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/ SPORTS / FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2011 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
KU
TIPOFF
AT A GLANCE
Once again, the Jayhawks will not be at full strength. Junior guard Tyshawn Taylor will miss his second straight game for disciplinary reasons. On Monday, Kansas handled Oklahoma State with ease. The Cowboys are a bit bigger on the interior than the Sooners, which will bode well for Kansas. The way Marcus and Markieff are playing with Thomas Robinson being at about 90 percent physically, the Kansas bigs will have another field day. Kansas has too many players that Oklahoma will want to key on that make it difficult. Kansas' offense has been on a roll since Texas with a minor hiccup at Kansas State. Look for the Jayhawks' offense to be clicking on all cylinders.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Sophomore guard, Elijah Johnson
Elijah Johnson won't have to look behind his shoulder when he's on the court again. Self said that Johnson plays not to make a mistake and is constantly looking at the bench. The way Self describes Johnson's play is similar to Tyshawn
Taylor's early in his career. Taylor was always looking at the bench to gain reassurance from the coaching staff that he was playing well. He always
played not to make mistakes, which made him make more mistakes. Self finally sat Taylor down and told him to play and not worry about making mistakes and Taylor's turnovers were cut. Johnson needs to just play and not worry about his mistakes. If he does that, his game on Saturday will be better than Monday's performance.
Will this be the game Kansas gets it together defensively?
QUESTION MARK
Oklahoma only scored 47 points against Texas A&M. However, points don't tell the tale of the tape. What was the Sooner's shooting percentage? 33.3 percent. Was that because they couldn't get anything to go down or was it because Texas A&M contested every shot and made Oklahoma shoot late in the shot clock? The answer is most likely the former. Oklahoma probably missed some easy shots. This would be a good game for the Jayhawks to clamp down and play hard for the entire shot clock. If Kansas can play tight defense and force Oklahoma to take contested shots, while not allowing offensive rebounds, Self will still find something to be mad about, but he will really have to reach.
HEARYE, HEARYE
"Brady's stats in conference play are a joke — what is it 54-7? That's a joke. He's leading the league in three-point field goal percentage too, so hopefully he can keep that going."
Bill Self on Brady Morningstar's assist-to-turnover ratio in conference play.
Johnson
KANSAS 26-2,(11-2) STARTERS
The sooner, the better Kansas takes on Oklahoma Saturday
KANSAS VS.OKLAHOMA 3 p.m., LOYD NOBLE CENTER, Norman, Okla.
Elijah Johnson, guard
Elijah Johnson, guard
Johnson will be making his second start in a row and his third of the season. He was everything Self asked for in Monday night's 92-65 victory against Oklahoma State. He scored a career high 15 points while adding three assists. Self said Johnson only made two key mistakes in his 30 minutes on the floor while guarding Keiton Page.
Reed
Morningstar
Tyrel Reed, guard
Yrleen need, guard
For the second-straight season, the Jayhawks have an Academic All-American First Team selection. Reed is Kansas' 15th team and joins 10 other Jayhawks including Cole Aldrich, last year's Academic All-American of the Year. Reed quietly had eight points in 26 minutes on Monday. Self said that the amount of shots Reed takes in a game doesn't matter; he could shoot three or 15. But, it seems Reed makes the shots when they matter the most.
Mk. Morris
Brady Morningstar, guard
Brazy Morningstar's So Morningstar didn't score in double-figures. Kansas didn't need him to. He took care of the ball and added three assists while committing zero turnovers. Since conference play started, Morningstar has 52 assists to seven turnovers, a 7.43-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. In the Jayhawks last nine games, Morningstar has scored 12 points or more five times.
Markieff has been just filthy in his last two games since his three point, zero rebound performance at Kansas State on Feb. 14. In these last two games he is averaging 20.5 points and 11 rebounds. What's scary is if this production continues, it will be hard to guard three players that can post up their man and play them facing the basket.
Markieff Morris, forward
Mc.Morris
Marcus continues to be consistent and efficient. In a game where Markieff went off for 27 against Colorado on Feb. 19, Marcus scored 16 points and added nine rebounds. In Monday's win Marcus scored 27 points to let Oklahoma State forward Matt Pilgrim know that Marcus was there. Self calls Marcus a leader, but he needs to stop picking up silly technical and/or intentional fouls He is one of the players this team can not afford to lose with Markieff and Robinson being the only other threats taller than 6-foot-8.
Marcus Morris, forward
OKLAHOMA
12-15,(4-9)
STARTERS
Carl Blair, guard
Blair
Blair had five points on 2-of-8 shooting in 35 minutes against Texas A&M. Blair is averaging 7.6 points per game. He leads the Sooners with 4.4 assists per game, fourth in the Big 12. Blair has the length to guard whoever is running the point, but if it is Johnson or Selby, Blair may not have the speed to keep up with them.
