THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
SUPER BOWL|3B
Packers win Super Bowl,31-25
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2011
The Green Bay Packers earned their fourth Super Bowl title after beating the Pittsburgh Steelers, 31-25, on Sunday. The win marked the Packers' first Super Bowl title in 14 years.
WWW.KANSAN.COM
CHANGE OF PACE
New tactics required
PAGE 1B
Howard Ting/KANSAN
Junior guard Tyshawn Taylor puts up a field goal against the Nebraska Huskers Saturday afternoon in Bob Devaney Sports Center at Lincoln, Neb. Taylor finished the game with 6 points, 5 assists, and 3 total rebounds.
After Nebraska's slow play Missouri offers different style
BY TIM DWYER
tdwyer@kansan.com
There are plenty of ways to describe Missouri: balanced, deep, fast, athletic, talented, uptempo. There are plenty of ways to describe Kansas, too; balanced, deep, fast, athletic, talented, uptempo.
But there's more to it than that. The Jayhawks have a way of adjusting to the tempo of whatever team they play. Because of the variance of their depth — Kansas has half-court guards like Tyrel Reed and Brady Morningstar and pressure guys like Tyshawn Taylor and Josh Selby, who is doubtful for Monday — they can play at any tempo and be relatively comfortable doing so.
"We know Tyshawn's our
last point guard," Marcus Morris said about the different abilities of the guards. "I think of Brady as our more
"Offensively, that's as good as we can execute," Bill Self said after the victory.
Taylor may be more suited to run with the Tigers, though, considering that he's the Jayhawks "fast" point guard. But the Jayhawks won't have a problem with running. Bill Self said they'd like it even more.
"This is going to be a fun game," Self said, "because both teams play fast. We always want to play fast. It's going to be a game with a lot of possessions, and the kids love playing in games like that."
The biggest concern for Self and the Jayhawks, though, is the transition game that Missouri loves so much.
"Coach talks about that all the time," Taylor said, "how bad we are at it."
"We have to do a better job of staying under control."
BILL SELF Coach
subble, get open shots point guard. He's a smart player"
It's not that Kansas lacks the personnel, Self insists, but that the players, for some reason, aren't making the plays. The
The Tigers, on the other hand, are built for speed, and they are at their best when they're running. Statistically, eight of their nine worst offensive performances have come when they play a slower-than-average game for them. Their average, for comparison's sake, is almost three possessions per game faster than anyone else in the conference, and nine possessions faster than the Jayhawks' last opponent, Nebraska.
The Jayhawks played brilliantly against Nebraska's suffocating defense and snail's tempo, led by Morningstar's 19 points and six assists.
safe money is on the problem that Self identified early in the season — Kansas' guards, particularly Taylor and Selby, are wild.
"We're all out of control," Self said. "We run over people more than any team in the country probably. I think against K-State they attempted seven charges in transition and got four or five of them. It wasn't just Josh (Selby), it was everybody, we have to do a better job of staying under control."
Edited by Emily Soetaert
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Jayhawks stay positive despite loss to Longhorns
BY KATHLEEN GIER
kgier@kansan.com
AUSTIN, Texas — Sophomore guard Angel Goodrich broke her career assists record against Texas on Saturday with 14 assists, allowing access for the Jayhawks in the paint.
"She played awesome tonight," sophomore forward Carolyn Davis said. "She was being aggressive and drawing defense and then dropping the ball down low."
Kansas fell 80-68 to Texas in Austin, dropping to 15-8 in the season and 2-7 in conference play.
Davis led Kansas with 18 points on 8-11 shooting. She added six rebounds in only 20 minutes of play. Sophomore guard Monica Engelman and junior forward Aishah Sutherland joined Davis in double figures with 10 and 12 points, respectively.
Goodrich's help was not enough for the Jayhawks, who fell behind in nearly every other stat, from free throws to rebounds.
