8B
GAME DAY
THE UNIVERSITY BABY HANSAN
MONDAY. FEBRUARY 26, 2007
KU
TIP-OFF
WHAT'S AT STAKE2
If the teams on top of Kansas continue to fall, it's not unthinkable that they enter the tournament as a No.1 seed. The selection committee strongly weighs the last 10 games a team has played, and the Jayhawks have been dominating everybody in their path during that time.
STAR WATCH
Junior guard Russell Robinson says he's ready to go after an injury kept him out of the Iowa
Robinson
State game.
He probably won't start, but look for him to get a decent number of minutes as coach Bill Self determines if
he's fully healed — both physically and mentally.
QUESTION MARK
CAN THE JAYHAWKS CON-
TINUE THEIR TORRID PACE?
They've been tearing through opponents for the past few weeks, but it would seem that at some point, something's got to give. If it doesn't, they could be favored by plenty of analysts to win the tournament.
3 REASONS KUWINS
**ONE** - Winning the Big 12 means something to them. It's one of this team's goals, and they're not overlooking it for the NCAA tournament. They watch the scoreboard whenever Texas A&M is playing in the hopes that they'll be outright champs.
TWO - Julian Wright will be in "Beast Mode." That's how he describes himself when he plays aggressively on both ends of the court and takes over a game. We saw glimpses of it against Iowa State, and he's due for a big game.
**THREE** - It's Senior Night at Oklahoma. I've always felt that Senior Night was more of a distraction than a motivator. The players may beg to differ, though.
BUMMER SOONER
Kansas looks to spoil Oklahoma's upset bid on Big Monday
KANSAS VS. OKLAHOMA 8 Tonight, Lloyd Noble Center, ESPN
Kansas 22-4,9-2 Big 12
OFFENSE
The Jayhawks have excelled at creating open looks off of turnovers and rebounds. They have also seemed to find their preferred pace: an up-tempo game with lots of finesse plays. Both those things may be hard to accomplish tonight against Oklahoma, which prides itself on playing physical, hard-nosed defense.
Junior center Sasha Kaun and freshman forward Darrell Arthur will have to control the rebounding battle, because both teams will be looking for tip-ins and second-chance points. If they can do that, it should take some of the heat off the guards, allowing them to shoot more freely and break the game open from behind the arc.
Oklahoma 15-12,6-8 Big 12
DEFENSE
Junior guard Rus sell Robinson will be missed the most on this end of the court. Freshman guard Sherron Collins and sophomore guard Mario Chalmers both have quick hands, which they use to create turnovers. Robinson provided the steadying veteran presence that was important in close games. Tonight will be a big test for junior guard Rodrick Stewart, who has played well in the recent blowouts but hasn't had too many opportunities in big-game situations. He'll get quality minutes tonight, and a good performance could help him earn some future minutes.
MOMENTUM
It's GameDay custom not to award four Jayhawks before a road game, but if any team deserves it, it's this one. Kansas is probably the hottest team in America right now, and outside of an early-season scare in Ames, no middle-tier Big 12 team has been able to hang with the Jayhawks. Tonight is Senior Night in Norman, and fans always get pumped up for Big Monday when the Jayhawks are visiting, but by now the team is used to that type of atmosphere. Look for the Jayhawks to establish the inside game early and use that to get Brandon Rush some shots — and some confidence.
OFFENSE
The talent and the experience is there, but this offense hasn't put it together all year. Oklahoma features legit scorers in Longar Longar, David Godbold, Nate Carter, Michael Neal and Austin Johnson. Each one of these players has a strength – Godbold and Neal are shooters, Longar can bang inside – but none of them have enough of an all-around game to be a real threat. In conference play, Carter has emerged as the Sooners' go-to-player and stepped up his scoring average from around 11 points per game to 16.4 points per game. But he's been struggling in Oklahoma's recent slide. He hasn't put the team in scoring in any of the past four games.
DEFENSE
Pencil in Oklahoma for third, behind Kansas and Texas A&M, in the race for the Big 12's best defense. The Sooners always had the reputation of being a tough, grind-it-out team when Kelvin Sampson was their coach. With Sampson out and first year coach Jeff Capel in, Oklahoma has not changed a bit. The Sooners still prefer hard-fought battles that lead to scores in the 60s. It doesn't matter a whole lot that Oklahoma is slightly dysfunctional on offense, because its defense is that good. The Sooners give up only 58.2 points per
game and allow opponents to shoot just 39.6
sent from the field. Kansas can try to force a quick tempo but more than likely, this game will resemble the slow game it played against Kansas State last week.
