KUAD: KU vs SEMO box score, quotes, notes, recap, video, photos
LJW Video and Audio pressers and post-game interviews
ESPN Recap, Video
ESPN Photos
UDK Photos
KC Star Photos
LJW Photos
TCJ Photos
LJW Video and Audio pressers and post-game interviews
Kansas University freshman forward Perry Ellis scored 15 points in the Jayhawks’ 74-55 victory over SE Missouri State on Friday night in Allen Fieldhouse. It marked the most points scored in a debut by a Jayhawk newcomer since Josh Selby’s 21 points versus USC on Dec. 18, 2010.
Ellis hit five of nine shots and five of five free throws and had eight boards in 23 minutes.
Ellis played before a cheering section of about 20 family members and friends, including his grandmother, Ruth Terpstra of Rock Valley, Iowa. Perry’s grandfather, Floyd Terpstra, died in September and had planned on attending the game.
“I’m glad she got a chance to be here. Through the tough times I’m thankful she came out to support me,” Ellis said. “I’m looking forward to seeing her after signing autographs,” he added.
LJW
LJW: SEMO uses fast start in second half to hang with KU
“Foul trouble kept him from getting in the flow,” Self added of Johnson, who was a starting combo guard last season, running the point on occasion to spell four-year starter Tyshawn Taylor.
The 6-foot-4, 195-pound Johnson hit one of five shots (0-for-4 from three) and two of two free throws while dishing one assist against no turnovers in 22 foul-plagued minutes. He also grabbed three boards.
Are the Jayhawks concerned about Johnson’s line?
“Not at all,” senior center Jeff Withey said. “When he was in the game, I think he did a good job controlling the tempo. He’s still getting used to that position, being the point guard. He just needs to not foul. It’s definitely correctable.”
Johnson did fulfill his leadership responsibilities admirably. He spoke to back-up point Naadir Tharpe after picking up his fourth foul with 12:10 left and KU up by just six points. With the game’s outcome still in question, he told Tharpe to embrace the opportunity to “run the team and control it.”
LJW
The referee blew his whistle, and Kansas University senior point guard Elijah Johnson headed to the bench with his fourth foul with 12:10 left in a six-point game against Southeast Missouri State.
That’s when the training wheels flew off of sophomore Naadir Tharpe’s bicycle. Time for him to become a steady presence with the ball in his hands, hit a shot or two and help his team to build the lead to a comfortable margin.
Tharpe passed the test in helping Kansas win its season opener, 74-55, Friday night in Allen Fieldhouse, even if he didn’t receive straight A’s from his coach after the game.
“Naadir’s best play for us right now is he can make a shot,” said Bill Self, after Tharpe made one of six three-pointers. “Naadir’s a good shooter. Statistically, he hasn’t shot it great, but he’s a good shooter.”
Self seemed on the verge of biting his tongue and leaving it at that. Instead, he continued.
“But he backed out of two competitive plays, and that stuff drives me nuts,” Self said. “He did some pretty good stuff, but it’s not where it needs to be. He’ll get there.”
LJW
“You never look good when you miss shots,” Kansas Coach Bill Self said. “But we defended pretty good.”
KC Star
It’s too bad Kansas University’s basketball team didn’t meet Southeast Missouri State in a matinee on Friday in Allen Fieldhouse.
“We shot the heck out of it today in shooting practice, which was probably the kiss of death,” KU coach Bill Self said.
His Jayhawks, who couldn’t miss at shootaround Friday afternoon, made just two of 21 three-point tries in a workmanlike — some might say ugly — 74-55 regular-season opening victory over the Redhawks on Friday night.
“I think it’s also good you learn how to play when you don’t make shots. We’re becoming an expert on that the last couple games,” Self added.
…Self said the Jayhawks will be facing a stern test Tuesday against 0-1 MSU, which lost to UConn, 66-62, on Friday.
