8B GAME DAY THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2008 JAYHAWKS IN SEARCH OF VENGEANCE Team counts on Allen Fieldhouse after losing in Bramlage Coliseum 84-75 KANSAS VS. KANSAS STATE, 8 p.m., Allen Fieldhouse, ESPN KU TIP-OFF AT A GLANCE We'll find out today whether Kansas is closer to the force it appeared to be in December and January, Kansas State ruined the Jayhawks perfect record and shattered their confidence when they beat them at Bramlage. The players and Self said they started to play with confidence again against Iowa State on Wednesday. But the Cyclones are far from even an average team. The Jayhawks have a real test tomorrow. This is the most important game of the season so far. Win, and maybe everything can be rosy again. Lose, and gloom will follow the team for weeks. This is too easy. It's Darrell Arthur. K-State couldn't stop the big fella when he was on the court in Manhattan. He scored 12 points WHOTOWATCH and grabbed seven rebounds in just 17 minutes. Fouls killed him, though, and without Arthur, Kansas couldn't execute well enough offensively. If Did Kansas learn from the first game against K-State? Arthur can play smart, no one will be able to stop him from scoring. He should go for at least 18 points. QUESTION MARK Hope so, because the Wildcats put on a show the first time. They got too many open jocks from three-point range, and Jacob Pullen scored way too many points (20). Pullen was the bigger surprise. Kansas has to stop him because when he scores, K-State has three major scoring options in Pullen, Beasley and Walker. If all three of them have good games, the Jayhawks will have a tough time winning. HEARYE, HEARYE "Especially the way they played us the first time, the KU fans are going to make it a great, great atmosphere." —Russell Robinson "It's a 12-hour infomercial for the University of Kansas." —Bill Sellon EPW's College GameDav Kansas (25-3,10-3) "Hopefully it can go down is one of the best games in the history of Kansas. I think it's going to be of that magnitude. We were just in the locker room talking about tickets. Nobody can get tickets to the game. It's going to be a great atmosphere." THE PROJECTED STARTING 5 Russell Robinson Russell Robinson, 6-foot-1 senior guard Robinson grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds against Iowa State. Not a bad total for a small guard. He'll have his hands full Saturday guarding Jacob Pullen. Robinson should be motivated to stop Pullen after getting torched in the first game. Mario Chalmers, 6-foot-1 junior guard The shots started falling again for Chalmers against the Cyclones. Look for Chalmers to play an important role in Saturday's game if Kansas State leads in the second half. Brandon Rush, 6-foot-6 junior guard Rush has his best games when someone else, usually Arthur, is the leading scorer. When he's not depended on to score, he usually has his best games. Hard to believe this is the second-to-last home game for Jackson and the seniors. He's going to want to have memorable performances Saturday and two days later against Texas Tech. Darnell Jackson, 6-foot-8 senior forward Darrell Arthur, 6-foot-9 sophomore forward No one will be as important to the Jayhawks as Arthur. He got into foul trouble in Manhattan, and it crippled KU's offense. He'll also have to defend Bill Walker or Michael Beasley most of the time he is in. Sherron Collins, 5-foot-11 sophomore guard THE SIXTH MAN Allen Fieldhouse Will Rock If... Russell Robinson holds his ground against Jacob Pullen. Michael Beasley and Bill Walker will score their points. Robinson must prevent Pullen. He and the guards couldn't handle the freshman in late January, and Pullen got to the free-throw line 10 times, making all of them. Robinson has stopped great guards before, and Pullen is hardly great. Stop Pullen, and Kansas wins. Sherron Collins, 5-foot-11 sophomore guard He's back to playing his usual 20 minutes a night, but his knee still hasn't recovered. K-State's Pullen and Stewart could take advantage of an injured Collins and get easy drives on him. Kansas State (18-9,8-5) THE PROJECTED STARTING 5 Mark Dent Clent Stewart, 6-foot-4 senior guard. The senior guard provides savvy experience for an extremely young team. Beasley is the Wildcats' star, but Stewart may be their rock. Blake Young, 6-foot-2 senior guard, K-State's braided guard is scoring 6.2 points in 28.4 minutes per game. Young can be dangerous if Kansas allows him to penetrate Andre Gilbert, 6-foot-7 junior forward. The Wildcats expect energy and sound defense from Gilbert - a transfer forward. Bill Walker, 6-foot-6 freshman forward, The Huntington, W.Va. native is averaging 16.