Sports THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Starting the hit parade Jayhawks' offense gets going in Arizona tournament BASEBALL | 4B
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MONDAY,MARCH 1,2010
Jayhawks go 2-3 in Classic Jayhawks struggle with defense, fundamentals. SOFTBALL | 7B
OKLAHOMA STATE 85, NO.1 KANSAS 77
PAGE 1B
Weston White/KANSAN
Freshman forward Thomas Robinson and sophomore forward Marcus Morris react to the Oklahoma State students as they prepare to rush the court. Oklahoma State upset No. 1 ranked Kansas 85-77.
Kansas gets a wake-up call
Defense struggles as Kansas receives first conference loss
BY COREY THIBODEAUX
BY COREY THIBODEAUX
cthibodeaux@kansan.com
www.twitter.com/c_thibodeaux
STILLWATER, Okla.—With a 6-7 record against Oklahoma State, coach Bill Self is used to the feeling of defeat from his
alma mater.
But his demeanor after the Jayhawks 85-77 loss to the Cowboys was a sign that everything was fine for Kansas, at least in the long term.
"I don't think the thing is broken," Self said. "But I do think we need to evaluate the things we take pride in to be a good team, especially at this time of year."
"They were tougher than us tonight."
That pride comes from offensive execution and making defensive stops. Neither of those were prevalent on Saturday. On offense, the Jayhawks shot 46.6 percent from the field and were out-rebounded by 10.
senior guard Sherron Collins said. "Everything meant more to them than it did to us, which should have been the other way around."
To make matters worse, coming into the game the Cowboys only shot 35 percent from three-point territory. They shot a blistering 52.6 percent from three, 60.4 percent overall.
From the first TV timeout, the game was in Oklahoma State's hands. The Jayhawks found themselves down 45-29 at halftime, Collins shooting 2-for-8 in the period.
As the lone senior and unquestioned leader of the team, Collins made it clear after the game not to blame the coaches or
his team. Despite finishing with 22 points, he put the loss on himself.
"I think Coach did a great job preparing us for it," Collins said. "I just didn't have my team ready at the time. I'll take it."
Not all is bad for the Jayhawks. From a competition standpoint, the Jayhawks showed a lot of resolve, cutting a 19-point deficit to six with just over a minute left to go. The only problem? They could never crack the Cowboys.
"I was happy that our guys competed and didn't quit," Self said, "But we didn't get over the hump the whole day."
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See more photos of the game at kansan.com/photos
COMMENTARY
Cowboys' 3-pointers weaken Jayhawks
BY CLARK GOBLE cgoble@kansan.com
Sometimes basketball is pretty simple. Kansas is more talented
Kansas is more talented and deeper than Oklahoma State. James Anderson is an NBA lottery talent but the rest of the Cowboys don't stand out.
The Cowboys won Saturday because they shot the ball better, especially in the first half and especially from three-point range. It's that simple.
We're at the point in the season when definite trends arise and Saturday was an example. When a team gets hot from behind the three-point line, it hangs with Kansas.
In Kansas' first loss of the season against Tennessee, the Volunteers hit nine of 18 three-point attempts. The hayhawks hit two fewer on nine more attempts
Baylor hit five of eight three-point attempts in the first half. It didn't stay as hot in the second half, but the first half triple kept it hanging around.
And Saturday, the story didn't change. Oklahoma State hit six of 11 three-pointers in the first half to cruise to a 16-point halftime lead. The Cowboys finished shooting 52.4 percent from deep in the game.
Outside of Kentucky and maybe Syracuse, Kansas won't play anyone the rest of the season that can match its talent and depth. But by no means does that mean the Jayhawks will go the rest of the season unsatched.
There's a reason they call it March Madness.
A team that is far less talented than Kansas, an eight or nine seed.
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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Baylor battles, bowls over Kansas
BY MAX ROTHMAN
mrothman@kansan.com
But one player demolished the Jayhawks' hopes of a resume-defining victory that would push Kansas closer to the NCAA Tournament.
While there were no tomahawk slams to be seen, Baylor freshman Brittney Griner controlled nearly facet of the game Sunday and the layhawks showed little resistance. Baylor routed Kansas 70-47 because of Griner's mammouth influence on both ends of the floor. Baylor coach Kim Mulkey was able to remove her starters, including Griner, with more than five minutes remaining as Kansas fell to 5-9 in the Big 12.
Going in with a 5-8 conference record—and with its NCAA tournament status fully in question—Kansas approached Sunday's game at No.17 Baylor as close to a must-win as it gets.
She dunked with ease, spread her arms into a 7'4" wingspan and rejected everything that came her way.
"I thought we dropped out chins a little bit," coach Bonnie
With the loss, the layhawks will now likely have to win the Big 12 tournament or triumph both at No. 3 Nebraska Wednesday and against No. 12 Texas A&M Saturday to be considered by the selection committee worthy of an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament. Sunday's blowout didn't help Kansas' cause.
Henrickson said. "You've got to show some toughness no matter what the situation is."
Kansas did respond, but just once. When Griner took a breather early in the first half, Kansas buckled down its defense and only allowed Baylor to shoot two of 13 from the field after a hot start. In just one minute, freshman guard Monica Engelman scored four points and dished an assist to freshman forward Carolyn Davis. With less than five minutes remaining in the first half, Kansas trailed just 27-23.
During the opening seven minutes, the Bears sunk their first nine shot attempts and led the Jayhawks 21-11.
"That's where they step on our throat," Henrickson said. "We've got to be able to respond."
But as it has repeatedly done in the past, the Jayhawks' offense stalled and the Bears went on a 23-6 run. Engelman would not score again, as she and senior guard Sade Morris combined to shoot four of 25 from the field, or 16 percent. Griner was the main hindrance.
"They had guards that like to drive in, so I knew I was going to have to protect the paint," Griner said on ESPN2 after the game.
"We were attacking them, boxing out and limiting them to one shot," senior guard Sade Morris said. "We got out in transition a little bit and our game started to flow better."
On the offensive side, Griner regularly commanded double, sometimes even triple teams every time she touched the ball. As flocks of Jayhawk defenders headed her way, Baylor's shooters were able to pick a spot behind the three-point line and shoot freely and uncontested. When she took her own shot, Griner soared above multiple opponents and used the glass and rim to tally 20 points.
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Dirty Birds clean up
Tournament MVP Jon Bailon pushes the ball up the court late in the second half. Intramurals Coordinator Matt Beck estimated that 400 spectators came to watch the tournament's 200 participants compete. Beck also said that teams came from as far as Minnesota to participate. Find more photos on PAGE 10B
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