6B
GAME DAY
第1章 数据结构与算法
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, MARCH 14, 2008
KU
TIPOFF
KANSAS ENTERSTOURNEYPLAY
JAYHAWKS FACE OFF AGAINST'HUSKERS FOR THIRD TIME
AT A GLANCE
KANSAS VS. NEBRASKA 6:00 p.m., Sprint Center, Kansas City, Mo., ESPN+
Kansas returns to the Sprint Center today, the site of its 88-51 non-conference victory against Ohio on Dec. 15. The Jayhawks were undefeated the last time they graced the floor at the Sprint Center, and after a rocky February, the Jayhawks are riding a four-game winning streak. With a de facto home-court advantage in Kansas City, the Jayhawks should have a great shot toward winning their third straight Big 12 title.
Brandon Rush is back in his hometown. Kansas' junior guard grew up a mere minutes from the front door of the Sprint Center, and his last name is synonymous with Kansas City high school hoops. Rush scored 13 points in Kansas' victory against
Brandon Rush, 6-foot-6 senior guard,
Ohio, and always seems to play better when the lights are brighter. This is Rush's tournament. If Kansas cuts down the nets on Sunday, don't be surprised if Rush is toting around the tournament MVP trophy.
WHO TO WATCH
How important are conference tournaments?
QUESTION MARK
In the scheme of things, conference tournaments mean, well, nothing. The winner gets a shiny trophy and a few bragging rights, but that's about it. The last two times Kansas advanced to the Final Four - 2002 and 2003 – the Jayhawks did not win the conference tournament. And what did titles in the last two conference tournaments give Kansas? A first-round loss in 2005 and a loss in the Elite Eight last season. The point? If Kansas goes down early this weekend, it's not the end of the world. The real tournament starts next week.
HEARYE, HEARYE
"I would say yes. We have a chance, but some things probably need to happen to make it a reality. One being we'd have to win the tournament and two, we'd probably need somebody else to not perform as well this week. Even if we're not that (a No. 1 seed), and I'm not putting any emphasis on it, we just want to gather as much momentum as we can going into next week."
Bill Self on earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament
Kansas (28-3,13-3)
THE PROJECTED STARTING 5
Russell Robinson, 6-foot-1 senior guard. This is his last chance to lead his team in the post-season. You know Robinson is going to want to leave Kansas on his own terms.
Mario Chalmers, 6-foot-1 junior guard,
Mario Chalmers, 6-foot-1 Junior guard,
Remember Chalmers last second-shot against
Texas in the Big 12 tournament final last season?
Can Chalmers duplicate that feat if Kansas meets
in the championship game again?
Nebraska (19-11,7-9)
Steve Harley, 5-foot-11 junior guard Harley is averaging 14.7 points per game in Nebraska's last six games, after averaging just 7.7 points per game in the huskers first 23 games.
★★★☆
Brandon Rush, 6-foot-6 junior guard, March games are vital for elevating NBA stock. This is Rush's last chance to elevate himself back into the first round of the NBA draft.
THE PROJECTED STARTING 5
Darrell Arthur, 6-foot-9 sophomore forward.
Strowbridge doesn't score much - 4.5 points per game this season - but Nebraska counts on him to defend and play hard.
Jay-R Strowbridge, 5-foot-11 sophomore guard.
February was a month of fouls for Arthur. If Arthur can stay foul-free, Bill Self will be smiling all month long.
Darnell Jackson, 6-foot-8 sophomore forward,
How many points do you think Jackson will let Aleks Maric score this time? One? Kansas' junior forward has been great defending Nebraska's star center.
Cookie Miller, 5-foot-7 freshman guard Miller is a jitterbug point guard who can penetrate into the lane and create havoc for defenses.
THE SIXTH MAN
Sherron Collins, 5-foot-11 sophomore guard,
Can Collins stay injury free this March? His knee tendonitis last march might have been the biggest reason for Kansas' Elite Eight loss to UCLA.
Paul Velander, 6-foot-2 junior guard
The Jayhawks do what they always do against Nebraska. Both times this season, Kansas has destroyed the Huskers, blowing them out in Lincoln and at Allen Fieldhouse. In the second game, Nebraska's best player, Aleks Maric, didn't even score. The Huskers just never have any luck against Kansas.
Velander is Nebraska's outside gunner. He wants to spot up and shoot, but he can't create his own shot off the dribble.
★★★☆☆
Mark Dent
Aleks Maric,
The Sprint Center Will Rock If...
Alks marie
6-foot-11 senior
center
Maric, the Big 12's
all-time leading re-'
bounder, is Nebraska's only starter taller than 6-foot-2.
THE SIXTH MAN
Ade Dagunduro, 6-foot-5 junior guard
Russell Robinson
Dagunduro has started some this season, but now the Cornhuskers need him to produce points off the bench
Rustin Dodd
Phog Allen Will Roll Over In Over In His Grave If...
