Coach has gotta get wiggs open in that spot more often
@treed14
Wiggins hit a halfcourt 3 at the 1st half buzzer...You'll be seeing that on SportsCenter
@AdamZagoria
Breaking: Andrew Wiggins can jump.
@GoodmanESPN
Naadir Tharpe. Remember when he wasn't supposed to be good enough for KU to win big?
@franfraschilla
In the last 7 minutes, Tharpe and Wiggins have scored all 16 points for Kansas!
@KUGameday
Watching them jayhawks..
@humblekid11
Wiggins was 4-for-13 tonight, but he finished with 14 pts, 7 rbs, 5 asts, 3 stls, and 2 blks. That's on an off night.
@RobDauster
Loud chorus of Rock Chalk Jayhawk in Waco
@Schustee19
Keeping eatin my guy @SharpeTharpe ... I see you kid
@tyshawntaylor
Good win KU
@humblekid11
AP image
Link to above video
For nearly 20 minutes on Tuesday night, Wiggins was draped in a Harry Potter Invisibility Cloak.
“I wasn’t in the flow of the game,” Wiggins would say.
And then, out of nowhere, there was a bolt of lightning: In the final seconds before halftime, Wiggins picked off a lob pass and hit a running buzzer-beater from nearly 50 feet, the shot you’ve probably seen replayed over 50 times by Wednesday morning.
"It did feel good to me," Wiggins would say.
In the moment, it just meant the difference between a five-point halftime lead and eight-point lead. But if you believe in omens, it was pretty clear. Kansas would find a way to escape Baylor with a victory on Tuesday night. Wiggins was about to break out of an extended scoring slump. And by the end, the Jayhawks and Wiggins had done both.
…Wiggins said he hadn’t hit a half-court shot since his junior year of high school. (“End of the second quarter,” he said.) But at the end of KU practices, a few players always stick around and throw up half-court heaves.
“We do it sometimes just to joke around,” Wiggins said, smiling. “I’m usually with guys that don’t usually make them.”
KC Star
Though Wiggins hit just four of 13 shots, he still had a highly productive game with 14 points, seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocked shots. The 3-pointer he launched from halfcourt gave the Jayhawks a 35-27 halftime lead, and seemed to lift him to another level in the second half.
“It was big – it gave us a great momentum push going into halftime,” Kansas forward Perry Ellis said. “And it even got him going. He was attacking the rim, and we were looking for him. We threw those couple of lobs to him, and he was just being a lot more physical late in the game.”
With Naadir Tharpe scoring a game-high 22 points and Ellis contributing 14 points and 10 rebounds, the Jayhawks made sure Baylor didn’t build off Saturday’s 76-70 road win over then-No. 8 Oklahoma State.
The Bears are now 14-8 overall and 2-7 at the midpoint of the Big 12 race, and they know they need to reel off a string of wins to have a shot at the NCAA tournament. Following its fourth straight Big 12 home loss, Baylor faces another tough game against No. 21 Oklahoma on Saturday in Norman.
“I feel like this team still has something special,” Baylor forward Rico Gathers said. “When we get a win, we need to build on it instead of regressing. As long as we do that, we’re going to be in the running. I think we’ll finish up as a top six team (in the Big 12), and we’re looking forward to getting into the tournament.”
Waco Tribune
“We ran that play for him at the end of the first half to get him going,” Kansas coach Bill Self quipped. “He obviously wasn’t plugged in offensively in the first half. He’s had a tendency to do that at times. Second half, he obviously was more aggressive.”
Still, on a night his shots didn’t drop — he made 4 of 13 from the field and just 2 of 10 from inside the arc — Wiggins influenced the game in many other areas, a sign he is improving. The freshman from Toronto had five assists, three steals and two blocked shots and did not commit a turnover.
“I think I’ve grown up a lot,” Wiggins said. “A couple of weeks ago, when I played bad, I would get really down on myself. But I know scoring’s not everything. You can still do stuff to open things up for your teammates, get rebounds, you can still do other things to affect the game.”
Such lessons aren’t learned as easily in AAU games, which often more closely resemble the style of NBA All-Star contests.
“It’s different,” Wiggins said of college basketball. “I’m learning a lot now in college. For me, I’m getting better each week. It’s like a learning experience for me.”
