KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2011 / SPORTS
7B
KU TIPOFF
AT A GLANCE
The good news for Kansas is that Oklahoma State has to come into Lawrence. Bill Self has always struggled against his alma mater in Stillwater, and the Cowboys have been awful on the road this year. They've yet to win a conference game away from home. Marshall Moses will provide a stiff test for the Morris twins inside. He's averaging better than 14 points per game and does a good job of drawing fouls, which has been a problem for the twins. Thomas Robinson won't be ready to go tomorrow, which means the Jayhawks will have to go with Mario Little and Jeff Withey as the reserve posts once more.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Selbv
Josh Selby
Selby
struggled
again Saturday
against the Buf-
faloes, finishing
just 2-of-9 from
the field for
four points.
He's done a better job of creating opportunities for teammates, though, evidenced by his five assists against two turnovers. There's a decent chance Selby will retain his spot in the starting lineup despite Morningstar's excellent play.Morningstar has shown that he can perform off the bench, and more importantly, there wouldn't be an issue with Morningstar viewing the benching as a demotion. Selby could use the confidence boost that comes with starting. Morningstar will produce no matter what the role is.
Can the Jayhawks dominate a team defensively?
QUESTION MARK
Kansas got called out by former great Mario Chalmers, who was at the game Saturday and told the current players that they were fun to watch but that they "don't guard anybody." Bill Self said he hoped the message would get through because somebody else delivered it. The Jayhawks are statistically fine defensively — they're actually in the top 10 in the country in defensive rating — but it's not difficult to see that there are plenty of issues on that side of the ball. If a team guards the Jayhawks like Kansas State and Texas did in their two losses, the Jayhawks will have a tough time stopping them enough to win. Oklahoma State probably won't be the team to do it, but the Jayhawks need to start to figure it out.
HEAR YE, HEAR YE
"Last year they kicked our butts down there and we didn't have a very good game. Certainly they know some things on how to attack us and we've got to be a much better basketball team on Monday night. At least our guys got a bad taste out of their mouth today."
KANSAS VS. OKLAHOMA STATE 8 p.m., ALLEN FIELDHOUSE, Lawrence
Ousting Oklahoma State Ready to lasso in the cowboys
Taylor
KANSAS
25-2, (10-2)
STARTERS
Tyshawn Taylor, junior guard
Reed
Taylor took a step in the right direction defensively Saturday — after getting lit up for 38 points by Jacob Pullen Monday, he held Cory Higgins to two points below his season average but he's still not close to being the defensive stopper that his length and quickness would allow him to be. Taylor had his best day shooting from outside, hitting 3-of-4 from three-point range, but he struggled inside the three-point line (0-for-3) and the free throw line (1-for-6).
Tyrel Reed, senior guard
Morningstar
M. C. Morris
Reed was a little overshadowed by Brady Morningstar's unbelievable first half, but he was his typical sturdily, productive self. Reed hit 4-6 from the field and 3-of-4 from outside for 13 points. He was one of five Kansas starters who scored in double figures, while the Jayhawks needed only eight bench points to post 89 on Colorado.
Bill Self on Oklahoma State
Brady Morningstar, senior guard
Morningstar played one of the best first halves any Jayhawk has played this entire season. He guarded Alec Burks well and put up 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting, 4-of-5 from outside. Even if Josh Selby is finally 100 percent (Self listed him as roughly 90 percent Saturday), Morningstar has staked one heck of a claim to keeping his role in the starting lineup. Morningstar has an absurd 25-to-2 assist-to-turnover rate and leads the nation in the stat among players averaging a minimum of 2.5 assists.
M. K. Morris
Brown
Marcus makes for an interesting study in efficiency. Three times he has taken more than 15 shots — at Michigan, against Texas and against Colorado Saturday — and all three are among his worst eight games in offensive rating. For some reason — perhaps because he is such an excellent passer — he is more effective when he doesn't shoot as much.
Markieff is slowly but steadily climbing draft boards to the point where he's nearly as highly regarded a prospect as Marcus. He's not at that point yet — Marcus will almost surely be a lottery pick if he leaves this year — but Markieff isn't far behind. Before Markieff's 26-point, 15-rebound tour de force Saturday, SI.com's Seth Davis talked with five scouts about Markieff. The consensus was that Markieff would be a solid mid-first round pick.
Marcus Morris, junior forward
OKLAHOMA STATE 16-10,(4-8) STARTERS
Markieff Morris, junior forward
Markel Brown, freshman guard
Brown is averaging six points and 2.3 rebounds per game. He is shooting 25 percent from downtown and 38 percent from the field. On Saturday, Brown was 1-3 with four points and two rebounds. He did come up with two steals, but against a Texas A&M team that is struggling, he will need to be better, especially if he is matched up against a quicker Tyshawn Taylor.
