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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
r/KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15. 2006
MEN'S BASKETBALL
WWW.KANSAN.COM
PAGE 1B
This isn't like last year
BY RYAN COLAIANNI
colaianini@kansan.com
KANSAN SENIOR SPEARTSWRITER
Stephen Vinson is tired of CBS's NCAA tournament commercials. Specifically the one shows the final play of last years Kansas-Bucknell game.
"You are trying to get excited about the tournament, but every time I watch something about it that's on there," Vinson said. "You think about it, but hopefully we will use it as a learning experience."
Kansas coach Bill Self didn't need to remind his team about what happened during last season's NCAA tournament. He joked that the media would take care of it.
"Why do I need to dwell on Bucknell when you guys will do that job for me?" Self said yesterday at his weekly conference.
Self's team no doubt remembers the loss to Bucknell during the first round of last year's tour
nament, but Self has noticed differences between last season's team and this season's team.
He said last year's team was tight when it went into the tournament and also had lost five of their last eight games, while this years team has been playing loose all season.
"A lot of that is youth," Self said of why this year's team has been so loose. "We have a bunch of young guys out there, and they don't know any better. Even when we're not playing well, they seem to enjoy playing with each other."
"I think a lot of times when you have the finality of it all, as a young team, you say. Well, I always got next year." Self said.
Senior guard Jeff Hawkins, for whom there is no "next year," said the team couldn't worry about
Bucknell because no one on the current team played an important role in that game. In addition, when Hawkins was intentionally fouled in a game against Oklahoma State last weekend, sophomore forward Darnell Jackson came to his defense. Hawkins said that probably would not have happened last season.
"It is more of a team." Hawkins said of this year's team. "The thing about last year is last year's team was a team, but we were not all one team. There were one or two people who were not all the way in and that affects chemistry. This year's team everyone is in. That's the special thing about this group."
Kansas, winners of 22 of its past 25 games, is one of the hottest teams in the country entering the NCAA tournament.
"This is a different team; we are young," sophomore guard Russell Robinson said. "No one on our team played in the
NCAA more than five minutes, so we are all excited for that." Basketball Notes;
Sophomore center CJ Giles has been battling a groin injury. Self said he expected the rest leading up to the tournament to help Giles and said that he should recover by Friday.
Freshman guard Brandon Rush was named by a first team freshman All-American by The Sporting News, the magazine announced Monday.
Allen Fieldhouse will be featured on Hardwood Heavens on the INHD Network starting tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. Narrated by Brent Musburger, Hardwood Heavens will feature the history and traditions of Allen Fieldhouse.
Kansas recruit Brady Morningstar, who has signed to play for Kansas next year, was at Allen Fieldhouse yesterday shooting before Kansas' practice.
— Edited by Matt Wilson
Kansan file photo
Former Jayhawk Wayne Simien attempts a jumper over a Bucknell defender in the first round of last year's NCAA Tournament. Bucknell stuken KU, 64-13.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Post-season preparation
Kansan file nhoto
Kansas coach Bonnie Henrickson yells to her players on court during a game against Oklahoma State on January 22 in Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas was selected to play in the WNIT with a 16-12 record, including an 11-0 mark in non-conference play.
Kansas Jayhawks hard at work getting ready for Thursday's WNIT game against Panthers
BY MICHAEL PHILLIPS
mphillips@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
If you're a KU student and planning on watching the men's NCAA tournament Thursday night, Bonnie Henrickson wants you to reconsider.
Kansas will open the WNIT against Northern Iowa Thursday at 7 p.m. in Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas officials announced Tuesday that the $8 ticket price would be waived for students with a valid KUID. The game will not be televised.
"You can't TiVo our game," the Kansas women's basketball coach said.
Kansas was selected to the tournament with a 16-12 record, including an 11-0 mark in non-conference play. The team finished the season by losing two
Should Kansas win, it would play host to Mississippi on Saturday at 2 p.m.
WNIT
Kansas (16-12) vs. Northern Iowa (19-9)
Since then, the Jayhawks have gone back to the drawing board, practicing every day except Sunday, when the weather forced them to cancel.
consecutive games to Kansas State by a combined margin of 38 points.
The coach will need a big game from senior forward Crystal Kemp, who is 6-foot-2, but will have to guard Panthers center Cassie Hager, who stands at 6-foot-7, the tallest player Kemp has matched up with all year.
"It felt like practice in October, defensively" Hendrickson said.
★ Thursday, March 16
★ 7 p.m.
