Sports THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2010
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GUILTY GIVEAWAYS
Missouri forward Keith Ramsey reaches out to gain control of a Kansas turnover. Kansas turned over the ball 23 times during Monday night's 84-65 victory.
Weston White/KANSAN
PAGE 10A
Turnovers the low point
Kansas dominated most stats, but too careless with ball
cthibodeaux@kansan.com
twitter.com/c_thibodeaux
BY COREY THIBODEAUX
When a team is negative-18 in the turnover battle, it usually doesn't win the game, let alone dominate.
But that's exactly what No. 2 Kansas (19-1) did in its 84-65 victory against Missouri (15-5) Monday.
In a game where the layhawks were in control throughout, the
only noticeable blemish was giving the ball away 23 times. It looks even worse considering the Tigers only had five.
Adding two of those turnovers to his 16 point, 12 rebound and seven block performance, junior center Cole Aldrich wasn't surprised the team had 23 turnovers. He said Mizzou's fast-paced, aggressive play had a lot to do with it.
"That's a real lot," Aldrich said. "With those guys just scrambling all around, balls to the wall. I can see how we turned it over at times."
Mizzou does play fast, but Kansas coach Bill Self could only pin the giveaways on his own team, and the stat sheet indicates why. Considering Mizzou forced
23 turnovers, the defensive stats don't show it.
"Think of it like this," Self said. "If a team turns it over more than 23 times, don't they usually get more than nine steals?"
The Tigers did steal the ball nine times, but they did little to earn all of the turnovers they forced. Many of the Jayhawks' passes were thrown over someone's head, bounced off a knee or lost on offensive fouls.
"A lot of our turnovers were just bonehead, throw it out of bounds or whatever against average pressure." Self said. "I didn't think that they were totally turned up in a press mode."
Freshman guard Xavier Henry had five turnovers, the most of anyone on the team. Senior
guard Sherron Collins and sophomore guard Tyshawn Taylor each chipped in four.
But it's not surprising Mizzou looked so good in the turnover battle. The team has done it all season.
The Tigers have forced double digit turnovers in every game this season, including 20 or more in 15-out-of-20 games.
Mizzou coach Mike Anderson was pleased with the 23 turnovers, but the Tigers failed to do anything more than that.
"Our defense has a lot to do with why we've won the games that we have won so far this season," he said. "Yet, the finishing aspect of defense is rebounding, and we didn't do a good job of that."
If the Jayhawks can claim one solid reason for dominating despite being careless with the ball, Self said it was all about the rebounding.
"They had 18 more possessions than us and we probably stole that same number of possessions back in rebounding stats," he said.
The Jayhawks out-rebounded the Tigers 56-28, led by the front court of Aldrich, Marcus Morris and Markieff Morris, who combined for 36 rebounds.
Still, Self isn't counting on the careless possessions to magically correct themselves.
"I think it's something that's correctable," he said. "But something we certainly need to address."
Edited by Megan Heacock
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Team needs a turnaround for NCAA spot
BY MAX ROTHMAN
mrothman@kansan.com
twitter.com/maxrothman
Another WNIT appearance isn't exactly what senior guards Danielle McCray and Sade Morris had in mind for their last hurrah. Yet with Kansas losing five of its past six games this month, the once nationally ranked Jayhawks are quickly fading out of the tournament picture.
And. for a skidding team with high aspirations, the remainder of the Big 12 schedule allows no breathing room.
"Every night it's going to be a grind," senior guard LaChelda Jacobs said.
Kansas hosts Colorado tonight in a game that could forecast the team's fate for the rest of the season. The game could be looked back on as the turning point for
a season with just enough time to improve or it could just mark the next stage in a continuing decline.
sitting in the cellar of the Big 12 (11th place) with an 11-7 record overall, but just a 1-4 mark in the Big 12. No team in the conference has a worse overall record
At the moment, Kansas is
leagues. The SEC is really athletic and fast. The Big Ten is big and physical," Henrickson said. "We have what every league brags about. We have all of it."
"Defensively, if you make a mistake, teams are going to expose you."
than 11-7 and six teams in the conference currently sit in the Top 25.
Coach Bonnie Henrickson said there was a reason the Big 12 had claimed the number one RPI, a ranking for conferences, for the past five years.
LACHELDA JACOBS senior guard
"It's a combination of a lot of
So even with a team loaded with p l a y m a k e r s. Kansas' inconsistency has often resulted in negative plays. "Defensively, if you make a mistake
teams are going to expose you" Jacobs said.
Kansas is currently 9-1 in Allen Fieldhouse and 2-6 on the road. But perhaps the most significant number is that 1-4 record in the
SEE BIG 12 ON PAGE 8A
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
Senior guard Danielle McCray paced past an Oklahoma defender. McCray scored seven points, adding six rebounds and four assists.
COMMENTARY
Stuckey gains NFL scouts' attention
BY NICOLAS ROESLER
nroesler@kansan.com
twitter.com/nroesler8
The East vs. West Shrine game—an annual showcase for college seniors
But one player, senior safety Darrell Stuckey, stood out from the group with a dominant defensive performance.
case for college seniors with NFL aspirations — provided an opportunity for three former Jayhawks to impress scouts before the NFL Scouting Combine.
"They only put the best out there on the field." Stuckey said. "If you
Stuckey's team-leading seven tackles, five of which were solo
can still rise to the occasion and outperform some of them, the scouts notice."
Stuckey
tackles, certainly made the scouts notice. He looked fast, he hif hard and, most importantly, he knew the importance of every aspect of the game.
Two of Stuckey's tackles came on special teams. Stuckey said these stats were some of the most important because when players make it to the NFL, their first opportunities on the field are usually in special teams.
Scouts from Scoots Inc., an ESPN panel that reports to NFL teams, reported positively on almost every aspect of Stuckey's game. They complimented Stuckey on his hard work, on and off the field, and also said Stuckey had excellent top-end speed.
It's incredible to think that he was hurt for most of the 2009 season yet still remained, in many people's opinions, Kansas' best defender. Stuckey talked to representatives from 16 NFL teams and said the atmosphere was informal even though he sometimes had back-to-back interviews.
"Everything I went through let me know that my football IQ is even higher than I thought it was," said Stuckey.
Quarterback Todd Reesing and wide receiver Kerry Meier were the other two jayhawks who played in the game. Reesing completed 2-of-5 passes and threw one interception. Meier finished with zero catches, dropping the one pass thrown to him on a scramble play.
Scouts Inc. reported that Reesing lacked arm strength and accuracy throughout the week of practice. They looked at Meier with a little more optimism, commenting that he had good size and speed, but "lacked the burst needed to get separation in the NFL," according to ESPN.com.
That left Kansas' spotlight on Stuckey, who is now in Tampa, Fla., training for the combine. Scouts Inc. said Stuckey could be drafted on day one, ranking him seventh in its list of defensive backs.
Throughout his career at Kansas, Stuckey was an exemplary story of hard work and perseverance. His showing at the East vs. Wrist Shrine game only proved his NFL potential once more. He's at a level that I don't think any of Kansas' other NFL hopefuls can match.
Edited by Kirsten Hudson