MOMENTUM
Two weeks ago, college basketball analysts labeled the Sooners as a possible NCAA Tournament team. They had won four games in a row and had a chance to upset Texas A&M at home Feb. 17. But something really bad happened. Oklahoma lost to Iowa State before blowing an early lead against A&M a few days later. Now, the Sooners are in the midst of a four game losing streak after dropping a home game against Texas last Saturday. The NCAA Tournament is no longer an option. Oklahoma has to play hard just to keep its overall record above .500 and we a chance competing in the NIT.
Mario Chalmers
Mark Dent
OU
TIP-OFF
WHAT'S AT STAKE?
Lloyd Noble pride. Early on in this season, Oklahoma had as good of a home court advantage as anyone. The only game it lost in the non-conference season was to Alabama, which was ranked in the top 10 at the time. The Sooners won their first five conference home games, but have now lost two in a row at home. Win tonight and Lloyd Noble pride remains.
STAR WATCH
Longar Longar has the ability to go off. He only averaged about two points per game
his first two years, but he once scored 27 points in a game. This year, he's scored more than 20 points on four occasions and boosted his average to 11.2 points per game. Longar has struggled slightly in conference play, but he is Oklahoma's best chance at winning the battle inside, which will be crucial in tonight's game.
Longar
QUESTION MARK
CAN OKLAHOMA — OR ANY TEAM — STOP KANSAS?
The Jayhawks are playing with invincibility right now, it's impossible to envision any Big 12 foe besides Texas &M Giving Kansas a run for its money. Oklahoma has to play its best game of the season just to have a chance. Even if Oklahoma slows the game down successfully it might not matter. Kansas State did it last week and still lost by nine.
3 REASONS OU WINS
ONE - The Norman-area hasn't been friendly to the Jayhawks. Kansas hasn't won there since 2001.
TWO - In Kansas' last few blowout victories, it has controlled the glass. Oklahoma will not allow the Jayhawks to do that. The Sooners own the second best rebounding margin in the conference. Whoever wins the battle of the boards has a good chance to win the game.
THREE –The Sooners have one heck of an opportunity tonight on national television. Four straight losses wiped out any of its chances for an at-large tournament bid and now the Sooners are playing for fun.
JAYHAWK STATS
| Player | Avg. Min. | FG-FGA | 3FG-3FGA | Avg. Reb. | Avg. Pts. |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Brandon Rush | 32.0 | 141-326 | 55-134 | 5.6 | 13.8 |
| Mario Chalmers | 28.8 | 118-248 | 43-115 | 3.1 | 11.6 |
| Julian Wright | 27.2 | 138-255 | 3-11 | 8.0 | 11.6 |
| Darrell Arthur | 20.1 | 131-242 | 0-4 | 5.2 | 10.9 |
| Sherron Collins | 21.9 | 106-203 | 41-93 | 2.2 | 10.0 |
| Russell Robinson | 28.3 | 58-137 | 17-57 | 3.3 | 6.6 |
| Sasha Kaun | 17.0 | 71-129 | 0-0 | 3.8 | 6.2 |
| Darnell Jackson | 15.1 | 57-100 | 0-0 | 5.2 | 5.7 |
| Brady Morningstar | 6.2 | 11-22 | 3-7 | 0.9 | 2.2 |
| Jeremy Case | 5.5 | 10-26 | 7-22 | 0.6 | 1.8 |
| Matt Kleinmann | 4.8 | 5-9 | 0-0 | 1.0 | 0.9 |
| Rodrick Stewart | 6.2 | 7-24 | 5-11 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
| Brennan Bechard | 2.0 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Brad Witherspoon | 1.6 | 1-6 | 0-2 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
KEYMATCH-UP
Wright
Julian Wright
6'8"225
vs.
Nate Carter
6'6"220
Carter
Carter is only 6'6" but plays forward for the Sooners. Although he always goes against a taller player, he finds a way to score. The match-up against Wright should be particularly interesting, because Wright isn't a typical forward either. Both players can handle the ball and drive. Wright should have the advantage when it comes to rebounding, but both players could easily score 15 or more points.
SOONER STATS
Player Avg. Min. FG-FGA 3FG-3FGA Avg. Reb. Avg. Pts.
Longar Longar 27.6 117-206 0-0 7.4 11.2
Nate Carter 22.3 105-210 5-12 4.8 11.0
Michael Neal 29.2 80-209 45-148 2.7 10.2
Tony Crocker 23.1 81-183 26-82 3.9 8.3
Austin Johnson 24.7 78-185 36-99 1.9 7.7
David Godbold 27.3 71-192 41-115 4.7 7.5
Taylor Griffin 23.0 63-154 2-20 5.3 6.3
Bobby Maze 17.1 46-95 1-7 1.8 5.8
Keith Clark 12.2 14-33 5-16 2.3 3.8
Kellen Sampson 2.9 4-9 4-8 0.5 1.5
Chris Walker 9.7 8-19 3-8 1.3 1.1
Beau Gerber 3.6 3-9 0-0 1.2 0.7
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