THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
Tourney gets off to fun start
BIG 12 TOURNAMENT | 9A
THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2011
There was plenty of excitement in the first round of the Big 12 tournament including a big comeback from Colorado and a dominating upset by Oklahoma.
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Baylor dashes NCAA hopes
After No. 3 Baylor crushed Kansas 86-51, the Jayhawks now wait to see the NIT bids
Sophomore guard Angel Goodrich passes the ball before Baylor's Brittney Griner could block a shot attempt in the second half of Wednesday's Big 12 Tournament game at Municipal Auditorium. Goodrich had seven points, four rebounds, seven assists, and three steals in the loss.
BY KATHLEEN GIER kgier@kansan.com
After a dominant 71-45 defeat of Colorado in the first round, Kansas fell behind early to Baylor. This game was the last chance to make the NCAA tournament, but post-season dreams were dashed with the loss which sends the Jayhawks to the WNIT for the fourth straight year.
year.
"It drives us all crazy," coach Bonnie Henrickson said. "This group is in a good place to make a run. Now we've got to catch our breath here and get over the disappointment."
pointment. The lajyhawks went on a 13-3 run late in the second half, but a 7-15 mark from beyond the three point line was not enough to keep the game close.
Sophomore guard Monica Engelman stepped into a leadership position for the second straight game and led the team with 16 points after hitting four three pointers.
"We all talked about coming into in the game and being aggressive," Engelman said. "I think I tried to keep up with that goal and expectation."
Kansas fell to No. 1 seed Baylor in an 86-51 rout in the quarter finals of the Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship. Kansas' record now sits at 20-12 overall and 6-10 in conference play.
Sophomore forward Carolyn Davis fell into foul trouble again with four fouls early in the second half. Senior forward Krysten
Boogaard and freshman forward Tania Jackson contributed eight and 12 points respectively, filling the gap in scoring from Davis.
the gap in scoring. Baylor sophomore center Brittany Griner made ball rotation and movement in the paint difficult for Kansas. The Jayhawks were outscored 52-18 in the paint which is usually where they play their strongest. Kansas was also outrebounded by 19.
outbounded by 14.
"She changes that because there is not much room to score and the lane is awfully crowded," Hendrickson said.
Henrickson said,
Kansas also had trouble with the Baylor defense which forced several desperation shots at the end of the shot clock.
"We wanted to slow it down just so we weren't rushing anything," Goodrich said. "Then we kind of waited too long."
wanted too long. The Jayhawks were outplayed on almost all levels by the Bears who swept the All-Big 12 Women's Basketball Awards. Baylor was led by a dual attack from sophomore forward Griner with 19 points and freshman forward Destiny Williams with 21 points.
This was the second game, which Kansas lost to Baylor this season after a 76-37 loss on January 19 at home.
at home. Kansas will focus on midterms and return to practice to wait for announcements regarding the WNIT because they are officially out of the NCAA tournament.
— Edited by Corey Thibodeaux
Kansas gets by North Dakota in sloppy game
Junior catcher Chris Manship celebrates after making a home run against North Dakota at Hoglund Ballpark. Manship was at bat 3 times on Wednesday, scoring 1 of 5 points for Kansas' 5-3 victory against North Dakota.
BY MIKE VERNON
mvernon@kansan.com
The Kansas baseball team came into Wednesday's game against North Dakota hoping to get the bats on track over a winless North Dakota team. Instead, they ended up winning in a 5-3 dogfight victory to back to .500 at 6-6 on the season.
The Jayhawks recorded a season-high 10 hits in Wednesday's victory over the Fighting Sioux. With the way the bats have been struggling, recording 10 hits sounds like it would make the Jayhawks and coach Ritch Price pleased with their performance at the plate.
Instead, Price and the Jayhawks seemed to think that they took a step backwards at the plate in the Jayhawks sixth victory of the season.
season.
"Today I didn't think the quality of our bats were very good at all." Price said.
an, Price said.
The reason Coach Price was so upset after the game?
The Jayhawks only managed to scrap together three earned runs against a North Dakota team that has struggled mightily on the mound this season. The Fighting Sioux came into Wednesday's game with an abysmal team of ERA of 11.65. In North Dakota's three game series with Missouri State, they allowed 9, 12, and 13 runs in those games.
For the Jayhawks to only put a total of five runs on the board, is a major let-down for a team that was hoping to get into a rhythm in this week's games.
"I was really disappointed, to be honest with you," Price said. "We had some really bad at-bats."
