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UDK Photos
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Ben McLemore can do whatever he wants to do with a basketball in his hands and hardwood underneath his feet.
Now he knows it. And that’s the problem.
For everyone else.
In Saturday’s 90-54 win against a Colorado squad that was ranked nationally a few weeks ago, No. 9 Kansas dusted off its former Big 12 foe as if it were dirt on its shoulder. It was a lopsided effort from tip-off.
The Jayhawks immediately pressured the Buffaloes, who panicked and ultimately fell into a deeper hole. It was never a real contest.
…Before the Jayhawks kick off Big 12 play with a Jan. 9 matchup against Iowa State, they’ll face Belmont, Ohio State and Temple. They could -- should -- win all three games. And they could lose them, too, if they’re not prudent and strong for two halves.
It hasn’t been easy for the Jayhawks to maintain their intensity, Young admits. And that’s why they’ve wrestled with inconsistency.
But when McLemore elevates, the Jayhawks will follow him. Colorado knows that now.
It’s even more important for the freshman to understand that.
“I think it’s a big part of who we are, because we need him to score for us and to play the way he’s playing, it helps the whole team, brings energy to the team and it just gives us all confidence,” Young said.
ESPN(Should win against tOSU at their place? C'mon man.)
It was another rough day in Allen Fieldhouse for the Buffaloes, who have lost 19 straight to the Jayhawks and 46 of 47 dating to the 1991 season. The longtime Big 12 member, which bolted for the Pac-12 last season, hasn't won in Kansas' storied arena since the 1982-83 season, a span of 29 consecutive games.
Kansas coach Bill Self is 18-0 against the Buffaloes, and has won 11 straight against the Pac-12.
The Jayhawks led 43-22 at halftime after turning Colorado over 12 times and coughing up a possession just twice in the first 20 minutes. The result was a lopsided 22-2 advantage in points-off-turnovers, and a big lead despite missing its final 10 3-point attempts of the half.
McLemore nearly out-scored the Buffaloes by himself, pouring in 17 points.
AP
Saturday was different. The Jayhawks were playing Colorado, a former Big 12 foe that gave the building a discernible buzz. The sun was shining through the windows, and there was no football to dampen the mood.
…Before the game, coach Bill Self asked the players for a report on the crowd. Elijah Johnson responded that it felt like a conference game, which makes sense if you think about it.
“To our fans, it is,” Self said.
KU gave the Buffaloes a flashback to life in the Big 12, administering a blowout that resembled many of Colorado’s previous trips to Allen Fieldhouse. The score was 18-3 after the first media timeout, by which point the crowd and KU’s fullcourt defense had combined to leave the Buffs completely overwhelmed.
TCJ
About 100 University of Colorado students made a lot of noise while waving a Buffaloes banner Saturday afternoon in the northwest corner/general admission seating area of Allen Fieldhouse.
The fans — on hand to support the new and improved (7-2) Buffs of the Pac-12 Conference — were drowned out by Kansas University students situated in the north end zone, KU’s basketball players observing the proceedings during pre-game stretches and drills.
“They (KU fans) started singing the (Rock Chalk) chant early on, during warmups. I looked at Jeff and said, ‘Uh, oh, time to go,’'" KU senior forward Kevin Young said of his conversation with senior center Jeff Withey.
Taking a cue from their fired-up fans, the full-court pressing (7-1) Jayhawks pulverized Colorado, 90-54, the rout resembling an 89-63 KU victory when the Buffs last came to town — two seasons ago as a member of the Big 12.
…“Kevin was having fun today. That may have been the best game he’s played since he’s been here,” KU coach Bill Self said of Young, who had eight rebounds and two steals on a day Ben McLemore led the way with 24 points, 17 the first half. “He was terrific last year against Ohio State (14 points, four rebounds in KU’s 78-67 win last Dec. 10) in a pressure-packed game.
“What did he do that wasn’t anything except effort?” Self added. “He just ran. He jumped. He went after the ball. He didn’t make any shots that were hard shots. He turned it over once where he tried to make a great play. Other than that he played within himself and just played so hard.”
Young ran and ran and ran Saturday ... with a smile on his face much of his 20-minute stint.
“It’s just there,” he said of his energy, acknowledging his two years of cross country and track at Perris (Calif.) High School also may have helped his stamina. “I ran the mile, 4x4, the 400 and 800,” he said, indicating he was clocked at 49 seconds in the 400 and 1:59 in the 800.
…“They (TV analysts) had us on ‘upset alert.’ That had us on edge and ready for the game,” Releford said.
The fans also deserved a mention for preparing the Jayhawks.
“It’s so much fun to play in here. It’s hard not to have fun in here,” Young stated.
The Jayhawks, who will be taking final exams this week, will next meet Belmont at 6 p.m. on Dec. 15 in Allen.
LJW
The knowing smile provided a tell-tale hint that Colorado was withering Saturday in Allen Fieldhouse.
The grinning Jayhawk was Kevin Young. Situated at the top of the press, the senior forward slapped an inbound pass out of bounds. The play did not result in a turnover, yet it was another pass that went awry for the nervous Buffaloes.
At that point Young turned to his teammates with his mischievous smirk. Though early in the game, it was clear the renewal of an old conference rivalry was nothing more than a mismatch.
The Buffaloes had five turnovers before scoring a fifth point. They eventually shot 37 percent, committed 18 turnovers and got waxed, 90-54.
In part, because Young was so pesky initiating the full-court pressure KU used at the outset.
“My mindset is if we get a five-second count, we don’t have to play defense,’’ Young said. “We just get the ball right back. So I try to get it as close to that five seconds as possible.’’
Not that Young minds playing defense. His enthusiasm seemingly has no limits.
…The contribution Young provided while playing just 20 minutes against Colorado assures him court time.