★ Allen Fieldhouse
★ Free with KUID
Kansas' other players will
have their hands full on defense as well. Northern Iowa has three players who average double-figure scoring. Junior guard Sharita Smith will start for just the third time this season, replacing freshman guard Ivana Catic. Smith has struggled on the offensive end, but has provided a defensive spark for the Jayhawks, handling every opponent she has been put up against this season.
The back-to-basics practices will continue until Thursday's game. Because they were chosen to play host to the tournament, the Jayhawks will not have to travel.
It will be a nice bonus for the Jayhawks, though, who are 15-4 when playing at the fieldhouse, but only 1-8 in road games. That is mostly because of the fact that Kansas played all 11 of its nonconference games at home.
"We can't rely on the fact that we're here." Hehrickson said.
Kansas played only one other
team from the Missouri Valley Conference this year, defeating Creighton 63-52 in December. Northern Iowa lost twice to Creighton by a combined margin of only eight points.
Kansas fans will be familiar with the Missouri Valley by the time the weekend is over, as the Kansas men face Bradley on Friday night.
Henrickson also expressed disappointment on Tuesday that the Big 12 Conference landed only four teams in the NCAA tournament: Baylor, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas A&M, and that Oklahoma, which finished 16-0 in Big 12 play, was awarded only a two seed.
The Big 12 put four of its teams in the WNIT as well. Iowa State, Kansas State and Nebraska all will play Thursday or Friday. Texas Tech declined its invitation to the tournament.
Edited by Lindsey St. Clair
UNI will test KU's inside play with Hager
BY RVAN SCHNEIDER
rschneider@kansan.com
KANSAN SENIOR SWRITTER
Bonnie Henrickson didn't know the name of Northern Iowa's force in the paint, but the coach was wary of her.
Less than 24 hours after learning of her team's opponent, the Kansas coach knew the type of damage UNI's 6-foot-7-inch senior center Cassie Hager could do in Thursday night's first round game of the Women's National Invitational Tournament.
"Obviously, if we let her stand a foot from the rim all night that won't be good for us," Henrickson said. "We've got to make some adjustments and get her out from underneath the rim."
Defending Hager, the tallest player Kansas has faced all season, will be difficult considering that the Jayhawks' tallest player is five inches shorter. For most of the game, she'll be matched in the paint against Kansas' All-Big 12 forward Crystal Kemp, who is only 6-foot-2-inches tall.
On most nights, Kemp is among the tallest players on the floor, but Thursday will be much different. By comparison, Kansas men's basketball players Darnell Jackson and Christian Moody are both 6'8", just an inch taller than Hager.
Henrickson will attempt to simulate Hager's height in practice by using players from her men's practice team.
"A lot of times we don't let the guys block shots," Henrickson said. "We'll let him block shots for the next two days."
Hager paces the Panthers in several statistical categories, including blocks per game, where she ranks second in Division I. She averages 16 points, six rebounds and more than four blocks per game. And foul trouble hasn't been much of a problem for Hager this season, as she averages less than two fouls per game.
SEE HAGER ON PAGE 2B
FROM THE EDITOR
ERIC SORRENTINO
esorrentino@kansan.co
No break in coverage
As unfortunate as it is, I know that not all Kansas fans will be able to watch the NCAA tournament in person this year.
If had to guess, most KU fans will watch the Jayhawks in some form, mostly on television.
We realize that students make spring break plans that aren't in Lawrence. During spring break, our aim will be to deliver coverage that you couldn't get from purely watching television.
We've already made historic progress this semester. Two sports reporters, Daniel Berk and Michael Phillips, started a live blog from Dallas at the Big 12 Tournament.
We'll continue a live blog on kansan.com for the NCAA tournament, starting Friday in Detroit.
The University Daily Kansan won't be publishing a newspaper during break, but don't expect the sports coverage to dwindle.
SEE COVERAGE ON PAGE 2B
▼ BUNT 'EM OVER
MATT WILSON
mwilson@kansan.com
Baseball exists, too
I'm calling a 20-second time out from March Madness, thanks to some early national recognition for the Kansas baseball team.
The Jayhawks (15-6), are ranked in Baseball America's top 25 poll for the second straight week. They also received votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll and have been in the Collegiate Baseball poll this season.
Even if only barely (KU checks in at No. 25 in Baseball America), the team is receiving attention because of solid play against upperechelon competition. It's attention that is rarely seen around here.
The 'Hawks have not been afraid to go on the road to play the best teams in the nation, and that has paid off so far. Kansas won two out of three games at then-No. 19 Stanford back in early February. Stanford is now ranked No. 17 after dropping out of the rankings following its losses to Kansas.
SEE WILSON ON PAGE 2B
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