“I don’t know Tom (Izzo, MSU coach) that well but they may practice in football pads and helmets tomorrow. Our guys want to practice with pillows,” Self cracked. “It may be a different mind-set. It’s going to be eye-opening experience. We may have to have a guy get punched in the mouth to really understand. They are going to hit us first if we’re not ready. We might as well get our guard up and get ready to go. It should make both teams better.”
LJW
When senior forward Kevin Young returns to the men’s basketball team in its game against Michigan State in Atlanta Tuesday, the team will hope he can provide the missing piece to fix its early-season woes.
Without Young, the young Jayhawks aren’t communicating and haven’t been as aggressive as coach Bill Self wants them to be.
“He’s our best talker,” Self said. “He can direct traffic from talking and we’re the quietest team and that’s what’s going to get us beat is how quiet we are.”
UDK
“I hate not having Kevin on the court,” KU senior point guard Elijah Johnson said Sunday. Young missed KU’s two exhibition games and Friday’s regular-season opener against SE Missouri State after breaking a bone in his right hand at practice on Oct. 25.
“When Kevin is on the court, it’s somebody I feel I try to keep up with,” Johnson added. “He’s so far ahead of the game. He just never stops. Whenever Kevin is on the court, that gives me extra momentum.”
Freshman guard Ben McLemore also enjoys running the court with Young, who averaged 3.4 points and 3.0 boards off the bench last season, his first since transferring from Loyola Marymount.
“I think it’ll mean a lot to get Kevin back,” McLemore said. “Definitely the energy on the floor will change. I think that’s the big thing. He brings us aggression on the defensive end and offensively.”
…Barring any change of heart, freshman power forward Landen Lucas will red-shirt this season.
“(It’s) just what I mentioned. We’re planning on red-shirting him unless something changes in the next week or two,” Self said Sunday. “Injuries (to big men) would dictate that. That’s what we are planning on doing.”
Freshman forward Zach Peters, who has not practiced all season because of a rotator cuff injury, also is a likely red shirt since he still has not been cleared to practice.
…Michigan State sophomore reserve guard Travis Trice suffered a possible concussion in Friday’s 66-62 season-opening loss to Connecticut in Germany, the Lansing State Journal reported. Trice, 6-foot from Huber Heights, Ohio, was hit in the nose on an apparently inadvertent head butt by Connecticut’s Shabazz Napier in the second half. MSU coach Tom Izzo told the paper Trice may have a “bad concussion.” ... The No. 14-ranked Spartans were to fly to Atlanta today after returning to Michigan from Germany on Saturday. “There’s been people that say practice right away and at least get an hour in, an hour and a half to get the jet lag out of you and then come back later that day,” Izzo said. “I’m still calling some teams that have recently gone (overseas) in the last year or two in the NBA to see what they’ve done. But as far as prep work, it’ll be all done on the plane (an eight-hour flight) and when we get back.”
LJW
Michigan State had an apparent interior advantage against Connecticut and didn't use it nearly enough.
"That was very poor on our part, both coaches and players," said Tom Izzo after Derrick Nix and Adreian Payne combined for seven shots and 12 points in a 66-62 loss to the Huskies in the Armed Forces Classic on Friday.
Now the No. 14 Spartans will get a look at an opponent with plenty up front and questions on the perimeter.
No. 7 Kansas -- which plays MSU on Tuesday in Atlanta -- beat Southeast Missouri State, 74-55, in its season opener Friday on the strength of 32 points and 20 rebounds from its starting frontcourt.
…Nix struggled in the opener with four turnovers, continuing a trend from the exhibition games, but he also had seven offensive rebounds and 11 overall.
"I thought he was maybe the bright spot of a dismal (game), because of how he played defensively and what he did rebounding the ball," Izzo said of Nix. "He actually played pretty well."
Detroit Free Press
Izzo's offense, in particular, needs time every season to become efficient. It is often clunky in November and razor-sharp in March, and there's no way to shortcut that process.
