KUAD Recap, Box Score, Photos, Notes, Quotes
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There was Bill Self, screaming at players, calling a time out, flopping back in his chair, watching Kansas slog through a big-victory hangover in the opening minutes against Oklahoma State.
Finally, the Jayhawks got untracked, shook off whatever celebration was left after winning at Oklahoma two days earlier, and rolled to a 94-67 triumph on Monday.
But history suggests the outcome was sealed much earlier, when Oklahoma State defeated the Jayhawks last month.
Kansas doesn’t get swept in regular-season series.
Monday’s victory marked the 80th completed Big 12 regular-season series in the Bill Self era and Kansas has never been swept.
Link (And extended the nation's longest active home court winning streak to 40 games, including 38 inside Allen Fieldhouse)
Third-straight game with double-figure rebounds and a career-high scoring performance. Statement made. #kubball pic.twitter.com/WND2E6iitt
— Kansas Basketball (@KUHoops) February 16, 2016
Some bench warmers pout. Others shout, lending support to teammates. Some check out the scenery in the stands. Others sit on their hands, draining the energy out of that section of the building.
Fourth-year junior Landen Lucas, a barge when running next to a speed boat like Perry Ellis, knows how to watch basketball. So he watched and put himself in the position of the players on the floor. It worked.
…Lucas is beginning to curtail his foul troubles, as well. His communication skills have played a part in that.
“I’m trying to make friends with the refs, first of all,” Lucas said, only half joking. “I’m being friendly with them and it’s paying off, so I’m just going to continue to do that. It’s nice because they talk to me and there are a lot of things I do, they’ll let me know, ‘Ease up off of this,’ or, ‘Watch this or that,’ and then I’m able to adjust to them. They’ve been great at doing that and I’ve been trying to play physical without getting too many fouls.”
LJW Keegan
Landen Lucas had his third straight game with double-figure rebounds (10) Monday vs. Oklahoma St. KU has found its anchor at center. #kuball
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) February 16, 2016
Almost everyone was expecting this.
Brannen Greene, holstering his 3-point hand gestures into the short pockets he doesn’t have. Allen Fieldhouse, whipped into a frenzy on the heels of a 22-6 run by the Jayhawks. And the Kansas men’s basketball team, now the No. 2-ranked team in the country, carrying a 13-point lead into the half against a sub-.500 foe.
How the teams got there, though, was anything but predictable.
The Jayhawks, 15-point favorites ahead of Monday night’s game against Oklahoma State, roared back from a nine-point deficit in the first half to down the Cowboys 94-67.
…While the Jayhawks (22-4, 10-3 Big 12) clawed back into the game on the strength of their long-distance shooting, forward Landen Lucas played one of the biggest roles in the rout. The 6-foot-10 junior was dynamic at home for the second straight game, finishing with 14 points and 10 rebounds — five on the offensive glass.
"Not just today, but the past however many games he's been starting, he's been great for us," Selden said of Lucas. "That inside presence is doing numbers for us."
Lucas had 9 points, 16 rebounds and 4 blocks in the Jayhawks’ 75-65 victory at home over No. 10 West Virginia last Tuesday.
TCJ
Mean Greene three-point machine.
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) February 16, 2016
Brannen perfect from behind the arc for @KUHoops tonight. https://t.co/fm2NwuiCsT
The response to the timeout was instant. Sophomore guard Devonte' Graham was able to walk into a three-pointer in transition to get the Jayhawks on the board. Kansas quickly tied the game at 10-10 and then 13-13.
During that stretch, freshman forward Cheick Diallo logged early minutes and was effective on the defensive end. He recorded a pair of blocks that lit up the Fieldhouse, waving his finger a la Dikembe Mutombo after the first.
Kansas' eventually made its run, pushing the lead out to 13 at the half with a 30-9 spurt that spanned the last seven-and-a-half minutes of the period. Junior guard Brannen Greene capped off the second half with a corner three, and the Jayhawks seemed poised to put the game away early in the second.
"It was awesome," junior forward Landen Lucas said. "Whenever we can get the last bucket going to half time, there's a lot of momentum"
UDK
AP image
Kansas University’s No. 2-ranked basketball team did enact its revenge on the Big 12’s ninth-place team — Oklahoma State — on Monday night, winning by 27 points in Allen Fieldhouse after losing to the Cowboys by 19 on Jan. 19 in Stillwater, Okla.
