THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 2006
WWW.KANSAN.COM
DOWN THE HALL
PAGE 1B
Win or lose: It's March madness in 'Hawkland
TIM HALL thall@kansan.com
It has begun. The greatest tournament of the year is under way. The madness is spreading. I love this stuff.
It's too bad that Pacific couldn't pull off the double-overtime upset of Boston College Thursday, because that would have been a No. 13 seed victory against a No. 4 seed that seems to happen each year. All superstitions aside, Kansas has a game to play tonight against No. 13 seed Bradley out of the Missouri Valley Conference. In this edition of Down the Hall, I'm going to play Joe Lunardi or Andy Katz (whomever you prefer) and scout the Oakland region. For what it's worth, I won my bracket pool last year.
The Kansas Jayhawks will have no trouble getting past the Bradley Braves. Yes, Bradley does have a couple of seven-footers, but the Jayhawks are one of the premier teams in the nation right now, and there's no chance on earth that coach Self will let another Bucknell happen.
Speaking of Bucknell, did you see which team the Jayhawks might face in the Sweet Sixteen? Think it, but don't bank on it. If the Bison beat the Razorbacks in the first round, they'll likely face the top-seeded Memphis Tigers in the second. Memphis is good, but Bucknell still returned the same starting five who beat Kansas last year. I still move Memphis into the Sweet Sixteen because of Rodney Carney, Darius Washington Jr., and Shawne Williams. The Jayhawks will likely face Pittsburgh in the second round, a very difficult draw. But I pick Kansas to beat the fourth place Big East team, because Pitsburgh will have nowhere to turn to if seven-footer Aaron Gray gets into any foul trouble.
In the bottom half of the bracket are the two pacific coast teams: Gonzaga and UCLA. UCLA should use a virtual home-court advantage to coast into the Sweet Sixteen. The Bruins could potentially make it to Indianapolis without leaving the state of California.
If I predicted last night's late games correctly, Indiana and Gonzaga both won close basketball games. I've been saying for a couple of weeks that Gonzaga will be an early exit because of all those close WCC games it played in, but that was before I found out they could play San Diego State or Indiana in the second round. Adam Morrison and the mustache will take the 'Zags to the round of 16 and lose to the Bruins.
Kansas' defense will prove to be too much for Rodney Carney and John Calipari's Memphis Tigers, and the Jayhawks will meet UCLA in the regional final in Oakland for the trip to Indianapolis. Kansas and UCLA could make for a great match-up. The battle of the underappreciated. UCLA has great midsize players in Aaron Affalo and Josh Shipp and a capable seven-footer in Ryan Holllins. The Bruins will have a home-court advantage in Oakland, but I think the Kansas defense will be enough to stop the Pacific-10 champs.
I'm not a homer; I really believe that this Kansas team got a good break in the brackets and its confidence is high after beating Texas. The Jayhawks can do it, if they play tough defense, and pour in the fastbreak points off turnovers. Win or lose, it will be one crazy ride. That is what this month is all about — madness.
Hall is a Woodbridge, Va., senior in journalism
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Jayhawks prepare for 1st round foe
BY RYN COIAIANNI
rcolaianni@kansan.com
KANSAN SENIOR SPORTWRITER
AUBURN HILLS. Mich.
- Scores of all the NCAA tournament action were being reported over the loud speaker at The Palace while Kansas was on the floor Thursday.
Kansas coach Bill Self talked with CBS broadcasters Vern Lundquist and Bill Raftery at the scorer's table.
Players signed autographs in the tunnel leading to the locker room just after Rodrick Stewart, Julian Wright and others treated fans to spectacular dunks before leaving the floor.
It was not a normal practice for the Kansas Jayhawks.
The spectacle was all part of the drill for Kansas players Thursday, working out at The Palace of Auburn Hills in front of a few hundred fans, the day before their opening
round match-up with Bradley tonight.
Kansas' real practice had occurred earlier in the day at a Detroit Pistons practice facility nearby.
"It was just like practice yesterday, and just like the day before," Self said. "Our approach today was no different than if we were preparing to play a midseason game."
The team practiced earlier in the day last year before the Bucknell game, something they will not do today. Instead, Kansas will shoot around at The Palace and wait until its game.
