CUAD image
12/7/13, 2:31 PM
You kidding me ? this hotel got every espn channel except espn2
@tyshawntaylor
12/7/13, 2:34 PM
At this KU game , we about to get the W http://instagram.com/p/hoj6CtAfrL/
@ChrisHarrisJr
12/7/13, 2:46 PM
Joel Embiid. Post moves, scores with both hands, nice touch, blocks shots. And has only played for three years. Unreal.
@jeffborzello
12/7/13, 2:48 PM
Since the summer @tyshawntaylor has been telling me how good Joel Embiid is/can be. Looks like he's showing everyone that today.
@TimBontemps
12/7/13, 2:48 PM
Joel Embid of KU will be the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA-draft whenever he decides to leave school. No-brainer.
@rexchapman
12/7/13, 2:53 PM
I think its time we put Kansas freshman 7-footer Joel Embiid in the discussion for the No. 1 overall pick
@GoodmanESPN
12/7/13, 4:20 PM
So Wiggins wasn't fouled and Dinwiddie was? Got it -- road game
@GottliebShow
12/7/13, 8:20 PM
My Jayhawks took a tough loss tonight and these folks here in Missouri sure let me know about it today lol!
@CoachBradford21
LJW Photos
UDK Photos
CUAD Photos
Small consolation on this day, but the last two times Kansas has lost to the Buffs — 1991 and 2003 — the Jayhawks have gone on to the Final Four.
They’ll be in the mix again this year, for sure.
On this magical day in Boulder, the Colorado contingent felt like champs, too.
“For our fans and our players, it’s huge, absolutely,” Boyle said. “But I want our fans to understand, it’s not about Kansas. It’s about Colorado. That’s where we need to get this program.”
AP
This has been a trying year for Colorado's Askia Booker.
His shots haven't been falling on game days like they have in practice. Fans have been calling for him to be benched.
CU head coach Tad Boyle believes in Booker, though, and on Saturday afternoon Booker proved why.
The junior guard drained a running 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift the Buffaloes to a stunning 75-72 win over No. 6 Kansas at Coors Events Center.
"You can see the reason I have him on the floor at times," Boyle said. "I see him in practice every day. There's some frustration on everybody's part -- coaches, teammates, Ski -- that he hasn't shot the ball as well as he's capable of. The capability is there.
"It was really good for us and for our program to have him make the shot."
…"I look at the stat sheet and I wonder how we won," Boyle said. "Our guys' resiliency and guts really won out. I'm just glad we had the ball at the end, because they were scoring pretty quick and pretty easy down the stretch."
Daily Camera
Two weeks ago, the Villanova men's basketball team received just 16 points in the Associated Press poll.
That put the Wildcats 13 spots out of the Top 25 -- and one spot behind the Colorado Buffaloes.
Then, they beat then-No. 2 Kansas and vaulted all the way to No. 14 -- with 785 points.
"That's crazy, but it shows you how much people respect when you beat Kansas," CU's Spencer Dinwiddie said.
On Monday, the Buffs (9-1) are going to find out just how much respect they've earned from beating the Jayhawks.
CU's 75-72 win against No. 6 KU on Saturday may not get the Buffs into the top 15, but it should land them in the top 25 for the first time this season.
"If I had to guess, I'd probably say in the 20-22 range," Dinwiddie said.
It also helps the Buffs that the one team to beat them, No. 20 Baylor, just knocked off No. 3 Kentucky.
Regardless of where the Buffs land when the poll comes out on Monday, Saturday's victory was huge for CU's national profile. It's a game that will be remembered in March.
"It means we're stepping up," sophomore Xavier Johnson said. "We're becoming a more known program, a more elite program."
Daily Camera
No way for Colorado to beat towering, talented Kansas without 6-9 forward Wes Gordon?
Way.
No way (except maybe at gunpoint) that CU coach Tad Boyle strays from man-to-man defense and utilizes a 2-3 zone?
Way.
No way Coors Events Center matinee idol Ben Mills contributes meaningful first-half minutes against a team like the Jayhawks?
Way.
No way CU shoots nearly as frigid as the Boulder weather – 41.1 percent from the field and 59.5 percent from the foul line – and survives?
Way.
And no way the up, down, often kicked-around Askia Booker delivers the biggest shot of his life?
Way – and way, way past that.
It was CU 75, No. 6 KU 72 at the sold-out, geeked-out CEC on Saturday afternoon. The Buffs (9-1) won their ninth consecutive game for the first time since the 2005-06 season and slapped down a top 10 team for the first time since last Valentine’s Day when they blew away (without a kiss) No. 9 Arizona 71-58.
But that win won’t hold a holiday candle to this one. Christmas morning in the Rocky Mountains might not be able to match this – at least not for Boyle, his Buffs basketball program and an adoring CU fan base.
Booker hit three-pointers to close out each half, but it was his 30-footer at the final buzzer that he, his teammates and the crowd of 11,113 will remember for . . . maybe forever.
It had been a decade – or since the 2002-03 season – and 19 games, most of them in another conference, since CU defeated KU, and it was Boyle’s first win as a head coach in five tries against his alma mater. The Jayhawks still lead the series 123-40, but as for that 40th Buffs win . . .
“I’m not quite sure what to say after that one . . . it’s hard to put in historical perspective,” Boyle said about half an hour after CU students had cleared the CEC court and the building had stopped shuddering. “It was a hump game for our basketball program, considering what they did to us last year at Allen Field House and the amount of talent they have on their team.”
“Last year” was a 90-54 beat down in Lawrence, and if Booker and the Buffs said it didn’t motivate them, there will switches and ashes in their stockings in about three weeks.
Colorado Athletics game recap
“Every other time we played here, it was a home game for us for the most part,” Self, KU’s 11th-year basketball coach, said after KU’s 19-game winning streak against the Buffs came to a crashing halt, courtesy of a 30-foot three-pointer by Askia Booker at the buzzer — the difference-maker in a 75-72 setback to the Buffs (9-1) .
“That certainly wasn’t the case tonight.”
Not at all.
A sellout Coors Events Center crowd of 11,113 consisted of 90 percent — or more — fans of CU. In the past, when CU was a member of the Big 12 and Big Eight, the Jayhawks had up to 50 percent of the fans in the building.
This was the first time Self saw the CU’s fans storm the court after the shocking shot that gave KU (6-2) two losses in its last three games. Self had entered the day 18-0 versus CU.
“I’m concerned because we are not playing very well,” Self said. “I’m not concerned because I know it’s a marathon, not a sprint. We’ll go through this. The way the schedule is set up, it could happen again. We are playing good teams and playing them away from home. It certainly could happen again.”
KU, in fact, heads to Florida on Tuesday to play the Gators (6-2).
“We didn’t think we’d be a great team by Christmas,” Self said. “That’s being totally unrealistic. The preseason ratings ... they shouldn’t have had us there (at No. 5). We could play to that at the end. We couldn’t play to that now. There’s too much stuff to go over and learn and grow. I hate to lose, but if we can learn through losses, it’s not the worst thing. Once you get to January and February, you can’t lose if you want to win league. It’s all preparation for the second part of the season.”
…“I thought he (Booker) traveled,” Self said, when asked specifically if the 6-foot-2 junior guard walked with the ball. “I don’t know ... it may have been that ‘Euro big two-step’ deal. It doesn’t make any difference. We let him get ahead of us. You’ve got to make him catch in front of you. We got on the side. You can’t do that. It’s a little frustrating.
“Our philosophy is, make him catch it in front of you, switch all ball screens or handoffs, guard him, make him make a hard shot. In that particular situation, we (Mason) got on the side, he was able to clear himself where he had at least an open look. It wasn’t awful (defense). It was more a credit of him making a good play than it was bad defense. Still, I wish we could do it over again.”
…“We actually played well down the stretch. We didn’t get stops,” Self said. “We kept fouling (the Buffs hit 22 of 37 free throws to KU’s 13-of-20). I still think after the first 10 minutes, they controlled the game.”
KU led by as many as nine the first half (18-9 and 21-12) and trailed by as many as nine (53-44) the second half.
“We didn’t panic down the stretch, when it’s hard to communicate,” Self said. “We did some good things. We drove it. The thing that bothers me is, we gave them free points, and you can’t do that when you are trying to come back. We did a bad job getting back and keeping the guy in front of us.
“We’re not playing well at all. The pieces aren’t quite fitting yet. We’re trying to find ourselves. We’re not a real good shooting team. We’re not a real good passing team. We’re not a real physical team.
Those are things we have to improve on big-time. I knew we’d labor. We could make up for that with energy and stealing extra possessions. We have become a team that is losing out on that battle too often. That was the case today, especially the first half.”
