kansas
1:59 Tyler Self checks in for the first time at Allen Fieldhouse, 85-48 Kansas.
Date Opponent Time
Oct. 30 EMPORIA STATE (EXHIBITION) W, 88-54
Nov. 5 WASHBURN (EXHIBITION) 2 p.m.
Nov. 9 SE MISSOURI STATE 7 p.m.
Nov. 13 MICHIGAN STATE 6 p.m.
Nov. 15 CHATTANOOGA (CBE) 7 p.m.
Nov. 19 WASHINGTON STATE (CBE) 9 p.m.
Nov. 20 CBE CLASSIC 6/8.30 p.m.
Nov. 26 SAN JOSE STATE 8 p.m.
Nov. 30 OREGON STATE 7 p.m.
Dec. 8 COLORADO 1 p.m.
Dec. 15 BELMONT 6 p.m.
Dec. 18 RICHMOND 6 p.m.
Dec. 22 OHIO STATE 3 p.m.
Dec. 29 AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 7 p.m.
Jan. 6 TEMPLE 12:30/3:30 p.m.
Jan. 9 IOWA STATE 6 p.m.
Jan. 12 TEXAS TECH 3 p.m.
Jan. 14 BAYLOR 8 p.m.
Jan. 19 TEXAS 1 p.m.
Jan. 22 KANSAS STATE 7 p.m.
Jan. 26 OKLAHOMA 3 p.m.
Jan. 28 WEST VIRGINIA 8 p.m.
Feb. 2 OKLAHOMA STATE 3 p.m.
Feb. 6 TCU 8 p.m.
Feb. 9 OKLAHOMA 3 p.m.
Feb. 11 KANSAS STATE 8 p.m.
Feb. 16 TEXAS 8 p.m.
Feb. 20 OKLAHOMA STATE 3 p.m.
Feb. 23 TCU 3 p.m.
Feb. 25 IOWA STATE 8 p.m.
Feb. 29 OKLAHOMA STATE 7 p.m.
March 2 WEST VIRGINIA 1 p.m.
March 4 TEXAS TECH 6 p.m.
March 9 BAYLOR 5 p.m.