Sports
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The University Daily Kansan
Monday, January 26, 2004
Jayhawks outmuscle Buffs
Kansas gains Big 12 victory
By Ryan Greene rgreene@kansan.com Kansan sportswinter
"Night and day" might be the best way to summarize the Jayhawk squad that suited up for last Thursday's 69-68 loss at home to Richmond and Sunday's 78-57 victory over the Colorado Buffaloes.
While the Jayhawks' improvements were not eye-popping on the stat sheet, they succeeded this time in what coach Bill self emphasizes more than anything else — putting away an opponent.
"We came out tonight and took our anger out on Colorado, and hopefully we can do that the rest of this season," freshman forward J.R. Giddens said. "We shouldn't lose at the Fieldhouse, that's a no-no. I think that kind of hit us."
Both coaches were forced to devise a game plan using their benches, as 16 total fouls were called in the first 10 minutes. The bulk of the fouls were called on big men. Both Kansas senior forward Jeff Graves and Colorado junior center David Harrison found themselves in early foul trouble, and had their numbers limited all afternoon.
Play was balanced for the first seven minutes of the game, before Kansas took off on a 17-2 run at the 13-minute mark, including eight points from junior forward Wayne Simien. The run gave the Jayhawks a 25-12 lead, and the Buffaloes were never able to recover.
kansas took a 41-21 lead into the locker room at halftime with no reason to expect a Colorado comeback. The Buffalo shots a miserable 17.9 percent from the field in the first half, hitting only five shots, while the Jayhawks hit on 53.6 percent, including four three-point field goals.
"We did a lot of things well in the first half, and then we came in with a nice comfy, cushioned lead," Simien said. "That's something that you really like to think about."
An otherwise uneventful second half was punctuated by Harrison's inability to stay out of foul trouble and to control his temper. With 17:40 remaining, Harrison committed his fourth foul and was pulled from the game by coach Ricardo Patton. After arguing with the referees, Harrison did the same with some Kansas fans sitting behind the Colorado bench. After returning, he fouled out with 14:28 left. While an assistant coach
See box score on page 58.
escorted him to the locker room, he exchanged words with the student section.
"He had the monster dunk to start the game, and after that he only made one other field goal," Self said. "He's a lot easier to guard on the bench than he is out there between the lines."
Simien recorded his second straight double-double, with 20 points and 15 rebounds. He had 16 points and nine rebounds in the first half. Giddens added 13 points and eight rebounds, with nine of his points coming from beyond the three-point arc. Junior guard Keith Langford had 13 points.
The victory moved Kansas to 12-3 on the season overall, and preserved an undefeated conference record at 4-0. The Buffaloes dropped to 10-6, with a 2-3 conference mark. The Jayhawks remain one of two undefeated teams in conference play along with Texas Tech.
"Any time you lose, you want to be able to play right after it, just like in a pick-up game," junior guard Aaron Miles said. "We're a good shooting team, and once we start being a lot more consistent with it, it's going to open up a lot more doors for us."
Kansas Basketball Notebook
Fans Missing In Action—While the crowd played a role in making David Harrison's afternoon one he'll want to forget, there were more empty seats than usual in Allen Fieldhouse. The student section had roughly 10 rows of empty seats atop the Fieldhouse. He told players that poor weather probably keeps some fans away.
Reserves Save The Day — With the officials calling as tight of a game as they did, Kansas' bench picked up the slack when the starters were in foul trouble. Christian Moody and David Padgett played quality minutes in the first half when Graves was hit with two early fouls, and Michael Lee chipped in with seven points, eight rebounds and six assists. The Jayhawks' bench outscored the Buffalo's bench 20-12.
"I talked to them before the game about how many people were here considering there's three inches of ice," Self said. "I said lets go give these guys a show. They sacrificed to be here today."
Eric Braem/Kansan
Kansas junior forward Wayne Simien leapt for a first-half block against Colorado sophomore guard Jayson Obazuaye in Allen Fieldhouse yesterday. Simien led the Jayhawks with 20 points and 15 rebounds in their 78-57 win over the Buffaloes.
— Edited by Meghan Brune
Fieldhouse no fun for Colorado's Harrison
By Mike Norris
mnorris@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
David Harrison doesn't like Allen Fieldhouse, and it seems like Allen Fieldhouse doesn't like him.
After the junior center picked up his fourth foul with 16:48 remaining in the second half of Kansas' 78-57 victory over Colorado, the relationship between the seven-foot center and the Fieldhouse crowd climbed to another level.
"We just told him when he came out there it's just an opportunity to grow," Colorado coach Ricardo Patton said. "That's about all you can say, and he agreed."
Ironically, Harrison probably didn't even commit his fourth foul. He was about three feet away from Kansas forward Wayne Simien when the whistle was blown.
green. But after he returned to the bench, Harrison began responding to fans taunts by raising his arms and yelling back.
SEE HARRISON G PAGE 5B
David Harrison fouled out of yesterday's game with 10 minutes left in the second half. Harrison had five points and two rebounds against the Jayhawks. Jubilant fans waved the wheat and yelled his name as he made his way off the court.
Mizzou victorious in second round
By Jesse Newell jnewell@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
This time there were no words spoken in the Kansas and Missouri handshake line. None were needed.
The Tigers had said enough with their play.
Missouri dominated the second half in a 76-49 victory over The Kansas women's basketball team Saturday, avenging its loss to Kansas two weeks ago in Columbia, Mo. where players were involved in a scuffle after the game.
"We were more focused on just winning this game and doing whatever it took to win this game," Missouri coach Cindy Stein said, "and not really paying attention to all the other outside stuff that people wanted to put into it."
Meanwhile Kansas (8-9 overall, 1-5 in the Big 12 Conference) struggled to match Missouri's intensity, suffering its second-worst defeat of the season.
"We're just disappointed in our effort." Kansas coach Marian Washington said. "I really felt like we were going to come out this afternoon and respond to a team that was going to come in here and play with some real focus to prove something."
The Tigers more than proved themselves in the game, using 15-2 and 9-0 runs in the final 11 minutes to pull away from Kansas and take the victory.
A fast-break layup by Crystal Kemp, along with a turn-around jumpshot and free throw from Tamara Ransburg, narrowed the Missouri lead to 40-34 and sent the Allen Fieldhouse fans into a frenzy.
Missouri responded, however, with six straight points to make the lead 12 with less than 13 minutes remaining.
A key play came just one minute later, where Ransburg picked up whistles on consecutive possessions and fouled out of the Jayhawks lineup. Missouri outscored Kansas 30-13 in her absence.
The Jayhawks could not overcome a dreadful shooting performance in the first half.
Kansas shot just 36 percent in the first 20 minutes, with many shots rattling out of the hoop.
Trailing by double digits for most of the game, the Jayhawks made a move in the first minutes of the second half.
"We shoot at these baskets everyday
SEE TIGERS ON PAGE 4B
TALK TO SPORTS: Contact Henry C. Jackson or Maggie Newcomer at SPORTS@KANSAN.COM
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