THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY DECEMBER 4, 2006
5B
DEPAUL 64 - KU 57
Jeff Roberson/Associated Press
guard Brandon Rush and junior guard Russell Robinson defend him Saturday in Rosemont, Ill. Mejia hit the game-tying and go-ahead 3-point shots in the final three Kansas.
BASKETBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
Kansas didn't help itself any. Sophomore guard Brandon Rush and junior guard Russell Robinson each missed the front ends of one and one free throw opportunities, costing the Jayhawks as many as four points without having to run the clock.
"We really didn't capitalize on them not playing well." Self said.
"Then when they started playing well, they certainly took advantage of us playing very poorly."
"We gave this one away." Rush said.
DePaul shot just 26.1 percent from the floor in the first half while Kansas was shooting 50 percent, resulting in a 26-17 lead for the Jayhawks at the break. All Kansas had to do to bust the game wide
The most disappointing thing for Self and his players was that they shouldn't have been clawing for points at the end of the game. It should have been decided long before that point.
Instead, Kansas played flawed basketball on both ends of the court while DePaul improved as the game progressed. This didn't come as a shock to Kansas.
open in the second half was continue to play solid defense and reduce its mistakes on offense.
Defal shot 54.2 percent in the second half, led by Mejia. Mejia was 8-for-16 from the field, including 3-for-5 from three-point range, scoring 18 of his 23 points in the second half. Chandler and guard Draelon Burns added nine points apiece after halftime.
"We told our guys, 'Hey, this has been a second half team.' Self said. "We knew that they could come back."
"We actually did an average job on Chandler, but did a bad, bad job on Mejia", Self said. "Sammy really controlled the second half"
At the same time, nobody came close to controlling the game for Kansas. For the fourth straight game, Rush failed to assert himself on offense, being held scoreless after
But just because the layhawks were aware of it, didn't mean they could stop the Blue Dermons.
sinking a three pointer at the 17:12 mark in the first half, his only three points of the game.
"Really good players have to figure out a way a little bit and he's got to do a better job of that," Self said of Rush.
Sophomore guard Mario Chalmers was the only layhawk with a consistently hot hand Saturday. His 15 points led the team in scoring and he was 3-for-3 from three-point range until the last 20 seconds when he chucked two prayers up from beyond the arc.
After the game, Wright was noticeably dejected, partially because he left his hometown without a victory and partially because Kansas had reverted back to the apprehensive style of play it been trying to avoid.
"We just came out too timid." Wright said. "We didn't attack. We just waited."
Kansan sportswriter Shawn Shroyer can be contacted at sshroyer@ kansan.com.
Jeff Roberson/ASSOCIATED PRESS
— Edited by Catherine Odson
coach Gary DeCesare while looking up at sophomore guard Brandon Rush after hitting a two-point shot late in a 64-57 upset victory against No. 5 Kansas.
Russell Robinson, Darrell Arthur, Brandon Rush and Julian Wright walk back onto the court after a timeout with just more than a minute left in the game against Gould Saturday. Kansas失44-57.
Jeff Roberson/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Draelon Burns and teammates celebrate with fans in the student section after upsetting No. 5 Kansas 64-57 on Saturday
from press row.
IT WAS OVER WHEN...
DePaul guard Sammy Mejia tied the game 53-53 with 3:01 remaining in regulation. At that point, the Blue Demons overcame their greatest obstacle – a 14-point deficit. Now Kansas was on its heels while DePaul was in attack mode. It came as no surprise that the Blue Demons outscored Kansas 11-4 after that basket.
STAT OF THE GAME...
Kansas' prior winning streak masked the poor shooting of sophomore guard Brandon Rush. The Jahawks needed the All-American to step up on Saturday and he responded by shooting 1-for-7 from the field and missed his only free throw attempt. In his last four games, he has shot 3.1 percent from the field, 26.3 percent from three-point land and 35.7 percent from the free-throw line.
The swing in shooting percentages for each team is mind-boggling, especially for DePaul. The Blue Demons shot 26.1 percent from the field in the first half, but that number jumped to 54.2 percent in the second half. Kansas was limited to 20 shots in the first half and made half of them. It took 11 more shots in the second half, but its percentage dropped to 35.5 percent.
Almost by default, the game ball goes to sophomore guard Mario Chalmers. He was one of the few Jayhawks who didn't lose composure, and his 15 points led the team. He was the only Jayhawk starter to shoot better than 50 percent from the field, including 3-for-5 from three-point range.
— Shawn Shroyer
GAMETO FORGET...
GAME BALL GOES TO...
UP OR DOWN
Kansas struggled against a mid-tier opponent again on Saturday, which has to make the fans at USC happy. Will the Jayhawks rebound tonight, or will the Trojans keep them down?
First of all, nothing will make the UCF fan happy after their foot ball showing against UCF A. As for the game tonight, while there's no good explanation for the Layawks' incarns
tent play, they should have more than enough talent to beat USC at home. However, recent history shows that what the Jayhawks should do isn't always what ends up happening
up happening
Jack Connor
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Kansas loss at DePaul (clearly) had more to do with a lack of concentration on
the lajhawks part than a stellar performance by the opposition. The disappointing loss can be attributed to defensive lapses in the second half and an unair acterically poor shooting performance from sophomore guard Brandon Rush. Chances are coach Bill丝 will have a few choice words for his players in
the next several days. More than likely, Kansas will be extremely prepared to defeat a decent but unspectacular USC squad.
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Asher Fusco
Without the presence of a dominant go to player when in need of a bucket,
↑
Daniel C. Weixeldorfer
the lahayah displayed obvious problems, despite the unlimited talent they possess. The team should win against USC tonight, but needs to learn to get better every game in order to correct its problems. The season did not end after the Florida game.
This Jayhawk team seems to struggle to
find motivation, and a poor per-
formance should be able to ope-
n them at least one game worth.
A solid home crowd should be
able to propel the lakers to a
victory against a machine op-
ponent.
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Kayvon Sarral
So far this season the layhawks have proven that they are both good.
finitely talented, and frustratingly inconsistent. Kansas especially needs more quality minutes out of junior forward Daniel Jackson and junior center Sakura Karni. It may be only, but KU will be too fired up after a disappointing loss to drop two in a row.
Kyle Carter