8B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
GAMEDAY
Jayhawks cannot look past Bears
KU Tip-off
LAST TIME OUT
Kansas' ninth straight victory came at the expense of the last team to beat Kansas: Missouri. Kansas took control early, building a double-digit lead in the opening minutes and never looking back. Kansas' tough defense held Missouri to 32 percent shooting, and sophomore guard Russell Robinson had six steals, which tied a career high.
Kansas vs. Baylor 7 Tonight, Allen Fieldhouse
PLAYER TO WATCH
Brandon Rush. Rush has had two subbar games in which he has averaged 12.5 points per game, almost two points below his 14.3-point season average. Rush should break out of this mini-slump against the struggling Bears. Rush needs to keep trying to find his shot because he is shooting better than 50 percent from the field this season.
9
3 QUICK FACTS
- Straight victories for Kansas, a season high.
15.2 - Points per game in Big 12 play for freshman Mario Chalmers.
8-0 - Record for Kansas since Julian Wright joined the starting lineup.
KEY TO VICTORY
Don't look ahead to Texas. Kansas knows that a victory against Baylor will set up a clash with Texas on Saturday that could decide who sits atop the Big 12 standings. The Jayhawks can't fall into the trap of underestimating the Bears. Baylor has knocked off Missouri and Kansas State this season, both teams the Jayhawks have lost to. Kansas should be able to get up big early on Baylor, but only after all time has run off the clock should Kansas start thinking about Texas.
Kansas
OFFENSE
The Kansas offense has benefited from sharp shooting this season. It shoots 48.2 percent from the field. The problem that has plagued Kansas all year is turnovers. If the Jayhawks want to make a run in March they will need to learn to limit giving opposing teams opportunities to capitalize off costly mistakes.Kansas is averaging nearly 17 turnovers per game.The Kansas starting guards of sophomore Russell Robinson and freshmen Brandon Rush and Mario Chalmers will continue to shoulder the bulk of the offensive load.
DEFENSE
The Kansas defense has been stellar this season, forcing turnovers and not allowing opponents to produce easy shots. Kansas allowed Missouri to hit only 32 percent of its shots. Kansas has played great pressure defense, especially Chalmers and Robinson. Chalmers leads the Big 12 in steals with 66. Robinson had six steals against Missouri on Saturday. Expect another solid defensive output against a struggling Baylor team.
Baylor OFFENSE
Baylor comes into Tuesday's game as the lowest-scoring team in the Big 12 Conference, averaging just 59 points a game. When Baylor finds a way to score, it is usually led by freshman guard Curtis Jerrells. Jerrells is averaging 12.3 points per game and was named Big 12 Rookie of the Week two weeks ago. Another player to watch on offense is sophomore guard Aaron Bruce. Bruce is averaging 11.4 points per game this season. Freshman guard Henry Dugat has been a pleasant surprise for the Bears this season. The freshman guard is third on the team with 8.3 points per game and has seen action in all 12 games the team has played this season.
DEFENSE
Defensively, the Bears are almost as disappointing as they are on offense. Baylor is second to last in the league, letting up 72.8 points per game. The team's leader in rebounds is freshman center Mamadou Diene, with 5.6 rebounds per game. He is also the team's leading shot blocker with 24 blocked shots in just 12 games. Jerrells may be the team's top perimeter defender. He leads the team in steals with 17 and usually guards the opposing team's best player. Oklahoma, Colorado and Texas have all scored more than 80 points on Baylor this season.
BU Tip-off
LAST TIME OUT
Baylor played hard, but lost by only four points to rival Texas A&M on Saturday. Freshman guard Curtis Jerrells and sophomore guard Aaron Bruce each had 14 points. Senior forward Tommy Swanson had 12 points and 14 rebounds. Texas A&M guard Acie Law hit two free throws with just 2.6 seconds left in the game to secure the victory for his team. Baylor displayed signs of promise, going on a 17-3 run during the first half.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Bruce. He's the type of guy who dives for every loose ball and sacrifices his body. Bruce was a player who coaches around the league said would have a major impact in the conference. He is improving every game and proving the other coaches to be correct. Bruce will either guard freshman guard Mario Chalmers or sophomore guard Russell Robinson. Look for Robinson to guard Bruce.