LJW
Wiggins made the first and third and missed the second, but he wasn’t the goat as Perry Ellis wound up tying the score at 72 off a driving layup with four seconds left.
“I was confident I’d make them all. Unfortunately I missed one,” Wiggins said of the free throws.
He finished with 22 points and five rebounds. The freshman guard was crushed when Askia Booker swished a three at the final buzzer to give the Buffs (9-1) the win over KU (6-2).
“We worked hard to get back in (the game),” Wiggins said of KU erasing a nine-point second half deficit. “We wanted to win. Unfortunately the last couple seconds didn’t go our way. It was a tough loss. We fought back hard. We thought we had it.”
Wiggins hit five of seven shots the second half and scored 17 points.
“Being aggressive and driving to the basket ... that’s what I’m best at,” he said.
LJW
LJW image
1. Andrew Wiggins: First-half foul trouble limited him to eight first-half minutes, but he made up for lost time by scoring 17 of his game-high 22 points in the second half. Played as aggressively as he has in a Kansas uniform using his quick first step, long strides and long reach on drives to the hoop. Helped KU back from a nine-point second half deficit.
2. Joel Embiid: Had a dominant first-half stretch and finished the half with all of his 10 points and wowed the crowd with left-handed hooks and fancy footwork. Didn’t do much in the second half, when he committed four of his five fouls and baited into some of them. First half showed what tremendous potential he has and the final half showed how far he has to go to reach that potential.
LJW Keegan Ratings
Justin Harden wishes he could get his hands on dozens of tickets for the Kansas University-Florida Big 12/SEC Challenge basketball showdown at 6 p.m. Tuesday in O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Fla.
As it stands, Harden — KU freshman Joel Embiid’s former coach at The Rock School in Gainesville — has just a couple tickets to distribute for the clash between the Gators (6-2) and Jayhawks (6-2).
“This is a hot ticket in town, to say the least,” said Harden, instrumental in the development of KU’s Embiid as a skilled basketball player. Embiid, who took up basketball in Cameroon at the age of 15, attended The Rock last season after attending Montverde (Fla.) Academy his junior year.
“I’m not even able to take my players to the game. Normally for home games, I’m pretty much able to get tickets. This game I think I can get a couple tickets for myself and our coaching staff. They say it’ll be packed (capacity 11,548). We’ll see. It’s not going to be Allen Fieldhouse. There should be a good crowd nonetheless.”
Many on hand will be rooting for Embiid, KU’s 7-footer who averaged 13.0 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks for The Rock, which went 33-4 and won the school’s first Sunshine Independent Athletic Association title last year. Embiid had 14 rebounds and 10 points in the state title game.
“I think everybody is excited to see Joel play close by,” Harden said of Embiid, who has averaged 9.3 points and 6.6 rebounds this season, emerging as a possible — or is it probable? — top-five pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.
“It’s a shock to say the least to know we have an alumnus from our small little school in Gainesville that could be a No. 1 pick or a lottery pick. In all reality, we haven’t had an NBA player come from our school. We have a pretty decent basketball program that is continuing to build. Scottie (Wilbekin, 6-2 Florida senior) is an alumni. He is the first one who was big-time. Scottie has a chance to make an NBA roster probably next year.
“It’s neat to know Joel is getting so much attention. I think rightfully so. He is really talented. God created him special and unique, that’s for sure,” Harden added.
LJW
In plain and simple terms, Kansas coach Bill Self is not what you would consider a "zone defense" kind of guy. For Self, the idea of going zone is something close to conceding failure.
If you can't stop a team in a man-to-man defense, why even bother showing up?
So that's the context. Now hear this: For the moment, if Self was tasked with coaching against his own team, there's no question what defense he would use.
"Everybody's gonna play us zone right now until we start making some shots," Self said on Saturday night, in the moments after Kansas' 75-72 loss at Colorado.
So yes, as No. 6 Kansas prepares to face No. 15 Florida on Tuesday night in Gainesville, Fla., Self is very much expecting his young team to see another night of zone defense. And why not? For the last two weeks, as KU has dropped two of its last three games, the Jayhawks have seen a healthy diet of zone. And they've shown very little ability to break it down in the post or bust it from the outside.
After eight games, the Jayhawks are shooting just 29.8 percent from three-point range, a number that checks in at 286th in the country. The sample size is still small, of course, but Kansas is thus far pacing to be the worst outside shooting team of Self's tenure.
