Sports THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
KANSAS 73, IOWA STATE 59
MONDAY,FEBRUARY 15,2010
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Still undefeated in Big 12
The Jayhawks use another crushing scoring run, this time 14-0 in the second half, and 16 points from Xavier Henry to defeat the Cyclones. MEN'S BASKETBALL REWIND | 4B-5B
BATTLE TESTED
PAGE 1B
Next stop: College Station
Big Monday in Texas: take two
BY COREY THIBODEAUX
cthibodeaux@kansan.com
twitter/c/_thibodeaux
For the second week in a row, the Jayhawks have little time to bask in a Saturday victory with an ESPN Big Monday game on the road at Texas A&M.
It didn't affect the Jayhawks much last week; Kansas won an ugly game against Nebraska before knocking off Texas 80-68.
With a quick Sunday practice to prepare and get the Jayhawks' legs back under them, coach Bill Self hopes they have the same success tonight against the Aggies as they did against the Longhorns.
"We've got to be really good, just like we were going down to Austin," Self said. "We didn't play great last Saturday, but we were focused going away from home and I think our guys will be focused going
The Longhorns were in freefall when the Jayhawks played them. But Kansas now has to deal with Texas A&M, a team freshman guard Xavier Henry knows little about.
down to College Station."
"I've never
KANSAS VS. TEXAS A&M
really paid too much attention to Texas A&M, but I heard they're tied for second in the Big 12 with Kansas State," Henry said.
That fact should be enough to have the Jayhawks hyped up for this game. Texas A&M is 18-6 on the season and 7-3 in the Big 12 coming off a close 67-65 matchup with Texas Tech.
In the conference, Texas A&M has an average margin of victory hovering right around one point per game. And with only three losses, that shows the Aggies know how to close out opponents.
"They've won a ton of close games and really lost a game at Texas they could have easily won,
WHEN: 8 p.m.
WHERE: College Station,
Texas
WATCH: ESPN (Sunflower
channel 33)
We've got to be really good, just like we were going down to Austin.
which was a nail-biter game." Self said.
The Jayhawks won't be surprised if the game comes down to that. Senior guard Sherron Collins is expecting another Texas bonanza.
BILL SELF Coach
"It's going to be sold out, probably a white-out or something crazy," Collins said. "And they're a
good team, so were going to have our hands full."
Aggie senior guard Donald Sloan will give the Jayhawks most of their troubles. He is averaging 18.3 points on the season and has scored in double figures all but three times this season. Collins doesn't expect any surprises in his
fourth year against Sloan
- Edited by Drew Anderson
"He's their heartbeat," Collins said. "I've been playing against Sloan for four years so I know his game a little bit. There's mutual respect from both of us."
This is a big game in the Big 12 and Self knows it. An Aggie victory means they and the Wildcats are only two games out of first place and the Jayhawks still have a hefty schedule to fend off.
"It will be a great environment," Self said, "because theoretically if they win out and knock us off, they'll put themselves in great position to maybe play for the league championship."
Weston White/KANSAN
Senior guard Sherron Collins reacts to a three-point basket Saturday night. Kansas moved to 24-1 on the season following a 73-59 victory against Iowa State. Collins scored 11 points and added five assists in the victory.
COMMENTARY
Saturday victory a milestone for Self
BY MAX ROTHMAN mrothman@kansan.com
Remember way back in 2003 when Roy Williams abandoned Kansas for
that Carolina blue? After losing a title game to Carmelo Anthony's Syracuse team and their coach to North Carolina, Jayhawk nation was understandably in a dejected state.
But a man named Self quickly turned unease into elation.
With Saturday's 73-59 victory
against Iowa State, Bill Self notched his 400th career victory. from his days as an assistant under Larry Brown and Eddie Sutton to his building blocks
Self
as a head coach at Oral Roberts, Tulsa and Illinois, each and every step has provided Self with the tools to recruit and win at Kansas at such an accelerated rate. Self sped to the 400 plateau by winning at least 23 games every season spent at Kansas, with 24 wins already this season.
