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KUAD: Postgame box score, recap, pressers
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AUDIO: Kansas defeats ISU highlights with Bob Davis and Greg Gurley
UDK via @RealBlairSheady
Some places make you feel so at home. Love the @KU Hoops student section. So sweet, loyal and loud. Thankspic.twitter.com/wOv9WXx24W
— Holly Rowe (@sportsiren) February 3, 2015 The intensity in this @CycloneMBB at @KUHoops game is palpable. SO much energy expended 1st half. You can feel it in the air. Awesome.
@sportsiren
16,300 and juiced every night yall @KUHoops
@waynesimien
I feel like Brannen Greene hasn't missed a 3 in Big 12 play. Like, at all.
@jeffborzello
2/2/15, 9:25 PM
I could watch Kansas and Iowa State play one another every week
@GoodmanESPN
2/2/15, 9:33 PM
Let's go Jayhawks! AFH looks great...wish I was there! Rock Chalk!!!
@RobRiggle
2/2/15, 9:49 PM
Heck of a performance by Kansas tonight. I'd love a mulligan for my pick of the field instead of Kansas to win yet another Big 12 title.
@GoodmanESPN
Would appear Big 12 race will again run thru Lawrence. Perhaps conference ought to relocate hoops offices there and make it easier
@ESPNDanaOneil
Props to the Pac-Man people for sprinting to the opposite side of AFH for that free throw @Paul_Pierce2
@KUBballCamping
2/2/15, 10:07 PM
Waving the wheat out here in Los Angeles! Great win tonight Jayhawks!
@RobRiggle
Betting against Bill Self and Kansas in the Big 12 is the equivalent of betting against Bruce Willis in a Die Hard movie. #kubb
@JonRothstein
Every year, we invent a reason Kansas may be vulnerable. Every year, the Jayhawks dominate the Big 12 anyway.
@JeffEisenberg
Only Big 12 team less than two games behind Kansas after tonight is West Virginia, which still visits KU, OU, Iowa State, Baylor & OK State.
In other words, it's not happening. Nearly time to start engraving trophy No. 11 in a row for the Jayhawks.
@JeffEisenberg
“I look at our bench and I see eight starters. Any of them could play 25-30 minutes.” - @CoachBillSelf #kubball #kupostgame
@KUHoops
Big shoutout to the best fans in the world ! The Fieldhouse was rockin !
@WayneSeldenJr
Allen Fieldhouse is a little too loud for Iowa State fans.. #rockchalk @jaime_dickhaut
Thoughts anyone had about someone possibly stealing Kansas' place in the Big 12 Conference basketball hierarchy? Well, they didn't see what transpired on ESPN's Big Monday.
Quite simply, the Jayhawks were spectacular for 31 of 40 minutes against an Iowa State team many thought had a chance to unseat the perennial monarchy.
The eighth-ranked Jayhawks vowed that they had something to prove after a loss last month in Ames, and brother, they proved it — all while sending a message that an 11th consecutive conference regular-season title isn't easily eluding them.
Their Monday victory before the usual frenzied environment that is Allen Fieldhouse was mostly secured during the first 5 minutes of the second half, when everything Kansas did was right, and most everything Iowa State did wasn't so right.
Des Moines Register
Allen Fieldhouse (KUAD image)
It's a winter tradition in college basketball as predictable as the pre-Christmas shopping rush.
Each year, as the weather turns chilly and the start of conference season approaches, people invent reasons why Kansas' Big 12 title streak might be in jeopardy.
…Kansas has put itself in such enviable position by improving as much since mid-November as any team in the nation. The Jayhawks who have won eight of nine games in the nation's deepest conference bear little resemblance to the team Kentucky ran off the floor at the Champion's Classic or the squad that struggled sporadically even while winning games in November and December.
Frank Mason has solidified the point guard position and emerged as one of the nation's most improved players. Kelly Oubre has blossomed from the rare McDonald's All-American who can't crack the rotation to one making a consistent impact at both ends of the floor. Outside shooting has become such a strength that the team has hit over 40 percent of its tries from behind the arc during league play and six of the Jayhawks' top seven scorers are threats from 3-point range.
