Sports THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2010
Tennis team to face Drake The Jayhawks take on the Bulldogs for first spring match. SPORTS | 6A
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Same athletes, new roles Track prepares for final indoor home meet of the season. SPORTS | 6A
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THE BEST OF RIVALS
Jayhawks respect rival'Cats
Junior center Cole Aldrich hits a first-half shot against Missouri. Kansas State didn't have the size to combat Aldrich, who finished with 12 points, 16 rebounds and seven blocks on Monday.
Weston White/KANSAN
K-State's emergence benefits Kansas, as long as KU still wins
BY COREY THIBODEAUX
cthibodeaux@kansan.com
twitter.com/c/thibodeaux
With high rankings comes attention, and that's exactly what the Jayhawks (No. 2) and Wildcats (No. 11) will have when College Gameday goes to Manhattan Saturday.
Whether fans are willing to admit it, the rise of Kansas State's basketball program is good for Kansas basketball as well.
Coach Bill Self said it's no fluke that ESPN is going to K-State, and Kansas is lucky to be a part of it.
"We're selfishly benefiting from them being good," Self said. "I don't see any negatives in that at all."
Traditionally the teams have had vastly different expectations. Kansas is usually vying for a top seed in the NCAA tournament, whereas K-State has only been in the tournament once, in 2008, the last decade.
Head-to-head, the Jayhawks have dominated the Wildcats, winning 38 out of the last 40 meetings.
"I think it's good for our state; it's good for our conference," junior guard Brady Morningstar said. "You get better when you play them. I'm excited to go in there and play against another ranked team."
But this season the 17-3 Wildcats are third in the Big 12 and a borderline top-10 team. When it comes to exposure, Kansas' players don't have a problem with K-State's success.
"We really support the teams around the Big 12 because a lot of the guys have friends from different teams from just playing over the years," he said.
year's matchup.
"I can imagine what they were saying," Aldrich said. "I just hit delete"
Self was the same way, praising the competition the Wildcats will most certainly bring. He even went as far as to say he would enjoy K-State coach Frank Martin's
company.
Aldrich had nothing bad to say about K-State. He liked their personnel, he liked the atmosphere and even the fans who left him hundreds of messages before last
But Manhattan's biggest attraction isn't Martin, it's Bramlage Coliseum. Self said it's the best he's seen in college basketball.
"He would be a guy I'd enjoy having dinner with — as long as he bought." Self joked.
atmospheres that rivaled it since I've been coaching; at Indiana and at Oklahoma State my first year back." Self said. "To me this was the atmosphere that was the equivalent of those."
"I can only remember two other
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Jerry Wang/RANSAN Junior center Krysten Boogaard gets a hand on the ball as Colorado guard Chucky Jeffery attempts a layup underneath the basket. Boogaard played for only 10 minutes and scored two points.
KANSAS VS.
KANSAS STATE
6 p.m.; Saturday in Manhattan.
The game is on ESPN.
Jayhawks 'too comfortable' against Buffaloes
BY MAX ROTHMAN
mrothman@kansan.com
twitter.com/maxrothman
Jerry Wang/KANSAN
After Wednesday's 75-64 win against Colorado. Kansas' locker room was jubilant. Coach Bonnie Henrickson had other things in mind.
"I hate to rain on your parade," Hendrickson said to her team. "But we've got to be able to string two halves together."
By NCAA rule, a game is to last 40 minutes with two 20 minute halves and a break in between. Take a look at the Jayhawks and one might think they missed the memo.
Wednesday's first half was a one-sided trouncing. Kansas shot 18-of-35 from the field and outbounded Colorado 27 to seven. Led by senior guard Danielle McCray's 19 points and eight rebounds, the Jayhawks went into the break ahead 47-27. It was perhaps the finest 20 minutes that the team had played the entire season.
During halftime, the Jayhawks became too comfortable with their 20-point lead. Right out of the locker room, the team's lack of intensity showed.
"We came out aggressively, attacked and shared the ball." Henrickson said.
BORDER SHOWDOWN Kansas at Missouri 5 p.m., Saturday in Columbia, Mo.
