ROCKY MOUNTAIN LETDOWN IN STORE?
After victories against rivals Kansas State and Missouri, the Jayhawks travel west to take on the last-place Colorado Buffaloes. Check out game day to get yourself ready for tonight's game.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2007 WWW.KANSAN.COM
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
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KANSAS VS. COLORADO, 8 TONIGHT, BOULDER, COLO.
High altitude, higher stakes
Collins fuels fire off the bench
BY MICHAEL PHILLIPS
In the unlikely event the lajwhaws fall behind early in tonight's game against Colorado, coach Bill self will turn to Sherron Collins to provide a spark off the bench.
The freshman guard has played as well as anybody on the team since conference play began, but don't look for him to join the starting lineup anytime soon.
"Certainly he's played as well as anybody in our program in the last month," Self said, "but you've got to do what's best for your team."
He feels that the team is better off not tampering with the formula that has resulted in two blowout victories in the past week. Instead, Self allows Collins to energize the team by entering the game off the bench.
"I just try to come into every game with enthusiasm," Collins said. "Coach asks me to come off the bench with a spark."
He's managed to do that so successfully that once he enters the game, he stays for a while. Recently Collins has been playing almost 30 minutes a game and is second on the team in scoring during conference play.
As the season has progressed, he said he has learned more about how to play his position and play it aggressively.
His passing game hasn't come until recently He had seven assists in the Kansas State and Missouri games, his best performances of the season.
"I understand what I'm doing, and I'm learning to pick my spots well," he said. "I think I can get to the lane almost every time and I can make something happen, even if it's just kicking the ball out."
Self said that his success came as a result of his eagerness to learn. Early in the season, the coaches
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Freshman guard Sherron Collins' energy and enthusiasm coming off the bench has earned him an average of nearly 30 minutes per game. He and the Jayhawks take on the Buffaloes tonight in Boulder. Kansas defended Colorado 97-74 on Jan 7 at Allen Fieldhouse. Topics tonight are 8 on channels 8 and 15.
SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 3B
Defense, rebounds important in Boulder
BY MARK DENT
Kansas soundly defeated Colorado the first time the two teams met.
But listen to Kansas coach Bill Self, and it sounds as if the Jayhawks got killed.
"We didn't guard them the first time," he said. "Roby went nuts and had 30 on 15 shots. We've got to do a better job of guarding the ball and rebounding the ball cause those were two areas we really did do well in in the first game"
Kansas did do well in the final score area, winning 97-74. Tonight, the two teams meet again in Boulder, and the lajhawks face familiar and new problems.
Kansas' main area for concern this time is defense. The 74 points that Kansas allowed in the January game is the second highest point total it has given up in conference play. Consider that Colorado only averages less than 70 points per game and the number becomes even more glaring.
Guard Richard Roby was the main reason the Buffaloes were able to do well offensive against the Jayhawks. He scored 30 points from all over the court; He had pull ups, three-pointers and drives past his defender, sophomore guard Brandon Rush.
"I like playing against Roby." Rush said. "He can easily go for 30-35 points. You just try to limit his touches, not let him get to the free throw line, and keep him from getting open shots."
Kansas faces another challenge besides Roby, one that it didn't have to worry about in the first game. Boulder has an altitude of 5,328 feet. Lawrence's is only 863 feet. This higher altitude could cause the players to fatigue more easily and will probably force Self to go to his bench
SEE COLORADO ON PAGE 3B
》 SWIMMING AND DIVING
Jayhawks head to championships
BY DANIEL MOLINA
Riding a wave of momentum, the Kansas swimming and diving team travels to College Station, Texas, today for the first day of the Big 12 Championships.
The team concluded the regular season with consecutive victories against Big 12 foes Nebraska and Iowa State.
As always, the goal is a strong showing in the championship meet.
Kansas has placed fourth out of six teams in the last two years, narrowly being edged out of the top three by Missouri in 2005 and
Improving on those fourthplace finishes certainly won't be an easy task. Lone Star State powers Texas and Texas A&M have finished first and second, respectively, the last seven years. The Longhorns' string of conference titles dates back even further to eight years.
Nebraska in 2006.
All Texas dominance aside, Kansas comes into the four-day event in as good of shape as any having gone 6-1 in dual meet competition with its only
SEE SWIMMING ON PAGE 8B
BY ASHER FUSCO
Border rivals going opposite directions
>> KANSAS VS. MISSOURI, 7 TONIGHT. ALLEN FIELDHOUSE
Despite the similarity of their winloss records, Missouri and Kansas are teams headed in completely different directions. The Tigers are falling further from respectability with each loss while the Jayhawks are slowly turning what once looked like a lost cause into a decent season
Kansas will attempt to keep these trends alive when the rivals meet tonight at Allen Fieldhouse.
Missouri's season looked promising in the first few weeks of non-conference play, but tougher conference
Their 12-1 run through the non-conference schedule was highlighted by a 78-70 neutral-court victory against Alabama. Since January ushered in the Big 12 Conference season, such highlights have been few and far between. Home victories against Iowa State and Colorado remain the only bright spots on the Tigers' unimpressive 2-9 conference
competition tamed the Tigers
Things hit rock bottom for Missouri last Saturday when it
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Sarah Leonard/KANSAN
SEE RIVALS ON PAGE 3B
Freshman guard LaChelda Jacobs plays defense against Colorado in the Jayhawks' first conference victory. The Jayhawks will play for their third-straight victory tonight. SARAH LEONARD/ARKAN