The 94-67 Jayhawk beatdown didn’t seem all that satisfying to coach Bill Self, however. His Jayhawks were coming off Saturday’s emotional 76-72 victory over Oklahoma in Norman, Okla.
…“Today it was, ‘OK, well, we’ll be all right.’ We’ve got to get rid of that attitude, but it was good to see the ball go in the hole,” Self added after six of his players scored in double figures and hit 50 percent of their shots including 11 of 21 threes.
…“We weren’t near as focused. I anticipated it,” Self said of a KU team that moved to No. 1 in overall RPI after Saturday’s victory against the powerful Sooners. “I think we played a little tired. The thing is, our guys play better when they are nervous about it. Tonight we had inner confidence which is good. I don’t think we had the intensity level we had in Norman.”
…KU junior guard Greene, who cashed three threes in three tries and had his third straight solid performance since his one-minute outing at TCU, agreed the team didn’t quite have the energy defensively Monday night.
…Greene is out of the coach’s doghouse, so to speak, after dunking the basketball right before the final buzzer sounded in KU’s 77-59 win over K-State on Feb. 3.
“To me it was kind of meaningless. I didn’t really mean much out of it,” Greene said. “I looked forward. I kept working, kept trying to get better. That’s all it was. I kind of tuned it out. I do apologize and am sorry for it. I’m just ready to play. It’s about the basketball game.”
“Playing better is what gets you on the court,” Greene added. “And trying to do better on defense. If you do what coach wants, he’ll play you. The main thing is we’re winning right now and I’m very happy.
“I think everybody wants the same goal on our team. We want to win the Big 12 title for sure. We also know in the postseason there are things we want to take care of, too. Our focus is continuing to win.”
LJW
KC Star image
Oklahoma State’s errors were numerous in the passive zone.
On the first possession, forward Jamari Traylor — one of KU’s role players offensively — was able to complete a straight-line drive all the way to the rim for a layup.
It actually got worse from there for the Cowboys.
The next time down, Traylor set a screen to open up Wayne Selden on the perimeter, and the junior knocked down a deep three on the left wing while drawing a foul. The shot seemed to re-energize the Jayhawks, as Selden flipped his hands in the form of three guns toward the floor, while teammate Frank Mason screamed “Boom” to famous spectator Marlins Man, who was jumping in the first row a few feet away.
The Jayhawks weren’t finished. Selden attacked a poor closeout 30 seconds later, flipping a one-handed pass to Graham for an open three-pointer from the right side.
Three possessions, nine points, and one Big 12 coach finally convinced it was time to move on from a 2-3 zone.
…Kansas finished 11-for-21 on three-pointers, which upped its season mark to 43 percent.
“They did go under a couple of ball screens that I was a little shocked at,” Greene said. “We ended up capitalizing and stretching out the lead.”
KC Star
LJW image
Kansas University basketball coach Bill Self had an inkling Wayne Selden, Jr., would have a productive performance against Oklahoma State on Monday night in Allen Fieldhouse.
“I could tell his shot was on today at shoot-around. He was shooting with confidence,” Self said after 6-foot-5 junior Selden busted a slump by scoring 18 points off 4-of-7 three-point shooting in KU’s 94-67 victory. Overall, he hit five of 12 shots and four of seven free throws.
“He had a chance to have a better line than what he did,” Self added.
LJW
When your teammate gets the 4-point play. https://t.co/7MFngrZniY
— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) February 16, 2016
OSU guard Jeff Newberry said attention to detail, on both ends of the floor, was the biggest killer for the Cowboys on Monday. And he cited everything from not boxing out and missing an assignment to not executing the proper plays at the proper times.
“We had some things we thought were gonna work and they did work,” Ford said. “We just had some guys that completely lost it and didn’t run it. We just didn’t have enough guys on the same page.”
Added Newberry, before trailing off while shrugging his shoulders: “If you’re not paying attention to detail.... they’re the No. 2 team in the country.”