Don't discount Kansas' improvement defensively either as a factor in its success. The Jayhawks have surrendered the fewest points per possession of any Big 12 team and had limited their previous four opponents to a combined 35.8 percent shooting prior to Monday's matchup with Iowa State.
…The most exciting part of Kansas' success is that there's still room for improvement.
McDonald's All-American Cliff Alexander has shown flashes of immense promise yet is still coming off the bench and playing limited minutes. Selden throws in occasional performances like Monday's, but he is still searching for consistency. And freshman Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk certainly has enough talent to contribute at some point even though he has fallen out of the rotation.
…If Kansas does claim its 11th straight Big 12 title, it would move closer to making history. Just two programs have dominated their conference like this before: UCLA, which 13 straight league titles from 1966-79, and Gonzaga, which saw its 11-year WCC reign end at the hands of Saint Mary's in 2011.
Yahoo
In 11 seasons at Kansas, @CoachBillSelf has not lost to the same #Big12 opponent twice in the same reg season. pic.twitter.com/UP3NoZH58U
— Kansas Basketball (@KUHoops) February 3, 2015 Outside Lawrence, Kansas, Bill Self is both overlooked and praised.
Consistency tends to breed that reaction.
Big 12 leader Kansas got an 89-76 victory over No. 11 Iowa State at Allen Fieldhouse on Monday that extended the No. 8 Jayhawks' winning streak to five games. Self is currently in a position to secure his 11th consecutive regular-season Big 12 title in the coming months.
The employee with the perfect attendance record after 20 years on the job usually gets a plaque and a round of applause. Maybe a few handshakes. Little more.
A man who climbs Mt. Everest for the first time attracts more recognition than the Sherpas who've scaled the peak for decades. There's just something about consistency that reduces fascination to near-apathy over time.
Oh, Kansas is in first place in the Big 12 again? The Jayhawks are chasing their 11th consecutive conference title? Well, the sun comes up and KU wins Big 12 championships, right?
Yes. That's been right for a decade.
That mantra persists 10 years after Self led Kansas to the first of 10 consecutive Big 12 championships in 2005. Do you remember 2005? We were two years away from the iPhone's debut. YouTube arrived in 2005. Many of Kansas' current players were in elementary school in 2005.
…Under Self, Kansas won a national championship in 2008. He also guided the Jayhawks to a national title game appearance in 2012 and coached the program to three Elite Eight berths (2004, 2007, 2011).
That's remarkable, but Self's reign over the Big 12 might be more impressive than his feats in the Big Dance.
No Big 12 team has swept Kansas in the regular season during Self's time there. Think about that.
…Here Self is again. Leading the Jayhawks through this decade of dominance. It's the most marvelous feat in college basketball right now -- other than Mike Krzyzewski's 1,000-plus wins.
ESPN Medcalf
Rock Chalk, Jayhawk. @KUHoops makes it 20 in a row at The Phog. #kubball pic.twitter.com/IcFKKEJ3yr
— adidas Basketball (@adidasHoops) February 3, 2015 Coach Bill Self said he breaks down the season by weeks. He looked at Iowa State and Saturday’s game at Oklahoma State. He’ll reset after that. Don’t ask about a championship.
“We’ve put ourselves in a favorable position, but it’s way too premature to even be thinking like that,” Self said. “We’re not going to think like that or talk like that.”
Avoiding a championship even at this early juncture will require a perfect finish by somebody else and a Kansas collapse.
Not impossible but ridiculously improbable.
Playing into this inevitability are some general trends. First, the home-court edge — five Big 12 losses in Allen in Self’s dozen seasons — with the Allen Fieldhouse winning streak moving to 20. That’s a school record at some places. In the Self era, it ranks third behind runs of 69 and 33 games.
Also, Kansas rarely loses to unranked teams on the road. The Kansas loss at TCU two years ago was such an aberration that no trip to Fort Worth will pass without mention of that outcome.
