Sports THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Team has positive outlook
Despite losing seniors, it signed recruits for next fall. VOLLEYBALL | 3B
WWW.KANSAN.COM
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2009
Swimmers face first test Team prepares for UVA Invitational SWIMMING AND DIVING | 2B
ALCORN STATE 31, KANSAS 98
PAGE 1B
Defense sets tone in victory
Jayhawks overwhelm Braves in blowout
BY COREY THIBODEAUX
cthibodeaux@kansan.com
cthibodeaux@kansan.com
Freshman forward Thomas Robinson finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds Wednesday, logging his first career double-double in the 98-31 domination of Alcorn State.
With a 36-0 run in the first half, one point shy of the NCAA record, the Jayhawks could have easily let up and played soft, Robinson said. But Kansas coach Bill Self kept his players aggressive.
COMMENTARY
"He kept preaching to us we
need to respect our opponents no matter what the score is," Robinson said.
Robinson would not quit his hustling, grabbing seven offensive boards. The aggressive play wasn't limited to Robinson.
"We were telling them don't expect to get your first win here."
CONNOR TEAHAN Junior guard
Cole Aldrich finished with a double-double of his own, putting in 13 points on 5-6 shooting and 16 rebounds to go along with three blocks.
Marcus Morris, Markieff Morris and Conner Teahan each chipped in seven rebounds and the Jayhawks outrebounded Alcorn State 61 to 31.
When Alcorn State players had the ball, they scrambled just to keep the ball in their hands, often traveling or losing control of the ball. If they somehow got to the basket, an army of Jayhawks were there to contest.
Sherron Collins and Xavier Henry tied for the team lead in scoring. Each finished with 18
points and five three-pointers. Collins took 16 shots, and though he only made six of those, it is the most he's attempted all year.
Freshman guard Elijah Johnson, who has been quiet as of late, finished with a career high nine assists. He said passing the ball is what he's made to do.
"That's what I enjoy about the game," Johnson said. "I don't enjoy scoring or anything else about the game more than I enjoy finding players and setting people up to have success."
At times, the Braves looked
hopeless and Self even admitted he hoped to see a few points go their way.
The practices coming into this game were intense, Teahan
"I was wanting them to make some shots and make some free throws, absolutely," he said.
said, and the team wanted to prove to its coach they could rebound. Even though the now 0-10 Alcorn State was yearning for a victory, Allen Fieldhouse was not the place to do it.
"We were telling them don't expect to get your first win here," Teahan said.
The Jayhawks turn right around and face a tough challenge on the road against UCLA Sunday. Self said he didn't want his team to get to soft after these recent blowouts, and they probably didn't learn much about their team against Alcorn State.
"I don't know how you get a lot out of that tonight," Self said.
SEE RECAP ON PAGE 5B
Jerry Wang/KANSAN
Freshman forward Thomas Robinson throws down a dunk undefended against Alcorn State. Robinson posted his second double-double of the year with 15 points and 10 assists. "I'm happy I got my first double-double but we have a lot of season left," Robinson said.
Falling short on free throws
It's difficult to criticize much in a game in which Xavier Henry jumps over a guy and Thomas Robinson manhandles the opposition's front line so viciously the FCC is already writing a strongly worded letter. Short of the ball actually catching fire, you could be forgiven for mistaking the so-called game for a live performance of NBA JAM as interpreted by the Kansas Jayhawks.
It's on such occasions that sports writers justify their existence. After all, it takes a special kind of cynic to pick apart the most thorough of demolitions and magnify infinitesimal gripes. Molehills can't turn in to mountains on their own, you know.
And so I'm left to play devil's advocate — or rather, Jayhawks' critic — and bring up the uncomfortable matter of free throws
Glaring amidst the shimmering statistical totals stands Kansas' line in that department: 17-33. If we're being generous and rounding up, that's good for 52 percent. Which isn't good.
Granted, Alcorn State is hardly an opponent to inspire focus.
SEE COLUMN ON PAGE 4B
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Jayhawks, Bruins look to rebound after early losses to ranked teams
Senior guard Sade Morris dribbles past a michigan defender during the first half. Morris led the team with 26 points and scored her career point as a Jahawk on Sunday in Kansas '77-66 victory.