The Jayhawks faced foul trouble early and ended up recording 23 fouls for the game. Davis said most of the fouls were because of little mistakes.
"We were not being smart and disciplined." Davis said.
Senior guard Marisha Brown fouled out, while Davis and senior forward Krysten Boogaard ended the game with four fouls apiece.
The Jayhawks were outrebounded 44-33 during the game, highlighted by a 17-9 differential on the offensive boards.
The Longhorns shot 18-24 from the free-throw line, which allowed them to keep the Jayhawks at a distance, only shooting 6-12. They also found success from beyond the arc, hitting eight 3-pointers compared with four by Kansas.
Kansas will return home in a couple days to practice before hosting Iowa State on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
"They were going to the boards hard and we weren't matching their intensity," Davis said.
"We still have a lot of confidence in ourselves," Davis said. "We are just going to try to keep moving forward."
Despite the loss, Davis is still positive about the games to come this season.
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Edited by Amanda Sorell
Sophomore guard Angel Goodrich passes the ball to a teammate in the game against Colorado Wednesday. Goodrich recorded a career high 14 assists in the loss at Texas Saturday.
COMMENTARY
Kansas smashes trends
BY MAX ROTHMAN
mrothman@kansan.com
Kansas rolled into Lincoln, Neb., this weekend prepared to challenge, statistically speaking, the best defense in the Big 12 Conference. Going into the game, Nebraska allowed 57.5 points per game to its opponents and was 14-0 at home in the Bob Devaney Sports Center. But those statistics didn't include the Kansas outlier.
A warning to the opposition: your team's safe haven is no longer safe. Not with the jayhawks who turn tendencies into dust.
The Jayhawks hardly showed up when coach Doc Sadler and his Cornhuskers visited Lawrence on Jan. 15. Kansas snuck away with a 63-60 victory, but coach Bill Self said that Nebraska was the "superior team."
On Saturday, Kansas was able to use its lackluster showing in January as a reference point for motivation. The result: an 86-66 victory in Nebraska's house. Forget about stout defense and that clean slate at home.
"To score 80 points on a Doccoached team in their building means you probably played pretty good offense," Self said.
Kansas sunk shots whether they were wide open or contested. It just didn't matter; they were all dropping on Saturday. Senior guards Brady Morningstar and Tyrel Reed kept up with their prowess by the perimeter. Junior forward Markieff Morris punished defenders in the paint or behind the three-point line, where he drained all three of his attempts. Such a diverse and persistent attack dizzied the Cornhuskers.
But trend-smashing is nothing new with this year's team. The Jayhawks have routinely displaced their foes' calling cards. Take the 85-65 victory at Baylor on Jan. 17, for example.
"It was very frustrating because you work so hard to get back into it and then they make you pay," Nebraska senior guard Lance leter said.
Then there was the 88-66 victory on Feb. 1 at Texas Tech. Despite the fact that the Red Raiders usually hover in the bottom of the Big 12 standings, Self had never won in Lubbock, Texas. Then five Jayhawks posted double figures in scoring and Self had his victory at the United Sprint Arena.
Less than two weeks after Baylor senior guard LaceDarius Dunn torched Morgan State with 43 points, Kansas held him to iust 13.
"You have to give Kansas a lot of credit for coming out and really punching us in the face," Baylor coach Scott Drew said.
"They were just dead like zombies," Texas Tech coach Pat Knight said of his players after the loss.
These are the actions of a title contending team. The Jayhawks are punching people in the face, metaphorically speaking. They're making zombies out of basketball players. Sure, even the finest teams trip here and there on their paths to glory. But if the Jayhawks keep breaking their challenger's backbone, such as scoring 86 points against the defensive-centric Cornhuskers, they could stand atop the highest plateau.
"You can't control if the ball goes in or out," Nebraska junior guard Brandon Richardson said. "You just have to leave it on the floor and at the end of the day live with the result."
Edited by Samantha Collins