GAME DAY MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
KU
TIPOFF
AT A GLANCE
Kansas (24-1, 10-0) is cruising through Big 12 competition right now. They have a close one every now and then, but always find a way to win. Texas Tech (18-9,7-3) is also good at finding ways to win close games. Both teams are coming in with winning streaks on the line. The Jayhawks are 14-1 all-time versus the Aggies including three straight. Not to mention, Kansas is 6-0 in the Reed Center. Now with 56 straight home victories, the last team to beat the Jayhawks at home were the Aggies.
Xavier Henry, freshman guard
PLAYER TO WATCH
Xavier Henry, freshman guard He's only had two productive games in a row, so it's not time to declare Henry officially "back." The players say he is and he is feeling
confident, but let's just see what another tough road test does for the freshman. Sherron Collins said if Henry misses a couple of shots, he
Henry
hangs his head. He seems to have overcome that problem recently.
Is the Saturday-to-Monday turnaround going to catch up with Kansas?
QUESTION MARK
The Aggies are in the same boat as the Jayhawks, playing on Saturday and coming right back on Monday. But this is the second week out of three the Jayhawks play a Big Monday game. Even though Texas A&M is playing better than Texas at the moment, the Kansas players are not nearly asamped to play this game. The Jayhawks got by last week on their anticipation for the Longhorns and fatigue didn't seem like a factor. This game has the ingredients for a let-down.
HEARYE, HEARYE
"Hopefully I will get it. My teammates before helped me get those wins because I didn't do them by myself at all. I played big roles in most of them, but I'm just thankful for having those guys."
Shevron Collins on becoming the winningest player in Kansas basketball history
Collins
ATTACKING THE AGGIES Expect a close game in College Station NO.1 KANSAS AT TEXAS A&M 8 p.m., REED ARENA , ESPN
Morningstar
KANSAS
24-1(10-0)
STARTERS
Sherron Collins. senior guard
When Collins goes 4-of-14 like he did against Iowa State, nobody got worried. The team didn't need him, so he didn't demand the ball. He did have a moment of clutchness right before halftime of Saturday's game when he had a crossover move to get a layup as the clock was winding down. Just a hunch, but he may be needed against the Aggies.
★★★★
Morris
Brady Morningstar, junior guard
He isn't widening any eyes on the stat sheet like his botched free throw is on YouTube. But time and time again we see him penetrate the lane, kick the ball out and good things happen. On the defensive end, he had a timely steal and took it in for a layup against the Cyclones. He'll guard the high-scoring Donald Sloan at times.
Aldrich
Xavier Henry, freshman guard
If Henry has truly found his shot like the past couple games, it's good news for Kansas and bad news for everyone else. With Collins, Aldrich, Marcus Morris and Henry all capable of leading the team on any given night, that's just too much for any one team to handle.
Morris has three double-doubles in his last five games, five on the season. He was a monster on the offensive glass against Iowa State, though his 4-of-12 from the floor can improve. Behind Collins, Morris is playing more minutes than any Jayhawk right now.
Marcus Morris, sophomore forward
Cole Aldrich, junior center
Recently, Aldrich has shown symptoms of Sherron Collins-syndrome: If a game isn't super competitive, he won't light it up. The past three games, he has one game where he scored or rebounded in double figures. But looking at the two overtime games, he averaged 17 points and 12.5 rebounds. Against the Aggies, Aldrich is poised for a big night.
Taylor
★★★★
SIXTH MAN
A 28-5 run against Nebraska and 14-0 run against Iowa State both had one common denominator: Tyshawn Taylor ran most of the show. Even coach Bill Self said Taylor was a mystery; he has so much talent but doesn't always use it. Taylor didn't have a great first half against the Cyclones, but turned it up in the second half, finishing with seven points and four assists.
Tyshawn Taylor sophomore guard
TEXAS A&M 18-6(7-3) STARTERS
Tyshawn Taylor
Donald Sloan, senior guard
Sloan is the key cog in the Aggies' lineup. He's had to pick up the slack after fellow senior Derrick Roland's grusome leg injury, and he's done so admirably, averaging 19.3 points per game since his backcourt-mate went down in late December.
Dash Harris, sophomore guard
Harris is one of the best protectors of the ball in the conference, with a 2.1-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. As his name would suggest, he's quick with the ball in his hands and has shown solid ability to get to the hoop, but even if he beats his man, the easiest solution is to foul Harris. He shoots just 47 percent from the free throw line.