And, really, that was the extent of it for an Oklahoma State team playing without freshman sensation Jawun Evans, whom KU coach Bill Self said completely controlled the first meeting, a 19-point OSU win in Stillwater, Oklahoma a few weeks ago.
“When they’re rollin.... I haven’t seen any team better. OU’s really, really good in our league. And Iowa State’s really good. And Baylor. We’ve got some really good teams. And, Kansas, when I just look at the make-up of their team, I don’t know that there’s much missing. They’ve got great guards, they’ve got great big men, they’ve got a great bench, they’ve got experience. I don’t know what they really don’t have.
“I’m sure every team in America would love to be a little bit better at something. But, man, I really like their team. They’re obviously extremely well coached and I think they’re playing great basketball right now, when you want to play really good basketball.”
LJW
UDK image
“At home, I think we held them to a low amount of transition points,” said Cowboys guard Jeff Newberry, who led all scorers Monday night with 19 points. “Here, you get a basket and the crowd goes crazy. That's what they did. They made plays down the stretch.
“You let a team like that get going in here and you see what happens.”
Griffin — who returned — finished with 12 assists, the most by a Cowboy since John Lucas had 13 against SMU in 2004.
The Oklahoman
LJW image
“We only practiced about 40 minutes yesterday,” KU coach Bill Self revealed after the Jayhawks took care of OSU, 94-67. “We watched a lot of tape on Oklahoma State going back to our first game (Pokes’ 86-67 victory on Jan. 19 in Stillwater), showing some things we did that were not very good at all, some things they did to hurt us. It wasn’t a revenge-type message at all, but it was one, ‘we haven’t had a chance to obviously play well against the Cowboys. They handled us quite easily, probably easier than anybody has handled us this year the first time.”
…Former KU center Greg Ostertag attended the game with his son, Cody, and was introduced to the fans during a time out.
LJW
Kansas beat OkState 94-67, avoiding season sweep of Pokes. KU not swept in Big 12 play in Bill Self era. KU: 54-0-26, sweep/swept/split
— Blair Kerkhoff (@BlairKerkhoff) February 16, 2016
LJW image
Which team will enter Selection Sunday as the top overall seed?
Kansas.
The Jayhawks overcame the most challenging game on their schedule when they topped Oklahoma 76-72 on Saturday in Norman. Yes, they will travel to Baylor (where Texas Tech won Saturday) and Texas (where North Carolina lost in December) before they host Iowa State in the season finale. But they proved a point when they focused in the final minutes of Saturday's matchup, after they lost Frank Mason to foul trouble.
If the Jayhawks maintain that edge, they could end the season as one of America's hottest and most dominant teams. That possibility, coupled with their two wins over Oklahoma, could lead to a No. 1 overall seed for Kansas and a regional hub in Chicago or Louisville, both a drive of about eight hours from Lawrence, Kansas.
ESPN Medcalf
Congratulations 'Discount Double Cheick', the @Academy Camping Group of the #kubball Game! #AcademySportsOutdoors pic.twitter.com/E14JGoyZey
— Kansas Jayhawks (@KUAthletics) February 16, 2016
Kansas Jayhawks
Why we like them: Depth, balance and a bunch of options. There's Perry Ellis, Wayne Selden and the two-pronged point guard attack of Frank Mason and Devonte Graham. There are a bunch of big bodies, although none (besides Ellis) have been consistent.
Potential fatal flaw: No star and no reliable post presence. Who does Bill Self want taking the final shot in a close game? Who knows. Ellis is also the only known commodity up front.
Confidence meter: 9
ESPN Goodman: Reasons to trust/not trust Top 25 teams ($)
BREAKING: Kansas vs. Texas Tech on Saturday, Feb. 27 in AFH will tipoff at 11 a.m. on ESPN #kubball pic.twitter.com/CpikIUcHxQ
— Kansas Basketball (@KUHoops) February 16, 2016
Inspired by Jayhawk uniforms of the 1950s, adidas and Kansas Athletics will unveil special uniforms next week to honor Black History Month. The Jayhawks will first wear the road outfits at Baylor Tuesday, Feb. 23, and will don the home uniforms against Texas Tech Saturday, Feb. 27.
Designed with royal blue and cream tones, the jerseys feature classic block lettering and numbers used during basketball's early years. The jersey includes crimson, blue and white accents, while the shorts feature a two-color stripe as a nod to Kansas' classic look and feel.
