Sports THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2010
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Looking past early losses Women's team needs to look ahead for success.BASKETBALL|6B
KANSAS 84, NEBRASKA 72
PAGE 1B
Marcus shines in Big 12 opener
BY COREY THIBODEAUX
cthibodeaux@kansan.com
twitter.com/c_thibodeaux
LINCOLN, Neb. — Marcus Morris hasn't seen the bench since the second game of the season. He hasn't seen a performance like this all season.
It wasn't so much the 19 points and seven rebounds that helped Kansas to an 84-72 victory against Nebraska Wednesday. It was his toughness.
"I feel as though if I was aggressive earlier in the season, I would get a lot of points and a lot of offensive rebounds," Morris said.
All this coming after being benched for freshman forward Thomas Robinson. Morris, along with brother Markieff, have been scrutinized with a lack of toughness.
Morris was all over the place, drawing offensive fouls, getting and-one plays down the stretch and fighting for every rebound.
Even though Robinson's impact was minimal, Kansas coach Bill Self said after the game the lineup may not change immediately, but the twins took a step in the right direct against.
"I may start Thomas again. I don't know," Self said. "I haven't been happy with the twins' energy or effort since Christmas. But tonight and since the Tennessee game, their effort's been fabulous."
COMMENTARY
"I just try to be the energy guy," he said. "I know my role on this team and my role on the team is to get extra possessions and get guys shots and try to be effective on the offensive end, too."
Nebraska jumped out to a 12-1 run to start the game, but the Jayhawks stormed back thanks in large part to senior guard Sherron Collins hitting three 3-pointers.
Marcus Morris said he will try to exert this kind of effort on a daily basis in practice and in the games. With Cole Aldrich continuing his streak of sub-par play with six points and nine rebounds in 21 minutes, Morris was there to pick up the slack.
Self said Collins stabilized a game that could have gotten out of hand.
"I thought we were really ready to play," Self said. "They steal the opening tip and it was just downhill from there."
"Sherron put us on his back. I mean, Sherron got us back to the point where there was a basketball game then we played a lot better after that."
Weston White/KANSAN
SEE RECAP ON PAGE 4B
Sophomore forward Marcus Morris hits a shot in the center of the lane during the first half against Nebraska. Morris scored 19 points off seven-of-eight shooting from the field with seven rebounds in Kansas' 84-72 victory.
Team suffers identity crisis
BY ALEX BEECHER abeecher@kansan.com
Bill Self wouldn't say it. Neither would most Kansas fans. But maybe, just
maybe, Tyshawn Taylor was on to something. Maybe when Taylor expressed the sentiment that his role on the team was unclear, he vocalized a difficult-to-accept truth that extends beyond just him — That Kansas is a team without an identity
It sounds ridiculous, of course. Kansas is loaded, maybe the deepest and most talented team in the country. It can win in a miriad of ways.
Want to run? That's fine. Kansas can go deeper in to its bench than anyone and suffer nary a drop-off in talent.
Slowing the pace and grinding it out might work better. But then again, it might not. Kansas has size to spare, shot blockers across the front line and stingy perimeter defenders.
Kansas can play fast, and Kansas can play slow. Kansas can score from deep, and in close. Whether the game is contested in the 60s or the 90s, the Jayhawks have the manpower to compete.
But how does Kansas want to play? When the jayhawks take the floor, what are they looking to do? Kansas is talented enough to be reactive.
That's all true, and it's all good. No matter how the opponent wants to play, Kansas can win.
We saw a brilliant display of that ability last night, as Kansas responded to Nebraska's 3-point barrage with one of its own, tightened up defensively and pulled away in front of a hostile crowd. But in order to be dominant, to be the kind of team Kansas ought to be, that's not good enough. The ability to react to whatever the opposition throws at you is vital, but to be assertive is better still. And right now, it's unclear what exactly Kansas wants to assert
BERTY RAINS WANTS to assist.
To hear Self say it, the Jawhaws
SEE COLUMN ON PAGE 5B
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Goodrich tears ACL, ending season again
Senior guard LaChelda Jacobs likely to replace her
BY MAX ROTHMAN
mrothman@kansan.com
After three consecutive losses, the Kansas women's basketball team still hadn't heard the worst news of the season.
Freshman guard Angel Goodrich and the team recieved devastating but familiar news following Tuesday's loss to Oklahoma State.
Goodrich will miss the rest of this season because of an injury which damaged her ACL and
the meniscus in her right knee at Tuesday's game.
"It takes away somebody who is really coming into her own in terms of being a leader," ESPN.com women's basketball analyst Michelle Voepel said.
Goodrich injured her knee in the first half but returned to the game five minutes later and helped Kansas to come back by scoring five points in the first five minutes of the second half.
"She came back into the game and found some shots, some layups off good drives and kicked the ball ahead," senior guard Danielle McCray said.
But Goodrich left the game again with 2:30 remaining. She didn't return after being helped to the locker room.
Senior guard LaShelda Jacobs replaced Goodrich, but Kansas couldn't complete the comeback. After trailing by 10 at halftime, the Jayhawks lost the game 70-68 on a layup by freshman forward Toni Young with 3.5 seconds left. It was Kansas' first home loss of the season.
"That's what we always said to all of those kids that are on the bench," coach Bonnie Henrickson said. "You just never ever know. You never know. Be prepared."
Goodrich, who is from Tahlequah, Okla., was a central to Kansas' offense, averaging 6.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and a team-leading 7.1 assists per game. She ran Kansas' transition-based offense while continuing the development of sophomore
It took Goodrich only 13 games to become the fastest woman Jayhawk to reach 100 career assists. She had a season high of 20 points in a victory against Creighton on Dec. 13 and twice tallied 11 assists in a loss to Xavier Nov. 26 and then in a victory against Houston Dec. 22.
forward Aishah Sutherland (also in her first year as a starter) and junior center Krysten Boogaard.
"I believe the post players are really going to have to be more diligent and fundamental," Voepel said when considering the loss of the team's leading distributor.
She ranked second in the Big 12 and fourth in the NCAA in assists
SEE GOODRICH ON PAGE 6B
Freshman guard Angel Goodrich is helped off the court by a trainer and a teammate during the Jayhawks game against Oklahoma State on Tuesday at Allen Fieldhouse. Goodrich tore her ACL in her right knee and will miss the remainder of the season. She suffered a similar injury prior to the start of last season and was forced to miss the entire 2008-09 season.
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN