KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / THURSDAY. JANUARY 21. 2010 / SPORTS
BAYLOR 75
5B
TBALLREWIND
Weston White/KANSAN
Collins takes over game with team's confidence
/KANSAN
BY TIM DWYER
tdwver@kansan.com
Sherron Collins is a great college basketball player. At this point, that's not an opinion. It's a fact.
Ask Bill Self, who readily admits Collins is one of the best players he's ever coached.
Ask his teammates, even preseason All-American Cole Aldrich, who's quick to say that Collins is "the leader of this team."
Ask the little girl, no more than 8 years old, standing in the tunnel her hero just left the court through, wearing an ear-to-ear smile, an oversized Jayhawks hat, and holding a "Sherron A Rivers" sticker.
Sherron Collins is a great basketball player for all the reason he showed Wednesday night, as he strapped the Jayhawks to his bulldog shoulders, scoring 28 points and carrying them to an 81-75 victory over the No. 25 Bavlor Bears.
"It is amazing what he can do" Marcus Morris, who finished with 22 points of his own, said. When we're down, he can carry us, and that is what a true leader does. I'm not surprised when he steps up on nights like tonight."
To say that Collins is the only reason the Jayhawks won is to discount another brilliant performance by Morris, but it's not far from the truth. After the Bears went on a 10-0 run that tied the game at 65 with just over 3:30 left in the game, Collins pulled the team aside after a timeout.
"We look to him to make big shots, but he loves it. He enjoys being in that position."
"We're all right," he told his teammates. "I got this."
Morris knew it was true
"He is very poised in the huddle," Morris said. "Every time we go into the huddle, he will tell us that he has our backs. We know what that means — he's about to turn it on and take over."
COLE ALDRICH junior center
Then he took over the game. With 2:39 left, Collins scooped in a lay-up to put the Jayhawks up two. One minute later, a long Collins three put the Jayhawks up five. The clock goes inside a minute, and Collins somehow pulls down a rebound over Baylor's towering front court and gets fouled. He hit the free throws, icing the win.
"That is the thing that comes with his territory," Aldrich said. "When you're the leader of the team, you have to do that. Sherron is the point
guard, the leader,
the general of our
team. We look to
him to make big
shots, but he loves
it. He enjoys being
in that position."
Sometimes the Jayhawks need their deep bench. The bench scored 27 points while playing a major
role in an 89-63 whooping against Texas Tech on Saturday,
Sometimes, though, deep benches are overrated. The Jayhawks had just four bench points Wednesday, but it didn't stop them from knocking off the first team to shoot more than 50 percent from the field against Kansas in 91 games.
"That wasn't even on my radar tonight," Self said. "If we take Sherron out of the starting lineup, we've got 28 bench points."
That's not likely to happen, though. Sherron Collins is a great college basketball player.
Edited by Michael Holtz
Sophomore forward Marcus Morris saves the ball from going out of bounds during the first half against Baylor. Morris shot 8-of-11 for 22 points during Kansas' 81-75 victory Wednesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
Weston White/KANSAN
COLUMN (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
Those moments call for the kind of steely-eyed "Bruce Bowen in his prime and at his filthiest couldn't lock me down" determination Collins showed last night. It was as if, script in hand, Collins launched his own retaliatory barrage at the most opportune moments
teammates don't knock down those open threes. Sometimes the big men don't finish in the lane. And sometimes, the other team does connect from downtown.
But that's only what will show in the box score. And of course, 83 percent of all statistics are false anyway. To truly gauge Collins' impact on a game, you have to be in Allen Fieldhouse to witness it. You have to see how he glares at his opposition, mouthpiece dangling to the side. You have to see him during stoppages, pounding his chest, his intensity palpable. Most of all, you have to see how the crowd and his team-mates react.
Collins connected on five of his nine three point attempts and totaled 28 points.
Mathematics tells us that the difference between Kansas and Baylor was six points Wednesday night. But that's another misleading statistic.
The real difference was number four.
Edited by Katie Blankenau
Game to remember
Senior guard Sherron Collins
Collins played his best game of the season in dismantling the Bears down the stretch. His final line of 28 points and four assists doesn't say nearly as much as his second half stats. Collins went 6-of-7 from the field, 4-of-5 from long range and 5-of-6 from the free throw line for 21 points after the intermission. Basically not missing is, apparently, a heck of a way to keep a team from climbing back in a game.
Collins
Game to remember - Part 2
Marcus Morris
Morris
Bill Self called Morris' performance "unbelievable," going on to say that it was "probably the best game he has played since he's been at KU." The reason for that lies in his second half numbers, similar to Collins'. Morris went 4-of-5 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line, putting in 14 points while pulling down five rebounds. The highlight was two key offensive boards in the last two minutes as the Jayhawks held off the furiously rallying Bears.
Stat of the night
52. 1%
The Bears shot 25-of-48 from the field, good for 52.1 percent. It broke a 91-game long streak of Jayhawks
opponents held under 50. Self wasn't worried because "they didn't get good open looks tonight;" but it was a streak that the Jayhawks were proud of.
Quote of the night
"We're all right. I got this."
Sherron Collins, after Baylor went on a 10-10 run to tie the game at 65.
Collins
Prime plays
1ST HALF (SCORE AFTER PLAY)
6:01- There seems to be a trend of the Jayhawks hitting a three right after the Bears take the lead. This time, it was Sherron Collins. (22-20)
8:35- The Bears had just taken the lead on a three and Xavier Henry returns the favor on the other end to take the lead right back. (19-16)
18:01-Sherron Collins' penetration gave a wide open dunk to Cole Aldrich and Marcus Morris on consecutive possessions. For Aldrich, he looked shocked to have such an easy basket. (6-4)
:01 Just before the half and the Jayhawks trailing. Sherron Collins took the ball to the bucket in the waning seconds. He missed, but Markieff Morris was there to clean it up and tie the game at halftime. (30-30)
2ND HALF
6:32 Marcus Morris missed a free throw, and Cole Aldrich fought for the rebound, giving Sherron Collins a wide-open three. He hit it to put the Jayhawks up 10. (63-53)
1:49 Marcus Morris grabbed two offensive rebounds on the same possession to set up a couple free throws he knocked down. (71-67)
sluggish. But Sherron Collins brought them back from behind yet again with a three-pointer. (35-34)
0:54 Sherron Collins scored four quick points for the Jayhawks, hitting his fifth three of the game and then getting one out of two free throws, essentially putting the game out of reach. (75-69)
8:53-Baylor looked like they were about to make a little run, but Markieff Morris put it to a halt by drawing an offensive foul. You could say he took one for the team with how hard he hit the floor. (54-49)
10-of-12,35
Sherron Collins and Marcus Morris took over the second half, combining for 35 points on 10-of-12 shooting.
Key stats
11-of-12
34,29
Free throw shooting down the stretch is important. Just ask Derrick Rose. The Jayhawks shot 11-of-12 from the line in the last five minutes of the game to ice the victory.
The Jayhawks were out-rebounded by Baylor by a 34-29 margin, but Bill Self was happy
with the team's effort regardless. Baylor is the top rebounding team in the Big 12 and has yet to be outrebounded this season.
15-2
Historically, Kansas owns the Bears. The Jayhawks moved to 15-2 against Baylor with the win.
27
Baylor's LaceDarius Dunn poured in 27 points Wednesday. It was the most a single player has scored against the Jayhawks this season.
- Tim Dwyer and Corey Thibodeaux