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Expect Brandon Rush to match up with Walker this time around. Michael Beasley. Michael Beasley, 6-foot-10 freshman forward, All eyes will be on Beasley on Saturday night, and it'll be up to a Darrrell Arthur, Darnell Jackson and Sasha Kaun to slow him down. THE SIXTH MAN After scoring a career-high 20 points against Kansas on Jan. 30, Pullen probably will draw more attention from the Kansas defense. Jacob Pullen, 6-foot-1 freshman guard. Rustin Dodd K-State out-matches the Jayhawks' toughness and intensity again. Kansas better be motivated for this game as much as its rival. The Jayhawks weren't the first time in Manhattan, and they lost. The Wildcats need a victory badly, especially one on the road. They'll be tough to beat even with the Allen Fieldhouse crowd behind the Jayhawks. Phog Allen Will Roll Over In Over In His Grave If... KSU TIP-OFF ATAGLANCE Kansas State experienced pure ecstasy on Jan. 30. The Wildcats beat the Jayhawks at Bramlage Coliseum, ending Kansas' streak of 24 straight victories at Bramlage, and taking control of first place in the Big 12 conference. What happened next? K-State started acting like -umm - K-State. The Wildcats have lost five of their last eight games, including three in a row to Nebraska, Baylor and Texas. At 18-9 and 8-5 in the Big 12, K-State is inching towards the NCAA Tournament bubble. WHO TO WATCH Michael Beasley, 6'10 freshman forward. K-State's freshman phenomenon is immune to hyperbole. All the praise that's been lavished on Beasley, all the hype – it's all justi- Beasley fied. Beasley's numbers speak for themselves. He's averaging 26.2 points and 16.2 rebounds per game. Beasley's refined basketball skills combined with his raw size and athleticism make him one of the best freshman to ever play college basketball. Beasley most likely will leave for the NBA after this season, but he can add to his growing legacy with a legendary performance on Saturday. Will Bill Walker show up? QUESTION MARK Walker is Beasley's trusty sidekick and K-State's second scoring option. The problem is: You can't always trust Walker. Walker poured in 22 points when K-State beat Kansas on Jan. 30. But in the Wildcats' loss to Texas on Monday, Walker was the invisible man. He finished 0-of-14 from the field, and scored one point. Walker is a tough match-up because he can shoot from the outside and bang with the big guys inside. But if he doesn't play his best on Saturday, K-State may find it tough to escape Allen Fieldhouse with a victory. HEARYE. HEARYE "The first time we defended them we did a very poor job," -Bill Self on Kansas' defense against Kansas State "I've seen teams play box-and-one and he gets 30. I've seen teams play man-to-man and he gets 44. JAYHAWK STATS Bill Self on guarding K-State's Michael Beasley Player Mins FG-FGA 3FG-3FGA Rebs Pts 00 Arthur, Darrell 23.4 159-300 2-12 6.0 13.7 32 Jackson, Darnell 25.3 134-209 2-6 6.9 12.3 25 Rush, Brandon 28.2 112-265 50-122 5.2 12.2 15 Chalmers, Mario 29.3 107-206 45-98 3.0 12.2 04 Collins, Sherron 22.2 72-158 25-71 2.0 8.6 24 Kaun, Sasha 17.4 79-124 0-0 3.8 7.4 03 Robinson, Russell 27.9 55-141 24-78 2.9 7.2 05 Stewart, Rodrick 12.9 32-66 3-14 2.4 3.1 45 Aldrich, Cole 8.4 30-59 0-0 3.2 2.9 02 Teahan, Conner 3.5 15-26 11-19 0.6 2.7 14 Reed, Tyrel 7.3 17-33 11-24 0.5 2.5 10 Case, Jeremy 4.8 12-36 6-20 0.3 1.3 11 Bechard, Brennan 1.7 4-8 2-5 0.3 1.1 54 Kleinmann, Matt 2.3 2-6 0-0 0.6 0.3 22 Buford, Chase 1.7 1-9 0-6 0.5 0.2 40 Witherspoon, Brad 1.6 0-3 0-2 0.2 0.0 PREDICTION 81-77 Kansas K-State has been awful lately, but they'll be up for this game almost as much as they were in January. Beasley scores 40-plus, but it won't be enough. Kansas regains some of its swagger with the victory. Witherspoon Meter Will senior walk-on Brad Witherspoon get the opportunity to play tonight? This meter tells all. WILDCAT STATS
PlayerMinsFG-FGA3FG-3FGARebsPts
30 Beasley, Michael31.3254-46828-7312.626.2
12 Walker, Bill26.9145-31829-896.716.2
00 Pullen, Jacob24.191-22536-1111.610.3
05 Stewart, Clent28.855-15727-863.17.1
02 Young, Blake28.457-16125-783.36.2
04 Gilbert, Andre19.435-9010-342.84.7
01 Brown, Fred9.935-9018-481.44.4
40 Anderson, Ron12.433-610-03.83.5
23 Sutton, Dominique13.216-310-32.53.1
42 Kent, Darren13.821-576-212.52.3
50 Colon, Luis6.412-330-01.21.3
51 Franklin, James4.23-101-40.80.7
31 Merriwether, Chris 9.45-170-61.00.6
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