…Wiggins scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half.
“He was attacking the rim and we were looking for him,” Ellis said. “We threw those couple of lobs to him and he was being a lot more physical.”
In a span of 93 seconds, Wiggins turned a five-point lead into a 12-point game by hitting a three-pointer, finishing a lob and ramming in a high-velocity jam on a pass from Naadir Tharpe in transition, an entertaining peak at the future that with 7:49 left ensured KU a comfortable lead the rest of the way.
LJW
For nearly 20 minutes on Tuesday night, Wiggins was draped in a Harry Potter Invisibility Cloak.
“I wasn’t in the flow of the game,” Wiggins would say.
And then, out of nowhere, there was a bolt of lightning: In the final seconds before halftime, Wiggins picked off a lob pass and hit a running buzzer-beater from nearly 50 feet, the shot you’ve probably seen replayed over 50 times by Wednesday morning.
"It did feel good to me," Wiggins would say.
In the moment, it just meant the difference between a five-point halftime lead and eight-point lead. But if you believe in omens, it was pretty clear. Kansas would find a way to escape Baylor with a victory on Tuesday night. Wiggins was about to break out of an extended scoring slump. And by the end, the Jayhawks and Wiggins had done both.
…Wiggins said he hadn’t hit a half-court shot since his junior year of high school. (“End of the second quarter,” he said.) But at the end of KU practices, a few players always stick around and throw up half-court heaves.
“We do it sometimes just to joke around,” Wiggins said, smiling. “I’m usually with guys that don’t usually make them.”
KC Star
Though Wiggins hit just four of 13 shots, he still had a highly productive game with 14 points, seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocked shots. The 3-pointer he launched from halfcourt gave the Jayhawks a 35-27 halftime lead, and seemed to lift him to another level in the second half.
“It was big – it gave us a great momentum push going into halftime,” Kansas forward Perry Ellis said. “And it even got him going. He was attacking the rim, and we were looking for him. We threw those couple of lobs to him, and he was just being a lot more physical late in the game.”
With Naadir Tharpe scoring a game-high 22 points and Ellis contributing 14 points and 10 rebounds, the Jayhawks made sure Baylor didn’t build off Saturday’s 76-70 road win over then-No. 8 Oklahoma State.
The Bears are now 14-8 overall and 2-7 at the midpoint of the Big 12 race, and they know they need to reel off a string of wins to have a shot at the NCAA tournament. Following its fourth straight Big 12 home loss, Baylor faces another tough game against No. 21 Oklahoma on Saturday in Norman.
“I feel like this team still has something special,” Baylor forward Rico Gathers said. “When we get a win, we need to build on it instead of regressing. As long as we do that, we’re going to be in the running. I think we’ll finish up as a top six team (in the Big 12), and we’re looking forward to getting into the tournament.”
Waco Tribune
“We ran that play for him at the end of the first half to get him going,” Kansas coach Bill Self quipped. “He obviously wasn’t plugged in offensively in the first half. He’s had a tendency to do that at times. Second half, he obviously was more aggressive.”
Still, on a night his shots didn’t drop — he made 4 of 13 from the field and just 2 of 10 from inside the arc — Wiggins influenced the game in many other areas, a sign he is improving. The freshman from Toronto had five assists, three steals and two blocked shots and did not commit a turnover.
“I think I’ve grown up a lot,” Wiggins said. “A couple of weeks ago, when I played bad, I would get really down on myself. But I know scoring’s not everything. You can still do stuff to open things up for your teammates, get rebounds, you can still do other things to affect the game.”
Such lessons aren’t learned as easily in AAU games, which often more closely resemble the style of NBA All-Star contests.
“It’s different,” Wiggins said of college basketball. “I’m learning a lot now in college. For me, I’m getting better each week. It’s like a learning experience for me.”
…Wiggins scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half.
“He was attacking the rim and we were looking for him,” Ellis said. “We threw those couple of lobs to him and he was being a lot more physical.”
In a span of 93 seconds, Wiggins turned a five-point lead into a 12-point game by hitting a three-pointer, finishing a lob and ramming in a high-velocity jam on a pass from Naadir Tharpe in transition, an entertaining peak at the future that with 7:49 left ensured KU a comfortable lead the rest of the way.
