KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2011 / SPORTS / 9A
QUOTES OF THE DAY
"Any American boy can be a basketball star if he grows up, up, up."
— Bill Waughn,
www.famous-quotes-and-quotations.com
Carmelo Anthony is averaging 25.2. Amarre Stoudemire is averaging 26.1. Combined, they are averaging just .2 points less than LeBron James and Dwyane Wade combined.
— NBA.com
Q: What was the first Major league team to wear plastic batting helmets?
A: The Brooklyn Dodgers
www.usefultrivia.com
No clear favorite for national title
MORNING BREW
When the Jayhawks lost to the Kansas State Wildcats on Feb. 14, I assumed wed drop down to about No. 6 in the next rankings. Then No. 3 Ohio State lost on Feb. 15 and No. 2 Texas and No. 4 Pitt followed suit on Saturday. When the new rankings were released, Kansas dropped only one spot to No. 2 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and to No. 3 in the AP Poll.
The game of musical chairs at the top of the rankings is proof that this college basketball season, more than any other in recent memory, is dominated by parity. Unlike most years, there is no clear-cut favorite to win the national title. This year is conducive to a lower seed making a deep run into the tournament and possibly taking the national title.
BY GEOFFERY CALVERT gcalvert@kansan.com
In November, Duke held a firm grip on the No.1 ranking and was the predominant choice to win the national title. Of course, that was before the Blue Devils' outstanding freshman Kyrie Irving injured his toe, likely ending his freshman season and relegating Duke to be just another very good team.
Texas, currently in first place in the Big 12, has the star power to make a run in the tournament. But the Longhorns aren't a tournament team. They only made the second round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament despite being led by Kevin Durant, hands down the best player in the nation that year. Texas has lost in the first weekend in four of the past six tournaments and has made only one Final Four under coach Rick Barnes, in
2003.
Ohio State started the year 24-0, leading to the obligatory "Will a team go undefeated this year?" nonsense. No team has gone undefeated since 1975-76, and Ohio State wasn't about to either. The Buckeyes lost two of their next three games and may not even win the Big 10 title. Led by super freshman Jared Sullinger and coached by Thad Matta, a seasoned veteran of the NCAA Tournament, the Ohio State has the ability to go deep in March. Big 10 teams other than Michigan State usually don't make much noise in the tournament, although Ohio State played for the national title in 2007 when it had Greg Oden.
time the tournament rolls around, the Big East squads are already worn out from beating on each other during conference play. Also, Pittsburgh has been a top five seed in its region since the 2006 tournament, but has only one Elite Eight appearance to show for it.
Pittsburgh is currently the Big East's top national championship candidate. But since Connecticut claimed the Big East's last national title in 2004, the conference has sent only four teams to the Final Four. The Big East is usually the most competitive conference in college basketball, and there are almost no guaranteed victories, but by the
When healthy and free of suspensions, Kansas may be the deepest and most dangerous team in the country. The Jayhawks' free throw percentage is 66.8 percent, however, which is tied with Fairleigh Dickinson University for 239th in the country. Kansas benefitted from Memphis' inability to make free throws in the 2008 title game. This year, the Jayhawks could easily be crippled by their deficiency. Also, the Jayhawks have struggled when favored to win the national title. When they won in 2008, they were the fourth No. 1 seed and were the underdog in both Final Four games.
Edited by Dave Boyd
THIS WEEK IN KANSAS ATHLETICS
TODAY
BIG 12 BASKETBALL
Women's Basketball vs. Oklahoma State 7 p.m. at Stillwater, Okla.
Women's Swimming Big 12 Championships, All day at Austin, Texas
THURSDAY
Women's Swimming Big 12 Championships All day at Austin, Texas
FRIDAY
Tennis
vs. UT Arlington
2 p.m.
Lawrence
Baseball
vs. St. Louis
3 p.m.
Lawrence
Hamilton's 20 points help lead No.5 Texas to win over Iowa State
Softball
vs. Minnesota, noon.
vs. UNC Greensboro,
4:30 p.m.
Greensboro, N.C.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Track Big 12 Indoor Championships, All day at Lincoln, Neb.
AUSTIN, Texas — Jordan Hamilton broke out of a two-game shooting slump with 20 points and No. 5 Texas rebounded from its first loss in a month with a 76-53 rout of Iowa State on Tuesday night.
Tristan Thompson shook off an early flub when he tipped the ball into the wrong basket to finish with 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Longhorns (24-4, 12-1 Big 12). Hamilton and Thompson keyed a big Texas run at the start of the second half that put the game away.
Texas had won 11 straight to grab first place in the Big 12 before losing at Nebraska last weekend. The Longhorns sent Iowa State (14-14, 1-12) to its 10th straight loss. Diante Garrett scored 16 points
to lead the Cyclones.
Hamilton, a contender for Big 12 player of the year, had missed 22 of his previous 26 shots coming into the game and the Longhorns as a team played early like they were still a bit hung over from the loss at Nebraska. Hamilton missed his first three shots, Iowa State grabbed an early lead and Thompson's wrong-basket bucket drew a loud grown from the home crowd.
Hamilton made four of his next five shots and scored eight points in 15-6 Texas run. Gary Johnson made his first 3-pointer of the season — and second of his career
and Hamilton converted a fourpoint play that put Texas up 33-23. Texas led 35-26 at halftime.
The Longhorns effectively put the game away in the opening minutes of the second.
Johnson opened the half with another long jumper and Thompson scored five straight points. The Longhorns led 46-33 before Hamilton made consecutive 3-pointers in a 30-second span that pushed the Texas lead to 19 and the rout was on.
Hamilton finished 7 of 14 from the field, including 3 of 4 on 3-pointers. Johnson finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
The Cyclones, who had lost nine times by six points or less, couldn't keep this one close. When the Longhorns' Matt Hill made a layup with 8:34 to play, Texas led 71-42. The Cyclones were 6 of 24 on 3-pointers.
The win keeps Texas' one-game lead over Kansas on top of the Big 12 standings with three regular-season games left to play.