KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2010 / SPORTS
5B
KANSAS 81, MEMPHIS 68
BASKETBALL REWIND
Bench provides options at post position in NYC
Sophomore forward Thomas Robinson puts up a shot infront of Memphis forward Tarik Black during the second half. Robinson recorded a double with 10 points and 10 rebounds as the Jayhawks defeated the Tigers 81-68. Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
BY MIKE LAVIERI
mlavieri@kansan.com
twitter.com/kansanball
NEW YORK — Madison Square Garden may be considered the world's biggest basketball stage. On Tuesday night, Kansas had the opportunity to play on that big stage on national television.
The Jayhawks were in the Big Apple for the annual Jimmy V Classic. The four Jayhawks from the east coast didn't want to disappoint the family and friends that were in town to watch the game. Three of them make up the low post presence for the Jayhawks: sophomore forward Thomas Robinson and junior forwards Marcus and Markieff Morris.
"You probably wouldn't say unbelievable in certain areas, but you look at it and they get 30 points and 15 rebounds in 56 minutes and that's pretty good for your post players," coach Bill Self said.
Self said earlier this year that it is important for the team, especially those three, to stay out of foul trouble. On Tuesday night, two of them did — Robinson and Marcus Morris.
"You can play maybe without one of the three, but its hard to play without two of the three, so that was important," Self said.
Marcus played the most minutes he's played all season with 32. To put it into perspective, he is averaging a little more than 26 on the season.
"It's very important, but we have some guys on the bench that can really play," Marcus said. "But it was very important that I stay out of foul trouble, so I could be on the court with my teammates."
Markieff might have led the team with 16 points, but he was only on the floor for 24 minutes because he had a team-high four fouls.
"Markieff will score a lot more points and get more rebounds if he
plays more than seven minutes a half." Self said.
When Self had to take him out, he was replaced with either Robinson, senior forward Mario Little or sophomore center Jeff Withey.
"We have two more," Self said. "Rio can play upfront and Jeff Withey will give us more minutes as we move forward."
Withey only gave the Jayhawks
two minutes with one rebound and one point. It was a lackluster performance from him, and Self pulled him for Robinson when he let his man hit a wide-open three-pointer.
"I would say Thomas was our best performer tonight," Self said. "I thought he played really well. He played smart and was under control."
Robinson recorded a double-dou
ble with 10 points and 10 rebounds in 15 minutes of work.
"We need to try and keep Markieff on the floor," Robinson said. "Knowing that you have me on the bench to come in and back it up wherever we have foul trouble is a good thing."
Edited by Joel Petterson
Junior forward Marcus Morris gets a shot past Memphis forward Angel Garcia during Kansas' 81-68 victory over Memphis Tuesday. Morris was the Jayhawks' second leading scorer with 14 points and added eight rebounds, five assists and two blocks. Kansas improved to 8-0 on the season and defeated a ranked opponent for the first time this year. Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
Game to remember
Robinson
Bill Self said Thomas Robinson was the best player in the game for the Jayhawks, and you don't have to look hard at the stat sheet to see why. Robinson was the only Jayhawk to finish with a double-double and absolutely dominated the Tigers on the glass. "He played really well, played smart, and was under control," If Robinson continues to play as well as he's shown he can, there's no reason he won't compete for Markieff Morris' starting spot as the season progresses.
Sophomore forward Thomas Robinson
Little
Game to forget
making the eight-man rotation Self usually uses when conference play starts.
Quotes of the night
Little was nonexistent in the second half, that's because he didn't play. He played eight minutes in the first half tallying one assist, zero points and two fouls. Coach Self has raved about how Little is a scorer and how he does a good job in the low post, but there aren't any results to show for it this season.
Little will need to assert himself in the next few games if he wants to have any chance of making the eight-man rotation Self usually use once play starts.
Senior guard Mario Little
Johnson
"When you don't say something and then you have media and different people coming to you and asking you, it doesn't make sense at all. It seems like you're the last one to find out about it, it can be confusing and irritating. I'm a Jayhawk. I'm going to be here until they kick me out, and I don't think they're going to kick me out anytime soon. So I've got another two-and-a-half years."
Elijah Johnson, addressing false rumors that he would be transferring
"Josh is wild, too. So he's going to fit in great."
— Bill Sett on how Josh Selby will change the team's offensive makeup
Self
Prime plays
FIRST HALF (SCORE AFTER PLAY)
19:46 ---Tyrel Reed starts the game off with a three from the corner. Tyshawn Taylor did a nice job of pulling the defense into the paint with a drive from the opposite corner prior to kicking it out to Reed. (3-0)
11:02 — Tsyshawn Taylor gets an outlet pass from Markieff Morris with nobody in front of him and he slams it down with authority. (16-14)
14:40 — Thomas Robinson throws a baseball pass to Elijah Johnson who slams down a dunk with nobody in front of him. (23-20)
3:31 — Brady Morningstar gives Kansas its biggest lead with a three pointer and looks to have put the game on ice. (74-59)
SECOND HALF
10:10 — Marcus Morris throws Elijah Johnson a pretty ally-oop, but it was set up by a Markieff Morris pick of Johnson's man. (60-48)
16:08 —Kansas is on a 9-0 run in a 14:54 span after Tyrel Reed knocks down a three from the corner forcing Josh Pastner to take a time-out to try to take Kansas out of rhythm. (48-39)
2:00 — Rock Chalk chant sounds in Madison Square Garden. (76-63)
14:55 —Elijah Johnson throws a perfect lob on the backdoor ally-oop to Markieff Morris. (60-48)
Notes
- Kansas is 3-0 in its last three games against Memphis.
- Kansas improved to 1-2 all-time in the Jimmy V Classic
- Robinson's double-double was his first of the season and second of his career.
Key stats
22
The Jayhawks turned the ball over 22 times in their first test against real defensive pressure.
6-11 The Jayhawks early season shooting woes have gone by the wayside. They hit 6-of-11 threes.
44-31 A game after losing the rebounding battle for the first time, the Jayhawks outrebound the Tigers 44-31.
19,391 Madison Square Garden sold all 19,391 seats for the game.
10,10 Thomas Robinson finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds. It's his third double-double this season.
Elijah Johnson finished with zero assists in 21 minutes.