LJW
LJW image
LJW image
“You can’t beat anyone shooting 29 percent,” said Baylor coach Scott Drew, who found a ray of hope in the Bears’ 2-7 mark at the midpoint of the conference season. “Illinois went 2-7 and made the NCAA tournament last year. There aren’t a lot of teams we can’t beat on our schedule.
“The good thing is I believe we can win every game. But with the Big 12 being like it is, we can lose every game.”
Especially on nights when the Bears’ primary inside players, 7-foot-1 Isaiah Austin and 6-foot-9 Cory Jefferson, combine for only seven rebounds. Jefferson had only one in 32 minutes.
“We’ve just got to get more production on the boards from Isaiah and Corey,” said forward Rico Gathers, who came off the bench to grab a team-high eight rebounds. “When you have nights like that when your starting big only gets one rebound, that’s a problem.”
Also a problem: A scoreless final 26:34 by Baylor guard Brady Heslip (12 points), who was hot in the first half but missed his final eight shots after the Jayhawks tweaked their defensive approach. Heslip said Baylor players have “no doubt” they can turn things around and reach the NCAA Tournament.
“It’s hard. But what else can we control, really?” Heslip said. “We’ve got to stay positive. This team still believes.”
FW Star Telegram
Kansas coach Bill Self knows most people look at how Andrew Wiggins plays as a barometer for what to expect from the eighth-ranked Jayhawks.
Don't make the mistake of overlooking the other players around the Big 12's top-scoring freshman.
Naadir Tharpe scored 22 points, nine in a go-ahead run before halftime, and the Big 12-leading Jayhawks rebounded from their first league loss with a 69-52 victory at Baylor on Tuesday night.
''We've just got to be a team that it's going to be a different guy most every night,'' Self said. ''And [Tharpe] stepped up when we needed him to step up.''
Early on, there were three ties and nine lead changes. Tharpe's short jumper with 3½ minutes left in the half broke a 25-all tie and put the Jayhawks (17-5, 8-1 Big 12) ahead to stay.
The tiebreaking shot was Tharpe's third basket in a 14-3 spurt over the final five minutes of the first half, and he added a 3-pointer with a minute left. He then made another 3 on Kansas' opening possession after halftime.
cbs
Link to above video
Kansas 7-footer Joel Embiid told ESPN that he is far from a lock to leave college after this season, and is "strongly considering" returning for his sophomore campaign.
The Cameroon native said prior to Tuesday's win at Baylor that he didn't feel as though he was ready to make the jump to the NBA, but added after the game that it will depend largely on his development over the remainder of the season.
…"I'm not even thinking about it right now," Embiid said. "I'll make a decision after the season, but I'm definitely considering coming back to school."
"He's a bright young man and he's going to weigh his options," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "He's considering coming back and he's obviously also considering leaving. He can't make a bad decision."
ESPN Goodman
Joel Embiid on NBA decision: "Physically, mentally, if I feel like I'm ready, I'm gonna leave. But I'm not really thinking about that."
@rustindodd
KU coach Bill Self said the whole topic is ridiculous.
“The whole thing about the report ... what else could Joel say?” Self said. “If anybody thinks that (ESPN report) is breaking news, they don’t understand it because there is a chance he could come back. There is a chance Jabari (Parker) could come back. There is a chance (Aaron) Gordon could come back. There is a chance Wiggs (Andrew Wiggins) could come back. There is always a chance that somebody could come back. I will say this: Joel will not make his decision based on money. He’ll make it on, is he prepared?”
Asked about his sprained knee, Embiid said: “It feels good. The brace (he wears) helps it. I have to wear it. I wear it for protection.”
LJW
Good win tonight with my boys gotta play better next time though #kubball #KUCMB #WeAllFromAfrica
@jojo_embiid
LJW image
LJW Keegan Ratings: Tharpe on top
The long-term fate, the third-part fate, the March fate, is more likely down to the veterans. Down to guys such as sophomore forward Perry Ellis (14 points, 10 rebounds), who does so much good and gets so precious little ink. To the Jamari Traylors and Tarik Blacks of the world, who bring enough energy and power off the bench to light up a city block (10 combined points, 12 combined boards).
Most of all, though, it's probably down to Tharpe.
