/ GAME DAY / FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
KU
TIPOFF
AT A GLANCE
The Wildcats are reeling and desperate for a win to bolster their now-lacking NCAA Tournament résumé. The Jayhawks are emotionally whooped, but need to stay on the winning track to pick up a game on Texas, which hosts Missouri Saturday night. A win for either team is essential, and a loss has massive repercussions on team goals. This was supposed to be the game of the season, with ESPN's College GameDay crew here to capture it all. Instead, the game of the year at Allen Fieldhouse was last week, and this has turned into a potential blowout with the Wildcats clinging to their postseason hopes.
PLAYERTOWATCH
Sophomore forward, Thomas Robinson
Kansas sports information director Chris Theisen confirmed Thursday night that Robinson will be returning to play Kansas State, but that the circumstances surrounding it have changed so
Robinson
often and so rapidly that he wouldn't write anything in concrete. Robinson didn't fly home with his teammates, but was expected to return today.
If he makes it back despite inclement weather, there will be all the love he can take coming from fans in the Fieldhouse. He could play a major role if his heart is in it, but it would be plenty understandable if it isn't.
QUESTION MARK
Can Kansas contain the resurgent Pullen?
Pullen has been excellent since returning from a three-game suspension for accepting impermissible benefits. The Wildcats' senior captain is averaging 20.1 points on 44 percent shooting. He's a volume shooter, though, which means he needs to take a lot of shots to get his points. If Kansas can deny him the ball outright, he'll be much easier to slow. Shutting down Pullen also means not fouling him, which the Jayhawks sometimes struggle with. When Pullen gets to the line, he's hitting 82 percent of his free throws since the suspension.
HEARYE, HEARYE
"I think our attitudes are good and our heads are right. They've handled everything pretty good. They know Thomas is going to be OK, and they'll feel better after going out there."
—— Bill Self on the teams' outlook since the death of Lisa Robinson, Thomas'mother
Rivals take the stage for GameDay KANSAS VS. KANSAS STATE 6 p.m., ALLEN FIELDHOUSE, Lawrence
Taylor
Sunflower standoff
KANSAS 19-1,(4-1) STARTERS
Tyshawn Taylor, guard
Taylor and Brady Morningstar will split time on the most important job of the game for Kansas: shutting down Jacob Pullen, Taylor's returned to form distributing the ball (10 assists, two turnovers in his last two games), but he's been lacking defensively and in scoring the ball. Alec Burks and Cory Higgins combined for 44 points with Taylor taking some time on them. If Pullen goes off, he could keep K-State in it.
Reed
Tyrel Reed, guard
Reed struggled from outside against Colorado, hitting just two out of eight shots, but any off nights from him can be safely marked down as an anomaly. Reed needs to shake off the bad shooting night and deliver on Saturday. The Wildcats don't have a great perimeter defender to spare on him. If Reed is on, Kansas could rout Kansas State.
Selby
Selby's importance to the Kansas offense is rarely overstated, and for good reason. His importance is difficult to overstate. If Selby is clicking, he can score in all manner of ways, and the matchups he forces open up the offense for his teammates. Coach Bill Self told Selby Monday to be more aggressive, and he responded with one of his best performances of the season. A roiled ankle suffered against Colorado should be 100 percent by now.
Morris going against Kansas State's Curtis Kelly should provide a great matchup in the post. Marcus is the better of the two, and his versatility could make
Marcus Morris, forward
tor a nightmare defensively for Kelly. But Kelly is a bruiser, and Marcus has had some trouble guarding pure posts like Texas"Tristan Thompson. Whoever wins the battle here will give their team a huge leg up.
Markieff Morris, forward
Morris
Statistically, there's no obvious reason for Markieff Morris' quiet night offensively Tuesday. He hit 50 percent of his shots, pulled down four offensive boards, stayed out of foul trouble and played decent minutes. But still he only scored six points. The only glaring stat is that he wasn't able to get to the free throw line once against an underwhelming Colorado frontcourt.
KANSAS STATE
14-7,(2-4)
STARTERS
Shane Southwell,guard
Southwell
Inserted into the starting lineup four games ago, Southwell has fouled out in two of those games. Since conference play started his minutes have more than doubled. He is averaging 2.6 points per game, 2.6 assists per game and 2.8 rebounds per game in five conference games.
Rodney McGruder, guard
McGruder has started every game this year for Wildcats this season. He is second in points behind Pullen, scoring 11.2 per game. McGruder is shooting a team best 40.9 percent. The downfall for McGruder is his 59.5 percent from the free throw line. As a guard, this number should be better.
