THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
A&M 69 - KU 66
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2007
5B
BASKETBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
in the first half of the game Saturday night. Collins led Kansas in scoring with 18 points
Aggie coach Billy Gillespie had a few tricks ready for the game. With Kansas up three with a minute to play, he had Marlon Pompey fou junior forward Sasha Kaun. Instead of Kansas being able to set up offensively, Kaun received a one-and-one at the free throw line, and missed the first. Self called it a good play by Gillespie.
victory.
Kaun's missed free throw was a sour ending to an otherwise productive day for Kansas.
Anna Faltermieer/KANSAN
The layhaws out rebounded and out blocked the Aggies, in addition to forcing star players joseph jones
"With their two best players out of the game, you've got to attack and take advantage of that," junior forward Darnell Jackson said. "We knew it was going to be a physical game."
and Antanas Kavaliauskas into foul trouble.
Gillespie took another gamble by allowing Jones and Kavaliauskas to play the end of the first half, despite already having two fouls. The players finished with four fouls but played aggressively to the end.
"They like to hit," Rush said. "Their main goal was to hit us, and I think we reacted pretty good."
Neither team will have long to let
the brushes heal. Texas A&M beads back home for a Big Monday game against Texas, and Kansas will face Kansas State on Wednesday night.
For the lawhaws, the game is an opportunity to claw back into the Big 12 Conference race.
"We're not in the driver's seat by any means." Self said. "We still have an opportunity, but there is very little margin for error"
Kansan senior sportswriter Michael Phillips can be contacted at mphillips.ansan.com.
Edited by Ashley Thompson
ESPN anchors Reece Davis, Hubert Davis, Digger Phelps and Jay Biaslas talk during the pre-game show in Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday night. ESPN broadcast live from Allen Fieldhouse starting at 9 a.m. and the broadcast after the game against Texas A&M.
Amanda Sellers/KANSAN
SCHNEIDER (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
11 points, and all you've got to do is take care of the ball and just make stops. That's something we didn't do."
It's old news that this team gets complacent with a lead. The baffling part is that even though they have trouble closing out games, the lajhawks continue to relax and allows opponents to get back in the game.
In most of its three previous losses, Kansas played well early and faded down the stretch, failing to make plays with the game on the line.
Saturday was no different.
The Jayhawks went four minutes without a basket as the Aggies methodically sliced into their lead.
The problem with the offense late in the game was Self's insistence to get the ball inside to Kaun, who had done next to nothing all night. The best way to rebuild that crumbling lead would have been to do what worked best in the first half — guards Marto Chalmers, Sherron Collins and Brandon Rush driving to the basket. The best idea is to put the ball in the hands of your playmakers.
Instead, Self wanted to pound the ball in the paint to Kaun and Gillispie made him pay for it.
The Aggies trailing by three. Gillspies decision to unintentionally intentionally foul Kaun with 1.28 left was a brilliant scouting and great coaching move. With
Kaun shooting 50 percent from the free-throw line on the season, the "hack-a-Kaun" approach paid off. If Kaun just made two of the four free throws that he missed, who knows how the game would have turned out.
Consistently inconsistent — that's been the theme throughout this season. Unless Self and his Jayhawks can figure out a way to close out games, Kansas could be looking down a rough road toward defending its Big 12 title.
the ball from Texas A&M guard Acie Law. The Jayhawks led the Aggies until the finals minutes of the second
Schneider is a Lawrence senior in journalism. He is Kansan sports editor.
Amanda Sellers/KANSAN
Edited by Katie Sullivan
Big 12 Rankings
Team Big 12 Overall
Texas A&M 7-1 19-3
Kansas 6-2 19-4
Kansas State 6-2 17-6
Texas 6-2 16-6
Oklahoma State 4-3 18-4
Texas Tech 4-4 15-8
Oklahoma 4-4 13-8
Iowa State 3-5 12-10
Nebraska 2-5 13-8
Missouri 2-6 13-8
Baylor 2-7 12-10
Colorado 2-7 6-13
Anna Faltermieer/KANSAN
Guard Brandon Rush goes up for a shot in the first half of the game. Rush shot 3-for-13 from the field. He finished the game with 10 points.
Top 3 Players
Collins
Sherron Collins
He finished with a team-high 18 points. He shot 3-for-4 from three-
point land, 6-for-9 from inside the arc and went 3-for-4 from the free-throw line.
Julian Wright
Wright
He tallied a double-double against Texas A&M with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Wright also shot 75 percent from the free-throw line on 3-for-4 shooting.
Rush
Brandon Rush
He played 36 minutes, the most by any player. In those minutes, he only
scored 10 points, three of which were from one three-point shot. Rush also grabbed 6 rebounds.