Sunday's KC Star celebrates KU's new NCAA record 1000 conference victories!!!!! Or not.
KU’s victory over Texas Tech marked the Jayhawks’ 1,000th conference victory against 396 defeats spanning 114 seasons. No other team in the U.S. has reached 1,000 victories in league play. Kentucky is second at 962.
Here are other Big 12 teams’ marks in conference play: Texas, 822-529 in 106 seasons; Missouri, 760-634 in 106 seasons; Kansas State, 695-633 in 108 seasons; Oklahoma, 695-549 in 105 seasons; Oklahoma State, 675-498 in 103 seasons; Texas A&M, 656-709 in 100 seasons; Texas Tech, 621-494 in 87 seasons; Baylor, 563-819 in 106 seasons; Iowa State, 549-804 in 105 seasons. KU has won a nation’s best 54 conference titles.
...Former Kansas University basketball All-American Dave Robisch, who attended practice on Friday and the Jayhawks’ 83-50 home rout of Texas Tech on Saturday, definitely likes what he’s seen out of the 2011-12 squad.
“I think they are playing really well. Of course, Thomas is playing great,” Robisch, a KU standout from 1969 to 1971, said of junior forward Thomas Robinson, who scored 16 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished a career-high five assists against four turnovers in just 24 minutes.
“It’s good to see the improvement of Withey in the middle,” he added of junior center Jeff Withey, who, after scoring 61 points and grabbing 36 rebounds in the past three games, went for nine points and eight boards with four blocks and a batch of altered shots in 28 minutes.
“And Tyshawn is playing great,” Robisch gushed of senior point guard Tyshawn Taylor, who scored in single digits for the first time in 12 games, going for nine points, four assists and four turnovers in 27 minutes against the outmanned Raiders. “I’m really excited the way they are playing.”
LJW
Jeff Withey’s recent emergence has led to inevitable comparisons to former Kansas University center Cole Aldrich.
Without even being asked to do so, Jayhawks sixth man Conner Teahan, in his fifth year in the program, volunteered insight in the area of both centers’ specialty.
“He’s the best shot-blocker I’ve seen since I’ve been at Kansas, I have to say that,” Teahan said of Withey. “He just has a great feel. ... Usually, when you go up against a guy with length, you want to go up into their body and try to draw a foul or knock them away. He does a good job of absorbing the hit and still blocking shots.”
Better than Aldrich, with whom Teahan teamed for three seasons?
“I would say so,” Teahan said. “I really would. Now, that doesn’t take anything away from Cole because Cole was a great defensive center. He blocked shots, but Jeff, I guess he just has a knack for it. I don’t know if it’s because he played volleyball or what, but he just has a knack for blocking shots.”
…Withey will have to maintain his recent level of overall performance for a longer stretch to draw comparisons to Aldrich, but he does have a higher ceiling as a center and runs the floor better.
The numbers already back Teahan’s contention that Withey’s a better shot-blocker. Withey has blocked 5.44 shots per 40 minutes for his career and 5.63 per 40 this season. Aldrich blocked 4.34 per 40 for his career, 5.19 as a junior.
In 14 conference games, Withey has 57 blocks, five more than then next two Big 12 players combined (Oklahoma State’s Michael Cobbins and Baylor’s Quincy Acy).
LJW
KU AD Video: Students occupy AFH Sunday morning as camping begins for Border War
KU Camping photo
ESPN Power Rankings: KU #2
Athletics Director Sheahon Zenger made his first big-time move by firing Turner Gill and hiring Charlie Weis to rejuvenate Kansas’ football program.
Pretty soon, he’ll have to make another: should he keep Bonnie Henrickson on as the women’s basketball coach?
Kansas lost to Missouri at home on Saturday afternoon, 70-65. Home losses are never good, but this one stings even more — the Tigers came into the game with an 0-13 conference record.
It’s a horrendous loss that comes at the absolute wrong time for Kansas (17-6, 6-8).
Junior forward Carolyn Davis, a bona fide All-American candidate, suffered a dislocated knee and torn anterior crucial ligament on Feb. 12 at Kansas State.
The Jayhawks finished with 43 points in the loss to the Wildcats. Iowa State routed them on Wednesday. Kansas needed a home victory against a Big 12 doormat to gain some confidence after losing its best player to injury.
With Saturday’s loss, Kansas sits, for seemingly the 38th season in a row, just on the outside of the NCAA Tournament. ESPN.com Women’s Basketball Bracketology slots Kansas as an eight seed, but the predictions haven’t been updated since last Monday.