-Tim Dwyer
Jacob Pullen, forward
McGruder
Teams are not "fearing the beard" as much this year as some did last. Pullen's numbers are down and he is taking forced shots that are heavily contended. Pullen is still the go-to player. He is averaging 17.9 points and 3.5 assists per game. He is the engine that makes this team go. If Pullen is having a bad night, it is game over for the Wildcats. Pullen was suspended for three games for accepting more clothes than he paid for.
Jamar Samuels, forward
Samuels is averaging 9.6 points per game. He is second in rebounding, averaging 5.9 per game. Samuels tries to spread the floor and take shots from deep, but he is an abysmal 6 of 23 (26.1 percent). A season ago he won the Big 12'Sixth Man of the Year Award.
Pullen
Samuels
Curtis Kelly, forward
Kelly, along with Pullen,
was suspended for accepting more clothes than he paid for. However,
his suspension was for six games because he took more clothes than Pullen. Kelly has been back for four games now and he is averaging 11 points per game. He is perfect from behind the arc and is averaging 7.5 rebounds per game since his return. He is third in scoring, averaging 10.5 points per game.
KSU
TIPOFF
AT A GLANCE
Kansas State is coming off a 69-61 must win against Baylor on Monday. The Wildcats are now 2-4 in conference play and if they want a chance to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, they will need to finish 7-3 in conference from here on out. It will be difficult with two games against Kansas and one against Texas and Missouri, all four are probable loses. It seems that the Wildcats will need to win out if they lose those four games. The Wildcats still have games at Colorado, Nebraska and Iowa State. If they don't escape with wins there, they might be head to the NIT.
COACH TO WATCH
Coach Frank Martin
Martin is known as the coach that can be seen screaming and
velling on the
yelling on the sideline on ESPN. He will have another opportunity to do that tomorrow when ESPN GameDay will be in Lawrence.
Martin
be in lawrence.
Martin is an underrated coach and has done a great job with K-State during his tenure. He is major catalyst to whether the Wildcats do well or not. He has the personnel, it is just a matter if those players respond to Martin. If K-State comes out flat and is blown out by Kansas, Martin is sure to blow a gasket.
Before the season even started, Martin said that replacing the production of players lost, like Clemente and Colon to graduation and Sutton to a transfer, would be replaced easily. He said there are players coming and going. If one player leaves, he said another would step up and contribute. What Martin said would be missed is leadership. He thought his players would become more leaders, but as K-State's record shows, nobody has stepped up. But it would also look like the Wildcats are missing the scoring of Clemente and the rebounding of Sutton.
QUESTION MARK
Are the Wildcats missing Denis Clemente, Luis Colon and Dominique Sutton?
HEAR YE, HEAR YE
"I feel like everything's got to come through Manhattan this year. I feel like it's our league to lose."
Senior guard Jacob Pullen before the Big 12 season
"This is my last go-around. I'm not going to the NIT. I won't play basketball in the NIT. I'm saying that now. If we lose, and we have to go to the NIT, I will not play."
— Pullen after Kansas State's 74-66 loss against Colorado on Jan. 12.
BIG 12 SCHEDULE
Game
Sat., Jan. 29 Time (CT)
Colorado at Baylor 12:30 p.m.
Texas A&M at Nebraska 1:00 p.m.
Oklahoma State at Texas Tech 3:00 p.m.
Missouri at Texas 8:00 p.m.
Oklahoma as Iowa State 8:00 p.m.
BABY JAY WILL WEEP IF...
ALLEN FIELDHOUSE WILL ROCK IF
The Jayhawks use the emotion as fuel to start a new home-court winning streak. Kansas needs to get this win to keep the Big 12 title well within reach. Drop another game in the standings behind Texas, and the Jayhawks will have a long walk uphill to get to seven in a row.
Baby Jay's already weeping after the emotional funeral that saw Lisa Robinson laid to rest, but tears of a different sort will be in order if the Jayhawks can't shake off the cobwebs of one of the more intense weeks of their lives. Kansas will need to be at full strength to hold off a Kansas State team that is fighting for life in the Big 12.
SCHEDULE
Prediction Kansas 79, Kansas State 68
Date Opponent TV Channel Time
Feb. 1 Texas Tech ESPN2 8 p.m.
Feb. 5 Nebraska Big 12 Network 3 p.m.
Feb. 7 Missouri ESPN 8 p.m.
Feb. 12 Iowa State Big 12 Network 3 p.m.