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KUAD Box Score, Recap, Quotes, