THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
Hitting the mound running
BASEBALL | 9A
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18,2011
The Jayhawks will play their season opener against the No.1 Horned Frogs of Texas Christian University tonight. The Jayhawks have a history of beating top-ranked teams.
WWW.KANSAN.COM
FATAL FLAWS
CHANGING DIRECTIONS
BY TIM DWYER
tdwyer@kansan.com
twitter.com/UDKasketball
PAGE 12A
There's now a game plan to beat the No. 1-for-the-moment Kansas Jayhawks. That's not to say that it's easy, or that there are more than a handful of teams with the ability to execute the game plan well enough to beat the recently humbled Jayhawks, but there is definitely a game plan.
definitely a game plan.
It starts with the strength of the Morris twins, who have the ability to play a finesse game from the wing or a power game in the post. The ability to do something, though, is much different than an enthusiasm for it, and Kansas State, and Texas before it, forced the twins into foul trouble by going right at them offensively and keeping them away from the hoop when the Jayhawks had the ball.
SEE GAME PLAN ON PAGE 9A
NO. 1 KANSAS VS. COLORADO
**Where:** Lawrence
**Time:** Saturday, 1 p.m.
**TV:** ESPN
GAME DAY | 10A
Get Saturday's inside scoop
Check out stats for Kansas vs. Colorado
Junior forward Marcus Morris attempts to make a last minute pass as he drives inside the paint during the first half against Kansas State. KU looked sloppy on the defensive end and turned the ball over 18 times.
KU Athletics support breast cancer awareness
Keena Mays races up the court on defense against an Iowa State player. Mays is eager to play in a "pink game," because both of her grandmothers struggled with breast cancer.
Women's basketball hopes to raise money for cause
BY KATHLEEN GIER kqier@kansan.com
Freshman guard Keena Mays is looking to the next game not only for the rivalry or the much-needed victory, but for the cause. Saturday, Kansas will host Missouri at 7 p.m. in its annual lajwhayes for a Cure "Pink Zone" game. Mays is close to this cause because both her grand-mothers have struggled with breast cancer.
cancer.
"It is great to be a part of it."
Mays said. "I always wanted to play in a pink game."
in a pink game.
The game will be free to fans who attend the men's basketball game at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse and the first 5,000 fans will receive a pink T-shirt. Tickets are always free for students for women's basketball games. For fans who aren't attending the men's basketball game, tickets will be $3 for fans wearing a pink shirt. Tickets are $8 if a fan does not wear a pink shirt.
a pink shirt
Kansas Athletics will donate $1 for every fan in attendance while coach Bonnie Henrickson will donate $1 for every student in
attendance. Centerplate, a major food provider for the Fieldhouse concessions, will be donating $1 for every jumbo popcorn sold at the game. Proceeds will go to the Lawrence Memorial Hospital Breast Center and KU Med Cancer Center.
CENTER The attitude is positive as the 16-8 Jayhawks approach their last five regular season games.
Kansas is coming off a tough road loss to No. 5 Texas A&M last Saturday. The Jayhawks hung on for the start of the game, but fell behind quickly.
"This being our pink game everyone is hopeful and happy for all the breast cancer survivors," Mays said. "We want to go out and win this for everyone."
"We competed for the most part; it is not like we didn't give our best effort." Mays said.
4
enfor, The misses say,
The loss can be attributed to
an excessive 31 turnovers by the
lavhawks.
"I think they had us rattled and we had trouble getting out of the hole we dug for ourselves," freshman guard Diana Moore said.
Mays said the pressure from the
KANSAS VS.
MISSOURI
Where: Allen Fieldhouse
Time: Saturday, 7 p.m.
TV: Metro Sports
Aggies was difficult to replicate in practice and hard to play against throughout the game.
they have really good defense and we could not take care of the ball." Mays said.
The Jayhawks have been focusing on motion offense and playing in transition during their weeklong break with hopes of winning this weekend's game in honor of breast cancer research.
"We have been having good practices and we are feeling good about this game," Moore said.
Edited by Samantha Collins
COMMENTARY
Jayhawks need to be mentally focused
BY NICO ROESLER
proesler@kansan.com
own team.
A after Monday's embarrassing loss to Kansas State, Bill Self said he didn't recognize his
How could he? The Morris twins looked like matadors in the post and the guard play was more frustrating to watch than Sean Combs dancing. (I don't even know what to call him any more. Diddy Dirty Money?)
Money) But the biggest issue that will face this team heading into March will not be the on-court performance, but the mental attitude of Kansas' seemingly sensitive group.
Bad plays are part of the game. But bad mental discipline is a sign of a lack of character in a team, and can even come across as a lack of class.
Tyrel Reed is a finalist for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. Both Reed and Brady Morningstar have been named to the Academic All-Big 12 first and second teams, respectively. And the way our team rallied around teammate Thomas Robinson is nothing short of first class.
class.
Don't get me wrong; I'm not say ing that our team doesn't have class. In fact, many aspects of our team show that we are one of the classiest teams in the country.
class. That said, if you watch the jayhawk when things start to go against them, it is the actions between and after plays that really make you shake your head at this team.
There have been at least three occasions now where I have seen one of the Morris twins struggling to either post up an opponent, get through a screen, or simply get a call and retaliate by throwing an elbow.
What does this show to the country? That if people can frustrate Kansas' big they'll lose their cool and might even get ejected from a game.
Id take a black eye if it came with a win against the Jayhawks late in March.
Tyshawn Taylor is arguably the leader of the Kansas guards, and there was something very disconcerting about watching his effort in Manhattan on Monday. Not only did he struggle, but he continued to make mental mistakes that further detracted from his confidence as well as the confidence of the players around him.
It is that leadership Self mentioned that not only conveys mental strength against adversity, but also a sense of class. Because it is class and character that show through when a team battles through the "bad" calls, the tough road crowd and the mental mistakes to walk away with a hard earned victory in the end. Not a loss captured on the pouting faces of players.
"Once it started going bad," Self said in a press conference Thursday about the loss to Kansas State, "we had very little leadership and we didn't have very good guard play obviously."
nces or playern
I'm betting things will go more Kansas' way this weekend against Colorado, especially at home. But something has to change in the players' minds when tournament time comes around. There can be no more sense of entitlement to future victories, but rather a sense of mental commitment.
- Edited by Helen Mubarak