Already this season, the Cyclones have fallen at Texas Tech, and Iowa State and KU are the only Big 12 teams undefeated at home.
That’s how a team doesn’t suffer the season sweep. Since Tinsley’s Big 12 title teams came up huge in Lawrence, Kansas entered Monday having played regular-season home-and-home opponents 77 times: the five North opponents for 10 years and three years of the 18-game, Big 12 round robin.
The Jayhawks swept 57 opponents and split the 20 other series. Monday’s victory makes it 21 splits.
KC Star
And if you watched closely on Monday night, something that happened—or didn't happen—stuck out too.
Not one time did Kansas score on a post-up.
"We've kind of found a way to win some games different than we practice all the time and what we emphasize, and tonight was one of those nights," Self said.
He's right. KU's offense was a disjointed mess in the opening minutes against Iowa State trying to play the typical KU way. Then Self went to a dribble-weave that allowed his guards to attack and that opened up shooters.
The game turned when the Jayhawks made five of six threes during one stretch in the first half when Self unleashed his best bomber, Brannen Greene, off the bench.
Greene is shooting a ridiculous 75 percent from beyond the arc over his last five games. He started the bombing, and his teammates followed suit, but the one miss during that stretch gave a glimpse into the discomfort Self feels playing this way.
When Perry Ellis took a wide-open transition three in rhythm and missed, Self had a look of disgust on the sideline. He put both hands up and swatted at the air, the universal "that's trash" signal.
Even though the percentages tell Self to embrace those shots, the green light isn't exactly flashing.
The Jayhawks rank 289th nationally in how often they attempt a three—29.4 percent of field-goal attempts, per kenpom.com.
But if they didn't make them like they do, there's no chance they'd be where they are.
…"What we've got to do is just have guys pass it around, you can run bad offense and just have a guy beat your man, force help and pitch it. Even though that's good offense, that's not how we've always played."
It took a couple beatings and sloppy performances for Self to figure this out or, at least, to embrace a different style. The Kentucky blowout in November helped in its own strange way.
But it's not easy to sort of abandon what you've always done, and Self deserves credit for not trying to jam a square peg into a round hole. This is his best coaching job at Kansas, because he's never had to adapt like he is now.
CJ Moore
Perry Ellis (KC Star image)
The last time the Iowa State and Kansas basketball teams met, the Cyclones flew past the Jayhawks with transition baskets.
Iowa State's offense slowed down Monday night.
The eighth-ranked Jayhawks beat the 11th-ranked Cyclones by taking Iowa State out of its offensive rhythm during an 89-76 victory at Allen Fieldhouse on Monday night.
"I didn't think we were as committed to the running game as we were in the first," Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg said.
…"We could have pushed the pace a little harder," Iowa State's Naz Long said. "Credit to them for doing the scouting report pretty well."
And yet, the transition game was just part of the problem for the Cyclones, who struggled to 14 turnovers.
Usually responsible with the basketball, Iowa State threw away passes and struggled to find any sort of consistency on offense.
Even point guard Monte Morris made mistakes, committing four turnovers and handing out just five assists.
"Once we started turning the ball over, that gave them rhythm," Hoiberg said.
Des Moines Register
UDK image
The 223rd consecutive sellout in historic Allen Fieldhouse was definitely louder for the Cyclones on Monday night than it was two days earlier when Kansas State came calling.
When the No. 8 Jayhawks got hot in the second half and raced to an 89-76 victory over the 11th-ranked Cyclone team that handed them a road loss the month before, the windows seemed to rattle in this 60-year-old arena.
Wayne Selden Jr., who scored 19 of his 20 points in the second half, admitted he'd been ''haunted'' by the 86-81 loss back on Jan. 17.
The pain persisted ''that day, that whole next day. Maybe a little bit after,'' said Selden. ''We had to get onto the next (game). But a sense of urgency came back when we knew we had them next.''