If Waco Tharpe -- 9-for-14 from the floor, four-of-six on treys, 22 points, four assists -- shows up in Bracketville, KU is going to be one rhymes-with-stitch of an out in March. Period. Full stop.
…If The Fighting Drews want to make an impression, as the saying goes, it's time to get off the proverbial pot. Well past time, now that you mention it.
For the Jayhawks, meanwhile, it's the same as it ever was, the eighth league win in nine Big 12 tilts and proof that Saturday's speed-bump loss at Texas was more of a blip than a trend. After getting manhandled physically by the Longhorns, the most egregious of sins in Self's eyes, KU wasted no time getting after it in Waco, outrebounding Baylor -- one of the few league rosters that can match up size-wise with the Jayhawks -- by a whopping margin of 14 and limiting the front-line trio of forwards Cory Jefferson and Rico Gathers and center Isaiah Austin to a combined 9-for-26 shooting night and 15 boards -- six below their aggregate per-game average.
"They say defense travels (well)," Self told reporters, "and it certainly did (Tuesday)."
Experience travels well, too. Tuesday was the 10th time this season Tharpe has made more than one 3-pointer in a tilt; the Jayhawks have won nine of those contests. As to where Tharpe fits best into the backcourt equation -- Point man? Off-guard? -- long-term, is a fair question, given freshman Frank Mason's quicks and potential. But for Self, right now, it's the best kind of problem to have.
FoxSports Keeler
Baylor basketball coach Scott Drew had a big smile on his face as he passed Kansas University’s Bill Self in a hallway after the Jayhawks’ 69-52 victory over the Bears on Tuesday night in Ferrell Center.
“Hey, Bill, thanks for getting on Tharpe today,” Drew cracked. “He said you got on him good today.”
“He played well,” Self responded before wishing Drew and his Bears good luck the rest of the season.
KU junior point guard Naadir Tharpe, who had a nice chat with Drew in the post-game handshake line, exploded for 22 points off 9-of-13 shooting (4-of-6 from three) with four assists against two turnovers, plus five rebounds, just a few hours after receiving an earful from his head coach at shoot-around.
“Yes, coach was getting onto me at practice,” Tharpe said, confirming Drew’s revelation. “I knew I was going to have to come out today and have a good game.”
…His straight-on shot upped a 45-42 lead to 48-42 with 12:31 left. That opened an 11-2 run that stretched the three-point lead to 12 (56-44) at 7:51.
“We ran bad offense the whole possession,” Self said, adding, “that may have been the biggest basket of the game. They had momentum. I thought that was a big shot. It was crap offense and we scored on that shot.”
Tharpe said he was just trying to make a play.
“The play died down, didn’t work out,” Tharpe said. “Usually if that’s happening we get a high ball screen or run flat. I decided to run flat and make a play and I did.”
He said he was determined to have a better game after being benched late in the Texas contest.
“I knew that last game we played in Texas ... that wasn’t Kansas basketball at all,” Tharpe said. “Me being point guard and leading the team ... I was down on myself. I didn’t do anything to help the team. I knew we had a quick turnaround coming in Waco and I had to play better.
“We have to be aggressive. Against Texas, even though Texas played a tremendous game, we kind of beat ourselves. After they made a play, we had nothing to come back with. Today in Waco, we had to come out with some fire,” Tharpe noted.
LJW
There were multiple times when the 5-foot-11 guard made plays when the Jayhawks were stagnant against the Bears' matchup zone.
Once, after a KU steal, Tharpe rattled in a deep 3 early in the shot clock. It was the kind of shot Self would have ripped his guard for if it hadn’t gone in, but instead, the KU coach turned to his assistants with a wide smirk and shrugged almost as if to say, “I guess that works.”
Later, with the crowd roaring during a BU run, Tharpe took BU’s Brady Heslip off the dribble, then knocked down a stepback 3 to push KU’s lead to 48-42 with 12:28 left.
His final field goal ended up being one of his most impressive, as drove the left baseline and tossed up a one-handed floater with a couple extra feet of elevation that teardropped its way through the net for a 56-44 KU lead.
"Certain times we couldn't find anything," Tharpe said. "We couldn't get a basket or something like that, so I just tried to get a shot up."
Tharpe, who made 4 of 6 3-pointers, was just one point off his career high of 23 set earlier this year at Iowa State.