Pledger
Steven Pledger, guard
Pledger might have been better off not playing on Wednesday night. He played 20 minutes, scored one point and had two rebounds. He committed three turnovers and three fouls. Not the best day in the office. He, however, is averaging 11.4 points per game and 1.9 assists per game. He doesn't get into the trenches, meaning he only averages 2.2 rebounds per game.
Cade Davis, forward
Davis is the lone senior on this team. He is the vocal leader as well as the leader by example. He, like the juniors, have enjoyed the high times, but have seen this go in the opposite direction since Blake Griffin left after his sophomore year for the NBA. Davis is averaging 13 points per game and was the lone Sooner in double figures with 21 points in the 61-47 loss to the Aggies.
Davis
★★★☆☆
Cameron Clark, forward
Cameron Clark, forward Clark is the only freshman in the starting five. He is averaging 9.6 points per game and 4.6 rebounds per game. He is second, playing 33.9 minutes per game. In Wednesday's 61-47 loss, Clark scored nine points on 4 of 5 shooting and added two rebounds. His 6-foot-6 size is a definite mismatch on the interior that could get the Sooners down early if the Jayhawks exploit it.
Clark
Andrew Fitzgerald, forward
Fitzgerald leads four of the five main statistical categories. He has scored 20-plus points in games and has double figures in 20 of 27 games. While he only has one double-digit rebounding output, Fitzgerald has been consistent all season long. He had eight points and six rebounds in Wednesday night's loss.
Fitzgerald
Travis Releford Howard Ting/KANSAN
— Mike Lavieri
OU
TIPOFF
AT A GLANCE
Oklahoma hasn't been the same since Blake Griffin left. After it's run to the Elite 8 in 2009, Oklahoma finished 4-12 in 2010 and presently 4-9 with its second straight double-digit loss season staring it straight in the face. This team is very young with only six upperclassmen, one senior. The Sooners are coming off a 61-47 loss against Texas A&M on Wednesday. Oklahoma is one of two teams in the Big 12 that have an overall record under .500. That other team isn't Iowa State, who is 1-11 in conference play, but Texas Tech, who is also 4-9 in the Big 12.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Sophomore forward Andrew Fitzgerald
Fitzgerald
Fitzgerald is averaging 31.5 minutes per game, third on the team behind Cade Davis and Cameron Clark. It's
impressive to note that there are four Sooners averaging 30-plus minutes per game. Fitzgerald is making the most of his time on the court. He leads the team with 13.3 points per game, 16th in the Big 12, 5.2 rebounds per game, 1.1 steals per game and 0.7 blocks per game. Fitzgerald scored 18 and 16 in two games against Texas, a team that is athletic and has size; two things that Kansas has in the Morris twins and Thomas Robinson. He may have the same success he had against Texas and he will be the key for Oklahoma.
QUESTION MARK
Will Oklahoma give Kansas its second straight road loss?
The answer is a resounding ... no. Oklahoma was leading Texas A&M 26-25. Obviously this lead isn't huge, but against the No. 17 ranked team in the nation, it's better than naught. Oklahoma is on a six-game slide and has lost three at home and three on the road. Besides its loss to Texas A&M, Oklahoma has lost to Nebraska and Texas as well. Kansas is clearly better than both of these teams. Coach Jeff Capel said that this Sooner队 lacks focus at times, just like Kansas. If this team can keep focus for 40 minutes, it may have a chance, but kenpom, com is only giving Oklahoma a 6 percent chance.
HEAR YE, HEAR YE
"I think it was just a carry over from missing shots and it being in your head. If you haven't seen the ball go in the hole for a few minutes that just got us rattled a little bit. But they kept knocking them down and really finished."
Oklahoma guard Cade Davis on missing free throws in the Sooner's 61-47 loss Texas A&M Wednesday.
BIG 12 SCHEDULE
Game
Sat., Feb. 26 Time (CT)
Missouri at Kansas State 11:00 a.m.
Nebraska at Iowa State 12:30 p.m.
Texas Tech at Oklahoma State 12:30 p.m.
Texas at Colorado 2:00 p.m.
Kansas at Oklahoma 3:00 p.m.
Texas A&M at Baylor 8:00 p.m.
Kansas opens the game like it has in its last two, just shooting lights out early. Oklahoma has had problems hanging with the powers of the conference, except for Texas A&M on Wednesday. If the Jayhawks make their threes early, the Sooners will have double-digit losses for the second consecutive season.
LLOYD NOBLE CENTER WILL BE GLOOMY IF...
BOOMER AND SOONER WILL REJOICE IF...
Oklahoma can keep it close early. The more time that runs off the clock and the closer it is, the Sooners and their fans will start to believe that this game can be won. Cade Davis and Andrew Fitzgerald will need to knock down their shots early making Kansas keep a close eye on them so they can free up their teammates.
SCHEDULE
Prediction:
Kansas 88, Oklahoma 59
Date Opponent TV Channel Time
March 2 Texas A&M ESPN 2 8 p.m.
March 5 Missouri CBS 11 a.m.
March 9 Big 12 Championship TBA TBA