A loss to a winless conference team at home will probably take the Jayhawks off the bracket.
“This game hurts. This one is a dagger,” Henrickson said in the postgame press conference.
But here’s the question: how much can you pinpoint this stretch on losing Davis for the season?
It’s an interesting question that Zenger will have to ponder over the next few months. He’ll certainly have to examine the unique circumstances Henrickson’s team faced this season.
UDK
VOTE for the Kansas Jayhawks student section (Purdue in 1st place? What? VOTE!)
VOTE for Coach Self's Assists Foundation (C'mon people, he's losing to Sean Miller and Dave Rose!) Voting ends 2/27 Rose 33%, Miller 15% Self 8%
Coaches vs Cancer: Help Coach Self raise $ for ACA with his 3-point Attack
Kansas Athletics is excited to partner with Wayin, to run a five-day contest leading up to the Border Showdown contest in men's basketball against Missouri. Who wouldn't want to win a signed basketball by the 2011-2012 KU basketball team? Well now is your chance!
The contest will be hosted through the KU Athletics facebook page (at Facebook.com/KUathletics) and will run from Sunday, Feb.19 at noon until Friday, Feb. 24 at noon. This contest will consist of fifty trivia questions (ten per day) and cover five different categories: KU/MU history, player trivia, coaches trivia, Allen Fieldhouse trivia, and random history. Be one of the top three people on the leaderboard to win the grand prize! Test your knowledge and Wayin on the Jayhawks!" Sign up at Wayin.com using Facebook connect to register or go to Facebook.com/KUathletics on Sunday and register through the "Wayin on the Jayhawks" tab.
http://www.kuathletics.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/021712aaa.html
Big 12/College News
Big 12 Schedule & Results
10am CT Big 12 Men's BBall Coaches teleconference live/archive
South: 1. Kentucky, 2. Ohio State, 3. Georgetown, 4. Murray State
East: 1. Syracuse, 2. North Carolina, 3. Michigan, 4. Baylor
Midwest: 1. Missouri, 2. Michigan State, 3. Marquette, 4. Florida*
West: 1. Kansas, 2. Duke, 3. Louisville, 4. Wisconsin
USA Today projects the top four seeds in each region
The ISU men's basketball team saw good and bad Saturday in its 80-69 win against Oklahoma.
The good was the Cyclones' (19-8, 9-5 Big 12) Scott Christopherson, who finished the game with 25 points, eclipsing the 1,000 point mark for his career, and Melvin Ejim, who pulled down 14 rebounds and scored 10 points.
"It's a heck of an accomplishment and he will remember that for the rest of his life," said ISU coach Fred Hoiberg of Christopherson breaking the 1,000-point mark. "He gave us great leadership. Scotty was out there running the show for us, and I thought he did a great job of getting the ball moving around."
The bad, though, was Ejim's ejection late in the second half. Ejim got in a brief altercation with the Sooners' (13-13, 3-11) Carl Blair Jr., drawing an intentional foul that ultimately kicked him out of the game. Despite the ejection, ISU officials don't believe it will affect Ejim's status in the Cyclones' game against Texas Tech on Wednesday night.
Iowa State Daily
Michigan State is all alone in first place in the Big Ten, chasing a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, riding a senior leader who has wedged himself into the national player of the year discussions.
This dream season for the No. 7 Spartans – until further notice, that’s what it has become -- continued Sunday with a 76-62 comeback win at Purdue, during which Draymond Green orchestrated the second-half action on both ends of the floor like some kind of basketball wizard.
LSJ
It wouldn't shock me if this Duke team gets knocked out of the NCAA tournament on the first weekend by, say, a Vanderbilt or a Saint Louis. It also wouldn't surprise me if they reeled off four straight and earned a trip to the Final Four. The Blue Devils are far too reliant on Rivers and their perimeter shooting, but when guys like Seth Curry and Andre Dawkins are on, these guys are dangerous.
Prior to the start of the season, the mantra was that this team would focus on its experienced post players. But neither Miles or Mason Plumlee have lived up to their potential, so Coach K had to shift gears and rely on the three-ball.
If this team had a big-time floor leader. If Mason Plumlee starts to play like the lottery pick label many have tagged him with. If these guys make shots in the tournament.
That's too many ifs for me.
Krzyzewski said how much he was concerned coming into Conte Forum on Sunday night to face a BC squad that is among the youngest in the nation and one that is 8-19 overall and near the bottom of the league.
"This game worried me so much," he said.
After watching this Duke team, I'm fairly certain that wasn't just coach-speak.