“I thought he probably played even better than his stat line,” Self said. “I thought he was really good. He needed that, and we needed him to be good tonight, especially when you’re playing against a zone.”
TCJ
Remember when the Kansas junior guard was a bad player? Like just the other day at Texas, when he scored three points in 26 minutes.
Actually, Tharpe’s performance in Austin was an anomaly. The exception rather than the rule this season.
Tharpe has become one of the Jayhawks’ most valuable players through hard work, dedication and – last but certainly not least – experience.
He’s been there now. He played very little as a freshman, quite a bit more as a sophomore during a wildly inconsistent and at times maddening season and now, in his third year at Kansas, he has become a guy.
Yes, Tharpe is a guy. A strong contributor to a very good team that is in the driver’s seat to win another Big 12 championship. His 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting against Baylor on Tuesday night led KU to a 69-52 win over a Bears team that will make you scratch your head until your scalp bleeds.
My advice: Don’t spend much time thinking about Baylor. I heard television analyst Jimmy Dykes say numerous times during Tuesday’s game that the Bears have Top 25 talent. Well, that Top 25 talent shot 29.1 percent against Kansas and was out-rebounded by 15.
Anyway, back to Tharpe. He has shot 61 percent from the field and 53.5 percent from the three-point line in KU’s past 11 games, during which he has averaged 12.1 points.
It wasn’t long ago that the biggest question mark surrounding the Jayhawks was whether Tharpe has what it takes. And if you’re still hesitant about Tharpe because of the fluctuation he shows offensively at times, you have to be impressed with the overall player he has become.
Tharpe added five rebounds and four assists against Baylor. He’s also a plus defender and a guy who likes being a leader. It shows. He made it through the most difficult periods of his career at KU and has come out the other side with supreme confidence.
And is there anything commodity more valuable to an athlete than confidence? It’s what everyone strives for.
Wichita Eagle Lutz
LJW image
Baylor’s Brady Heslip hit four threes in eight tries the first half, then missed his only two attempts the final half of BU’s 69-52 loss to Kansas University on Tuesday in Ferrell Center.
The senior sharpshooter, who had hit six threes in nine tries and scored 19 points in the Bears’ 78-68 loss to KU in Lawrence, was slowed a bit the final 20 minutes by KU’s Frank Mason and Wayne Selden.
“They’re just a really sound defensive team,” Heslip said. “They know their identity and have some big guys down there who can really block shots. They’re physical and play great defense. Credit to them for playing great defense, but we didn’t hit enough shots tonight to win, either.”
BU hit 16 of 55 shots for 29.1 percent.
“They were just hedging on screens and a couple times we didn’t execute right,” Heslip said. “I didn’t get as many looks in the second half as I did in the first half and I missed those easy floaters I usually make.”
LJW
KU's defense really needed a game like this.
After allowing at least 1.03 points per possession for five straight games — something that had never happened during coach Bill Self's 380 games at KU — the Jayhawks responded with their best statistical game of the season.
Baylor mustered just 0.785 PPP against KU, which was the lowest total for the Bears this year and also the best mark for KU's defense.
The Jayhawks thrived in two areas: first-shot defense and defensive rebounding. Baylor's 34.5 percent effective field-goal percentage was its second-worst shooting night in its last seven seasons (a 26.8 eFG% against KU last year was the worst in that span), while the Bears' 22.2 percent offensive rebounding percentage also was their lowest total of the year.
The strong defensive performance against a good team brought KU's defensive numbers off life support. The Jayhawks jumped from 39th in KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency measure all the way to 24th, and in turn, KU's KenPom rank leapt from 11th to sixth.
That alone illustrates what we've been talking about recently with KU's defense. While the Jayhawks have scary potentially offensively, they still have the most room for growth on the defensive end.
TCJ Newell Post
AP image
VOTE for Kansas fans at the NCAA 6th Fan Contest
“Pay Heed. The game you love began here. Respect those who came before you. Make their legacy your own. Because destiny favors the dedicated. And rings don’t replace work. In this game you don’t get what you want. You get what you earn. We are Kansas. Together we rise. Rock Chalk Jayhawk!