Sloan
Kings Middleton, freshman forward. Middleton is just the seventh-leading minutes getter on the active Aggie roster, despite being in the starting lineup. He offers little in the way of scoring, hitting just 38 percent of his shots and averaging fewer than six points per game.
David Loubeau, sophomore forward
Loubeau, a sophomore, averages 8.6 points per game, but has been on a roll lately, averaging a whole five points more than that over his last five games. He's come into his own on the glass lately as well, averaging 7.3 rebounds during the Aggies' current four-game winning streak.
Middleton
Loubeau
Bryan Davis, senior forward
Xavier Henry called Davis "a beast" in the middle and said that Cole Aldrich would "have his hands full" trying to guard him. Davis is a big, powerful guy who can use his size and strength to overwhelm opponents, especially undersized ones. He went for 13 points and 16 rebounds against Texas Tech Saturday, but shouldn't put up numb that against the Javahi
SIXTH MAN
B. J. Holmes, junior guard Despite having just three starts on the year, Holmes has played more than 30 minutes in each of the last four games
B.J. Holmes, junior guard
all Aggie
victories. Holmes has been relied on to take the majority of the injured Derrick Roland's minutes. And he's done so with relative success, averaging 9.5
points per game. He's coming off an 18-point performance in a 67-65 victory over Texas Tech.
Holmes
★★★★
A&M
TIPOFF
AT A GLANCE
Coach Mark Turgeon has the Aggies rolling at the right time Since starting conference play at 3-3, they've ripped off a four game winning streak. It begs noticing that, of the Aggies' six losses, all of them have come at the hands of top-50 teams in the RPI, and all on the road or at a neutral site.
PLAYER TO WATCH
underrated players in the Big 12.
Donald Sloan, senior guard
Despite putting up All-Big 12 quality numbers and playing for a team that's tied for second in the league, Sloan's is rarely a name you hear. Brady Morningstar will likely draw the
unenviable assignment of slowing down Sloan, who is third in scoring in Big 12 play. M Stanjestar's task will center on hassling Sloan into turnovers - not an impossible job, as Sloan averages 2.7 per game.
Sloan
Can the Jayhawks steal another road win?
QUESTION MARK
Kansas has three road wins against teams in the RPI top-30, two of them against top-15 teams. Texas A&M is currently No. 13 in the RPI as of Sunday afternoon. Defeating Texas A&M won't come easy, though, as the Aggies haven't lost at home this season. The most impressive of those 13 home wins was a 78-71 victory against Baylor last week.
former Jayhawk player and current Aggie coach Mark Turgeon
"I love the state of Kansas and I love the enthusiasm it has for basketball."
BIG 12 SCHEDULE
HEARYE, HEARYE
Game
Time (CT) TV Channel
Monday, February 15
Kansas at Texas A&M 8:00 p.m. ESPN
Tuesday, February 16
Texas Tech at Baylor 7:00 p.m. FSNSW
Wednesday, February 17
Nebraska at Kansas State 6:00 p.m. FSNM/FSNKC
Oklahoma at Colorado 7:00 p.m. ESPNU
Oklahoma State at Iowa State 7:00 p.m. Big 12 Network
SCHEDULE
REED CENTER WILL ROCK IF...
ACIE LAW IV WILL RETIRE FROM THE NBA IF...
ACIE LAW IWILL RETIRE FROM THE NBA IF... Sherron Collins takes matters into his own hands. Call him the leader, the hero, the best player in America or whatever. No team in the nation wants to play against Collins and if Texas A&M give Kansas a test, he will be the one to take over. Collins knows his time as a Jayhawk is quickly coming to an end and he will fight to the last second against any opponent. The Aggies are good enough that we may see Collins try for 25-30 points.
LA
...the Jayhawks take the Aggies for granted. It was obvious when Kansas played Texas all the players wanted that game. Against Texas A&M, not so much. Even though the Aggies are in second place in the Big 12, they don't have the same aura Texas did. The Jayhawks won't get a lot of time to prepare or even rest. If the Aggies jump out to an early lead, their home court advantage might be enough to help them to victory.
Prediction:
Kansas 65, Texas A&M 62
Date Opponent TV Channel Time
Feb. 20 COLORADO Big 12 Network 3 p.m.
Feb. 22 OKLAHOMA ESPN 8 p.m.
Feb. 27 at Oklahoma State ESPN 3 p.m.
March 3 KANSAS STATE Big 12 Network 7 p.m.
March 6 at Missouri CBS 1 p.m.
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