KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2011 / SPORTS /
7B
KU
TIPOFF
AT A GLANCE
Texas A&M's Khris Middleton is exactly the type of player that gave the Jayhawks fits early in the season during the Jayhawks' Pac-10 swing. Middleton is reminiscent of Arizona's Derrick Williams and UCLA's Tyler Honeycutt, the two of whom combined to score 60 points against the Jayhawks in a pair of virtuoso performances. The Jayhawks have improved defensively since then, but there's definitely the potential for Middleton to have a big night against Kansas. The league's other lanky 6-foot-6 wing, Colorado's Alec Burks, averaged 20 points in two games this year against the Jayhawks.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Sophomore guard Elijah Johnson
Johnson won't get the start because he's not a senior, but he did get the ultimate vote of confidence from coach Bill Self Monday. "Ellijah will be our first guard off the bench," Self said. "In my mind, if we were going
Johnson
to play an NCAA tournament game tomorrow, Elijah Johnson would be our starting point guard." If Johnson continues his solid play, it sounds like he'll get the nod even over the newly reinstated Tyshawn Taylor. That all depends on Self's allocation of minutes to Taylor after his suspension.
Can Kansas clinch number seven?
QUESTION MARK
Two weeks ago, it looked like Kansas would finally be knocked off its perch at the top of the Big 12. Today, Kansas has a chance to clinch a share of a remarkable seventh consecutive Big 12 title. Not often has the streak appeared in such dire straits as it did this year, but with a win in either of its remaining games or another Texas loss, Kansas clinches. As it stands, the streak is unrivaled by anything since UCLA's seven consecutive national titles, and the Jayhawks no doubt want to clinch the final crown of the current Big 12.
HEARYE, HEARYE
"To me Senior Night is a celebration of three guys' careers. One game does not capture what their careers have been. At Kansas that's one of the great things we have here and one of the great things we do tradition-wise."
Bill Self
Ready to win it again Kansas tries for another Big 12 title
Morningstar
KANSAS 27-2,(12-2) STARTERS
Brady Morningstar, guard
Morningstar will run the point by default tonight. Coach Bill Self will, as always, start the seniors on Senior Night, so Elijah Johnson will find his way out of the starting lineup for a one-game hiatus. Morningstar will get the start as the team's best distributor, even though he lacks the top-end speed necessary to run the point full time for the Jayhawks.
Reed
Tyrel Reed, guard
Little
KANSAS VS.TEXAS A&M 8 p.m.,ALLEN FIELDHOUSE,Lawrence
Reed has been hitting everything lately, shooting better than 50 percent both from behind the arc and collectively from the field. That said, it's not necessarily a role the Jayhawks need him to play. He averaged 15.5 points in Kansas' two losses, against 9.8 points on the season as a whole. As long as Reed takes care of the ball and offers the occasional threat from outside, he's doing everything he needs to.
Mario Little, forward
Little will get his first start since the 2008-2009 season because of the lasting tradition of starting the seniors on Senior Night. Statistically, it's not necessarily a bad move. Little didn't do much against Colorado, but he's returned to form since then. He might be the most natural scorer Kansas has, and he's greatly improved his rebounding over the year.
Morris
Marcus Morris, forward
Marcus is averaging 25 points per game in the last two, and he's hit 4-of-7 threes in doing it. He hasn't locked up the Big 12 Player of the Year award just yet, but with Texas and Jordan Hamilton on a sharp downward trend, it's hard to see anybody else laying legitimate claim to the award. Jacob Pullen's earlier suspension puts it out of his reach, and the Jayhawks' lofty roost atop the league will give Morris favor over any contenders.
Morris
Tim Dwyer
Markieff Morris, forward
Markieff has been juiced since the loss to Kansas State, averaging 20 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. The outside shot he had at making the All-Big 12 team is diminishing with the excellent play of Jacob Pullen, but Markieff is making a pretty solid case for himself. He's taken double digit shots in each of the last three games after taking just three at Kansas State. With more shots, Markieff hasn't lost any efficiency.
ieff has been juiced
Mario Little
TEXAS A&M 22-6,(9-5) STARTERS
Dash Harris,guard
Harris isn't a scorer. He can score, but that's not his main objective. His season high is 11 points, twice. He is averaging 4.3 points per game, down from 4.8 points per game a season ago. He is the Aggies' leader in assists, 3.2 assists per game. On Saturday against Baylor he had zero points, one assist and one rebound, a horrible outing.
Harris
B.J. Holmes, guard
Holmes is averaging 9.5 points per game, 2.9 rebounds per game and 3.1 assists per game. He is a quick guard who can get to the bucket or shoot from the outside. He leads the team from deep, shooting 41 percent. On Saturday, Holmes scored five points and chipped in six rebounds.