Page
Keiton Page, junior guard
Page is one of the smaller guards in the Big 12. He is the team's second leading scorer with 13.8 points per game. Because of his size, he isn't an effective rebounder, even on the long rebounds from deep shots. Page has taken 123 free throws this season connecting on 112 of them, good for 91.1 percent, best in the Big 12.
Matt Pilgrim, senior forward
Pilgrim is not a big time scorer, only averaging 4.8 points per game, but has been good on the glass for the Cowboys, averaging 5.2 rebounds per game. On Saturday he chipped in nine points to go along with his 11 rebounds. A team that is only averaging three blocks per contest, Pilgrim had two on Saturday.
★★☆☆☆
Pilgrim
J.P. Olukemi, sophomore forward
Olukemi is averaging 11.6 points per game for the Cowboys this season. He is averaging 4.0 rebounds. In Saturday's loss to the Aggies, Olukemi scored 11 points on 3-4 shooting. He was 4-5 from the free-throw line, but didn't have any rebounds. He will need to improve his rebounding tonight if he wants to keep the Cowboys close. Giving up offensive rebounds to Kansas will put this game out of reach quickly.
Olukemi
Tim Dwyer
Marshall Moses, senior forward
Moses only played seven minutes against Texas A&M because he was sick with flu-like symptoms. The game dynamic could have changed with him being in the game, but he sat the whole second half not scoring a single point in the game. Moses is averaging a team-high 14.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.
Moses
OSU TIPOFF
AT A GLANCE
Oklahoma State could have picked up another signature win on Saturday if it defeated No. 21 Texas A&M at home.The Cowboys were winning by one with 15.7 seconds remaining after a pair of sophmore guard Reger Dowell free throws.Dowell then fouled B.J. Holmes in the backcourt to send him to the line.Holmes made both and Oklahoma State was unable to answer on the other end before time expired.The Cowboys did defeat then-ranked No. 15 Missouri 76-70 at home on Feb. 2 and then-ranked No. 17 Kansas State 76-62 at home on Jan.8. Those are the only two victories against ranked opponents for a
PLAYER TO WATCH
team that is in the lower half of the Big 12 standings.
Keiton Page He might be small, but Page
Page
QUESTION MARK
gets after it. He averages 33.5 minutes per game, eighth most in the Big 12. Last season Oklahoma State upset No.1 Kansas 85-77 on Feb. 27 in Stillwater, Okla. Page hit dagger after dagger, going 4-4 from deep, while scoring 15 points in 29 minutes sealing the victory. Page is scrappy. He might not be the best rebounder. He might be able to block shots or get in the passing lane quick enough, but he plays hard for 30-plus minutes and can frustrate defenders because he is so small.
How will Oklahoma State's size be a disadvantage?
The Cowboys are a small team. They have one player over 6-foot-8, sophomore forward Jared Shaw who is 6-foot-10. Oklahoma State has three players at 6-foot-8, not a good combination when facing Kansas, especially if sophomore forward Thomas Robinson comes back. The Jayhawks have juniors Marcus and Markieff Morris, Thomas Robinson and Jeff Withey who are all taller than 6-foot-8. The Morris twins and Robinson are much stronger and quicker than the Oklahoma State bigs. Even the backcourt is small. A 5-foot-10 Keiton Page will be the smallest player on the court, but he will be the one to make the biggest
— Mike Lavieri
HEARYE, HEARYE
contribution for the Cowboys.
"We just kicked ourselves in the foot all night long. It's amazing we had the lead with seconds to go because we made way too many mistakes tonight."
Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford after the Cowboys' 67-66 loss to Texas A&M
BIG 12 SCHEDULE
Saturday.
Game
Wed., Feb. 23 Time (CT)
Oklahoma at Texas A&M 6:30 p.m.
Colorado at Texas Tech 6:30 p.m.
Baylor at Missouri 8 p.m.
Kansas State at Nebraska 8 p.m.
ALLEN FIELDHOUSE WILL ROCK IF ...
Kansas continues the offensive pace they set against Colorado. The Jayhawks played some of their best ball of the season in the six games following the loss to Texas. Kansas State killed that streak with humiliating thoroughness, but Kansas got right back on track Saturday.
THE COWBOYS WILL RIDE IF ...
Marshall Moses dominates the Morris twins. Oklahoma State's best chance at winning is getting the twins into foul trouble and exposing Jeff Withey and Mario Little. If the Morris twins are going, Oklahoma State doesn't stand a chance against the Jayhawks' offense.
SCHEDULE
Prediction:
Kansas 91, Oklahoma State 68
Opponent TV Channel Time
Feb. 26 Oklahoma ESPN 3 p.m.
March 3 Texas A&M ESPN 8 p.m.
March 5 Missouri CBS 11 a.m.