BASKETBALL TICKET PICKUP
The last men's basketball ticket pickup of the season begins today. The games in the final group are against Iowa State and Texas.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2007 WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
PAGE 1B
KANSAS 92 MISSOURI 74
BORDER SMACKDOWN
Dominant scorers emerge for Kansas
BY MICHAEL PHILLIPS
COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Missouri defense tried to rattle Sherron Collins, but Bill Self got to him first.
During practice last week, the coach had Collins handle the ball against a nine-man defense — without turning it over. It made for a frustrating week, but paid off on Saturday.
"When you have just five people out there, it's a lot easier to get the ball up," the freshman guard said.
Collins handled Missouri's press like a seasoned pro, and teammates Julian Wright and Brandon Rush provided the offensive fireworks as the Jayhawks romped the Tigers 92-74.
Wright got top billing Saturday. The sophomore forward finished with a career high 33 points, a number that doesn't include his contributions in the areas of rebounding and passing.
During the past week, those three have emerged from the pack as the go-to players for Kansas.
"The game was in slow motion for him today," Self said. "The biggest reason he played great was because he was great on the glass. He was a factor around the basket."
Before the game, Wright's teammates said they could see a difference in his attitude. He calls it "beast mode" preparing to wage an aggressive battle inside the paint.
SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 4B
Jayhawks finally show consistency
So this is what Bill Self's version of Kansas basketball is supposed to look like.
Julian Wright dunking. Brandon Rush slashing. Pressure defense causing turnovers. Big victories against subpar opponents. This was the team Sports Illustrated picked as its preseason national title favorite. This was the team the Jayhawk nation expected to end the program's 19 year title drought.
BY RYAN SCHNEIDER
Glad to see this team showed up just in time for the final games and a chance at a third-straight Big 12 Conference title.
KANSAN SPORTS EDITOR
RSCHNEIDER@KANSAN.COM
It looks like Kansas is finally done with its inconsistent play
While its tough to read too much into two blowout victories against teams going through coaching changes, one story line has emerged.
When the so-called college basketball experts handicapped the Jayhawks chances of making a run to Atlanta for the Final Four, inconsistency was the major reason they expected Kansas to fail.
For most of the season, they've been right.
On any given night, it was impossible to predict which team would show up. The team that battled with No. 1 Florida in Las Vegas looked nearly unbeatable. The team that played against Oral Roberts and DePaul didn't deserve to be ranked.
Part of the problem was the team had no true go-to guy. One game it was Rush, the next night it
SEE SCHNEIDER ON PAGE 4B
Amanda Sellers/KANSAN
Julian Wright, sophomore forward, jams the ball and draws a foul from Missouri center Kalen Grimes during the first half of Saturday's game in Columbia. Wright scored a career-high 33 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. The Jahvys defeated the Tigers 92-74.
Larry Kolyoord/ASSOCIATED PRES
Shaquina Mosley, center, and the Jayhawks celebrate her game-winning shot against Texas Saturday night. Mosley's layup with 4 seconds left gave Kansas its second straight victory in Big 12 Conference play.
》 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Kansas, Mosley stun Texas
BY CASE KEEFER
When coach Bonnie Henrickson drew up the play the jayhawks would run on their final possession Saturday against Texas, senior guard Shaquina Mosley couldn't believe it wasn't to her.
"She looked at me like 'I'm not even an option?'." Hendrickson said. "We had a shot for Danielle but I told Shaq that they mess up on a switch, show your hands for the ball."
That's exactly what happened. A mental lapse by Texas left Kansas' best offensive weapon wide open under the basket. Mosley caught the ball with 4 seconds and beat the buzzer to stun the Longhorns, 50-49, at the Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. It was her second-consecutive game-winning shot.
Henrickson was hesitant to give all the praise to Moseley, though. She
didn't want to neglect the player who threw the inbounds pass to Mosley, sophomore guard Ivana Catic.
Catic didn't played the entire game until Henrickson subbed her in to make the most important pass of Kansas' season. It waspi a mistake.
"I'm not sure whose eyes were bigger, Catic's or Shaq's," Henrickson said.
The story of the season has been very different for each of the guards. Mosley has emerged as the star of the team by averaging 13 points and five rebounds in Big 12 Conference play. After starting at the beginning of the season, Catic has played a diminished role and has seen limited minutes as the season progresses. None of it seemed to matter as Kansas celebrated its second Big 12 victory in a row.
It wasn't only the lajhawk offense that rose to the occasion; the defense
At halftime, Kansas was down 29-22. Mosley and McIntosh, the jayhawk's primary providers of offense as of late, were scoreless. McCray and freshman guard Kelly Kohn recorded 19 of the team's 22 points.
also had its best game of the year. Kansas held Texas to 34 percent from the field and 49 points, both well under the team's season average of 65 points per game.
"Now we've got Kohn and McCray going and the other aren't doing
The most impressive teat, however, was the containment of Longhorn forward Tiffany Jackson, a potential All-American and the type of player Kansas has let dominate it this season. But on Saturday, junior guard Taylor McIntosh and freshman forward Danielle McCray held Jackson to 14 points on 40 percent shooting, below her season average.
anything," Henrickson said. "I knew if we just got all tour going wed be pretty good."
Mosley and McIntosh did wake up in the second half. The two combined for 13 points, Kelly Kohn had a team-high 19 points and McCray added a double-double with 19 points and ten rebounds.
Henrickson said she was elated with the way her young team responded and thought it would enable them to make the most of their three upcoming home games.
"That's how we need to win because that's how we will grow." Henrickson said. "We don't need it to be easy; we need it to be tough."
Kansan sportswriter Case Keefer can be contacted at ckeefer@kansan.com.
Edited by Ashley Thompson
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