"We're a good team," he reiterated. "A good team."
These days, being good may be just enough to warrant a top seed and even a trip to New Orleans.
CBS
Today, the Pac-12 warrants snickers from national columnists and TV analysts. For the first time in history, the West Coast Conference might get more bids to the NCAA than the Pac-12. With virtually no nonconference wins of significance, the Pac-12 hasn't had a team ranked in the AP top 25 since the week of Nov. 28.
The fall has been dramatic, illustrated no more graphically than by the 15-player 2008 Best in the West list of high-school prospects compiled annually by The Long Beach Press-Telegram.
Ten of those 15 opted for colleges outside the Pac-12, including Peyton Siva, the Franklin High guard who chose Louisville. The five others — Abdul Gaddy, Tyler Honeycutt, Solomon Hill, Mike Moser and Reeves Nelson — reflect the turmoil then at Arizona, and the missteps at UCLA and the cloud over USC, all elements in the Pac-12's malaise.
It's a complicated mosaic. It's not easy to fall so far.
The UCLA puzzler
On the regional cover of Sports Illustrated's 2011-12 college basketball issue was UCLA forward Reeves Nelson. A few weeks later, Nelson was suspended and then booted from the team, breaking new territory for the famed SI jinx.
Of all the aspects in the Pac-12's fall, UCLA's slide seems most mysterious. The overarching theme is that the Bruins have made multiple misjudgments in recruiting, and some trace Kerry Keating's departure from the Bruins' staff in 2007 to become coach at Santa Clara as the turning point.
Seattle Times
UCLA's road record this season is now at 2-6. That would be 1-6 if you don't count the "win" against Chaminade. The record looks even more pathetic if you consider the fact that UCLA has not played a top-25 program since the tournament in Maui.
- 0: Number of wins against top 25 teams on the road since 2008
- 1: Number of week UCLA has spent in the AP Top 25 since 2009
- 1: Number of week UCLA has spent in the AP Top 10 since 2008-09 season
- 3: Number of UCLA wins against top 25 teams since 2008
- 23 years: Last time UCLA had to break a Sweet-16 drought spanning 4 years or more. [1981-1989 (Larry Farmar/Hazzard stretch)]
- 1987-1992 : Last time UCLA experienced a 4 year drought without conference championship (prior to Lavin era) was (Walt Hazzard's last season and Jim Harrick's first 3 seasons)
- 1444 days since UCLA basketball has won the Pac-12 conference
- 2-7: Howland's record at MSG with 2 victories coming against Southern Illinois and Drexel (1 point win)
- 0-5: Howland's record in the Pac-10/Big XII challenge
- 10-10: Howland's record against JustSC
- 3 and 64: 3 is the number of losing seasons we have had in last 64 years of UCLA basketball. Ben Howland has had two of them. Although we gave him a pass for his first one.
Recruiting
RN: Have you set any personal goals for yourself at Kansas?
White: Take advantage of what I was told was possible for me, which is earning decent minutes as a freshman and winning a National Championship.
RN: What areas of your game would you like to improve on to be more ready for Kansas?
White: Beating my man off the dribble, always improving footwork and finishing with my left.
RN: What’s your favorite aspect of Kansas that really popped out to you when you were on campus?
White: My possible playing situation, development, fan support, and a chance to win.
RN: If you could compare your game to any college or NBA player who would it be?
White: I have been told I play a lot like Ray Allen and Joe Johnson, but I have never compared myself to a pro.
RN: Is the plan for you to play professionally after your time at Kansas?
White: Pro is a dream of everybody. I aspire to go pro, but right now I am focused on my future at Kansas.
Andrew White interview
Jordan Woodard, a 6-foot, 175-pound junior point guard from Edmond (Okla.) Memorial High, who attended Saturday’s game, has received scholarship offers from Memphis, Oklahoma and San Francisco, according to Rivals.com. He also has received interest from KU, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Vanderbilt and others.
“I really like the coaching staff, and it seems they get along well with the players,” Woodard told Rivals.com. “Coach Self was real honest with me and my family. He said that he likes me a lot and he likes my game. Coach Self thinks that I can be one of the next point guards that move in and run the team.”
Woodard is currently ranked No. 122 in the Class of 2013. He scored 29 points versus Edmond Santa Fe High in a game Self attended earlier this season.
LJW
Nike EYBL Schedule
Check here for the NCAA Recruiting Calendar
My 2011 Legends of the Phog, KC Prep Invitational, KU Alumni games, & Jayhawk Invitational Videos now on Youtube
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