KU AD: Recap, box score, stats, photos
Both teams played much better Wednesday than they did Tuesday. The Swiss were making almost every jump shot between 15 and 18 feet and ended up making 21 of 33 two-pointers (64 percent).
Also, KU won despite an unfavorable whistle. Switzerland made 25 of 38 free throws, while the Jayhawks made 12 of 19. The discrepancy was worse in the first half, when the Swiss shot 20 free throws compared to KU’s four.
The officiating was better after halftime. The Jayhawks were definitely getting a tight whistle early, but in the second half, I don’t think the officiating impacted the game much for either team.
Here are my observations of the 15 players that checked in:
LJW
Elijah Johnson believes Kansas University’s come-from-behind, 83-79 victory over the Swiss national team Wednesday had greater significance than an early August exhibition game.
Instead, it was more like an introductory course for KU’s eight newcomers on how the Jayhawks play.
“Now the team knows that it doesn’t matter if we’re all the way in Switzerland or in the Final Four. We’ve always got a chance to come back,” Johnson said. “I want to show these young guys that that’s what we do here no matter what.
“It’s a time we just clench in, and nobody knows what’s going to happen but Kansas.”
…After senior point guard Johnson missed two free throws, Young started to “play Superman” according to Johnson, grabbing an offensive board and putting it in for two.
About a minute later, he grabbed another Johnson miss before putting in a stickback to tie the score with 30 seconds left.
“I knew he was going to come through in the fourth quarter,” KU freshman Andrew White said, “just because the guys that play the hardest, usually something good happens.”
Young gave KU the lead for good thanks to his knowledge of the game.
KU’s Jeff Withey blocked a Swiss shot with 20 seconds left, and as he caught the block, the shot clock expired.
While most players stood around to wait for the shot-clock violation, Young knew from his previous experience with international play that if the offense possesses the ball when the shot clock goes off, no violation is called.
“So I started taking off. I beat everybody down the court,” Young said. “Jeff was still holding the ball, so I looked back to see what was going on.”
After a few seconds, Withey passed ahead to Travis Releford, who threw it to Young for a slam that put KU up, 81-79, with 13 seconds left.
Young screamed out his satisfaction following the dunk, one that resulted in Swiss coach Sébastian Roduit kicking a black barrier by his bench in frustration.
“Young made all the plays down the stretch,” Self said. “He drives me nuts because he does things all the time that bother me. Then when the game’s on the line, he usually comes up with some extra possessions and some key plays. That was certainly the case (Wednesday).”
…KU, which improved to 2-0 on the exhibition trip, will play AMW Team France at 1 p.m. CDT, Saturday in Paris.
LJW
Kansas University red-shirt freshman Ben McLemore started but played just five minutes in Wednesday’s game because of a nagging injury.
The guard tweaked his groin on Saturday during KU’s last pre-European tourpractice in Lawrence.
“He wants to play,” KU coach Bill Self said. “He needs this more than maybe anybody on our team, and it doesn’t look like he’s going to get to have it.”
McLemore played 16 minutes in KU’s first game against Switzerland on Tuesday.
“He’s been trying to play, but I don’t think he’s going to be able to get out there much,” Self said. “We’ll give it another try in Paris (on Saturday) and see what happens.”
LJW
Switzerland - Kansas Jayhawks
79-83 (19-22, 22-18, 19-20, 19-23)
Halle Saint Leonard:
300 viewers
Swiss markers: Kazadi (6), Louissaint (6), Mladjan (11), Petkovic (7), D. Ramseier (22), Stokalper (9), Kovac (0), Albrecht (0), Dubas (14), Ramseier F. (0), Dos Santos (4)
Formed: Vogt, Buscaglia and Brunner. Switzerland tilts in the final minutes after a tight encounter of the first to the last minute. The protected Sebastien Roduit were left behind in the last possessions.
Swiss Basketball (translation)
Rivals JayhawkSlant members at games share their observations ($)
If there’s one thing we should take away from last season, it’s not to underestimate what Bill Self can do with an underrated collection of players at Kansas.
After a run to the national title game behind Thomas Robinson, Robinson and point guard Tyshawn Taylor have moved to the NBA, taking the Jayhawks’ two biggest pieces from last season out of Lawrence.
But don’t discount them. The pieces are coming together again with freshmen Anrio Adams and Milton Doyle cleared to play and Ben McLemore eligible after not qualifying to play in the 2011-12 season.
On Tuesday, Kansas beat the Swiss National Team in an exhibition in Fribourg, Switzerland, thanks to a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds from center Jeff Withey.