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
BY MAX ROTHMAN mrothman@kansan.com
National powerhouses can only live on the losing end for so long.
No. 24 Kansas will aim to snap its two-game losing streak and move to 4-2 on the season when it hosts UCLA at 7 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse.
The matchup provides onlookers with a showdown of two teams coming off a loss and in search of redemption. Kansas dropped both games against No. 9 Xavier and TCU at the Junkanoo Jam tournament on Grand Bahama Island last week and UCLA fell to No.6 Tennessee Saturday.
"We just didn't make plays at the end of the stretch," senior guard Sade Morris said.
With Campbell's sluggish start, senior guard Erica Tukiainen and freshman forward Markel Walker have stepped up. Tukiainen has been dead-on from downtown, nailing 20 of 32 three-pointers this year. Walker leads her team with 13.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game.
The Bruins bring back their top four scorers from last year, including junior guard Doreena Campbell. Campbell led her team in scoring last year with 12.9 points per game, but this year she has only shot 31 percent from the field for just 6.8 points per game. That number ranks at the bottom of UCLA's starters. Expect Campbell to show up tonight with a chip on her shoulder looking to change that statistic.
Losses don't sit well with teams such as these.
When these two teams met in 2008, UCLA edged Kansas 67-64 at Pauley Pavilion. Heading into that game, the Bruins led the NCAA in rebounding. This season they bring a similar ferocity on the boards, which could pose a serious threat for Henrickson's squad.
"They're very quick and athletic and they go to the boards hard," Morris said.
"It's a team that's very experienced," Henrickson said. "They've got great team speed, size and athleticism."
This season, Kansas is 3-0 when it wins the rebattle battle.
However, when the jayhawks are out-rebounded their record is 0-2.
Much of the rebounding responsibilities are held by junior center Krysten Boogaard and sophomore forward Aishah Sutherland, who leads the nation shooting 72.5 percent from the field.
"We've got to come out with great intensity," Morris said.
Kansas must also repair the miniscule errors that were magnified in its two losses in the Bahamas.
"You just can't take three or four minute stretches off," Henrickson said.
1
Playing a complete 40 minutes is
McCray said that she believed in her team's defense. It's just a matter of executing when it counts.
a necessary trait that separates the winners from the losers.
"Every championship team does that," senior guard Danielle McCray said.
"It's easy things that we can fix," McCray said. "It's not like we're a bad defensive team. I just think our focus is not there."
The lack of defensive focus must be corrected sooner rather than later, as Kansas prepares for its Big 12 regular season against upperchelon non-conference foes such
KEY TO THE GAME:
Rebounding
In every game Kansas has won this season, it has out-rebounded its opponent. For every game the Jayhawks have lost, though, their opponent has dominated the boards. Junior center Krysten Boogaard is at the center of these struggles as she ineffectively fought for rebounds in losses against both Xavier and TCU. She only managed to snare eight between both games. Compare that with the 27 boards she grabbed through the Jayhawks' first three victories and there is cause for concern.
KEEP AN EYE ON:
Aishah Sutherland
Sophomore forward Aishah Sutherland has been a solid
Sutherland
presence in almost every game for the Jayhawks this season. Through three victories and two losses, she leads
not just the team,but also the
as UCLA.
"There's no team in America that's going to be successful giving up 75 a night," Henrickson said.
entire NCAA in field goal percentage with a 72.5 shooting percentage. Sutherland has also turned in two double-doubles this season against Michigan and Iowa.
OPPONENT TO WATCH:
Markel Walker
UCLA freshman forward Markel Walker is the primary reason for her team's 4-2 start, with one of those losses coming against perennial powerhouse Tennessee. Walker has averaged a double-double this season, putting up 13.3
points per game and pulling down 10.3 rebounds per game. If the Jayhawks hope to end their two-game
Walker
skid tonight against the Bruins, they will need to shut down this star. That could be a problem for Kansas, though, as it allowed forwards to score a total of 60 points in its two losses at the Junkanoo Jam.
Andrew Taylor
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*twitter.com/maxrothman.
Edited by Sarah Kellv