The Jayhawks shot 33.7 percent from three-point range in 2003-04, Self's first year at Kansas, and they've been better than that every year since. Aside from 2012, when KU shot 34.5 percent from three, Self's teams have been in the 36-to-40 percent range.
"We're struggling right now," KU freshman Andrew Wiggins said late last week. "We're not where we want to be at. But I'd say in the next couple games, in the next couple months, we'll pull it together."
Still, the numbers have trended downward during Kansas' last four games; the Jayhawks have made just 15 of 65 from behind the arc during the span, including a five-of-20 performance against Colorado.
…On the whole, Kansas has still been one of the more efficient teams in the country, ranking 15th in adjusted efficiency, according to college basketball stats guru Ken Pomeroy. The number is largely based on the Jayhawks' ability to dominate in the interior. KU is fourth in the country on two-point attempts, shooting 58.4 percent.
KC Star
It doesn't get much more tough-luck than the line Tarik Black finished with, as the senior had three fouls in three minutes played. He's now up to 10.3 fouls per 40 minutes played at KU, and you'd have to think his spot in the starting lineup is in serious jeopardy. Interestingly, he's not the worst in the nation when it comes to fouling; I searched for all players with 89 minutes or fewer this year, and Black's 20 fouls actually puts him in a tie for 12th.
…Self keeps reiterating the big picture with this team, and that's the right mind-set to take, especially when it's likely that KU will drop to 6-3 after Tuesday's game at Florida. Self has bigger philosophical concerns to figure out, the most pressing of which is where exactly it should go defensively. I'd be shocked if this team doesn't play better man defense before the year is out, but Self also has to realize that the new hand-check rules have changed the game. KU can't necessarily play the way it once did, and though the winter break provides some time for teaching, the clock is ticking on KU's one-and-done players as far as their learning curves go. Self has speed and length and depth, so forcing this young team into his tough, man-t0-man style may or may not be what's best for KU in the long run.
If the Jayhawks keep fouling at this rate, though, it's likely Self will have to become more creative with this team defensively than any other one he's had in the past.
TCJ
Damontre Harris pushed the envelope one time too many. According to several sources, Harris’ Florida basketball career has been terminated before it actually began. Gator Country has been told that Harris, a South Carolina transfer who sat out last season after two years in Columbia, and Billy Donovan came to a parting of the ways over the weekend.
Harris, a 6-10, 228-pound redshirt junior center from Fayetteville, North Carolina, transferred to Florida after two seasons at South Carolina. After sitting out last season, Harris was expected to be a major contributor on a strong top to bottom Florida roster, but he ran into offseason difficulties.
Suspended along with Dorian Finney-Harris for unnamed offseason violations, Harris never completed the requirements to end the suspension. Finney-Smith was back in action for Florida’s third regular season game with Arkansas-Little Rock while Harris remained on suspension.
…With Harris, the Gators would have had a 6-10 rejecter to back up senior Patric Young. Without Harris, the Gators are in desperate need for the NCAA to hurry up with Clearinghouse approval for McDonald’s All-American Chris Walker, a 6-10, 220-pounder who will have to be in the rotation at both center and power forward as soon as he is eligible.
Walker is expected to get clearance to begin practicing with the Gators when final exams end next week, but he could serve a 2-3 game suspension for an unofficial visit to Kansas that was paid for by Matt Ramker, former director of the Florida Rams, who has gotten a show cause and a five-year ban from the NCAA. Walker played AAU ball for Ramker.
Until Walker is eligible, the Gators’ front court rotation will be Young (6-9), Will Yeguete (6-8), Finney-Smith (6-8) and Casey Prather (6-6).
gatorcountry
Florida point guard Scottie Wilbekin was cleared to practice and will play Tuesday when the Gators host No. 6 Kansas at the O'Connell Center.
Florida announced on its school website that the 6-foot-2 Wilbekin returned to practice over the weekend after suffering a sprained ankle in last Monday's 65-64 loss at Connecticut.
Meanwhile, McDonald's All-American freshman point guard Kasey Hill remains questionable for the Kansas game. Hill, who suffered a high ankle sprain Nov. 18 against Southern, began individual drills last Wednesday but has yet to work out with the team.