…''What has Bill lost in this building, nine times?'' said Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg. ''It's tougher than hell to walk out of this building with a win.''
AP
@jmarchiony image
Next shot. Next play. Next game. This is what Selden would repeat in the moments after he matched a career high with five three-pointers on Monday night. He scored 19 of his 20 points in the second half, and the Jayhawks improved to 8-1 in the Big 12 and maintained sole possession of first place in the conference race. For Kansas, a sense of order was restored.
Just 16 days earlier, Kansas found itself inside Hilton Coliseum, dazed and disorganized after an 86-81 road loss at Iowa State. On Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse, the Jayhawks exhibited complete control for most of the second half. Revenge. Redemption. Payback. Call it whatever.
…Junior forward Perry Ellis finished with 17 points, while Mason added 12 points and eight assists. The Jayhawks were a complete unit. But in the final seconds, it was Selden who strolled over to the KU bench and embraced Self. Nearly 20 minutes later, someone asked Selden about the Jayhawks’ streak of 10 straight Big 12 titles. Kansas, after all, is barreling toward another title.
Selden heard the stat — 10 straight titles — and then looked on incredulously.
“We have?” he said.
Selden didn’t smile. He didn’t break character. He just stayed in the moment. Next shot. Next play.
“We can’t think about that,” Selden said. “We just have to think about next game.”
KC Star
“Brannen hit some big shots for us,” coach Bill Self said. “There’s been a lot of games where he has bailed us out when we have no momentum.”
With seven minutes to go in the first half, a Greene free throw put the Jayhawks on top for the first time since the opening possession. Freshman Kelly Oubre Jr. found his range from deep as well, connecting on consecutive three-pointers to give Kansas a five-point lead.
Iowa State guard Monte Morris came into the game leading the Big 12 in assists per game, but struggled in the half with three assists and two turnovers. Mason, his counterpart, recorded seven assists and only one turnover as Kansas took a 35-28 lead into the half.
Sophomore guard Wayne Selden Jr. led the Jayhawks, storming out of the locker room with eight of Kansas’ first 12 points in the first five minutes of the half. Selden helped Kansas extend its lead to 15 with 15:24 left.
“My teammates found me in open spots.” Selden said. “I remained confident. Before I hit the three, I knew it was going in.”
“Wayne [Selden] is such a key,” Self said. “His success makes us much harder to guard.
UDK
Wayne, our Wayne, is a curious case. He's skilled enough to play the point (3.04 assists per game), tall enough to post people up (6-foot-5), and athletic and quick enough to create chaos from just about any spot on the floor. He's built like a prototype wing, plays his tail off -- endearing himself to Self and a few season-ticket holders last winter by frequently diving into the crowd for loose balls -- and is blessed with the kind of wingspan and hops to make life hell for off-guards (16 blocks).
But the rim, man.
The rim just doesn't like him. It hates him. Passionately. Which is a bit weird, given that Selden was finishing at a 69.1 percent clip a year ago. Was it something he said?
"I try to remain confident through ups and downs," Selden said after dropping 20 points -- his best scoring night in nearly two months -- on the No. 11 Cyclones (16-5, 6-3), with 15 of those points coming on 3-pointers.
…"Just staying positive is the biggest thing," he said. "It's going to come around. And I just stay positive, and my teammates help me stay positive."
"When you get (almost) 20 in a half against good players," Self said, "it's going to help your confidence."
Selden on 2-pointers, Saturday and Monday: four for 12.
Selden on treys, Saturday and Monday: eight for 13.
See that arc? Don't fight it, brother. Embrace it.
Fox Sports Keeler
AP image
“He needed that, because he’s been such a great teammate this year,” freshman Kelly Oubre said. “He hasn’t even performed to the level he can play at. That wasn’t even the highest he can play at, because he has another gear that he reached tonight.”
Selden was in danger of not getting the chance.
After an early second-half turnover, Self summoned Brannen Greene to replace Selden. Before he could be subbed out, though, the Roxbury, Mass., native hit a 3-pointer.