Now that the Jayhawks are 12 games into their season and are
still in a team-wide slump, the problems become mental. Price said the team appears to be trying to force the issue, and the result Wednesday was an unusual amount of pop-ups from the layhawks.
jayhawks. "There were three consecutive innings where we had six consecutive pop-ups for outs." Price said. "It's guys trying too hard."
One of the few bright spots for Kansas at the plate Wednesday was sophomore catcher Alex DeLeon's performance. DeLeon hit a line drive solo homerun
to left field in the bottom of the fifth inning, and he knocked two batters in off two separate sacrifice flies. DeLeon finished one-for-two with three RBIs and a run. DeLeon credits his improving play to better patience at the plate.
"I'm feeling pretty good," DeLeon said. "I've been swinging at better pitches, making sure I get a ball elevated in the zone, and just putting a good swing on it."
on it.
Sophomore starting pitcher Thomas Taylor, who had a
strong performance going 5.2 innings and only giving up one run, seemed much less concerned about the team's batting struggles.
give
"They're already doing a lot better from the beginning of the year," Taylor said. "They'll be fine."
Another good sign for the Jayhawks today was senior outfielder, Jimmy Waters, getting back on track with two hits today, including a screaming line drive down the right field line that resulted in a double.
"It's got to start with Waters getting it going, and [Casey] Lythe has got to get it going, and [Brandon] Macias has got to get it going." Price said. "For somebody to take the pressure off of the lineup, it's got to be those guys that have been successful in the past."
For the Jayhawks to get on track, Waters and the other seniors in the middle of the order have to heat up.
Edited by Corey Thibodeaux
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COMMENTARY
Selby not as great as expected
BY TIM DWYER
tdwyer@kansan.com
Remember that kid who was supposed to be the savior of Kansas basketball? What was his name? Shelby?
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his name: Selby.
Well, that kid, Josh Selby, didn't quite save the Jayhawks. (Why an undefeated team needed a savior is beyond me, but that's a different story, I suppose.)
He came in and won his first game as a Jayhawk — and I mean that literally. He won that game for Kansas. But since then, Selby hasn't panned out as the superstar many thought he would be. Maybe it's because of the overwhelming hype and pressure associated with him. Maybe it's the near-impossibility of joining a team as jelled as the Jayhawks were midseason. Or, maybe it's because of nagging injuries.
nagging injuries.
Accordingly, Bill Self has cut Selby's minutes. The emergence of Elijah Johnson has all but worked Selby out of the jayhawks' rotation. He played just 9.5 minutes per game in the last two games — the only two since Johnson was the starting spot and Taylor was reinstated.
There's little argument that, in the interest of the short term, that Self handled the situation well. The Jayhawks are playing at a high enough level that even a loss this afternoon won't derail them from a No.1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Throw in the fact that the team plays its best basketball with Selby buried on the bench, and Self had little option but to keep him there.
little option but to keep it
But there are two problems. First,
there may come a game when the
Jayhawks' offense isn't running
smooth and Selby is the Jayhawks'
best option in a broken floor. Watch
him play, and you will see the incredible
talent buried just beneath the surface. Self acknowledges this.
surface. So you could say, "He could still be a guy for us this year that comes out and gets 15 or 18 points when we are really struggling." Self said. "He is potentially still that guy. He just needs to have a bit more confidence moving forward."
confluence his rising. But Selby has likely never seen the bench for as long as he has this season. He's been the most talented player in almost every gym he walks into. He's never been a sidekick, like he will be to Marcus Morris, even in his finest moments this year.
should need.
But still, the perception stands, and it can and will be used against him when the Jayhaws get into a recruiting war with any team for any top recruit. Kids in the top 30, roughly, of every recruiting class generally think they are the world's greatest basketball talent. An opposing coach could have an easy go of convincing them that. In Self's system, they will face the same fate as Selby.
The second problem, any coach recruiting against the layhawks will happily spout, is that there is now a stigma that Self cannot coach a one-and-done player.
This is obviously and unquestionably ludicrous. Bill Self is a remarkable basketball coach, and his string of seven consecutive titles in one of the most difficult basketball leagues in the country is all the evidence you should need.
But here's the thing about Kansas. This year's team — its most balanced an overall-talented since the title-winning team of 2008 — is built out of three- and four-year players. Marcus Morris was ranked No. 29 in his class and Markieff was No. 49. Elijah Johnson is the only five-star recruit that starts, and it's a guarantee that he will be back in Lawrence next season.
So does Kansas even need the top recruits?
Edited by Jacque Weber
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