KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010 / SPORTS
9A
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"I hate them with all the hate you can hate with. Can you hate more than that? If you can, I hate them more than that."
— Tim Hardaway,
former NBA player for Miami Heat
FACT OF THE DAY
Kansas Athletics
Three Jayhawks have scored more than 20 points this season: senior Sherron Collins, sophomore Marcus Morris and freshman Xavier Henry have all hit the benchmark.
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
Q: How many times has Kansas shot better than 50 percent this season?
Kansas Athletics
A: 14 times.The Jayhawks are shooting 48.8 percent for the season.
SCORES
NCAA Men's Basketball:
No. 2 Kentucky 82, South Carolina 61
No. 5 Duke 70, Tulsa 52
No. 16 Vanderbilt 96, Georgia 94
No. 17 Wisconsin 78, Indiana 46
Women's College Basketball:
Kansas 54, No. 15 Iowa State 57
No. 2 Stanford 62, Arizona State 53
No. 4 Tennessee 81, No. 16 Kentucky
65
No. 13 Georgetown 70, Jacksonville State 39
No. 9 Florida State 87, Miami (Fla) 62
No. 10 Ohio State 78, Northwestern 47
No. 19 Gonzaga 83, Santa Clara 52
No. 20 LSU 70, Arkansas 53
MORNING BREW
Do your Big Dance homework
Tell your friends, girlfriends, teachers, parents, family members and pets sorry in advance. You won't have time for them in the next three weeks.
You can thank the NCAA. It compiled every single NCAA Tournament game beyond the Sweet 16 from the 2000s into one handy media player. No commercials.
BY CLARK GOBLE
cgoble@kansan.com
twitter.com/clark_goble
It's called the Vault, and you can access it at vault.ncaa.com. The Vault allows you to search by certain highlights, including the best dunks, blocks and finishes, or just watch any big game in the Dance from the last 10 years.
But before you head to vault.ncaa.com and watch your life get sucked away, let's look at some of the Vault's possibilities.
I scrolled through the Great Finishes and found an absolute dandy of an ending that I completely forgot: No. 2 Texas vs. No. 4 LSU in the 2006 Elite Eight. The Longhorns had the ball down three with under a minute left. Texas drove into the paint and now-Chicago Bull Tyrus Thomas swatted the shot.
Texas missed a three but grabbed the rebound. LSU knocked the ball free, made an incredible save but Texas retained possession. It looked like Texas would get an open look for three, but an LSU player raced from out of bounds to deflect the shot to another Texas player.
Daniel Gibson, now affectionately known as Boobie in the NBA, hit the game tying three for Texas. Observe.
the final Four? And North Carolina was playing five guys?
That's the value. You can do this with every single game past the Sweet 16 in the 2000s. I went back and watched the first half of Kansas-North Carolina in 2008 and felt the same degree of shock that I felt when it happened. 37-12 in
Obviously, my words don't do this sequence justice. Only the Vault does.
With the Vault, March Madness debates can be settled. You can roll through more than 50 of the best dunks in big-time games in the 2000s in a matter of minutes. The longest realistic shot I've seen by looking through the Great Shots was Memphis' Jeremy Hunt hitting one from the Alamodome parking lot.
With March Madness looming, there is no better way to prepare for the Dance than spending a couple hours browsing the Vault. With just a few hours, you can become more than a March Madness expert. You can be a connoisseur, as knowledgeable about your craft as any wine expert. The 2001 Duke-Maryland Final Four tilt is your 2001 Kendall Jackson Chardonnay. Instead of noting flavor nodes of a particular wine, you can note Carmelo Anthony's flashiness or Luther Head's ridiculous range.
Not literally of course, but this shot would have been deep by NBA standards.
I'm sure there are tons of other things you can do with the Vault, and if you've made it this far without going to the site, I applaud you. The time it took to compose this nearly doubled what I expected because I got captivated by the finish of
No. 3 Arizona vs. No. 1 Illinois in the 2005 Elite Eight.
Your dog may not understand your hours in front of the computer screen in the next few weeks, but trust me. Take the Vault plunge.
FRIDAY YOUTUBE SESH
The Vault is pretty YouTube-ish, but we'll go another route this Friday. I wish there was a feature on the Vault that allowed users to add Gus Johnson commentary to any memorable ending. If you don't know Gus, you will by the end of March. He's the high-energy play-by-play man known for his ludicrous calls to wild finishes, namely UCLA-Gonzaga: The Game When Morrison Cried
Somebody brilliant made a compilation of his best calls and put them over Fort Minor's "Remember the Name" beat.
After you get hooked, look out for games Gus Johnson calls. His energy will make the game a lot more intense.
Search "Gus Johnson Fort Minor Remix" turn up your speakers and enjoy.
Edited by Kelly Gibson
BASEBALL
Jayhawk offense looking to heat up in Arizona
BY BEN WARD
bward@kansan.com
twitter.com/bm_dub
Kansas (1-1) will escape the lingering cold of the Midwest when it heads to Peoria, Ariz., to take part in the Peoria Spring Training Classic.
While most students daydream about spring break plans, the Jayhawks eagerly await their own trip to a warm weather locale.
"It's going to be real nice," junior
outfielder Brian Heere said, "I'm sick of all this cold weather"
The Jayhawks will play four games over the weekend in Peoria, two apiece against Sacramento State (2-1) and Gonzaga (2-1). Both clubs have started the season with impressive offensive efforts
"Certainly we've got our hands full," coach Ritch Price said. "But
we're looking forward to it."