Holmes
Ray Turner, forward
Turner is averaging 4.1 points per game in 13.7 minutes per game. He is shooting 45.9 percent from the field and an abysmal 59.6 percent from the free throw line. In Saturday's loss, Turner scored six points and added four rebounds in 21 minutes.
David Loubeau, forward
Turner
Loubeau has put together a nice season for himself. He is averaging 11.2 points per game to go along with 4.9 rebounds per game. He is shooting 49.6 percent from the field. He has good size on the interior and has the ability to get the Kansas bigs in foul trouble. Loubeau had 14 points and four rebounds against Baylor on Saturday.
Loubeau
Howard Ting/KANSAN
Khris Middleton, forward
Middleton, forward Middleton has certainly made a name for himself this season. After averaging 7.2 points per game last season, he has more than doubled it this season, averaging 14.6 per contest.
Middleton
There have been flashes of brilliance (31 points in a 71-62 victory against Arkansas on Dec. 18) and moments of dullness (zero points in a 69-49 loss to Texas on Jan. 31). It seems when Middleton is on, so is the team, and when he's off, the same can be said about the Aggies.
Mike Lavieri
A&M TIPOFF
AT A GLANCE
Texas A&M may have a slight edge compared to other teams in the Big 12 when it comes to Kansas' Senior Night celebration. The Aggies' coach Mark Turgeon was a point guard at Kansas from 1984-1987. He may have some "inside" information, but this is an emotional night for Kansas fans. The Aggies are coming off a 58-51 loss against Baylor on Saturday. It was the team's first loss since it lost to Baylor 76-74 in overtime at home. It was the third loss in a row to Baylor. Point blank, Texas &M has been average in conference play, even though the 9-5 record doesn't say that. It has defeated the teams it should have and has lost to some teams it shouldn't have.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Sophomore forward Khris Middleton
Middleton's name was mentioned as an All-Big 12 First Team selection, but Middleton should
be a lock for the Third Team and is a stretch for the Second Team. If Middleton were to be as consistent as Marcus Morris or Texas Jordan Hamilton, then he would
Middleton
have been in the picture. If he had the scoring numbers of Baylor's LaceDarius Dunn or the leadership of Missouri's Marcus Denmon, Middleton would have been in the picture. He would have also been in the picture if he had the hype surrounding him like Jacob Pullen, who has been on a tear since Feb. 14. Middleton will be a good player for the next few years for Texas A&M, but even if he is hot tonight, Kansas is just too good.
QUESTION MARK
Will Texas A&M help its in-state rival like Kansas State did for Kansas on Monday?
The answer is simple: no. Texas A&M was throttled by Texas by 20 points...twice. Kansas is a much better offensive team than Texas is, but Texas is a much better defensive team than Kansas is. It's Senior Night and the three seniors who are playing their last game in Allen Fieldhouse will want to go out on top; their teammates will make sure of it. Yes, the Aggies have had recent success in the last two-and-a-half weeks, but it has been against four teams that don't have a chance to make the NCAA tournament and are the bottom four in the conference: Iowa State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech.
HEARYE, HEARYE
"Well, I'll always get excited when I walk into that building. I grew up walking into that building and I grew up dreaming I'd play for KU. The first time was the first time and obviously we didn't play great, but this is to me just another road game where I know a lot of people. We haven't played too well in the state of Kansas since I've been the coach here, so hopefully we'll play a little bit better on Wednesday."
Texas A&M Coach Mark Turgeon on coming back to Allen Fieldhouse
BIG 12 SCHEDULE
Wed., March 2
Game
iowa State vs. Colorado
Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma
6:30 p.m.
Time (CT)
6:30 p.m.
ALLEN FIELDHOUSE WILL ROCK IF...
THE AGGIES WILL 'YEEHAW' IF...
Any of the three seniors has a big night. Clips of Reed, Morningstar and Little will make up the majority of the famous pregame video, and strong performances from those three would get another video up on the screen post game, touting the Jayhawks' back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back conference championships.
The Aggies use David Loubeau and Khris Middleton to put Kansas right back where it was before Kansas State beat Texas on Monday: tied for the conference lead with the Longhorns. Middleton is one of the most unheralded stars in the country, and he could give the Jayhawks defense fits with his versatility. If he gets hot, he has the ability to put up huge numbers.
SCHEDULE
Prediction:
Kansas 77, Texas A&M 64
Opponent
Date
TV Channel
March 5
Missouri
March 9-12
CBS
Big 12 Tournament
Time
11a.m.
TBA
TBA