THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
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MARCH MADNESS | 6B
Big 12 Bracket Bash
MONDAY, MARCH 14,2011
Kansan basketball beat writers Tim Dwyer and Mike Lavieri make predictions for the NCAA tournament
WWW.KANSAN.COM
PAGE 1B
BALLIN'
FEW FLAWS IN BIG 12 TRIUMPH
BY TIM DWYER
tdwyer@kansan.com
Tyshawn Taylor smiled and shyly leaned away from the microphone, staring down the table at his coach with something in between hope and cockiness in his eyes.
Taylor had just said that he hoped his 20-point, five-assist, four-rebound performance was good enough to prove "that I could start for the rest of the time."
Coach Bill Self smirked, obviously pleased with his mercurial point guard's outstanding performance on the day, but unwilling to be effusive in his praise with Taylor in the room.
"Still had those two turnovers," Self said.
Self was, of course, joking, but it was that kind of day for the layhawks, where two turnovers on an otherwise perfect stat line were worth even a sarcastic mention.
In looking at the box score,
there's little the Jayhawks didn't do well. They outrebounded the fifth-best rebounding team in the country. They shot 57 percent from the floor and 41 percent from three-
not beaten, and they made the most of it.
"It just happened the perfect way for us to get them in the Big 12 Championship and for all the marbles." Morris said.
point range. They dominated the battle inside, scoring 38 points in the paint to Texas' 18.
"When we play like that, it's going to be hard to stop us."
The Morris twins, who struggled in the first meeting with Texas, flourished with defensive stalwart Tristan Thompson relegated to the bench with foul trouble. Thompson played just 11 minutes and his backups were unable to hold the twins. Marcus finished with 17 points and six rebounds on 6-of-9 shooting, while Markieff had 14 and nine rebounds on 6-of-9 shooting.
"That was the best defense that we played in a while," Self said. "We played the scouting report very well."
And as efficient as the Jayhawks were offensively, they may have been better defensively.
"When we play like that, it's going to be hard to stop us," said Marcus Morris, who was named the tournament's most outstanding player after the game.
The Longhorns scored 73 points, nowhere near the fewest Kansas has allowed this season, but the high score was more a product of the frenetic pace than of any particular efficiency from the Longhorns' offense. Jordan Hamilton — who was a
MARCUS MORRIS Junior forward
Basically, if there were flaws, they were miniscule and very difficult to find. The Jayhawks got their dream rematch with Texas, the only team they had played and
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN
member of the all-tournament team alongside the Morris twins, Colorado's Alec Burks and Texas' Thompson — led the Longhorns with 21 points, but it took him 21 shots to get there.
Junior guard Tyshawn Taylor goes up for a lavup at the Sprint Center Saturday. Taylor led the Javhawks with 20 points.
"I thought we guarded in a high-possession game," Self said. "Especially the first half. And I think that set the tone for a lot of things."
Edited by Amanda Sorelli
BASEBALL
Jayhawks drop weekend series to Eastern Michigan
BY MIKE VERNON mvernon@kansan.com
The Jayhawks walked away from their three-game series against Eastern Michigan at Hoglund Ballpark disappointed after losing two out of three games, including a 10-4 loss Sunday in a crucial third game.
With conference play lurking around the corner, a victory Sunday would have given the Jayhawks some major momentum heading into conference play, as well as boosting their record back above .500.
After Saturday's 8-1 loss to the Eagles, coach Ritch Price confirmed that Sunday's result could be very important the rest of the lavwhaws' season.
"I think we'll get tested tomorrow." Price said on Saturday. "We'll
see if we can grow up and take a step forward."
One of the Jayhawks' biggest issues Saturday was their attitude and lack of energy after giving up an early lead. The Jayhawks gave up three first inning runs and the Eagles tacked on another three in the fourth to take a 6-0 lead early in the game.
Kansas appeared flat after giving up the lead, and only managed to
"I didn't think our body language was very good from the sixth inning on, and I don't think we were very competitive after we got behind," Price said.
While the Jayhawks failed to take a step forward on the scoreboard Sunday, losing 4-10. Price felt the Jayhawks corrected some of Saturday's major issues.
Senior pitcher Nolan Mansfield pitches against Eastern Michigan Saturday afternoon. The Jayhawks lost the contest 8-1
Megan Singer/KANSAN
"I was pleased with the energy in our dugout today and the progress we made offensively," Price said.
"This weekend, I think we had two games where we had over 10 hits, and that is a big confidence booster," senior outfielder Case Lytle said. "We're improving more and more."
One of the reasons the jayhawks could only muster four runs was the three double plays the jayhawks
scrape together five hits for one run in the game.
While Poppe and the Jayhawks didn't come away with the results they desired, coach Price said they had no choice but to remain optimistic and look forward.
The layhawks had four errors in the game, and gave up up three unearned runs. The starting pitcher, sophomore Tanner Poppe, had a tough time recovering from the defensive blunders giving up five hits and five runs in five innings pitched. Three of those five runs were unearned. Poppe though, was not one to make excuses.
The Jayhawks responded to Saturday's underwhelming effort with 13 hits. While four runs for 13 hits isn't a strong ratio, the numbers at the plate were some of the best Kansas has had all season. In game one of the series, the Jayhawks posted a season-high 14 hits, as well.
"It was tough today, and they were good hitters," Poppe said. "I just put myself in bad situations."
Edited by Amanda Sorell
Junior first baseman Chris Manship also hurt the Jayhawks when he dropped a routine ball at first base in the second inning. The Eagles went on to take the lead from Kansas later in the second, scoring four runs.
grounded into. The Jayhawks also left six men on base, three of whom were left stranded by junior outfielder Jason Branunsky.
KANSAS VS.
ARKANSAS
Where: Fayetteville, A.K.
Time: Tuesday, 3 p.m.
REWIND | 10B
Check out the softball rewind for stats from the weekend matches
Softball Rewind
SOFTBALL
Jayhawks match wins from last season
"We still had some of the same struggles as last weekend," coach Megan Smith said. "We weren't as focused throughout the first entire game. Today we did make as many offensive adjustments as we needed to, but overall this weekend our pitchers did extremely well and that was a
Last season, the softball team ended its season with a 21-35 record. This season the team holds a 21-3 record after five weeks of play. The team went 4-0 in the North Florida Tournament with victories against Mount Saint Mary (3-2), Alabama State (16-2 in five innings), Delaware State (8-0 in five innings) and North Florida (2-1).
SEE WINS ON PAGE 10B
BY HANNAH WISE
hwise@kansan.com
KANSAS VS
LIPSCOMB
Where: Conway, S. C
Time: Firday, 9 a.m.