NSAN
2007
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2007
WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
PAGE 1B
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Tense game ends home season
BY CASE KEEFER
Going into a game against the team that's ranked No. 13 in the nation and has the country's most dominant player, the jayhawks were supposed to be intimidated.
job."
They didn't play like it. Kansas nearly pulled off an improbable victory against Oklahoma Wednesday before eventually falling 76-70.
"I thought they fought, scrapped, and competed every possession for 40 minutes," Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale said, "They just did a terrific
From the opening tip-off, where Jayhawk 5-foot-9 freshman guard Kelly Kohn out-leaped 6-3 Oklahoma forward Ashley Paris, to senior guard Sharita Smith's second pointer of the season with 23 seconds remaining, Kansas played with a never-say-die attitude.
"Definitely we showed a lot of heart tonight and a lot of improvement," Kohn said. "We wouldn't have done that earlier in the season and that shows a lot about our team."
Soonerforward Courtney Paris.an
All American, had her 53rd straight double double with 32 points and 13 rebounds. Despite her standout performance, Kansas coach Bonnie Henrickson didn't think the sophomore won the game for Oklahoma.
"Courtney did what we thought shed be capable of," she said. "We needed to step up and guard the complementary players better."
Henrickson was referring to Oklahoma guard Britney Brown. The senior came off of the bench to score 14 points and, more importantly, played suffocating defense
on Kansas senior guard Shaquna Mosley.
At halftime, Mosley's 15 points made it look like she was on pace to set a career high on her senior night and that the Sooners had no answer. Enter Brown. In the second half, Brown held Mosley to 2-for-7 from the field and forced her to commit six turnovers.
"Shaq was really hurting us," Coale said, "and Brittany's our best on-ball defender as far as limiting
SEE SENIORS ON PAGE 8B
Sarah Leonard/KANSAN
Shaquina Moseley,
senior guard, passes
after getting caught between
Oklahoma defenders.
Wednesday night was
Moseley's last game in
Allen Fieldhouse.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Brady Morningstar and Brennan Bechard played together in junior high at Southwest Junior High (inset). The two players went on to play against each other in high school, then eventually became teammates once again at the University of Kansas.
Local players take advantage of past
BY KYLE CARTER
Freshman guard Brady Morningstar and sophomore guard Brennan Bechard poured on the points against the previously undefeated Santa Fe Trail, ballooning the lead to nearly 30 points and allowing reserves to play most of the fourth quarter.
It was 2002 and the two Lawrence natives on the men's basketball team played for Southwest Junior High.
leading the team to a 35-1 record for two seasons and back-to-back city titles.
Maybe its only fitting that now the two Southwest legends are the ones coming off the bench for Kansas during the late stages of blowout victories.
Morningstar is averaging about six minutes a game and competing with junior guard Jeremy Case for minutes, Bechard scored his first points of the season in the closing
Their coach at Southwest in eighth and ninth grade, Mike Lewis, said a three-pointer was fitting for Bechard's first points as a Jayhawk.
minutes of Saturday's blowout victory against Nebraska, adding insult to injury for the 'Huskers with a three-pointer from the wing.
"I've always been a three-point shooter, so I figured that was my best shot to get on the board." Bechard said.
"He could really shoot the ball." Lewis said. "We always gave him a tough time about his defense, though."
Lewis said the team was tightknit because many had played together in the off-season for years before.
"They liked to razz each other," he said. "Brady and Brennan were both pretty goofy."
David Freeman, Lawrence sophomore, played with both Morningstar
and Bechard at Southwest. He said the team suffered the consequences of joking around when Bechard threw a battery against a wall in the auditorium before practice one afternoon.
"It exploded and it was so loud," Freeman said. "It probably would've killed someone if it hit them."
Lewis recalled the battery incident as well.
SEE SOUTHWEST ON PAGE 3B
》 MEN'S BASKETBALL
Star freshmen average double digits
After an impressive outing Monday night against Kansas State, freshman guard Sherron Collins is now averaging 10 points per game this season.
BY MICHAEL PHILLIPS
This ranks the two freshmen fourth and fifth on the team in scoring, an impressive feat considering they aren't even in the starting lineup.
Freshman forward Darrell Arthur is also averaging double-digits, with 10.8 points per game.
Both players performed well in Manhattan, making plays in the clutch that are tough for some veterans.
"I wouldn't even call them freshmen right now. They just stepped up big," junior guard Russell Robinson said of the two freshmen.
Arthur also managed to stay out of foul trouble, having notched just one foul in each of the previous
two games, something that came in handy when sophomore guard Brandon Rush found himself in foul trouble early in the game. Being able to play smart may also be an indication that Arthur is on more stable footing now that he has played several games.
"He's been a freshman," coach Bill Self said. "He's had some great moments, some bad moments and some average moments. He's on an uptick right now. He's relaxed a
bit and is playing not so sped up offensively."
Chicken-aate
Self was just happy that none of the birds hit him, which happened his first year in Manhattan. Sophomore guard Mario Chalmers was disappointed that he didn't see it.
all three were alive and that all three were dead.
"That's something that I look forward to every year," he said.
SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 3B
>> WAITING TO GRADUATE
Students should always wear blue
BY JONATHAN KEALING
NSAN SPORTS COLUMNIST
JKEALING@KANSAN.COM
The horror! Dean Smith came to a Kansas basketball game wearing Carolina Blue.
Every individual in Bramlage Colliase not wearing Jayhawk Blue, and there weren't many in the blue hue this year, was wearing black. The crowd extended like one dark mass up into the rafters. On TV, it looked very impressive.
Now, imagine how it would look in the seats of Allen Fieldhouse where many of the seats are already blue. A little coordination in shirts and there's a chance to truly recreate a sea of blue here in the middle of Kansas.
I could hear the gnashing of teeth for miles around when Smith stood up and the crowd realized he wasn't wearing the beloved Crimson and Blue, but instead chose the despipped powder blue. After the game, Smith told several members of the local media that he didn't even think about what color he was putting on.
Judging by the outcry regarding Dean's blazer, and the comments I got this past week after my column, it should be obvious that the color you wear to a basketball game — or any sporting event, for that matter — can send a powerful message. We saw what a difference a little coordination can make when the Jayhawks traveled to Manhattan for the semi-annual installment of the Sunflower Showdown.
OK, Dean, fine. I don't begrudge you anything. In fact, I celebrate you as one of the best basketball alumni this University has produced, but please, take a minute and look at what you put on next time you return — and I hope you come back many times — to Allen Fieldhouse.
Ryan Grass, St. Louis junior, sent a letter to the editor this week on the very same topic. I'm going to reiterate some of what he wrote
"Such a display of sports solidarity (at K-State) was amazing, a touch intimidating and more than a little embarrassing. It becomes all the more embarrassing when one realizes that this shouldn't be that hard to do! There's a store on every street
SEE KEALING ON PAGE 3B