It was Withey’s offensive rebound and putback with 4.1 seconds that helped the Jayhawks to a win yesterday, the 40th straight exhibition win for Kansas, including 26 in a row under Self.
NBC Sports
“GameDay” will come to KU on Feb. 16 before the Jayhawks’ 8 p.m. game vs. Texas. This marks the show’s fifth visit to KU, which would be the most of any program, and the eighth time KU has appeared overall.
The others:
2005: At Kansas 90, Texas 65
2006: At Texas 80, Kansas 55
2007: Texas A&M 69, at Kansas 66
2008: At Kansas 88, Kansas State 74
2010: Kansas 81, at Kansas State 79, OT
2011: At Kansas 90, Kansas State 66
2012: At Missouri 74, Kansas 71
KC Star
“This is great news,” Self said. “(ESPN) GameDay is a great way to showcase the best place in college basketball in Allen Fieldhouse and our program. Besides Allen (Fieldhouse), one of the reasons they keep coming back is our fans have rolled out every time we host.”
LJW
Former Kansas men’s basketball player Sasha Kaun played seven minutes and scored two points in Russia’s quarterfinal victory over Lithuania Wednesday morning at the Olympic Games. The win propels the Russian’s into the semifinal round where they will face Spain Friday for a trip to the Gold medal game.
Against Lithuania, Kaun, who played at Kansas from 2005-08 and was a key reserve on KU’s 2008 NCAA National Championship team, started and played a tournament-low seven minutes, scoring two points on 1-of-2 shooting. The Tomsk, Russia, native also pulled down two rebounds for the game. The Russians won the contest 83-74 with the help of Tomfey Mozgov and Andre Kirilenko who combined for 36 points.
KU AD
More than two-thirds of Kansas women’s basketball games in 2012-13 will be against teams which made a postseason appearance last year, including defending national champion Baylor. In all, the Jayhawks will play 21 contests versus teams that advanced to the postseason a year ago.
Kansas, which finished 21-13 in 2011-12 and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the third time in program history, will play 15 of its 27 games in historic Allen Fieldhouse beginning with the Jayhawks’ season-opener versus Idaho State on Sunday, Nov. 11.
KU’s non-conference home slate is highlighted by matchups with four schools from BCS conferences and three road games against schools that were NCAA tournament teams a year ago; Creighton (Nov. 25), Arkansas (Dec. 6) and California (Dec. 21).
KU WBB releases schedule
VOTE for KU
Kansas 2012-13 Schedule
Big 12/College News
After several months of preparation and 10 team practices, the Kansas State men’s basketball team began its long-awaited 10-day trip to Brazil on Wednesday morning.
The 15-member squad and travel party left Manhattan, Kan., for the Kansas City airport for a flight to Atlanta, where they will begin a 10-hour flight to Sao Paulo, Brazil on Wednesday evening. The group is expected to arrive in Brazil on Thursday mid-morning.
…K-State will play its first game on Friday against Sao Jose Dos Campos at 3:30 p.m. CT before tilts with Mogi Das Cruzes Club team at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday and Pingdamonhangaba Club team at 9 a.m. CT on Sunday. Upon moving to Rio de Janeiro, the squad will play Tijuca Club team at 4 p.m. CT on Monday, August 13 and Botafogo Club team at 4 p.m. CT on Wednesday, August 15.
WIBW
The Missouri men's basketball team is heading to Europe for a five-game exhibition tour.
The Tigers were leaving Wednesday to spend 10 days playing teams in Holland, Belgium and France. NCAA rules allow Division I teams to take preseason foreign tours once every four years.
Missouri returns just three players from a team that finished 30-5 and won the Big 12 Conference tournament title before losing to 15th-seeded Norfolk State in the NCAA tournament.
Two of those returning players - forward Laurence Bowers and point guard Phil Pressey - won't play in Europe while recovering from injuries.
Second-year head coach Frank Haith hopes the trip will help a team with five transfers and four freshmen gain game experience.
A sixth transfer, Jordan Clarkson, will sit out the 2012-13 season after leaving Tulsa.
AP
Kyle O’Quinn spent all of about 15 minutes in the national consciousness during his time as a college basketball player.
He’s a product of Norfolk State, which is a program that maybe half of the nation’s college basketball fans would be able to identify as a Division I school. But that number was much, much lower prior to March, when O’Quinn went for 26 points and 14 boards as he lead the Spartans to a win over No. 2 seed Missouri in the first round of the NCAA tournament. (I can guarantee that there won’t be a soul in the state of Kansas that forgets about Norfolk State for at least a decade.)