However, the four-spot is a position that also incorporates Perry Ellis, a freshman KU wants to develop. Transitioning to the physicality and speed of the college game remains an issue for the Wichitan, who had two points and one rebound in 17 minutes against CU.
Ellis is going to be a good player. Young is not going to always provide such production. So their minutes will be interesting to monitor.
Realize, though, that the Jayhawks gained a little additive Saturday plugging into Young’s energy grid.
“We’re all athletic and we all can play that way,’’ said Young, “and we love to do it.”
TCJ
LJW: Young takes top spot
Normally, it’s Ben McLemore with Kansas University’s dunk of the day.
On Saturday, Travis Releford’s driving one-handed slam dunk over Colorado’s Jeremy Adams is the one that had the fans most energized — the jam coming with 1:29 left in the first half of KU’s 90-54 rout of the Buffaloes in Allen Fieldhouse.
“We know Travis can get up. Me and everybody in the gym thought he’d throw it back to Jamari (Traylor, who initiated the play by stealing the ball well before midcourt and passing ahead),” KU senior Kevin Young said. “When he (Releford) took off, it shocked me. We knew he could do it. We just weren’t ready for it.”
Releford stared down a TV camera lens after the dunk, the crowd exploding in joy with KU up, 41-20.
“I mean, he counted his steps. He looked like he was getting his feet together to block the shot,” senior guard Releford said of Adams, who was posterized on the play. “I just went up and made a good play.”
…KU senior Jeff Withey takes part in graduation ceremonies at the Lied Center Sunday. His degree is American Studies with a minor in education.
LJW
“I can definitely learn a lot from him and all the seniors,” McLemore said. “I told Travis when I got here, before boot camp started, ‘I’m going to be watching you. I’m going to be everywhere you are just because I want to learn a lot from you. You’ve been here a lot longer than me.’”
McLemore’s the prodigy in an otherwise all-senior starting five that combined for 15 assists, five turnovers and seven steals Saturday.
“Right now, I get advice from Travis, advice from Jeff (Withey), advice from Kevin (Young), advice from Elijah (Johnson),” McLemore said.
McLemore, the most talented basketball player to show up at Kansas in decades, was involved in a memorable play Saturday with each one of his co-starters, not one of those plays a dunk or three-pointer.
LJW
Colorado men's basketball coach Tad Boyle didn't waste time sharing his feelings following his team's 90-54 loss to Kansas University on Saturday.
"That was an old-fashioned (butt)-whipping right there. That's what that was," Boyle said in the first words of his postgame news conference. "There's no other way to put it. No excuses. Kansas just came out and manhandled us from start to finish. There wasn't a lot we could do about it."
CU posted season lows in points (54) and also field-goal shooting (37 percent) against an amped-up Jayhawks defense.
"Kansas came out and just took our heart, and we didn't do anything about it," Boyle said. "It's disappointing."
LJW
Big Seven. Big Eight. Big 12.
Colorado basketball has finally evolved into a winner with the move west to the Pac-12.
Not to the point where the Buffs were ready to play their way out of a historical Phog against former conference rival Kansas.
The No. 9 Jayhawks delivered an old-school beating with a 90-54 victory over CU on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.
KU (7-1) scored 22 points off 12 turnovers in the first half, opened the second half with a deflating 9-0 run, and led by as many as 42 points while extending the Buffs' consecutive losing streak in Lawrence to 29 games.
CU head coach Tad Boyle, a former KU player, received a warm ovation from the crowd before the game.
There was nothing else to cheer about for the visitors.
Boulder Daily Camera
So when the dust settled on Kansas’ 90-54 bludgeoning of Colorado, the result did a little more than just prove that Kansas can still dominate an old friend. (The Jayhawks, though, have won 19 straight in the series.)
It also served as a possible template for what Kansas can be. When Young is bouncing around and creating havoc, and when freshman Ben McLemore is scoring, and when seniors Jeff Withey and Releford are defending their guts out, the Jayhawks, 7-1, can be a pretty dangerous team.
“Today was a step that shows them,” Self said, “that’s how we should play.”
...For now, the Jayhawks will have another week off for final exams before returning to the floor against Belmont next Saturday.
But for Young, that will be time well spent. He’s in his final season after just two years in Lawrence. But sometimes, like after Saturday’s game, he’ll sit back and think about how strange it’s been — to go from a mid-major school to starting in Allen Fieldhouse on days like this.
“It’s crazy just the way it happened,” Young said. “I would have never thought that I was gonna go from Loyola, to sitting out, to coming to play in one of the best venues in the world.
“I constantly look back and see how grateful I am, so it just makes me work.”
KC Star
Do the Jayhawks deserve a Top Ten ranking? Unquestionably, said Dinwiddie: "They're Top Ten for a reason - a good program with good players. I'm taking nothing away from them."
How could he? The Jayhawks' 36-point win simply wouldn't allow it.
cubuffs.com
Typically, when KU is in the final few minutes of a blowout at home, the crowd at Allen Fieldhouse comes to a lull.
Typically, Tyler Self doesn’t score.
With just a few seconds left the crowd at Allen Fieldhouse began humming. With 1.7 seconds left, it came to a roar.
Tyler Self had come down the court with some momentum and was able to finish off a contested layup to score the Jayhawks’ final two points.
Bill Self joked after the game when talking about his son’s points before getting a bit more serious on the subject. Still, he had a smile on his face the whole time he was talking about his son.
“I thought it was great,” Self said. “His mother will probably be nicer to me.”
TCJ
“If you’re going to play basketball in college, there’s no better setting than playing a Saturday afternoon game in Allen Fieldhouse, with the light shining through the windows,” Self said. “To me it’s about as cool and unique as any place that you could possibly play a game.”
UDK
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