That's especially true of a team like this with young pieces and an enormous void left by Draymond Green. Keith Appling felt that void Friday, realizing he's the guy who has to make sure everyone is in the right spot.
"We've got a lot of new guys, so it's gonna take some time," said Appling, who scored 17 points to lead MSU. "But once we get everything set in stone, I feel like we'll be a pretty good team, a force to be reckoned with."
…This one probably has more rough nights ahead, with Tuesday a prime candidate. Then a process that should be familiar by now -- a process that is just as frustrating to those experiencing it -- will continue.
"We're not trying to lose," Appling said.
Detroit Free Press
KUAD: Kansas vs Michigan State Pregame Notes
DFP: MSU Players
Champions Classic: KU vs Michigan State
KUAD: Kansas vs Idaho State box score, recap, quotes, notes, video, photos
WBB: Davis, Goodrich named to Wooden Award Preseason Top 30
UDK: WBB vs Idaho State Photos
They say a win is a win and that’s all that matters.
And on Sunday evening, the Kansas women’s basketball team might have just proved that statement right. The Jayhawks beat the Idaho State Bengals 52-36 in their opening game of the season in Allen Fieldhouse.
Through the whole game, there appeared to be some kind of lid over the basket. The Jayhawks shot just 30.8 percent on a 20-of-65 shooting performance.
“Good news, we won,” coach Bonnie Henrickson said. “The bad news, I’m certain it’s going to look a lot worse on film than live, and it looked real bad out there.”
UDK
Kansas 2012-13 MBB Schedule
Kansas 2012-13 WBB Schedule
Big 12/College News
TUESDAY's ESPN Tip-Off Marathon schedule
During the 2011-12 basketball season, the University of Tulsa averaged 68 points, 51 field goal attempts and 15 3-point attempts per game.
Against LSU-Shreveport on Sunday, TU totaled 60 points, 34 field goal attempts and 13 3-point attempts – during the first half.
The Golden Hurricane’s Danny Manning experience began with an explosive display of speed and offense. A Reynolds Center opening-night crowd of 5,689 watched freshman James Woodard score 28 points and TU roll to a 110-54 victory.
Tulsa World
You've probably never heard of Western Oklahoma State College. But call almost any major athletics department, and staff there know it well.
Its name comes up whenever athletes get themselves in a jam: They've failed a class. They've dropped another. Maybe they're just short on credits. But they still want to play.
Western Oklahoma gives them a chance, offering three credits in two weeks—and for less than $400. Almost as appealing: The community college mails out transcripts the day after classes end, allowing players to get back on the field with minimal disruption.
…The courses are especially popular with junior-college players looking to transfer to the big time. But elite research universities have also accepted their credits. Bobby Bowden, the now-retired Hall of Fame football coach at Florida State University, once put in a personal call to arrange for some of his players to take Western Oklahoma courses. Lately, Western Oklahoma credits have appeared on the transcripts of one of the most highly recruited quarterbacks in the country, basketball players from numerous NCAA tournament teams, and athletes in at least 11 NCAA Division I conferences.
It's not just the speedy credit that appeals to many players. According to dozens of academic advisers, athletes, and coaches, Western Oklahoma offers some of the easiest classes around. One Division I football player who reads at a fifth-grade level completed a three-credit health class in three sittings, his academic counselor says. Other students struggling to stay above a 2.0 on their own campus have landed A's and B's from Western Oklahoma—all in the academic blink of an eye.
Link
Last season's Carrier Classic was one of the cooler college basketball environments for a regular-season game in a long time, according to nearly everyone that was in attendance when Michigan State took on North Carolina.
It was played outdoors, the weather was great, President Barack Obama was in attendance – everything was perfect.
Of course, the success of that game led to the proliferation of aircraft carrier games this season, with the number going from one special season-opener to a trio of outdoor contests. Friday's schedule had three such games: Ohio State vs. Marquette in South Carolina; Georgetown vs. Florida in Jacksonville; and San Diego State vs. Syracuse in San Diego.
