KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2010 / SPORTS
75. NEBRASKA 64
5B
ETBALL REWIND
Weston White/KANSAN
Jayhawks win despite inconsistent showing
BY TIM DWYER
tdwyer@kansan.com
twitter.com/D_Wymer
Kansas held a 9-point lead early in the first half, and it looked like the Jayhawks were well on their way to dropping the Cornhuskers in easy fashion.
Then the Cornhuskers cut the lead down to four at the half. Then the second half started and they took a 4-point lead. The Jayhawks eventually won 75-64, but it took too many minutes and too much held breath from the Kansas faithful against a team that calls the cellar of the Big 12 home.
It's become a recurring theme
with this Kansas team. As deep and as talented as the Jayhawks are, they have rarely shown the ability to jump on the opposition when the opportunity arises.
"Nobody's perfect, but we still want to play good and win big, or
"When you've got somebody down, you've got to step on their throats."
SHERRON COLLINS Senior guard
just win," senior guard Sherron Collins, who had 17 points on the night, said. "We built leads and let them get back in the game and it was an ugly game, but it was a win and we will take it. If we play like this Monday, we won't come out with one."
Cotkins was referring to the Jayhawks' Big Monday matchup against No. 10 Texas, who lost at Oklahoma early Saturday. The Longhorns are one of the few teams in the country that has the depth and talent to match Kansas, and if the Jayhawks don't take every opportunity to build a lead Monday, they likely won't have the same luck they did against the Cornhuskers.
Coach Bill Self has a plan,
though.
"We got some magic powder, some dust that we can sprinkle on everybody's heads," he said. "I don't think that'll be an issue from this point forward, I'll go out and purchase that."
Kidding aside, it's a problem that the Jayhawks need to solve, but no one seems to have an answer as to how they can do it. Collins said it isn't something the coaches have too much power over.
“It's sort of a killer instinct. When you've got somebody down, you've got to step on their throats,” Collins said. “It's us, it ain't nothing to do with coach. It's something that we've got to do as
players. Coach does a good job of coaching us and getting us prepared for the game, we've just got to go out there and play like we want it."
Sophomore forward Marcus Morris was again the best player on the floor for the Jayhawks on Saturday with 20 points and 11
rebounds for his sixth double-double. Count him among the troops that knew they needed to develop a killer instinct, but didn't offer a plan as to how.
"We've just got to keep going as hard as we did when we first came out," Morris said. "I felt like we came out really strong at first, and then we started to let up on them."
Collins said there is one thing that always keeps the team motivated.
"No, we just have to look at coach on the sidelines to wake us up. We just do not want to get chewed out," Collins said.
Edited by Drew Anderson
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
turday night at ABBen Fieldhouse.
Weston White/KANSAN
Sophomore forward Marcus Morris drives to the basket for a layup against Nebraska Saturday night. Morris led Kansas with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Freshman forward Thomas Robinson had trouble, getting three fouls in only six minutes, but did have a flashy dunk off a Marcus Morris miss. The second half was all Aldrich finishing with eight points, six rebounds and four blocks.
MEN'S (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
minutes about as well as we've played any other time in the second half
"I think the crowd always has something to do with it," Collins said. "I think the other 50 percent of that is we just woke up."
Junior center Cole Aldrich spent only five minutes on the court in the first half after two early fouls. Freshman center Jeff Withey filled in admirably with four points, six rebounds and two blocks.
Collins, who finished with 17 points and six assists, said the key was just the energy factor.
Turnovers and the rebound differential against a smaller team didn't sit well for any of the big men. Morris, who finished with a team-high 20 points and 11 rebounds, said they fell into Nebraska's game plan.
He hated what he saw from the bench.
"That may have been the dumbest we played in quite a while," Aldrich said.
"They sped us up and we played into their hands," he said.
The Jayhawks have a quick turnaround when they face the Texas Longhorns on Monday. If they throw out everything except the 28-5 run, Aldrich said his team should be fine.
"It's going to take an effort like the way we played in that little stretch down in Austin on Monday to come out with a victory," he said.
- Edited by Drew Anderson
Game to remember
Sophomore forward Marcus Morris
Morris was again a dominant force inside. He finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds, six of which were on the offensive end, on 9-of-15 shooting. He torched Nebraska the last time out, going for 19 points and seven rebounds, and picked up right where he left off in the first half despite foul trouble for Cole Aldrich and Markieff Morris. He shot just 2-of-6 from the free throw line, though. That's certainly forgettable.
Morris
Game to forget
Morningstar
Junior guard Brady Morningstar
It's hard to judge Morningstar on scoring output, but for a guy to get 22 minutes of action without finding a way to score at least once is disappointing. He was his usual steady self with four assists to one turnover, but went 0-for-3 from the field and missed his only 3-point attempt.
Stat of the night
28-5
Self
after the break, starting with a Sherron Collins three. It was all they needed to ice the game, despite a late Nebraska comeback.
The Jayhawks went on a 28-5 run in the second half after the Corn-huskers took a four-point lead early
Quote of the night
-Bill Self, on the team's lack of killer instinct
"We got some magic powder, some dust that we can sprinkle on everybody's heads. I don't think that'll be an issue from this point forward, I'll go out and purchase that."
Prime plays
1ST HALF (SCORE AFTER PLAY)
18:02- Xavier Henry hits his second three of the game. Six points in the first two minutes looked good, but only finished with nine. (8-5)
8:05-Tyshawn Taylor sprinted after Lance Jeter who poked the ball away from Sherron Collins. Jeter made the layup, but Taylor was in good enough position to draw the offensive foul. It was all hustle. (26-21)
13:27- Thomas Robinson came out of nowhere and flushed home a missed layup by Marcus Morris. When he's making plays like that, you know the Jayhawks are rolling. (15-9)
2ND HALF
2ND HALF
15:20- Unexpectedly facing
14:29 It took Cole Aldrich this long to get his first bucket of the game. He grabbed an offensive rebound off a Tyrel Reed miss and laid it in to give the Jayhawks back the lead. (44-43)
12:52 - Cole Aldrich put on the snake-a-lake with a one-hand dunk. The foul just made it sweeter. (48-44)
4
adversity from the last-place team in the Big 12, Sherron Collins took it upon himself to stifle Nebraska's 8-2 run to start the second half with a three. (42-43)
Key stats
5:51- The Jayhawks continue with a 27-5 run from a Sherron Collins 3-pointer. It started with the Collins three at the 15:20 mark. A Xavier Henry free throw capped the run at 28-5. (66-48)
Cole Aldrich had four blocks on the night. He has at least three in 21 of 23 games this year.
14,15
Aldrich combined for just 14 points and 15 rebounds in two games against Nebraska this season.
5-5
Markieff Morris didn't miss a single shot Saturday. He was
3-for-3 from the field, including one three, and 2-2 from the free throw line.
36-35
Kansas, the second-best rebounding team in the conference, outbounded Nebraska, the second-worst rebounding team in the conference, by just one. 36-35.
— Tim Dwyer and Corey Thibodeaux
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
Nebraska coach Doc Sadler yells during the second half. Kansas defeated Nebraska Saturday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse, 75-64.