“I just remained confident,” Selden said. “Even before I hit the 3, I knew my next one was going to go in.”
After sitting just 43 seconds — Greene did something to anger Self — Selden continued his streak. He followed with an off-balance jumper, then nailed a 3-pointer to extend KU’s lead to 49-34 with 15:21 left while forcing an ISU timeout.
Selden wasn’t finished.
After making a 3 with 12:13 left, Selden ran back on defense, stopping right in front of coach Fred Hoiberg before shaking his head side to side.
His message was subtle, but clear: “I can’t believe you guys aren’t guarding me.”
TCJ
“My teammates saw me. Kelly (Oubre Jr., 16 points, five boards, three assists) and Perry (Ellis (17 points, six boards, four assists) both found me,” Selden said.
Selden’s 20-point outing was his finest in Big 12 play this season. He entered having scored in double figures in just two of eight games. His season high is 21 points in a home win over Florida and career high 24 against Oklahoma on Jan. 8, 2014. He had five threes in that game.
“Wayne was really excited in the locker room. I’m happy for him,” KU sophomore guard Frank Mason III said after scoring 12 points with eight assists and five rebounds, just two turnovers in 37 minutes.
“It will help his confidence because he hadn’t been shooting it that well. It was great to see him play like that, great for us to win the game,” Mason added.
KU coach Bill Self — his Jayhawks lead West Virginia by one game and Iowa State by two in the Big 12 standings — said Selden’s performance was pivotal.
“He was so good and it’s so good to see a guy who cares so much play that well,” Self said. “It’s been up and down for him offensively. He’s kept a great attitude. Certainly we need him.”
LJW
You'll hear him long before you'll see him, according to his teammates.
Kelly Oubre Jr.'s inside voice is an outside voice for most, they say. His outside voice is a bullhorn.
He arrives with a boisterousness that's a constant pulse in the locker room, the hallways and the gym. Wherever Oubre goes, his bouncing-off-the-walls demeanor demands attention.
"He's a big kid, a real big kid," Wayne Selden Jr. said of Oubre. "He's the life of the team. He always has energy and he's never sitting down. The kid is crazy. He's always screaming, yelling at times when it's not necessary."
…Even his stat lines are loud these days.
But in the Kansas practice facility adjacent to Allen Fieldhouse, it was quiet in November and December. No bulky headphones filled with heavy beats. No posse. No groupies.
Just Oubre, a ball and the hoop.
"I just like to get in the gym," he said. "It's my sanctuary. I'd rather be quiet, think about a lot of things."
On that court, he found solace from the doubters. He'd always felt safe there.
…"It was adversity for me," Oubre said. "I'd been through adversity. I didn't really expect it to hit me so hard."
Each day, Oubre dialed his father in Houston and told him he had a problem. Kelly Oubre Sr. advised him to pray and reflect on their experiences and everything they'd overcome together.
This was just basketball. He could get through it.
They could get through it.
…"Playing against him, I didn't like him [initially]," Selden said. "But I ended up liking him a lot. He's an agitator on defense. He's really aggressive."
In Kansas' first seven games, Oubre logged 58 minutes. Total. Self expressed concerns about the talented, raw freshman. The preseason kudos turned into questions.
And that's when Oubre fled to the gym. He had concerns about his lack of playing time, but he focused on what he could do to change his situation.
"He said, 'Dad, I can get better,'" Kelly Oubre Sr. recalled. "He kept telling me that. 'I can get better.'"
He did.
…But Oubre's progressing at the most significant moment of the season. As March approaches, he continues to mature in part because he's blocked out the noise -- with his father's help.
And he's enjoying the experience.
"I'm having fun," Oubre said. "I was having fun before, but not as much as now. A lot of people didn't think we could do it, so that's where my fun comes from."
ESPN
TCJ image
George Brett, the greatest third baseman in baseball history, sat in the second row behind the home bench.
Big atmospheres bring out the best in big-time teams. Kansas University left no doubt that it fits that description in rolling Iowa State, 89-76, on a Big Monday night party.