3 QUICK FACTS
0 The number of non-conference games Baylor played this season.The team was restricted because of penalties from the NCAA.
13. 8 — The gap between Baylor's points per game and its opponents' points per game — the worst margin in the conference.
12 - The place the Bears find themselves this season in the Big 12.
Baylor doesn't have much of a chance in this one. The team's best chance is for it to play a flawless game and hope Kansas commits numerous turnovers.
KEY TO VICTORY
First now last in conference
e-m may it's Info tho you
BY SHAWN SHROYER
sshroyer@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
Bavlor
Three was the magic number of the week as three players, seniors Zach Dillon and Kevin
In games from Feb. 14 to 19, the Big 12 conference put together an 18-6 record. The Big 12's largest obstacle was getting teams on the field; six teams had games postponed or canceled throughout the week.
The Aggies rem ained perfect last week, improving their record to 7-0.
Texas A&M
BASEBALL
A three-game weekend series against California was canceled because of wintery weather. The Bears will add three games to their schedule to make up for the canceled series. The 4-0 start by Baylor is its best since 1993.
Russo and freshman Beamer Weems, hit three-run home runs in a 17-4 domination of Texas-Arlington in the middle of the week. The No. 23 Bears picked up their fourth victory of the season.
Texas A&M's first victory of the week came on Tuesday in a 7-4 victory against Sam Houston State. Texas A&M followed that victory with a sweep of Northern Colorado during the weekend, outscoring them 13-3 in the series.
Oklahoma
Freshman Kyle Thebeau earned his first victory of the season, mowing down nine batters in six innings of duty in the second game of a double-header on Friday. The Aggies won 5-0.
TheSooners made it out of the Coca-Cola Classic with two big victories to improve their
record to 7-2. After dropping the first game of the Classic 8-2 to No. 4 Rice, Oklahoma rebounded with an 11-4 victory against Lamar, a team that beat the Sooners 21-9 earlier in the season.
The defending Big 12 champions were victorious in their first game of the season.
Nebraska
defeating Charleston Southern 11-1. The next day in the Homewood Suites Shootout, the No. 3 Cornhuskers gave No. 19 North Carolina State its first loss of the season in a 4-3 ball game. In Nebraska's next game, the Huskers went down 8-5 to The Citadel, although the tying run stepped up to the plate for Nebraska in each of the last three innings.
No. 20 Missouri improved to 4-2 on the season after a pair of
Missouri
victories against Louisiana-Monroe last weekend. In the first game of the series, preseason All-American junior Max Scherzer struck out six in six innings.
The third game of the series was canceled because of weather, but the Tigers outscored the Indians 16-1 in two games.
Oklahoma State
The Cowboys record remained 2-1 on the season after their three-game series against
Texas Tech ended a three-game losing skid Tuesday with an 8-7 victory against New York.
Youngstown State was canceled because of bad weather.
Mexico. It was scheduled to play St. John's in a three-game series beginning on Friday, but Mother Nature had other plans. Because of freezing temperatures, the first two games of the series were canceled, leaving the teams only one game to play on Sunday, which Texas Tech won 5-4.
Kansas State
Kansas State split a pair of games in the University of Texas-Arlington Invitational.
Texas Tech
The Wildcats won their sea
BIG 12 STANDINGS
Baylor 4-0-0
Texas A&M 7-0-0
Oklahoma 7-2-0
Nebraska 3-1-0
Missouri 4-2-0
Oklahoma State 2-1-0
Kansas 7-4-0
Texas Tech 5-3-0
Kansas State 1-1-0
Texas 5-5-0
*No Conference games have been played yet.
son opener 13-3 against Texas-Arlington thanks to senior Joe Roundy and freshman Byron Wiley, who each had four hits, including a home run apiece.
against University of Texas-San Antonio, but not even the defending national champions could escape harsh weather conditions. After Friday's series opener against No. 11 Stanford was postponed, Texas continued its winning streak with a 4-2 victory against the Cardinal, led by junior Drew Stubbs, who went 3-5 with one run and one run batted in.
Kansas State lost its second game of the Invitational 5-1 to Oral Roberts.
Edited by Vanessa Pearson
Texas
No. 10 Texas got back on the winning track with a 6-1 midweek victory