O’Quinn eventually got drafted in the second round of the 2012 draft by the Orlando Magic, becoming an inspiring story in the process. Eight years ago, he was just another 5-foot-11 freshman in Queens, NY. Even as he grew into his now 6-foot-10 frame, O’Quinn wasn’t much of a hoops phenom; he only played a single season of high school ball.
And now?
O’Quinn’s officially an NBA player. He signed a three-year, $2.5 million contract with the Magic on Wednesday night.
Think about that. He had as many contract offers when leaving college as he did scholarship offers when leaving high school.
NBC Sports
CBSSports.com recently surveyed nearly 100 college coaches, getting their thoughts on some of college basketball’s current issues. One question asked was, “Who is the most overrated coach in the country?”
The coaches spoke—anonymously, of course—and North Carolina’s Roy Williams took home the crown, receiving 23 percent of the vote, followed by Texas’ Rick Barnes, who received 17 percent of the vote.
Here is the complete breakdown of the poll, followed by some quotes, all courtesy of CBSSports.com:
1. Roy Williams (North Carolina): 23 percent
2. Rick Barnes (Texas): 17 percent
3. Scott Drew (Baylor): 11 percent
4. Steve Lavin (St. John’s): 9 percent
5. Jay Wright (Villanova): 6 percent
6. Ben Howland (UCLA): 6 percent
7. Jim Boeheim (Syracuse): 4 percent
8. Tommy Amaker (Harvard): 4 percent
On Roy Williams: “He’s won at Kansas and UNC. But who couldn’t do that … besides Matt Doherty?”
On Rick Barnes: “There’s just no bang for the buck, is there? All that talent, so much in there every year — and nothing to show for it.”
On Scott Drew: “If Bill Self had his talent the past three years, they’re winning the national championship at least once.”
CBS
The University of North Carolina has essentially admitted that dozens of courses taught by African-American studies professor Julius Nyang'oro were, to use non-academic parlance, baloney.
The school has not argued that athletes made up a high percentage of the students enrolled in those baloney courses.
Going a step further, a report engineered by a faculty committee concluded -- though not yet fully endorsed by the university -- that academic counselors assigned to specific teams perhaps pushed athletes to those baloney classes.
And the NCAA apparently has no jurisdiction in this matter.
Which is why, dear folks in Indianapolis, people just don't get you sometimes.
It would seem to the layman that the intersection of athletics and academic dishonesty is exactly the right spot for the NCAA to step in.
Except, as of right now, there is no indication that the NCAA will revisit or re-examine the penalties it has already inflicted on UNC and its football team for violations related to improper benefits and academic misconduct involving a tutor.
The reason: The athletes did the baloney work in the baloney courses, and so long as the baloney courses weren't balonified solely for the benefit of athletes -- in other words, they were equal-opportunity baloney classes made available to everyone at North Carolina -- it's not an NCAA problem.
In NCAA parlance, they call it involving the athletic nexus.
In layman's terms, it's baloney.
ESPN
UC basketball coach Mick Cronin has been publicly reprimanded for misconduct during the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship.
Specifically, the Division I Men’s Basketball Committee said Cronin used profane and abusive language towards a game official following Cincinnati’s regional semifinal contest against The Ohio State University. As a result, the committee decided to issue a public reprimand to Cronin.
Link
The Minnesota Supreme Court overturned a $1 million award against the University of Minnesota and men's basketball coach Tubby Smith on Wednesday, ruling that although they treated a prospective assistant coach unfairly, they couldn't be held financially responsible for backing out of a job offer that Smith lacked the authority to make.
Link
ESPN Tip-Off Marathon schedule
2012-13 Early Season Events List
Recruiting
It's difficult to know how much Washington invested in its pursuit of Marcus Lee, a consensus four-star prospect as determined by the major recruiting services.
When Nigel Williams-Goss committed to the Huskies, he included Lee among a list of friends he was going to recruit to UW. However, many scouting analysts suggested several other schools had a longer, stronger relationship with the 6-9 center from Antioch, Calif.
His stock soared this summer and today Lee trimmed his list to seven schools: UCLA, California, Kentucky, Kansas, Louisville, Duke, and Indiana.
Jerry Meyer of 247Sports broke the news this morning via twitter.
Seattle Times
Check here for the 2012-13 NCAA Recruiting Calendar
My 2012 KU Alumni games, 2011-12 Border War, Legends of the Phog, KC Prep Invitational, & Jayhawk Invitational Videos and more now on Youtube
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