KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2011 / SPORTS / 9B
MEN'S BASKETBALL REWIND CONTINUED
Tournament to remember
Tyshawn Taylor
Taylor was excellent against Colorado in the semifinals, but that game didn't hold a candle to his performance against Texas in the championship game. Taylor finished with 20 points, five assists against two turnovers and four rebounds in what was arguably his best performance as a Jayhawk. He played well enough to make the ballot of at least one all-tournament voter I spoke with.
Taylor
Tournament to forget
Elijah Johnson
Not only did Johnson lose his starting job to Tyshawn Taylor, he also played fewer minutes in the last two games of the tournament than Josh Selby, as well. Selby didn't respond with good minutes for the Jayhawks, so there'a definite chance that Johnson is at least the No.2 point guard in the NCAA Tournament. But considering where he was a week ago, competition for the backup spot is not where he wanted to be.
Johnson
Quote of the night
"Tonight he was fabulous. I mean, he played like a point guard should play. He initiated. He finished when he needed to."
-Bill Self on Tyshawn Taylor
Self
Key stats
Kansas had six players score in double figures led by Tyshawn Taylor's 20.
38-33 Kansas won the rebounding battle 38-33 against the fifth-best rebounding team in the country.
1. 25 Kansas scored 1.25 points per possession,the most Texas has allowed all season.
38-18 Kansas scored 38 points in the paint to Texas' 18.
10
Kansas had just 10 bench points, all from Thomas Robinson.
BY TIM DWYER
Prime plays
15:18 — A Tyrel Reed three pointer is followed by a Marcus Morris three pointer. (14-9)
FIRST HALF
12:49 Thomas Robinson goes up and under for a pretty layup. It was very NBA-esque. (19-13)
12:25 — Tyrel Reed has his first dunk of his college career when he streaks down the court on the fast break and throws it down with his right hand. He modestly runs back on defense with no celebration. (21-13)
5:42 — Brady Morningstar blocks a Jordan Hamilton shot and then on the offensive end buries a three pointer. (37-23)
4:14 — Marcus Morris blocks a Corey Joseph layup that leads to an emphatic dunk by Tyshawn Taylor. Texas is forced to call a timeout. (39-23)
0:07 —With seconds remaining in the half, Tyshawn Taylor drives hard to the basket and makes a layup, giving Kansas a 15-point lead at halftime. (48-33)
7:11 — Markieff Morris throws a dunk down directly off a missed shot by Marcus. (68-55)
SECOND HALF
3:15 — Thomas Robinson comes flying across the right side of the lane and puts a missed shot back up on the left side of the basket with his left hand. (75-63)
1:25 — Marcus Morris looks to be shooting a turn-around jumper but instead finds Markieff for the ally-oop. (79-67)
1:11 — The Rock Chalk Chant is as loud as it is at Allen Fieldhouse. The fans know that Kansas has earned its redemption. (81-67)
Notes
- Kansas was 4-0 at the Sprint Center this season.
- Kansas has 32 victories in four of its last five seasons.
- Kansas has won eight Big 12 Championship titles.
BY MIKE LAVIERI
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN
BIG12
Sophmore guard Travis Releford, freshman guard Josh Selby, sophomore guard Elijah Johnson and sophomore forward Thomas Robinson celebrate as the Jayhawks lengthened their lead in the final the Big 12 Championships. The Jayhawks defeated the Longhorns 85-73.
Championship victory redeems earlier loss
BY MIKE LAVIERI mlavieri@kansan.com
KANSAS CITY. Mo. Redemption is spelled: Big 12 Champions.
After Friday's 90-83 semifinal victory against Colorado, some Jayhawks didn't care whether they faced Texas or Texas A&M. But if they had to choose, they wanted Texas. They wanted to avenge the loss earlier in the season.
Kansas improved to 8-1 in the championship game after an 85-73 victory against Texas, which fell to 0-5 in the championship game.
On Jan. 22, Texas went into Allen Fieldhouse and snapped Kansas' 69-game winning streak with a 74-63 victory, a day after sophomore forward Thomas Robinson's mother Lisa died.
Junior guard Tyshawn Taylor said that the team's attention span was somewhere else. He said the team knew it had a game the next day, but the focus was on more important things.
"Our focus for that game kind of dropped a little bit," Taylor said, "We were fully focused for this game."
Junior forward Marcus Morris didn't want to make an excuse, but said that the first game wasn't a fluke and that the team wasn't a full strength.
"Since the loss we've been talking about that we really wanted another shot at them, because a lot of people have been saying that they were the best team in the Big 12," Morris said.
Well, Kansas proved their doubters wrong, even though it
didn't have many. Kansas won its seventh Big 12 regular season conference title in a row after Texas lost three of its last five games of the season. Three of the last five? Doesn't sound like the best team in the conference.
Morris' brother Markieff said he needed to back up the talk about wanting Texas. He did by scoring 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting and he grabbed nine rebounds. All the while, he was one of two Jawhaws and four on the floor to be named to the Big 12 All-Championship team.
“Texas beat us,” Markieff said.
“那 was enough for us to back
the talk up, for us to come out and play the way we played today."
Coach Bill Self said that this was probably the best defense Kansas has played in a while.
"I think that we're getting it together," Self said. "I didn't think our defense against Colorado was any good last night. I thought against Okie State and Missouri and A&M it was much better and tonight was probably the best we played defensively in rebounding the ball, considering that was a big-boy game and there's men out there playing."
Check out the photo gallery of Kansas' victory at
Edited by Brittany Nelson
kansan.com/photos/galleries
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN
Junior guard Tyshawn Taylor is all smiles while watching the year in review video after the game. Kansas defeated Texas for the Big 12 Championship title.
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