TUESDAY

KUAD Photos

UDK Photos

KC Star Photos

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KUAD Box Score, Recap, Quotes, Notes

LJW Video and Audio pressers and post-game interviews

“We made some bad shots in the first half and then didn’t make any shots,” coach Bill Self said.  “There’s going to be some nights this year we don’t play good. We can still win, If you defend and rebound.”

McLemore finished the night with one-fourth of the Jayhawks rebounds. Self said he expects guards to grab rebounds when the defense is holding teams to low shooting percentages.

“Coach stresses to crash the boards a lot,” McLemore said. “I’m focused on boxing my man out and crashing the boards to help my team out. It’s my job so that’s what I have to do.”
UDK


You can probably be safe in assuming that Kansas coach Bill Self didn’t plan on using three timeouts in the first 10 minutes of the second half on Monday night. But here he was, upset and aggravated, as Kansas struggled to put away a pesky Washburn squad in the second half. So here was another timeout. Another 30 seconds of yelling and coaching.

“Our offense was just miserable,” Self would say afterward.

And you can also be safe in assuming that Self probably wasn’t pleased when KU emerged from that third timeout with two turnovers in two possessions. So, no, this wasn’t a perfectly scripted tuneup as No. 7 Kansas enters its regular-season opener against Southeast Missouri State on Friday night at Allen Fieldhouse.

Kansas was never quite able to bury Washburn, instead settling for a comfortable 62-50 victory over a Division II team that is favored to win the MIAA this season.

But from another perspective, this looked a lot like November basketball. And in this way, Self had plenty of opportunities to hammer on a few key points.

…On Monday, the first half was a pretty good sketch of a sluggish team working on its chemistry. The Jayhawks committed 11 turnovers and settled for 13 three-pointers.

“I feel like everybody’s just feeling like they gotta make a home run,” Johnson said. “And with that being said, there’s no chemistry out there.”

And early, KU relied on two new faces. Freshman Perry Ellis came off the bench and helped turn a 10-5 deficit into a 19-13 lead. And McLemore drained three early three-pointers while Jayhawks took a 36-24 lead into halftime.

That, obviously, did not sit well with Self. For most of the last month, Self has said that KU’s seniors — Withey, Johnson, Releford — will need to pull the Jayhawks’ freshman along.

“The seniors,” Self said. “What did Jeff and Travis and Elijah do to really help the young guys change it? So it’s not the young guys’ responsibility to go out and change it. It’s the veterans’ responsibility to drag the young guys along, and there was none of that tonight.”
KC Star


“We played like little babies tonight,” Self said during his post-game radio interview after an unsightly 62-50 exhibition victory against Washburn University, a very good Division II basketball team.

Who knows what Self might have said if not for FCC regulations. (Consult the late comedian George Carlin’s signature routine for hints.)

If you see Elijah Johnson, remind him that without him, Kansas gets bounced from the NCAA Tournament by Purdue after Tyshawn Taylor cramps up. Let Jeff Withey know he holds the record with 31 blocked shots in a single NCAA tournament.

Let Travis Releford know that you know he scored 28 points against Oklahoma a year ago.

Tell Perry Ellis that although his 10 points, five rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals came in handy, it was his coast-to-coast ball-handling punctuated by an and-one, left-handed layup, and when double-teamed, his back-to-the-basket feed of Jeff Withey for a dunk that really caught your attention.

Inform Ben McLemore that when he scored 13 of his 17 points, took a charge and picked up a steal in a stretch of 5:22 late in the first half, things happening on the court didn’t make you want to retch.
LJW Keegan


"We'll take it," said a smiling Chipman moments after publicly thanking two of his top players for playing so hard.

Despite shooting just 26 percent for the game, the Ichabods, ranked second in the preseason Div. II college basketball polls, forced 24 Kansas turnovers — 18 off of WU steals — battled to within one rebound of tying the Jayhawks on the glass and used a scrappy defense and unrelenting offensive attack to force a long night for the home team and a happy bus ride home for the visitors.

"It's kind of what you want 'em to do as a coach," Chipman said of the way Monday's game unfolded. " ... They missed some free throws. That kind of helped us. Still, our guys just fought 'em. They just weren't gonna give up any easy ones."
LJW


How “miserable” was it?

The 62 points were by far the fewest points scored by the Jayhawks in a home exhibition contest in school history.

Previous low was 73 points in a 73-47 victory over Pittsburg State on Nov. 14, 2005. It also was KU’s closest home exhibition victory since a 79-70 victory over an equally pesky Washburn squad on Nov. 14, 2004.

“We are going to be a team that plays in spurts, and we’re going to be a team that labors to score. We just are,” Self said. “We didn’t execute, and our senior leadership was non-existent.”

He had plenty more to say following a game in which KU committed 24 turnovers to Washburn’s 18.

“Most of it is just pure softness,” Self said, pointing out only one positive — a defense that held Washburn to 25.8 percent shooting. “Not meeting the pass, just so soft with the ball. You can go down the list of things we didn’t do. Not very often do you have a collective game where everybody plays poor individually. ... We moped around a little bit. We have to have better senior leadership without question.”
LJW


Kansas University senior forward Kevin Young, who suffered a broken bone in his right hand on Oct. 25, took part in shooting drills on Monday.

“We hope to get him back at practice on Saturday,” coach Bill Self said after KU’s 62-50 victory over Washburn in Allen Fieldhouse.
LJW

Rob Riggle is everywhere!


Champions Classic: KU vs Michigan State


Kansas 2012-13 MBB Schedule


Kansas 2012-13 WBB Schedule

Big 12/College News

Big 12 Composite Schedule


Eight teams will wear camp jerseys


ESPN announces BBall commentators


USA Today Final Four picks


Marquette sophomore guard Todd Mayo has been declared academically ineligible.

Coach Buzz Williams announced Monday that Mayo is unable to practice or play indefinitely.
AP


ESPN Tip-Off Marathon schedule


2012-13 Early Season Events List

Recruiting

USA Today preseason HS All Americans


Dakari Johnson, one of the best high school big men in America regardless of class, has reclassified to 2013 from 2014.

The 6-foot-10 Johnson is one of several high-profile players to move from 2014 to 2013, following 6-8 Huntington (W.V.) Prep small forward Andrew Wiggins, who remains uncommitted; 6-4 wing Wayne Selden of The Tilton (N.H.) School, who committed to Kansas; and Noah Vonleh, a 6-9  power forward from New Hampton (N.H.), who will visit Indiana this weekend.

Syracuse, Kentucky and Georgetown have been involved with Johnson dating to his time at Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick High School. At one point in 2011, he told SNY.tv that “Syracuse is recruiting me the hardest right now.”

Still, Johnson’s mother, Makini Campbell, told SNY.tv this summer that Kansas, Florida, Louisville, Ohio State and Stanford were also involved.
Zags Blog


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