"You grow that lead to 30 or 35 if you manage possessions and take care of the ball," Henrickson said. "Those turnovers turned into lay-ups and threes for them."
Kansas surrendered 11 turnovers, five by McCray alone, in a sloppy and irresponsible second half.
The careless ball handling provided the Buffaloes with several opportunities that should have never arisen. Old fundamentals, such as shielding a dribble from a defender, seemed to be forgotten after halftime.
Also aiding Colorado in their pursuit of a comeback was Kansas' defensive laziness and lack
"We weren't taking care of the ball," freshman guard Monica Engelman said. "We were wasting possessions."
of assertion. The layhawks committed eight fouls, granting their opponent 11 free throw attempts. The Buffaloes converted nine of them.
COMMENTARY
The layhawks also struggled with on-ball defense, resulting in uncontested jump shots or easy lay-ups conceded.
After living on the wrong end of a relentless thumping in the first half, Colorado actually outscored Kansas 37-28 in the second half.
"If you can guard someone for 25 minutes, you've got to be able to guard them for 40," Henrickson said.
McCray had a rational expla-
nation for her team's lapse.
"We lost focus and played passively," McCray said. "We relaxed
because we knew what the lead was instead of keep pushing"
This has to be an alarming sign for Kansas, especially considering that Wednesday is not the first time Kansas has dominated the first half and collapsed in the second. On Jan. 17, Kansas defeated Missouri 72-59 in a near replica of Wednesday's win.
paynawks mustered a 46-
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Race for Naismith Award is wide open
BY TIM DWYER
tdwyer@kansan.com
twitter.com/D_Wyler
For the past few years, the race for National Player of the Year has been decided long before the season was over.
Last season, they could have etched Blake Griffin's name on the trophy before the season started. The year before, they did with Tyler Hansbrough (then didn't bother to fix it when Michael Beasley should have won). The year before that, Kevin Durant was uncontested in winning the Naismith Player of the Year award.
This year, it's up in the air.
Kentucky's John Wall is, rightfully, getting a lot of publicity. He's a more complete version of Derrick Rose. He's piloting the No. 1 team in the country, at least for a few more days, and he's a lock for being the top pick in next year's NBA draft. But he may not be the best player in his own conference.
Ask Devan Downey. The 5-foot-8 mighty mite that single-handedly sunk Kentucky won't get any real looks as Player of the Year, if only because he plays for South Carolina. In conference awards, though, don't be surprised if he sneaks up and passes Wall for SEC Player of the Year honors.
While we're on undersized point guards, itd be remiss to not mention one of our own. Sherron Collins is, without question, the best leader in college basketball. If the Jayhawks are struggling, Collins will take the team aside, say, "We're alright, I got this" and proceed to score 21 of his 28 points in the second half. Well, that was just the Baylor game, but it won't be the only time this year that Collins wills the Jayhawks to victory.
Collins, though, is on a roster laden with talent. Marcus Morris is a stud at power forward. Cole Aldrich is back as a force in the middle. Collins will win Kansas a few games, but the Jayhawks, believe it or not, would be alright without him.
The Ohio State Buckeyes, on the other hand, would be NIT-bound at best without stud Evan Turner. Take the one-month stretch where Turner was out with a fractured spine as evidence (hell, take the fact that he was only out for a month with a fractured spine as evidence). The Buckeyes played six games and lost three of them. In the fifteen games Turner has played, they've picked up just three more losses.
But that just gives Turner an MVP award. To win the Naismith, a player needs to put up world-class numbers. Turner's fine there, too. He's had two triple doubles and been within three assists of two others. He has a legitimate chance to become the first 20-point, 10-rebound, five-assist player since, according to SL.coms Andy Glockner, Larry Bird. Bird, in case you don't remember, did not suck at basketball.
So Turner, right now, is my pick, but there's plenty of season left. Any of the guys on this list could win it. Wes Johnson from Syracuse could win it. Aldrich could go on a tear and win it. Notre Dame's Luke Harangydo could win it.
No matter who wins it,it'll be a heck of a race.
Edited by Cory Bunting