But fans of consistent winners are greedy and never satisfied with past glories. They're always looking for more.
No one said life was fair.
To reach the numerical pantheon of basketball coaching, Self would need to log approximately 300 more victories. In order to be mentioned among names like Knight, Wooden, Sutton or Tarkanian, Self would need two
SEE COLUMN ON PAGE 5B
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Kansas falters in the end, falls to No.14 Texas in double overtime
BY MAX ROTHMAN
mrothman@kansan.com
twitter.com/maxrothman
One overtime just wasn't enough to settle Saturday's storm at Allen Fieldhouse.
Kansas fell to No. 14 Texas 85-82 and dropped to 4-6 in the Big 12 in its first double overtime showdown since a 2005 victory against Wisconsin.
"It was quiet," freshman forward Carolyn Davis said of her team's locker room after the game. "We thought we had it won."
The game went as far as two overtime period because freshman guard Monica Engelman gets more comfortable by the game.
On Saturday, Engelman eclipsed the "ordinary" label. She fearlessly fired 3-pointers with hands in her face and finished with a career high 22 points and six assists.
"I'm not big-headed about it," Engelman said. "It's a role I'm ready to accept."
But as a guard, Engelman was unable to camouflage her team's greatest weakness against the Longhorns: rebounding deficiencies.
As she has been before, Davis was Kansas' lane rebounding linchpin. She said that Saturday was one of the most physical games she has ever played
That's where Davis stepped in
in. Yet she responded to the contact, battling in the blocks, catching passes and sneaking lay-ups between crowds of burnt orange. She earned her fourth double-double in the past five games and finished with a career high 29 points and 14 rebounds.
"You can't underestimate how coachable that kid is," Henrickson said of Davis. "If I ask her to do something, she tries like crazy to get it done."
rebounded Kansas 47 to 36, sabotaging the Jayhawks' momentum by not allowing many second-chance opportunities.
Despite Davis' presence, Texas outing in the second half, Henrickson called a 30-second timeout to reassemble her team. Following a jump shot and free throw from sophomore forward Aishah Sutherland, a suffocating block from Davis and a high arching 3-pointer from Engelman, the score was tied at 66. The now-standing crowd was euphoric and the game went to overtime.
"If we're a better rebounding team in regulation, we don't go to overtime." Hendrickson said.
Down 66-60 with 1 minute and 33 seconds remaining in the second half, Henrickson called a 30-second timeout to reassemble her team. Following a jump shot and free throw from sophomore forward Aishah Sutherland, a suffocating block from Davis and a high arching 3-pointer from Engelman, the score was tied at 66. The now-standing crowd was euphoric and the game went to overtime.
BONNIE HENRICKSON Head coach
"If we're a better rebounding team in regulation, we don't go to overtime."
"Once I made it, I knew we were going to come together," Engelman said of her game-tying shot.
Davis scored the opening four points of the first overtime period as Kansas, including the end of regulation, was suddenly riding a 10-0 run. Leading 76-72 with 58 seconds to go, senior guard Sade Morris appeared to be elbowed in the head by Texas senior Brittainey Raven, but was controversially charged with the foul.
Raven sunk both free throws to give the Longhorns a 76-74. Then Texas quickly fouled senior guard LaChelda Jacobs, who made just one of two free throws.
The score was 77-74, and because of Jacobs' miss, a one possession game. With 11 seconds remaining, Texas homorog
Ashleigh Fontenette sprinted down the court and nailed a 3-pointer to tie the game at 77 and send it into a second overtime.
"It's a dagger," Davis said. "We had all that emotion from Monica and then it all kind of went away when
SEE WOMEN'S ON PAGE 6B
Senior guard Kelly Kohn covers her face with her hands following a double overtime loss to Texas Saturday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas lost 85-82 and will play Colorado in Boulder this Tuesday.
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN