KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2010 / SPORTS
7B
HENRY (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
himself," Collins said. "And I tell him there's a game where that's going to happen. I don't do everything I want to do.
"I tell him 'shoot the ball," Collins said. "Stop thinking and go play."
Collins said that, because of Henry's freshman status, he might not recognize the extent of his influence on the team.
"I can't let anybody else see me mouting," Collins said. "But it's the same way with him because he doesn't know it, but he's kind of a leader as well."
Edited by Katie Blankenau
BIG 12 BASKETBALL Cornhuskers hold highest ever rank
LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska women's basketball coach Connie Yori said she was not worried about the Cornhuskers' highest ranking ever going to her players' heads.
Yori told reporters Tuesday that her players are grounded and not taking anything for granted after getting off to a 16-0 start. The Huskers rose to No. 7 in the Associated Press poll this week.
Associated Press
Kansas prepares for tough game against Baylor
MEN'S BASKETBALL
BY COREY THIBODEAUX
cthibodeaux@kansan.com
twitter/c/_cthibodeau
Before the season, many wouldn't have expected No. 25 Baylor (14-2, 2-1) to be ranked, but today it meets with No. 3 Kansas.
The Bears up-tempo style mixed with their long-armed defenders has senior guard Sherron Collins pumped for today's game.
"I always enjoy playing, especially fast games," he said. "I like to push the ball and get in those up-court, up-paced games."
Collins won't be having all the fun. Junior center Cole Aldrich is anticipating his own match up against one of the premier centers in the league.
Baylor's junior center Ekpe Udah leads the Big 12 with 4.4 blocked shots per game, as well as 11.4 rebounds. He also averages 14.1 points per game, making him an all-around threat. This is the kind of challenge Aldrich loves.
"They've got the best shot blocker in the Big 12 so far with Udoh," Aldrich said. "It's going to be a fun game. It's going to be a real tough one though."
On top of that, Baylor has Lace-Darius Dunn and Tweety Carter, both who average more points
than Collins, the layhawks' leading scorer. Also, Carter leads the league in assists with seven per game.
Coach Bill Self anticipated Baylor being talented, but not to this extreme.
"I knew theyd be good," Self said, "but I think they probably surpassed a lot of people's expectations except maybe their own on how well they've played."
The Jayhawks should know better than anybody how good the Bears can be after losing 71-64 in the Big 12 tournament last season. During that game, Baylor found the perfect style that has made them so successful.
"They're playing a 2-3 zone," Self said. "They kind of caught lightning in a bottle so-to-speak, playing it late in the season last year and they really hurt us with it in the Big 12 tournament."
But that game was on neutral ground. Kansas is 7-0 against Baylor in Allen Fieldhouse. The last time the two teams played there two seasons ago, it was an epic 100-90 victory for the Jayhawks.
Still, Self was upset with the amount of points his team gave up at home that game. Collins said he wants today's game to be quick-paced, but not at the expense of defense.
KANSAS VS. BAYLOR
Day: Wednesday
Date: Jan. 20, 2010
Location: Lawrence, Kan.
Time: 8:00 p.m. CT
TV: ESPN2
"Coach Self is a defensively minded coach," he said. "We know we've got offense, but we've got to guard on the other end. Like he said, nobody can beat you if they can't score on you."
Junior guard Brady Morningstar, the Jayhawks' best perimeter defender, said he doesn't want the Bears to have one of those games.
Baylor averages just under eight three-pointers a game and Kansas is having trouble guarding the perimeter this season. In games against teams such as Cornell, Nebraska and Tennessee even bad shots went in for Kansas' opponents.
"We've got to learn to play defense this game and hope they don't make shots and hope we do make shots," he said. "Just go out there and have fun."
Edited by Katie Blankenau
Junior guard Tyrel Teel hits a jump shot over Texas Tech game Mike Davis. Reed finished with five points in the Jayhawks 89-63 victory against the Red Raiders.
Weston White/KANSAN
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Shockers defeat Panthers, snap 15-game win streak
Wichita State uses stifling defense to upend No.20 UNI
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WICHITA — JT Durley had 19 points, Graham Hatch added 14 and Wichita State knocked off No. 20 Northern Iowa 60-51 Tuesday night to end the nation's second-longest winning streak at 15 games.
Wichita State (17-3, 6-2 Missouri Valley Conference) had a tough shooting night, hitting just 3 of 18 from 3-point range, making up for it with scrappiness and stingy perimeter defense. The Shockers are off to their best start since opening 18-3 in 2004-05 and haven't lost in 12 games at Charles Koch Arena, including two wins over ranked teams.
Northern Iowa's Wkazdo Ahelege attempts to score over Wichita State's JT Durley during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game on Tuesday in Wichita.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Northern Iowa (16-2, 7-1) made several runs after a miserable first half at both ends, but came up short after being ranked this week for the second time in school history.
Jordan Eglseder had 14 points to lead Northern Iowa, which shot 2 for 13 from 3-point range.
Northern Iowa trailed by 12 after a miserable first half at both ends, but didn't need long to get it all back.
After all but ignoring Eglseader in the first half, the Panthers worked the ball into the big seniors on three of their first four possessions of the second to hit five straight shots to score the first eight points.
The Shockers didn't score until Gabe Blair dropped in a midrange jumper at 15:15, then used a steal and a fastbreak layup by David Kyles to get themselves and the crowd back into it. Wichita State held Northern Iowa scoreless over its next six possessions to push the lead to seven, then went on another mini run to go up 48-39 on Hatch's fastbreak layup with just
In three minutes, the lead was down to two.
The Shockers didn't hesitate in taking the ball to the rim and used nifty passing between post players to set up layups and dunks when the Panthers collapsed. Wichita
under 4 minutes left.
Northern Iowa tried to mount another run, but Wichita State made 13 of 17 free throws to seal it after falling to get to the line in the first half.
Wichita State was just as aggressive on defense, smothering Northern Iowa's post players and cutting off drives while still getting out to the perimeter shooters.
State's inside success opened up the perimeter and the Shockers hit from there, too, opening the game 10 for 17 from the floor — despite a couple of early jittery airballs — to go up 22-9.
The Shockers went right at the Missouri Valley's best defense early, working the ball into the post despite the presence of Eglseder, a mammoth 7-footer.
Northern Iowa shot 8 of 25, missed all seven of its 3-point attempts and had a season-low 17 points at halftime.
MLB
Ludwick skips arbitration signs one-year contract
ST. LOUIS — Outfielder Ryan Ludwick and the St. Louis Cardinals have avoided arbitration for the second straight season, agreeing Tuesday to a $5.45 million, one-year contract. The
31-year-old Ludwick hit .265 with 22 homers and 97 RBIs last season for the NL Central champions. He agreed to a $3.7 million one-year deal last February after becoming an All-Star for the first time in 2008. Ludwick is likely to bat fifth again. He said at the team's Winter Warmup that he was looking forward to
following Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday in the lineup.
"Albert and then Matt, onbase percentage-wise, those guys are on base a lot," Ludwick said. "So whoever is hitting in the five and six slot is going to be pretty excited."
Associated Press
MLB
Royals players finalize contracts
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KANSAS CITY. Mo. — Third baseman Alex Gordon and right-hander Robinson Tejeda bypassed arbitration, agreeing Tuesday to one-year contracts with the Kansas City Royals.
Gordon gets $1.15 million after making $457,000 last season.
He was the second pick in the 2005 amateur draft and was once thought of as the cornerstone of the team's future. But his career has been slow to develop and he missed 79 games last year after undergoing hip surgery. He wound up batting, 232 with six home runs and 22 RBIs in 49 games.
Tejeda got a raise from $437,000
to $950,000. He can earn another $50,000 in performance bonuses; $25,000 each for reaching 23 and starts.
Pitching out of the bullpen most of the year, Tejeda was 4-2 with a 3.54 ERA in 35 games last season.
He will get an opportunity in spring training to work his way into the rotation.
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