Facing opponents with such prolific offenses not only puts pressure on Kansas' pitching staff, it also demands that Kansas swing the bats at an equally high level. The Jayhawks scored 10 total runs in Monday's doubleheader against Eastern Michigan, but they totaled only eight hits.
"I think we need to be more aggressive," Heere said. "We took way too many fastballs for strikes and chased too many pitches out
Coach Price and Heere's teammates agreed that offensive improvement will be the determining factor in Kansas' success this weekend.
"Strike zone awareness and clutch hitting are going to be very important for us to come out of there with four wins," junior outfielder Jimmy Waters said.
- Edited by Cory Bunting
PEORIA SPRING
TRAINING CLASSIC
**Friday:** vs. Sacramento State, 4 p.m.
**Saturday:** vs. Sacramento State, 4 p.m., vs. Gonzaga, 8 p.m.
**Sunday:** vs. Gonzaga, 11 a.m.
Read more online at kansan.com/sports
A fellow Arizona native, Manship (from Cave Creek) should see plenty of action behind the plate for Kansas. Coach Ritch Price lauded Manship's defensive effort on Monday, as the sophomore blocked seven of eight balls in the dirt and also threw out a runner attempting a steal. But to keep his spot in the lineup, Manship needs to be a threat with the bat as well.
Sophomore catcher Chris Manship
Lytle
Manship
Redshirt senior starting pitcher Brett Bolman
Throwing behind junior T.J. Walz and senior Cameron Selik in the rotation, Bollman needs a strong outing from the mound. Last season, Bollman made eight starts for Kansas, going 5-0 with a 3.58 ERA.The righty hurler came out of the bullpen on Monday, tossing one and two-thirds innings of one hit ball.
THIS WEEK IN KANSAS ATHLETICS
Bollman
Softball
vs. Kentucky in
Chattanooga, Tenn.
11:30 a.m.
TODAY
Baseball
vs. Sacramento State in
Peoria, Ariz., 4 p.m.
Kansas players to watch
As the leadoff hitter, the burden falls upon Lytle to get on base and set the table for the guys in the middle of the order. The Phoenix native went hitless in Monday's doubleheader against Eastern Michigan but did manage to reach base three times — drawing one walk and getting hit by a pitch twice. Lytle made the most of his opportunities, stealing two bases and scoring two runs, but more production is needed out of the top spot from the speedy outfielder.
Softball
vs. Tennessee at
Chattanooga, Tenn.
4:30 p.m.
Track & Field at Big 12 Indoor Championships in Ames, Iowa, all day
Swimming & Diving at Big 12 Championships, College Station, Texas, all day
SATURDAY
Junior rightfielder Casey Lytle:
Softball vs. Tennessee Tech in Chattanooga, Tenn., 11:30 a.m.
Softball
Baseball
Men's basketball at Oklahoma State, 3 p.m.
Tennis vs. New Mexico State, 10 a.m.
Softball
Baseball vs. Sacramento State in Peoria, Ariz., 4 p.m.
vs. Lipscomb in Chattanooga, Tenn., 4:30 p.m.
Baseball
Baseball
vs. Gonzaga in
Peoria, Ariz., 8 p.m.
Track at Big 12 Indoor Championships in Ames, Iowa, all day
Station, Texas all day
Women's swimming at Big 12 Championships, College Texas.
SUNDAY
Softball
a.m.
Softball
vs. Austin Peay in
Chattanooga, Tenn., 9
Tennis at UTEP, 10 a.m.
Sacramento St. player to watch
Baseball
vs. Gonzaza in Peoria,
Ariz., 11 a.m.
In his last series against UNLV, Powers was 9-of-16 from the plate with two home runs and 10 runs batted in. Last season, Powers was one of four players to start all 54 games for the Hornets. He plays a variety of positions including catcher, shortstop, second base and third base.
Women's basketball at Baylor, 4 p.m.
Infielder Josh Powers
Did you know?
Gonzaga player to watch
— Sacramento State coach John Smith is in his final season at Sacramento State after 32 years. He brought the Hornets from Division II to Division I and has had 16 winning seasons.
Hunter had his best game in a Gonzaga uniform last Sunday, hitting a grand slam in a 10-9 loss to Washington. Only three games into the season, Hunter already leads the team in slugging percentage (.786) and total bases (11).
Pitcher/first baseman Andy Hunter
Gonzaga baseball's most famous alum is the newly acquired New York Met Jason Bay, who has been a three-time All Star with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Boston Red Sox.
Andrew Hammond
Need a break from studying? ADULT LEAGUES FORMING NOW!
THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS UNIVERSITY THEATRE PRESENTS
BASKETBALL. SOFTBALL KICKBALL. VOLLEYBALL.
Register online at www.lprd.org by March 3. 2010
City of Lawrence
PARKS AND RECREATION
For more information,
call (785) 832-7920 or
visit the Community Building
at 115 W. 11th Street
A biting comedy about nationalism and the human addiction to war
ARMS
AND THE
MAN
by George Bernard Shaw
7:30 P.M. FEBRUARY 26, 27, & MARCH 4, 5, 6, 2010 2:30 P.M. FEBRUARY 28, 2010 CRAFTON-PREYER THEATRE
Reserved seat tickets are on sale in the KU ticket offices: University Theatre, 864-3982; Lied Center, 864-ARTS, and online at www.kutheatre.com. Tickets are $18 for the public, $17 for senior citizens and KU faculty and staff, $10 for all students. All major credit cards are accepted for phone and online orders.
The University Theatre is partially funded by the KU Student Senate Activity Fee; funding is also provided by the Kansas Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a national agency.