He was there to see the two best college basketball teams from the region of the country that cheers for his Kansas City Royals. And he was there to support the home team. The Jayhawks gave him plenty of reason to do that.
Brett popped out of his seat clapping a mile a minute after Wayne Selden Jr. hit a three-pointer to cap a personal eight-point run that spanned 71 seconds and gave KU a 46-32 lead early in the second half.
…Former KU assistant coach Matt Doherty attended the game as a representative of the Indiana Pacers. More than 10 scouts were on hand. Doherty also served as head coach at Notre Dame, North Carolina and SMU.
LJW
Even if it didn't get the fan vote this sign was still freaking awesome and should be framed pic.twitter.com/qKUEbc9OUp
— KUBasketball Camping (@KUBballCamping) February 3, 2015 
LJW image
“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
The Kansan's #kubball basketball poster series is now the face of ESPN college basketball promos: pic.twitter.com/1gaE0fxOqX
— Jon Schlitt (@jschlitt) February 2, 2015 
Best game -- West Virginia vs. Oklahoma (-6); 8 ET, ESPN2: With Kansas having won against Iowa State on Monday, West Virginia is now the only team within one game in the loss column of the Jayhawks. Therefore, winning Tuesday in Norman is absolutely crucial to the Mountaineers (or really, anyone else's) chances of upending Kansas in the Big 12. However, the game is equally as important to the Sooners, who are 5-4 in the Big 12 and could use a marquee win. This should be a really fun one.
CBS
Let the debate begin! Who are the most passionate fans in college basketball?
NCAA March Madness
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NCAA Ball’s most passionate fans
5. Dayton
4. Syracuse
3. Kentucky
2. Arizona
1. Duke
@realgranthill33, Bill Raftery added to @FinalFour, national championship broadcast team: http://on.ncaa.com/1zxPH7S
@marchmadness
Complete ESPN Networks schedule
Big 12 Composite Schedule & Results
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Complete ESPN Networks schedule
Big 12 Composite Schedule & Results
Recruiting
Cavs Game crazy#McDAAG #getabucket pic.twitter.com/8wKGJKmHFs
— Carlton Bragg (@carltonbragg31) February 3, 2015 VASJ's Carlton Bragg being honored at midcourt by Cavs for earning a spot in the McDonald's All-American Game.
@BobCavsinsider
Nike Hoops Summit USA Roster announced (Asst Coach L.J. Goolsby, KC Run GMC)
Tyler Dorsey has committed to Oregon.
“I have committed to the University of Oregon #Ducks,” Dorsey tweeted.
Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com was the first to report the news.
A 6-foot-4 shooting guard from Pasadena, Dorsey is a big pickup for the Ducks, who will be losing top scorer Joseph Young to graduation when the year ends.
“They want me to come in and get buckets like Joe does,” Dorsey told CBSSports.com.
Dorsey was previously considering six schools, with UConn, Arizona State, Cal, Colorado, Kansas and Oregon all in the mix.
Zags Blog
@BobCavsinsider
Nike Hoops Summit USA Roster announced (Asst Coach L.J. Goolsby, KC Run GMC)
Tyler Dorsey has committed to Oregon.
“I have committed to the University of Oregon #Ducks,” Dorsey tweeted.
Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com was the first to report the news.
A 6-foot-4 shooting guard from Pasadena, Dorsey is a big pickup for the Ducks, who will be losing top scorer Joseph Young to graduation when the year ends.
“They want me to come in and get buckets like Joe does,” Dorsey told CBSSports.com.
Dorsey was previously considering six schools, with UConn, Arizona State, Cal, Colorado, Kansas and Oregon all in the mix.
Zags Blog
Special thanks 2 all the Rebel fans that came out and supported us tonight!Great 2 see the red in the stands. #Vegas pic.twitter.com/fWQ76M2BK0
— Stephen Zimmerman Jr (@BIGG_ZIMM) February 3, 2015 Recruiting Calendar
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