Nebraska continues its late-season push. Doc Sadler, who many believe to be the best in-game coach in the Big 12, has turned this team around after starting out conference play with three straight losses. Colorado's already upset Baylor, and it's possible that another Big 12 Tournament upset could happen.
NU TIPOFF
AT A GLANCE
With Nebraska's 61-56 victory against Missouri on Thursday, Kansas faces Nebraska in the Jayhawks' first-round game. It's too bad. Kansas vs. Missouri at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo., would have been infinitely more exciting. But instead of the third version of the Border War, Kansas fans get their third look at the Cornhuskers, led by second-year coach Doc Sadler and senior center Aleks Maric. Kansas won both meetings during the regular season, and should have a distinct crowd advantage.
WHO TO WATCH
At 6-foot-11 and 275 pounds, Aleks Maric is a load inside. But Kansas has traditionally been adept at stopping the bulky center. The Jayhawks held Maric scoreless in their 84-49 blowout victory against
Nebraska on Jan. 26. Maric,
an Australian native, is
averaging
16 points
per game
and 10.2
rebounds
per game this season, and was named First-Team All-Big 12 by the Associated Press. By now, the Jayhawks should be familiar with the key to stopping Nebraska: Shut down Maric, and you shut down the Huskers.
Will Kansas get caught looking ahead?
QUESTION MARK
Baylor's first-round loss to Colorado Thursday proved that upsets can happen in the Big 12 tournament. The Jayhawks also might be looking ahead to a possible matchup with Kansas State in the semi-finals on Saturday.
HEARYE. HEARYE
"We put an emphasis on playing good in the conference tournament when we got beat in the semi-finals two years ago. We'll put the same emphasis on it as we have the past four years and hopefully we'll have similar results as the last two. We still have a lot to play for. In our mind and in Texas' mind, even though they beat us, there is a chance to determine the premier team in the league and the only way we can do that, both us and Texas, is if we play really good on Friday and Saturday and get to Sunday."
Bill Self on playing in the Big 12 tournament this weekend
JAYHAWK STATS
Player Mins FG-FGA 3FG-3FGA Rebs Pts
00 Arthur, Darrell 23.4 174-325 2-12 6.1 13.4
25 Rush, Brandon 28.0 124-300 56-137 5.0 12.3
15 Chalmers, Mario 29.0 119-231 51-109 3.0 12.1
32 Jackon, Darnell 24.6 143-223 2-6 6.9 11.8
04 Collins, Sherron 22.8 88-185 29-83 1.9 9.4
03 Robinson, Russell 27.7 69-163 29-88 3.0 7.8
24 Kaun, Sasha 17.5 86-139 0-0 3.8 7.3
45 Aldrich, Cole 8.8 36-72 0-0 3.4 3.0
05 Stewart, Rodrick 12.4 34-70 5-16 2.4 3.0
02 Teahan, Conner 3.6 16-27 11-19 0.5 2.7
14 Reed, Tyrel 7.4 18-35 11-24 0.5 2.5
10 Case, Jeremy 5.1 15-42 6-20 0.4 1.6
11 Bechard, Brennan 1.8 5-9 2-5 0.3 1.2
54 Kleinmann, Matt 2.6 3-7 0-0 0.7 0.4
22 Buford, Chase 1.8 1-9 0-6 0.4 0.2
40 Witherspoon, Brad 2.0 0-4 0-2 0.3 0.2
PREDICTION
97-69 Kansas
Kansas has been just been playing too well lately. Even though the Huskers are a better team than they were in January, they're still not good enough.
Witherspoon Meter
Will senior walk-on Brad Witherspoon get the opportunity to play tonight? This meter tells all.
BUFFALO STATS
PLAYER Mins FG-FGA 3FG-3FGA Rebs Points
21 Maric, Aleks 28.7 171-299 1-5 10.2 16.0
04 Harley, Steve 25.8 92-214 15-36 2.6 9.2
44 Anderson, Ryan 30.0 90-208 46-121 5.4 8.8
11 Dagunduro, Ade 22.5 91-190 12-36 3.7 8.3
24 Miller, Cookie 28.0 62-152 19-63 2.1 6.6
01 Henry, Sek 22.7 59-156 15-62 3.2 6.0
05 Stowbridge, Jay-R 18.0 38-110 21-58 1.5 4.3
25 Verlander, Paul 11.8 31-82 29-75 0.7 3.9
20 Ping, Shang 10.3 30-41 0-0 1.5 3.1
32 Balham, Chris 7.8 24-44 2-7 1.5 2.8
35 Nelson, Ben 4.0 4-10 2-6 0.6 1.1
02 Krenk, Nick 4.2 3-6 0-0 0.3 0.9
43 Salomon, Cole 4.6 3-7 2-5 0.5 0.6
34 Wicklund, Andrew 3.3 2-4 0-2 0.4 0.6