KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2011 / SPORTS / 11A
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"I think it was something that he grew into too. It wasn't really his natural position when he was kind of pushed into that 'you're my point guard now,' and he learned it as he went. I think that's something that I got to learn as I go."
Junior guard Tyshawn Taylor on his similarities to NBA point guard Rajon Rondo
FACT OF THE DAY
The men's basketball team has hit 24 out of its 43 (55.8 percent) three-pointers in the last two games.
-kuathletics.com
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
Q: Which of the following does Kansas not lead the Big 12: Points per game, scoring margin, rebounds per game, assists per game?
A: Rebounds
—kuathletics.com
Former KU player honored for position
NFL
Former Jayhawk Aqib Talib was named the National Football League's top defensive back by
Talib
the NFL Alumni at a banquet during Super Bowl week.
The alumni, who have held the annual banquet every year since 1982, vote for the top
player at each position.
Talib snagged six interceptions and 40 tackles this season, all-while missing the final three games of the season because he was injured. While at Kansas, Talib recorded 13 interceptions, was an All-American his final season and was named the FedEx Orange Bowl MVP in 2008.
— Kory Carpenter
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
No.10 UConn loses to St.John's 89-72
NEW YORK — UConn took the big stage Thursday night — Madison Square Garden, national television — and was overwhelmed, probably embarrassed.
Led by a career-high 33 points from Dwight Hardy, unranked St. John's demolished the No.10 Huskies, 89-72.
This was a bloodletting just off Broadway. The UConn defense was terrible, picked apart with the greatest of ease by the spectacular Hardy, who four days earlier had scored 32 in a loss to UCLA. The Huskies' offense was highlighted by airballs, shots off the side of the backboard and missed alley-oops.
The Red Storm (14-9, 6-5 Big East) led by as much as 25 and outscored UConn 54-41 in the second half. It is the most points scored in a half by a UConn opponent this season. Hardy's 33 are the most points allowed this season by UConn.
The Huskies (18-5, 6-5) were making their 99th appearance at Madison Square Garden, where they have now lost four in a row (to Duke, to Kentucky and twice to St. John's). UConn's last appearance was a 73-51 blowout loss to the Red Storm in the first round of the Big East tournament in March.
Kemba Walker had 15 points on 4-for-16, and seven assists. All four of his baskets were three-pointers.
The Huskies hung around for a while Thursday, even took a lead late in the first half, but seemed deflated heading into halftime because of a sloppy sequence of events.
— McClatchy-Tribune
MORNING BREW
Ray takes No.1 from Reggie
Some call him Jesus,but the holy one couldn't knock 'em down like number 20.
Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics. His name was Jesus Shuttlesworth in Spike Lee's "He Got Game". Now you can officially call him the 3-point champion.
Last night against the Lakers, Ray passed Reggie Miller's NBA record of 2,560 career 3-point shots made. At the end of the quarter, he shook Reggie's hand and hugged him. Then he embraced his mother, who wore her "Mom Allen" shirt and then hugged Reggie herself. Then Ray raised his hand and soaked in the roars of the Boston Garden faithful.
Reggie will continue to whine his case on TNT broadcasts, but make no mistake; Ray is king. And he's a king well deserving of his throne. Ray is always the first player warming up on game-days, and refusing to head back to the locker room until he sinks hundreds of threes. His daily preparation, from endless jump-shots to cleanly shaving his head, is robotic to say the least. And his form; oh baby his form. It is as sweet as can be. Poetic, graceful, silky. The prettiest shot there is.
So here's to Ray Allen, the greatest 3-point shooter this world has ever known.
ADIDAS ANDREWS
ESPN has never been the hallmark of journalistic ethics. Not with former NFL Live pundit Rush Limbaugh quacking about Donovan McNabb's skin color and its relation to the quarterback's popularity. Not with college football grandpa Lou Holtz demanding
BY MAX ROTHMAN mrothman@kansan.com
the end of Nancy Pelosi or name-dropping Adolf Hitler in a discussion of former Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez. But this... this one hurts.
Sideline reporter Erin Andrews recently signed a deal with Reebok to endorse the company's ZigTech shoe campaign. She will promote the shoe along with athletes Sidney Crosby, John Wall, Peyton Manning (I bet you saw him coming) and others.
I could care less how much her golden locks shine as she strolls along the sidelines. Her Dancing with the Stars credentials grant her no free pass. Reporters and promotion campaigns just don't belong in the same house.
But it's a network based on ratings, not nods of approval from mom and pop. So they'll continue trotting out Adidas Andrews and whoever else is next on the list of polarizing and ethically challenged, um, we'll call them reporters.
riled up. So let's cool out with some jazz from perfectionist bassist and composer Charles Mingus.
1959's "Mingus Ah Um" perhaps best exemplifies the man of many moods. The cover displays a fine and fragmented painting from S. Neil Fujita, who also graces the covers of Miles Davis "'Round About Midnight' and Dave Brubeck's "Time Out".
MUSIC FROM THE VAULTS
Whew, Adidas Andrews got me all
"Better Git It in Your Soul!" kicks off the show with an upbeat rhythm and fiery shouts of "Oh yeah!" and "Oh, I know!" Heed to the advice, people. Git it in there.
"Fables of Faubus" creeps slowly into your ear, hopping up and down with its infectious beat.
LACROSSE
"Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", the elegy to Lester Young, evokes poignancy, soul and meaning. It is the peak of this jagged mountain.
