KANSAN
7,2009
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY. DECEMBER 7. 2009
KANSAS 73,UCLA61
5B
ETBALL REWIND
Weston White/KANSAN
mistakes
ent players have led Kansas rough seven games this season
Calif. - It cer [4]
IM DWYER
@kansan.com
nured the ball and they reforeseason All Cole Aldrich regularity may.
led once again depth could s as it forced rs and found the unlikely
"We just feel like anywhere we go we can get points from."
Although Self thought that Collins and Aldrich would be the ringleaders at this point in the season, Morris said he wasn't surprised by the depth the team has shown this year.
had some individuals make some plays."
colling Cole the we had to get morris when I get it to so that's what
"In practice we see it all the time, you know," Morris said. "We can get points from any of the five positions on the court. I think it'll continue to happen. I think Xavier and 'Ron played real well today. If Xavier had more shots he could have been leading scorer. Tsywhawn
MARKIEFF MORRIS
Sophomore forward
venth Jayhawk
kames to finish
Jayhawks' top
a large part
season No. 1
g seven differen
has surprised
Bill Self, who
bring to come
ansher Sherron
that Sherron
obviously be scout-
light now, but
out that way,
've been poor
we were not
tonight, we've
It's that kind of depth that will make the Jayhawks a title threat come March — that and the ability to win ugly games, which, when faced
played real well today — we just feel like anywhere we go we can get points from."
with a higher level of competition this season, the Jayhawks have done in spades.
"We've had a lot of things happen for us that were probably beneficial to us," Self said. "The way we played and the way UCLA played, it wasn't that far off from this being a really tight game down the stretch."
The game was ugly to the end,
except for a couple of big shots
from Xavier Henry, but Collins
was happy to come away with a
victory.
"It was a sloppy win," Collins said. "We didn't take care of the ball too good. It was just a sloppy win, but I think overall we did good."
Follow Tim Dwyer at twitter.
com/T_Dwyer.
Edited by Nick Gerik
Weston White/KANSAN
Weston White/KANSAN
Senior guard Sherron Collins and sophomore forward Marcus Morris leap into one another after the Jayhawks 73-61 victory against UCLA. Kansas moved to 7 for the afternoon victory Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles, Calif.
Sophomore center Markieke Morris and senior guard Sherron Collins double team UCLA forward Reeves Nees. Kansas forced 15 turnovers Sunday afternoon against the Bruins in a 73-61 victory.
Game to remember
Markieff Morris
Is there any question on this one? Morris said he didn't feel like it was a breakout performance but, frankly, he was wrong. He provided a much-needed offensive boost in the paint for the Jayhawks. While twin brother Marcus and Cole Aldrich were cleaning up the glass (the two combined for 21 boards) Markieff was stealing the spotlight with a career-high 19 points.
Morris
Game to forget
Cole Aldrich
Aldrich
Aldrich had a fine game from a rebounding standpoint, bringing down double-digit boards for the second consecutive game, but the Jayhawks are eventually going to need him to dominate a game or two offensively, and he's only shown signs of that one time this year. Aldrich looked uninspired on his way to a 1-for-6 day from the field and seven points.
Quote of the game
36.1 percent
The Bruins shot a paltry 36 percent from
the field, and still shot better than any Kansas opponent not named Hofstra this year. The Jayhawks have yet to allow a team to shoot 40 percent from the field, a staple of Bill Self's defensive mindset. It doesn't hurt that Aldrich has blocked at least three shots in every game this year — he had three Sunday against UCLA. The Jayhawks, on the other hand, shot 44 percent. It was their worst performance from the field this year.
Quote of the game
"A couple days ago in practice, coach had a fallout, said I wasn't playing hard. He said I was too relaxed. Since we're number one and since we've been beating teams, he said once we started playing somebody good I couldn't afford to be relaxed. I just took that and I just ran with it. I felt like I had a chip on my shoulder coming into the game."
Aldrich
Markieff Morris
Prime plays
1ST HALF (score after play)
(score after play)
2. 07- What seemed like an uncontested dunk by Nelson Reeves turned into a Cole Aldrich block after Aldrich somehow caught Reeves from behind and slapped it against the backboard. (23-33)
18:52- Once again, Xavier Henry started the Jayhawk's scoring with a three. (3-0)
13:09-Sherron Collins took the ball andjuked a defender like he was going inside. He drew the defender off of Markieff Morris and Collins no-look passed to him for a dunk.(11-6)
15:57- The game was slowly turning to the Bruins' favor with careless ball handling and fouls. But after UCLA brought the game within four points, a Marcus Morris dunk and a Xavier Henry three helped get the Jayhawks steal the momentum. (43-34)
2ND HALF
11:30: UCLA was within seven points after a three. On the other end, Elijah Johnson had a good look at a three that didn't go, but Markieff Morris was there to clean it up and drew the foul for a 3-point play. (53-43)
3:37- Xavier Henry it a wide open three to put Kansas up 15, their largest lead of the game. (54-69)
Key stats
Kansas is 7-0 for the third time in the Bill Self era (2004-05, 2007-08).
- This is the third game which Kansas shot more than 70 percent from the free throw line (70.6 percent).
Junior center Cole Aldrich has blocked at least three blocks in every game this season.
The Bruins shot 36.1 percent which makes it 81 consecutive games the Jayhawks have held their opponent under 50 percent shooting. No one has shot more than 40 percent on the Jayhawks this season.
Markieff Morris'had his best overall game with a career-high 19 points on a career-high eight field goals and career high 11 shots.
Tim Dwyer and Corey Thibodeaux
RECAP (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
it as the seconds ticked down. They went into the locker room up 35-28.
UCLA looked strong in the first part of the second half. They brought the game to 38-34 with 17:24 left in the second half and seemed to have some momentum. But the layhawks ran away with the game in the last 10 minutes, holding UCLA to 10 points in that span while making crowd-stiffing shots.
This was the type of per
formance, Collins said, that made him comfortable giving his other teammates the ball to ease the pressure off himself.
"Now I don't have to worry about scoring too much," Collins said. "My job is to make sure we get the win."
Follow Corey Thibodeaux
at twitter.com/c_thibodeaux.
- Edited by Amanda Thompson