Big 12 / College News
Tickets for the 2014 Big 12 basketball championship go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m., Friday, online only, at SprintCenter.com. A special pre-sale is scheduled for Sprint Center’s “Connection Newsletter” subscribers at 10 a.m., Thursday. Each ticket includes all sessions for the four-day tourney, slated for March 12-15, in KC’s Sprint Center.
Submit your entry for the #Big12MBB Caption Contest presented by @motel6!
@Big12Conference
Enter via Facebook
Jonathan Holmes figures No. 15 Texas needed a lesson in what life will be like as a Big 12 contender.
The Longhorns got it against last-place TCU, and won anyway.
Holmes had 20 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, and the Longhorns followed a big win over Kansas by erasing a halftime deficit and hanging on to beat the Horned Frogs 59-54 on Tuesday night, extending their winning streak to seven games.
"We've got to understand that we put ourselves in position to win a Big 12 championship but we also need to understand that teams are going to be looking to beat us every night," Holmes said after beating the only team without a league win. "We've turned into a team's big win."
AP
Calipari: "This is the most over-analyzed team in the history of sports...not just locally but nationally"
@KySportsRadio
I, for one, have not analyzed Kentucky once this season.
@kenpomeroy
Florida won 68-58 against Missouri in a game that was pretty entertaining. Walker had four points, two boards and two blocks off the bench. The victory makes for 16 consecutive 20-win seasons, fourth-longest such streak in the in NCAA right now, per the telecast. At 20-2 overall and 9-0 in the SEC, Florida's in the catbird seat for a No. 1 seed.
Missouri is now 16-6 and 4-5 in the SEC.
CBS
Oh A+ trolling from someone in the stands. Started singing "Rock Chalk" near a group of Mizzou fans.
@RagjUF
A Missouri men's basketball fan who over four seasons regularly traveled with the team to NCAA tournament games has pleaded guilty to a federal drug conspiracy involving cocaine and marijuana distribution in Columbia.
Online court records show Levi McLean Franklin Coolley pleaded guilty Jan. 17 to two felony counts of attempting to sell more than 88 pounds of cocaine and an unspecified amount of marijuana between 2005 and 2011, as well as one count of money laundering.
Coolley, who owns a car stereo shop in Columbia, was arrested by FBI agents in March 2012 while at the Missouri team hotel in Omaha, Neb., hours before the Tigers' second-round loss to Norfolk State in the NCAA tournament.
A review by Missouri found no improper influence by Coolley. He was on team flights as a guest of Columbia real estate developer and prominent Missouri donor Jay Linder and received complimentary tickets from players at nine games in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons. The connection was first reported by the Columbia Daily Tribune, which obtained flight manifests from the university under state open records laws.
AP
Marshall says he still coaches with a fear of failure because he has "no safety net." His father's not a coach. He didn't play in the NBA. And he does not have roots in one of the nation's blue-blood programs. If he lost his job, he says, he can't immediately find refuge on the staff of a Hall of Fame coach.
"I don't have a guy," Marshall says. "Before I became a coach here, I was advised by some people to stop being the head coach at Winthrop and go be an assistant for (Tom) Izzo, Krzyzewski or Roy Williams. Then I'd have the successful head coaching tenure however long you have it because now you have the lineage."
Over the years, Marshall's honesty, competitiveness and demeanor have been interpreted by some as prickly and arrogant. There may be some truth in that, Marshall says. He doesn't care.
"Whatever," he says. "You know what? That may be the case. Nothing has ever been given to me. I've had to fight and scratch and claw for every single thing. Does everybody in the world of basketball think I'm the greatest thing? No. But does everybody think (John) Calipari is the greatest thing in the world? Does everybody think (Rick) Pitino is the greatest thing in the world? Does everybody think Krzyzewski is the greatest thing in the world?"
…When Marshall appeared on "The Dan Patrick Show" before last season's Final Four, the first question Patrick asked was about the suggestion that Marshall's personality made some BCS schools hesitant to hire him. That bothered Marshall at the time, he says, because he didn't think it was appropriate to go on the record about all the jobs he has been offered or about the interest he received during the NCAA tournament.
Marshall's wife says critics "don't want this guy, Gregg Marshall, to be successful. So they are going to say, 'Yeah, he's kind of an ass. He's kind of arrogant.' It reminds me of middle school."
Lynn says criticism of Marshall has been so sophomoric in the past that fans even lampooned him for using too much hair gel, a slight that occasionally prompted Lynn to turn around and respond, "His hair is like really straight, okay. He has to put product in it!"
And with his team vying for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and a return trip to the Final Four, Marshall remains as competitive as ever.
"I sleep well at night," Marshall says. "I do my job and I try to win. Yet do I try to beat the (expletive) out of the other coach? Hell, yeah. And yet, am I responsible for a lot of coaches in the Big South and maybe the Missouri Valley getting fired? Yeah. Do you think you'd like that person?"
USA Today
Big XII composite schedule (includes results, highlights, stats)
ESPN College GameDay Schedule
2013-14 TV Schedule
Recruiting
Myles Turner enjoyed his weekend official visit to Oklahoma State and is still considering Kansas, Duke and Kentucky, among others, his high school coach told SNY.tv Wednesday.
“Obviously, I think we were all impressed with how nice they were and how we were treated,” Euless (TX) Trinity coach Mark Villines told SNY.tv. Wednesday morning by phone.
“And obviously, the Oklahoma State facilities are top-notch. As far as him specifically, they just basically said they need a player like him. They had never had a recruit of that high caliber come to Oklahoma State and that their program could really benefit from having a kid like him.”
“It was very well presented by Oklahoma State, they did a good job.”
…Kansas remains an option, but if Joel Embiid stays for his sophomore season, as he has indicated he may, then Turner wouldn’t go there.
“That’s exactly what Coach [Bill] Self said and I appreciate that because that was very honest,” Villines said. “He said if Embiid stays, then there’s probably no need in Myles coming to Kansas. I mean, he said he could still come to KU but it probably wouldn’t be as good a fit as some of these other schools if [Embiid] stayed. He said if he doesn’t stay then we obviously think that KU would be a great place for Myles to come.”
As for Duke, they remain in the mix even though they already have a big man in Jahlil Okafor.
“They are,” Villines said. “Myles is going to go play with them in the McDonald’s Game and the in the Hoop Summit, so he’ll kind of get a feel of how he plays with Tyus [Jones] and Jahlil and so absolutely they are.”
Zags Blog
Huntington high school basketball fans have been used to seeing the No. 1 boys player in the nation on one of their teams with Andrew Wiggins at Huntington Prep the past two years before moving to the University of Kansas.
But, the nation's No. 1 player has never faced off against Huntington Prep. Until Wednesday.
Thon Maker, the No. 1 player in the Class of 2016, and the Carlisle (Va.) Chiefs visit Huntington Prep for a 7 p.m. Wednesday game in Big Sandy Superstore Arena.
…Huntington Prep (21-4) is ranked No. 7 nationally and one of its losses was at Carlisle, 70-67.
Maker will be joined on the court by Huntington Prep players JaQuan Lyle, Thomas Bryant and Montaque Gill-Caesar -- all prospects getting attention from colleges.
Fulford said Providence head coach Ed Cooley and assistant coaches from Kentucky, Kansas and Cincinnati are expected to attend.
Herald Dispatch
Cliff Alexander and Jahlil Okafor will only meet in the Public League tournament if No. 1 Curie and No. 3 Young advance to the final.
With five of the Tribune's top eight teams and six of the top 12 in the Public League, both have a lot of work between Wednesday's first round and the Feb. 21 championship game.
As the champions of the four Red divisions, Curie, Young, No. 6 Bogan and Uplift received the four No. 1 seeds in the quadrant-style bracket.
The Kansas-bound Alexander and the Duke-bound Okafor, the top two big men in the country, both have difficult paths to the title game.
…A Young-Curie final would be the third career meeting between Alexander and Okafor. The teams split the games, and there was no clear winner in the individual battles.
Young ended Curie's season with a 62-58 victory in last year's sectional semifinals. They could meet again in sectional play next month.
Chicago Tribune
Vaughn, who is originally from Minnesota, has visited Iowa State and UNLV. Rivals.com’s No. 7-rated player nationally has canceled a visit to North Carolina that was set for Feb. 15.
“I have already been there on a visit and my family and the UNC staff have a close relationship,” he told Zagsblog.com.
KU is considered a long shot at best to land Vaughn.
“Good bet it will be either Iowa State or UNLV,” said Jon Rothstein of College Basketball Insider CBS Sports Network.
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