THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
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COLLEGE BASKETBALL|8A
Tourney starts with a bang
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 2011
UNC-Asheville and Arkansas-Little Rock took the first game of the NCAA tournament into overtime, setting the tone for the rest of this week's games.
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Chris Bronson/KANSAN
PAGE 10A
MAKING AMENDS
WNIT a new shot for glory
The Jayhawks will make the best out of this tournament
Senior guard Marisha Brown puts up a defensive stand on Baylor's Odyssey Sims during the first half of last Wednesday's Big 12 Tournament game at Municipal Auditorium. The Jayhawks lost to Baylor 86-51.
BY KATHLEEN GIER kqier@kansan.com
Senior guard Marisha Brown is welcomed out by her teammates during player introductions before the start of last Wednesday's game against Baylor for the second round of the Big 12 Championship. The Jayhawks lost to Baylor 51-86.
Junior forward Aishah Sutherland was just lying down and saw a comment on her Twitter page asking if she was ready to play Wichita State. She was surprised and a little confused, but soon after she received the official team text message letting the athletes know the schedule for the first round.
opportunity.
Despite that excitement there is still some hostility because the team had goals of making it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time under Henrickson.
"We are excited to play in the WNIT and it is important for us to get dialed in," coach Bonnie Henrickson said. "And in that short break we had after the Big 12 Tournament, we were able to use that wisely and we have a bounce in our step with the fresh opportunity."
Kansas will host Wichita State in the first round of the WNIT at 7 p.m. tonight This is the fourthstraight season that the Jayhawks have been selected in the WNIT draw.
"It's another postseason, which we are excited for, it's obviously not the one we hoped for," senior forward Krysten Boogaard said. "We are coming in here with a positive attitude."
Sutherland has high hopes for the Jayhawks who advanced to the WNIT finals in 2009.
ing some impressive wins.
"We can't hang our head about not making it to the NCAA Tournament," Sutherland said. "We just have to look at it like we have a chance to win a championship and hang a banner."
Henrickson talked about the difficulty of keeping the team confident after a difficult season where the layhawks started well in non-conference, and had trouble in conference despite record-
— Edited by Corey Thibodeaux
when they are allowed.
Tickets will be $5 for adults and $4 for children. KU students will be admitted for free.
ing some impressio
"Unfortunately we had a roller-coaster season," Henrickson said. "The kids are resilient and you have to have a short term memory and we talk more about our success and how to be successful than beating anybody up when they aren't."
Contributed photo by Justin Mackey/KU ATHLETICS Sophomore Tanner Poppe pitches against Eastern Michigan earlier this season. The Jayhawks lost to No. 9 Arkansas, 4-2, yesterday.
Kansas loses close one to No.9 Arkansas
BASEBALL
BY MIKE VERNON
mvernon@kansan.com
Although the result was not as hoped, the Jayhawks showed signs of improvement, hanging with No. 9 Arkansas in a 4-2 loss in Fayetteville, Ark.
"I feel like we made progress today," coach Ritch Price said. "Obviously, I'm disappointed with the loss, but we played well."
The Jayhawks continued to
improve at the plate in their close loss to the Razorbacks. Although the team only had five hits, 12 of their outs were飞 outs, and they were able to make solid contact at the plate throughout the game.
Jayhawks left eight men on base.
"It's a process. We're collecting more hits and were having better at bats. Now the next step is, when we get guys on, we've got to finish the inning." Price said. "We had an opportunity today and we couldn't get the clutch hits."
The Jayhawks missed a huge opportunity at the plate in the top of the seventh innning. Down 4-2 with two outs, struggling seniors Casey Lytle and Jimmy Waters had two clutch singles with two outs to give
"I'm still going to stay positive with our guys, and I believe it's going to happen."
game.
"The hitters have been hiten in the ball real well," freshman pitcher Alex Cox said. "They've just been hiten it at guys, and they know that (the hits) are going to drop eventually."
RITCH PRICE
Coach
While it appears as if the Jayhawks are headed toward correcting their issues hitting the ball, they still have problems scoring runners once they get on base. Against the Razorbacks, the
the Jayhawks a chance to make a run at the Razorbacks' lead.
Sophomore Jake Marasco, who has been on fire for Kansas this season with an average of.397, stepped
ap to the plate looking to knock in Lytle and Waters. Both runners were able to move over to second and third base off a wild pitch.
Marasco, like the whole Kansas lineup throughout this season, was unable to come up with the clutch hit. He struck out, swinging, and the Jayhawks were never able to recover. They did not have one hit in the final two innings of the game.
Another good sign for Kansas
Pitching coach Ryan Graves "said that I did a good job," Cox said. "I did a good job mixing my change-up and if I keep that up,
was the performance off the freshman starter Cox. Cox pitched three innings against the Razorbacks and gave up two hits for two runs.
"We're going to have to work hard and play with some energy until we start getting some clutch hits." Price said. "I'm still going to stay positive with our guys, and I believe it's going to happen."
then I'll be successful."
With the tough loss, the Jayhawks' record now falls to 7-9. And even though the record is below the team's norm when heading into conference play, coach Price still has confidence in his guys.
Edited by Caroline Bledowski
COMMENTARY
Refreshing memories for a good NCAA start
BY TIM DWYER
tdwyer@kansan.com
Maybe this is the difference between me — a 23-year-old kid who thought four years was way too short of a time to spend in college — and Self, who at 48 already sits alongside the active gifts of his profession. Of the two of us, I'd say he's got the more proven track record. But if I put on Self's shoes, I'd certainly take them for a stroll among the memories this week.
I find that hard to believe.
Kansas coach Bill Self says he won't be spending any time going down memory lane this week in Tulsa.
In 1993, Self was hired at Oral Roberts in Tulsa after coaching under Larry Brown at Kansas and Eddie Sutton at Oklahoma State. It went poorly early on. He inherited a team that hadn't had a winning season in nine years, and that streak reached 11 before he broke it. In his third year, the Golden Eagles went 18-9. His fourth, they went 21-7.
"Believe it or not, I actually anticipated myself being compared to Roy Williams," he said at a 2003 press conference. "Comparisons don't bother me because they come with the territory."
You see, Self's coaching career got off to its auspicious start in Tulsa, where the Jayhawks play their first and second NCAA tour nament games.
Illinois fans harbor the same feelings for Self that Kansas fans do for Williams. They love him for what he did there, but they are still stung by his leaving. He hasn't coached against the Illini since leaving, and they want him bad.
And, of course, if the Jayhawks don't get Illinois in round two, they draw the Runnin' Rebels of UNLV. Self would coach against the man he replaced at Illinois, Lon Kruger, and against a player whom he coached for a year at Kansas, Quintrell Thomas.
His fifth, he was hired by crosstown rival Tulsa University, then of the Western Athletic Conference. All he did there? In his third year, he finished 32-5, and took the Golden Hurricanes to the Elite Eight.
When Self left Illinois three years and three NCAA tournament appearances after taking the job, new Illini coach Bruce Weber faced a little scrutiny, to say the least. He was constantly compared to Self, and not favorably, because of the obvious dichotomy in personality. Weber is reserved; Self charismatic.
Seven years, 129 wins and two NCAA Tournament runs later, Self left Oklahoma for Illinois, who the Jayhawks may face in the second round.
So Weber held a mock funeral for Self, figuratively burying the comparisons once and for all. Self met the story with dripping sarcasm.
Memory lane may be avoidable. But the first weekend of the NCAA tournament is the memory Autobahn, and Self's got himself the best car in the race.
Edited by Sarah Gregory