Hill and Wilbekin have yet to play a game together this season because Wilbekin sat out UF's first six games of the season due to a disciplinary suspension. In the three games since his return, Wilbekin is averaging 11.3 points, 5.7 assists and 3.1 steals
Gainesville Sun
Vote for Caroline Jarmoc Senior CLASS Award
Big games aren’t out of the ordinary for Markieff Morris anymore, and he had another one Friday night.
Morris made his first 11 shots en route to a 25-point performance, and the Phoenix Suns handed the Toronto Raptors their fifth straight loss, 106-97.
“I’ve just got a great feel for the game right now,” he said. “I’m not trying to shoot as many threes as I have in the past. I’ve just been working on driving to the basket and trying to get to the line.”
Morris, who also grabbed 11 rebounds, finished 11 of 14 from the field, tying his career high in field goals made. His scoring total was three shy of his career best.
“That’s what he does,” teammate P.J. Tucker said. “You get his motor like that every game, I think he can do that every single game, night in and night out.”
AP
All that’s left now is point-guard Kyle Lowry and it will be all systems go: the Raptors are now as fully engaged as any number of NBA teams in positioning themselves for a chance at Toronto’s own Andrew Wiggins or any of the other top players in a deep, deep draft.
In dealing Gay to the Sacramento Kings along with end of the bench/guard of the water types Aaron Gray and Quincy Acy – getting back four players of whom only one, fourth-year guard Greivis Vasquez, is of any long-term interest going forward – Ujiri is continuing the necessary process of getting rid of the detritus left by his predecessor, Bryan Colangelo.
His mark was a former co-worker with the Denver Nuggets, Pete d’Allesandro, who is now G.M. of the Kings. The trade, which was made before the Raptors 106-94 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, will not be finalized until Monday.
The Raptors had been playing a kind of phony war with their fan-base. Instead of being brazen about throwing away the season, Ujiri made it sound as if he was going to wait until he had a first-hand look at the team before deciding it was worth taking a shot at the playoffs in the weak Eastern Conference or turning over the team. He made it sound, in other words, like the former was an honest-to-goodness option, Tim Leiweke, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, Ltd., told the Globe and Mail in an interview in late October that: “The direction we go is a decision the players will make for us, So, let’s see where we are after two months.” Subsequent to that, Ujiri suggested that six weeks was time-frame more in keeping with his plan – but the message was the same.
Globe and Mail
VOTE HERE for Pierce, Chalmers, Markieff Morris 2014 NBB All-Stars
The Lawrence Police Department is investigating a case of a missing University student.
Gianfranco Villagomez, a 23-year-old industrial design student from Lima, Peru, was reported missing after he did not return home from a party early Saturday morning.
Villagomez was last seen walking on the intersection of Ninth and Michigan streets around 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning.
Lawrence Police said Villagomez is 5-foot-9 and weighs approximately 150 pounds. He has dark brown eyes, black hair and was last seen wearing a beige jacket and jeans.
According to Villagomez’s friend, Taylor Scrivner, Villagomez had been at a small party and friends who saw him that night said he did not appear to be intoxicated. He reportedly left the party alone to walk to his girlfriend’s apartment at 11th and Mississippi streets and has not been seen since. The missing persons report was filed around 7 p.m. on Saturday.
UDK
Recruiting
12/7/13, 9:05 PM
22 points, 20 rebounds and five blocks for Alexander in win over a Gorman frontline with a pair of 2015 five-stars.
@ebosshoops
Las Vegas Bishop Gorman invaded Chicago with two high-major recruits 6-foot-10 or taller.
One Cliff Alexander took care of them all.
The Chicago Elite Classic benefited from the Illinois High School Association's decision to let Alexander play Saturday night, as the 6-9 Kansas recruit had 22 points, 20 rebounds and five blocks to lead Curie to a 66-62 victory at UIC Pavilion.
Seven-footer Stephen Zimmerman had 10 points and 13 rebounds, and 6-10 Chase Jeter had six points and nine rebounds for Bishop Gorman, which is ranked No. 11 in USA Today's Super 25.
"That was the right decision to a let kid get an opportunity to showcase his talent in an event like this in hometown," Curie coach Mike Oliver said. "I don't think it was that severe for him to have to sit this out. We agreed to the decision they made, and I think it was the right decision.
"With all the big-time players here, it would have been tough for him to sit this out."
Chicago Tribune
RockChalk we gotta get @JMamba5 to join the family ..
@humblekid11
Recruiting Calendar
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