WILL JAYHAWKS DOMINATE 'HUSKERS? Coming off three-straight blowouts, Kansas returns home Saturday to take on Nebraska. Check out game day to get all the info you'll need to be ready for the game.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16,2007 WWW.KANSAN.COM
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
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KANSAS VS. NEBRASKA, 3 P.M. SATURDAY, ALLEN FIELDHOUSE
Kansas needs victory to keep Big 12 ranking
Jayhawks wow crowds with their alley-oop plays
BY MARK DENT
It starts with a pass.
A smooth, quick flick of the wrist sends the ball in the general direction of the backboard.
The ball rotates slowly in the air, leaving watchful fans in a trance and rendering grounded defenders helpless. It seems to float as if there is no gravity until it finally connects, mid-air, with the hands of another player at the apex of his leap.
Junior forward Darnell Jackson scored 17 points against Kansas State at Allen Fieldhouse this year while helping hold Darren Kent to 14 points. With his recently increased playing time and scoring contributions, Jackson joins the rest of the Jayhawks in taking on the Nebraska Cornhuskers at 6 p.m. Saturday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse.
It ends with a bang.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Sound familiar? Well, it should.
That play is the alley-oop, and Kansas routinely throws a few of them every game.
"We may get one or two from a set," Kansas coach Bill self said.
"The way we play we try to give ourselves a chance to throw them if certain things are open."
Against Missouri last Saturday, those "certain things" were open a lot. Kansas completed six alley-oops. At one point in the second half, the Jayhawks scored on alley-oops three out of four times down the court.
Sophomore forward Julian Wright was on the receiving end of half of the six, including one where he slammed it home with one hand.
"A lot of people go for one hand," he said. "You can go for one hand if you're wide open."
Wright may have turned the alley-oop into an art form, but he didn't invent it.
The origins of the play can be traced back to the mid-1970s. According to www.NBA.com, North Carolina State was the first team to regularly execute the alley-oop.
The Wolfpack had one of the game's best leapers on their team: David "Skywalker" Thompson. In order to utilize Thompson's 48-inch vertical leap, they had to discover a way to get him an easy shot without dunking the ball (dunking was illegal back then). Thus, the alley oop was born. NC State guards lobbed the ball high in the air to Thompson, who soared over his overmatched opponents and dropped the ball in the hoop, mid-air. Most alley-oops end with dunks rather than layups.
The Jayhawks and Thompson and the Wolfpack are successful at alleyoops for the same reason. When it comes to high flying, it's all about the athleticism, baby.
"We have a lot of athletic guys," freshman Sherron Collins said.
"We just have athleticism," Wright
SEE ALLEY-OOP ON PAGE 6B
Jackson rebounds on court, emotionally after myriad of catastrophes
BY MICHAEL PHILLIPS
Physically, Darnell Jackson is hurting from a sore back that has lingered all season. But emotionally, the junior forward is feeling the best he has in a long time.
to play basketball for a Top 25 team.
Since arriving at Kansas, Jackson has been plagued by tragedies that would be tough for anyone to handle, let alone a college student trying
"Ever since I got here," he said, "from my uncle getting killed, my grandpa and grandma dying, my mom getting in a wreck, and my cousin being shot and killed in a drive-by, it was just a whole bunch of stuff, and it was eating me up on the inside because I was holding it all in."
Coach Bill Self noticed, and during winter break, he told jackson he
knew something was wrong. The two talked for a while, with jackson ending up in tears as he began to open himself up.
"It helped me a lot, because I don't have male role models in my life." Jackson said. "I grew up without a dad, and sometimes it's hard for me when I see Mario out there with his pops shooting around. Sometimes I wish I had that, but things happen for a reason."
Learning on the coaching staff has helped jackson out, which in turn has helped him improve the mental side of his game.
After struggling earlier this season, he has turned up his play in recent weeks, including five straight games in which he has played 17 minutes or more. His biggest contributions are
SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 6B
'Huskers can't let Starter jackets go
We all used to own one, or maybe even two. That's right, back in elementary school, everyone would wear one to school — you know, the Starter jacket. Children would wear these jackets with big logos and bright team colors. I admit it, I owned two — but that was from 1990-1995. Well, consider this a fair warning because you will see Nebraska fans trying to bring back the Starter jacket trend Saturday.
That's right. Starter jackets are coming back to Lincoln. Now, I've been to Lincoln, Neb., and it's a great city with good sports fans. But it is also the only city that keeps Starter in business. I don't know why Nebraskans are in love with oversized jackets that aren't very comfortable, but for whatever reason, they haven't stopped buying the Starter jackets. My only explanation is that the Starter headquarters are in Lincoln.
Earlier this season, I went to the Nebraska game in Lincoln, and because it wasn't much of a game, especially in the second half, I really got to soak in the spectacle of Starter-coat madness — and it was remarkable. It was like elementary school, version 5.0.
But, that wasn't the only spectacle to take in. The Javawk basketball team was on fire, holding Nebraska scoreless for nearly 14 minutes in the first half. On top of that, Nebraska all-conference center Aleks Maric scored no points in that half. Yes, Kansas dominated the game, cruising to a 20-point victory. It surprised the Starter-coat fans and me because it was the first nationally televised game in a long time at Nebraska.
SEE DAVISON ON PAGE 6B
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Jayhawks ready for in-state rivalry
Senior guard Sharita Smith has faced Kansas State eight times in her four-year career at Kansas.
BY CASE KEEFER
The result has always been the same. Smith has yet to be on a team that beat the rival Wildcats.
"This game is more for Sharita than anyone else," senior guard Shaquina Mosley said, "because she's been here for a long time."
Mosley has also endured four of the losses since transferring from Central Arizona Community College last year. At this point it seems highly unlikely that the two teams will meet in the Big 12 Tournament. Therefore, Sunday could be the last
Overall, Kansas has lost 12 straight to the in-state rival, dating back to 2001. The games haven't been close either, the lahayhs have fallen by an average of 21 points.
"It is just another game," Mosley said, "But I love to beat Kansas State before I leave."
chance for the two seniors to break the streak.
But this year the two teams may be more evenly matched than before. When Kansas travelled to Manhattan a month ago, it had three shots to send the game into overtime that didn't fall.
down defender in the six games since. Although coach Bonnie Henrickson didn't have many positive things to say after Wednesday's loss to Missouri, she noticed Smith's efforts.
The Jayhawks have built upon their strong performance in the loss. Smith has continued to be a shut-
"Sharita played with a lot of toughness." Henrickson said. "If we had a handful of kids that come with that we would be fine!"
Smith will have another tough assignment Sunday with Claire Coggins. The Wildcat guard is the focal point of their offense and is averaging 14 points a game.
Considering Smith's stellar play, however, Coggins isn't the primary cause for concern. The layhawks will need more players to step up
defensively to guard the Wildcat's other top scorers, Kimberly Dietz and Ashley Sweat. Freshman forward Sadie Morris thinks Kansas is up to the challenge after learning from a sloppy performance against Missouri on Wednesday.
"It was an ugly game and if we have to play another ugly game against Kansas State, we'll do it that way," she said. "But finish strong and come out with the win."
Last time the two faced, freshman guard Kelly Kohn had one of her better conference games with 13 points off of 50 percent shooting. Kohn was 0 for 8 from the field
SEE WOMEN ON PAGE 6B
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Senior guard Sharita Smith has not won against the Wildcats since she came to the University. This weekend she and the rest of the Jayhaws hope to end the losing streak in what will likely be the last meeting between the teams this year.