— Edited by Marla Daniels
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Coach Dennis Shults talks stragetv with his men's club lacrosse team during a game. They are ranked 76 in preseason polls and expect to go far in this year's playoffs.
Club lacrosse dreams big this year
BY BLAKE SCHUSTER
bschuster@kansan.com
With two days left before the start of their season, the Kansas Men's Club Lacrosse team had one final workout last night in the weight room in the Amber Student Recreation Center. Before hitting the weights, the 30 players listened as their first year coach, Dennis Shults, went over the game plan one last time. Shults, a former college lacrosse player who started all four years at Colorado School of Mines, couldn't be more eager to get his coaching career underway.
"I've been spending the last semester just learning the basic plays that they were going through, and we've tweaked some
stuff. I think it's important for me to get into their culture, as much as set my own," Shults said.
The team went 5-0 in their division last season which gave way to a playoff appearance, Shults is hoping to recreate last years success.
"We plan on winning our division," Shults said. He thinks this vision is an extreme possibility. Without Kansas State fielding a lacrosse team this season, the team will only have four other teams in their division.
Along with Memphis, the Jayhawks will battle with Clemson and Vanderbilt — two squads Kansas has never played before. Out of the 150 club teams, Kansas is ranked in the '70s, Clemson is ranked in the '40s and Vanderbilt is in the '50s in the preseason polls. Playing against these two teams will give the Jayhawks and Shults a good idea of just how strong the team is.
The Jayhawks' quest to reclaim the Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference 1AA title of the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association begins Saturday in Nashville, Tenn., against division rival Memphis.
As they are now, the players feel very confident in their abilities to run the tables in the playoffs.
"This season we have our best chances yet," senior goalie Brian Wright said. "Last year we did the best our team has ever done. We made it to the playoffs and lost. But this year we have just about everyone coming back and a lot
of great new freshman."
The freshman class includes attack Ryan Zupa who was an All-County Honorable mention for Glen Cove High School in Long Island, New York.
While the freshman class hopes to positively affect the team, Shults is looking to his seniors to be his leaders.
Shults thinks the three games this weekend and getting a win against Memphis will set the precedent for the season. The Jayhawks aren't too worried about it, though.
"We plan on clobbering them," Shults said.
next week, wore an orange jersey during practice and iced both knees when he was finished. Asked if the orange jersey meant Jordan got special treatment on the court, Wallace
"We don't treat him like a quarterback out here. We hit him,"Wallace said of the Hall of Famer, who did not speak to reporters. "It just means he's on
said no.
Bobcats coach Paul Silas laughed at the suggestion Jordan was a third-stringer on the team he owns.
third string."
Softball
Double-header
vs. North Carolina,
8:30 a.m.
vs. Buffalo, 10:45 a.m.
at Jacksonville, Fla.
Track
Track
ISU Classic
All Day at Ames, Iowa
Tyson Invitational
All Day
at Fayetteville, Ark.
SATURDAY
Men's basketball
vs. Iowa State
3 p.m.
at Lawrence
McClatchy-Tribune
NBA
"He still has it. He doesn't have his quickness, but he's a scorer, he's a shooter. The last thing to go is your jump shot, and he still has that."
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Bobcats owner Michael Jordan may be past his basketball prime these days, but evidently not that far past it.
Softball
vs. North Carolina
8:30 a.m.
vs. Bethune Cookman,
1:30 p.m.
vs. Jacksonville, 5:30 p.m.
at Jacksonville, Fla.
Track
"He's Mike. He's been kicking our (rear ends)." Bobcats captain Gerald Wallace said Thursday after Jordan participated in the team's practice.
Jordan scrimmages with his Bobcats
Track
ISU Classic
All Day at Ames, Iowa
Tyson Invitational
All Day
at Fayetteville, Ark.
THIS WEEK IN KANSAS ATHLETICS
Jordan, who will turn 48
TODAY
Women's basketball
vs. Texas A&M
7 p.m.
at College Station, Texas
at Pullman, Wash.
Women's Tennis
vs. Washinton State
9 a.m.
at Pullman, Wash.
Paul Pierce had 15 points for the Celtics, who came in shooting an NBA-best 49.7 percent and shredded the Lakers for 60 percent shooting in their 109-96 victory at Los Angeles on Jan. 30, but went cold after a strong start in this one and finished at 40 percent.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NBA
Allen hit two 3-pointers in the first quarter to pass former Indiana Pacers star Reggie Miller (2,560), who was sitting courtside calling the game for TNT. But he made only one more and had 20 points after scoring 12 in the first quarter.
Bryant scored 41 points in that loss, but seemed headed nowhere near it after taking only three shots in the first half. He had a quick flurry out of halftime.
BOSTON — Kobe Bryant scored 20 of his 23 points in the second half, and the Los Angeles Lakers spoiled Ray Allen's record-setting night by beating the Boston Celtics 92-86 in an NBA finals rematch on Thursday night.
Ray Allen celebrates but Lakers win game
Allen became the NBAs career leader in 3-pointers in the first quarter, but Bryant later put him on the bench in foul trouble during his big second half that rallied Los Angeles from an early 15-point deficit.
Pau Gasol added 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers, who split the regular season series with their biggest rivals and got a sorely needed victory against one of the league's top teams. Andrew Bynum, the subject of trade rumors in the never-ending Carmelo Anthony saga, finished with 16 points and nine rebounds.