The uniforms feature the same lightweight, sweat-wicking technology used in the NBA versions. Designed to give players optimum performance on the court, targeted ventilation zones on the chest, back and side keep players cool even in the most intense moments of the game. A mid-hole mesh on the short maximizes comfort and breathability as the game heats up.
Kansas fans can purchase replica versions at participating retailers.
KUAD
Photo Gallery of Uniforms
Designed with royal blue and cream tones, the jerseys feature classic block lettering and numbers used during basketball's early years. The jersey includes crimson, blue and white accents, while the shorts feature a two-color stripe as a nod to Kansas' classic look and feel.
The uniforms feature the same lightweight, sweat-wicking technology used in the NBA versions. Designed to give players optimum performance on the court, targeted ventilation zones on the chest, back and side keep players cool even in the most intense moments of the game. A mid-hole mesh on the short maximizes comfort and breathability as the game heats up.
Kansas fans can purchase replica versions at participating retailers.
KUAD
Photo Gallery of Uniforms
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The University of Kansas may make changes to security at its sports venues when the state begins allowing guns on campus in 2017 .
A KU-specific plan is still being drafted, but leaders plan to prohibit guns from Allen Fieldhouse and Memorial Stadium.
KSHB
“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
Kansas has the nation’s best resume and TWO wins over Oklahoma. But an AP voter still has OU above KU. POLL ATTACKS: https://t.co/RtD1UptBxI
— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) February 16, 2016
Truth is, OU’s national status barely fell with the loss to Kansas. The Jayhawks’ rose much more than the Sooners’ fell.
But the Sooners still paid a price with the loss. Lose at home, and teams feel a little more vincible.
Lose to Kansas for the second time, and doubt has to start sinking in whether OU can beat the Jayhawks. Doubt is never a good thing.
And the loss shifted to Kansas a major advantage in the Big 12 race. Like that’s big news. The Jayhawks have finished atop the Big 12 for 11 straight years, with some of those titles shared. But if Kansas can’t be denied in 2016, when the league is full of capable teams and OU has a senior-laden squad with a superstar in Buddy Hield and the Jayhawks needed three epic overtimes just to survive the Sooners back on Jan. 4, just exactly when will KU not win the conference?
The Oklahoman Tramel
Speaking of @kenpomeroy, the current projections have Kansas and West Virginia splitting the Big 12 title at 13-5. #OneTrueChampion
— Sam Mellinger (@mellinger) February 15, 2016
West Virginia’s quest for a Big 12 men’s basketball title suddenly becomes a question of guard strength for the 10th-ranked Mountaineers.
Beginning with the Tuesday, Feb. 16, game against No. 24 Texas (16-9, 7-5 Big 12), the Mountaineers (20-5, 9-3) begin a three-game stretch against three consecutive ranked Big 12 teams that will put up numerous challenges for WVU’s guards.
Not the best for news for a team that may be without starting shooting guard Daxter Miles Jr., who is nursing a hamstring injury.
“It’s always something,” WVU head coach Bob Huggins said.
Link
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The last time Texas Tech advanced to an NCAA Tournament was 2007, but after consecutive wins against ranked opponents last week, the Red Raiders are on pace to make their return.
Texas Tech (15-9, 5-7 Big 12) defeated No. 14 Iowa State, 85-82, on Wednesday and then won at No. 21 Baylor, 84-66, on Saturday. Texas Tech's RPI rose to 32 and is featured in the field of 68, according to Sunday projections by CBS Sports and USA TODAY.
“There is excitement around our program, for our players, for our fans and for our administration," Tech coach Tubby Smith said. "We came here to change the culture, so whatever good things happen for our program, it's because the guys are believing in each other and playing hard for one another."
The Oklahoman
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Recruiting
Blessed to receive an offer from the University of Kansas
— Kev‼️ (@kevin_knox23) February 15, 2016
.@kevin_knox23's dominant 53-point outing wins him our Chef of the Week award. READ: https://t.co/jW5UTLgkMS
— Jason Jordan (@JayJayUSATODAY) February 15, 2016
Recruiting Calendar (updated for 2016)
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