Things got off to a poor start earlier this week, when ominous weather forecasts forced game organizers to postpone the Battle on the Midway – SDSU vs. Syracuse – to Sunday. We should have known at that point that aircraft carrier games weren't all lollipops and gumdrops. (I don't even know if that's a saying.)
The bad news continued on Friday.
CBS
Deshaun Thomas scored 13 of his 19 points in what turned out to be a 17-2 run to end the half, leading No. 4 Ohio State to an 82-60 victory over Albany on Sunday in OSU's belated season opener.
The Buckeyes were supposed to play Friday against Marquette in Charleston, S.C., aboard the USS Yorktown, but condensation on the court led to that game being canceled.
Link
This one was straight out of Dorothy’s playbook, the one dealing with Toto and geography and not being in Kansas anymore. New Brunswick, it wasn’t. And it was not Providence or Hartford or any of those other Big East Conference ports of call, either.
No, Sunday afternoon was different. Sunday afternoon, those Syracuse University guys who’d suited up in their camouflage orange uniforms discovered they were someplace they’d never before been.
“For me,” said Brandon Triche, “it was when I was walking up the stairs from our locker room before the game. I mean, we were walking over water. You don’t do that every day. And then you saw that the court was a platform. And there were planes everywhere. And when you looked up, there was that huge U.S. flag.
“It was incredible. It’s something I’ll never forget. I’m not one to take a lot of pictures, but I definitely took a lot of pictures today.”
Well, sure he did. And so did Brandon’s SU teammates, all of whom are good enough to have played in a lot of exotic locales in their young careers, but none as wondrous as Sunday’s.
Link
...the alumni seats were left stagnantly empty. This should come as no surprise however, as this is the situation for Missouri Tiger basketball…every single season.
As is the case for most every major college basketball program, these are what’s referred to as the “donor seats.” In order to purchase seats in the lower part of the lower bowl at Mizzou Arena, you must donate at least $1,500, and up to $5,000 per seat, depending on how close you want to sit. This is on top of the season ticket price, which isn’t listed on Missouri’s official website.
To occupy a sideline seat anywhere else in the lower bowl, a $750 donation is required.
But the problem that Mizzou is currently experiencing isn’t the price of these seats, which is actually very reasonable when compared to other top programs. The problem is that the people who get the season tickets, for whatever reason, choose to not show up to the early season games. Some even choose to sit at home until the conference slate starts, and even then the only time that fans were generally in their seats and ready for the game was against the Kansas Jayhawks.
The environment close to the court that is created for Missouri to play in, in a state-of-the-art basketball arena that many NBA teams would drool to have, is a complete embarrassment to the team and the school in general.
Link
With a summer full of workouts, an exhibition trip to the Bahamas and three public exhibitions, the Arizona Wildcats had as much preseason preparation as any college basketball team in America.
But, during an 82-73 win over Charleston Southern in their season opener Sunday, the Wildcats found there sometimes is no substitute for plain old game experience.
…Charleston Southern fired off 28 three-pointers, hitting them at a 35.7 percent rate, while out-rebounding UA 34-31 and making seven more trips to the free-throw line.
Individually, Charleston Southern was able to marginalize UA freshmen post starters Grant Jerrett and Kaleb Tarczewski,
Link
Big 12 Composite Schedule
2012-13 Early Season Events List
Recruiting
As originally reported by the Herald, Wayne Selden will make everything official when he signs his letter of intent to attend Kansas Friday night at the Shelburne Center. The 6-foot-5 senior forward from the Tilton School began his high school career at O’Bryant before transferring to Tilton. He has been a mainstay for the BABC, helping them win national championships.
In other news, former Herald All-Scholastic Noah Vonleh of Haverhill (now at New Hampton) gave a verbal commitment to Indiana. The 6-foot-8 swingman was recently named to the USA Today preseason 10-man All-American team. He is currently ranked the No. 8 prospect in the country.
Boston Herald