For the second straight year, Kansas will play on Friday night, in one of the last games of the tournaments first round. It will give the players plenty of time to sit around, watch other games, and think about the game later in the day.
"Games at 9:30 are tough to play because it makes for a long, long day, but we've got our academic staff here and we can do some things like a study hall." Self said about what his team might do to pass the time before tip-off.
Kansas is hoping that tonight's game will be a start of something special. The team comes in as one of the hottest teams in the country, winning 15 of its past 16 games heading into tonight's game against Bradley.
"We are just going to come out hard every game and not think about anything that happened last year," freshman guard Mario Chalmers said. "If we play our game, we should do great in this tournament."
"If we play hard and play together, I think we are going to do great and go as far as we possibly can," sophomore center Sasha Kaun said.
SEE TOURNAMENT ON PAGE 3B
Sophomore center Sasha Kaun practices free throws during a shoot around in Auburn Hills, Mich. Kaun and the Jayhawks take on the Bradley Braves in the first round of the NCAA tournament at 8:30 tonight.
Rvlan Howe/KANSAN
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Carlv Pearson/KANSAN
Freshman guard Ivana Catic drives the lane against Northern Iowa junior guard Jessie Bigges. The Jayhawks defeated Northern Iowa 59-49 in the first round of the WNIT Thursday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
Party like it's 1999
KU wins first postseason game in seven years
BY MICHAEL PHILLIPS
mphillips@kansan.com
KANSAN STOR WRITER
When opponents play Northern Iowa, they often resort to zone defense to shut down 6-foot-7 inch forward Cassie Hager.
Bonnie Henrickson had no such plans. The Kansas coach
Kemp succeeded and the Jayhawks picked up their first postseason victory since 1999, defeating Northern Iowa 59-49 in the preliminary round of the WNIT.
put her faith in senior forward Crystal Kemp to shut down Hager in a one-on-one match-up.
Before the game, Henrickson gave Kemp a scouting report on how to handle Hager.
"I said be physical with her and be fast around her," Henrickson said. "You might not see the results in the first half, but I thought it paid dividends in the second half, because I thought she got tired and lost her legs a little bit."
SEE PARTY ON PAGE 3B
Zinic steps up, makes difference
BY RYAN SCHNEIDER
rschneider@kansan.com
KANSAN SENIOR SPORTWRITER
After her first postseason game, Marija Zinic sported a new look.
In a physical, contested opener to the WNIT Thursday night, the freshman forward caught an elbow in the first half from a Northern Iowa guard that resulted in the start of a black eye.
"I think she's going to put, like, two tons of makeup on,"
freshman guard Ivana Catic said, of Zinic's plan for Friday morning.
Without Zinic's aggressive play in the second half, Kansas' trip to the WNIT might have ended quickly. Zinic scored 11 of her 13 points in the second half. On numerous plays she was able to spin away from her defender in the paint for easy layups.
SEE ZINIC ON PAGE 3B
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Kansas big men await another test in O'Bryant
BY DANIEL BERK
dberk@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWITTER
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. Another game, another seven-footer.
A week after beating Texas in the Big 12 Championship game and facing big man LaMarcus Aldridge, Kansas will have to
face another seven-foot tail center tonight when it plays its first round NCAA tournament game against Bradley University.
Aldridge is projected to be the first pick in the NBA Draft next season according to several draft Web sites. Another player who is mentioned on many of those same Web sites is Patrick O'Bryant.
O'Bryant, a sophomore at Bradley, is averaging 13.2 points per game and eight rebounds per contest. Kansas coach Bill Self said he knew O'Bryant was a talented player that had a bright future ahead of him.
"We just played against a real similar player in Aldridge from Texas," Self said. "Except O'Bryant is heavier than he is."
There is no doubt that he will play at the next level and be an impact guy."
O'Bryant missed the first eight games of the season because he was suspended by the NCAA for an inadvertent violation of the "extra benefit" rule during the summer. The NCAA said he made too much money this summer at a job he held.
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"It made me want it more," O'Bryant said. "To sit there and watch your team for eight games and not be able to play, you come back wanting to get some revenge."
When he came back from the suspension, O'Bryant didn't miss a beat.
SEE TEST ON PAGE 3B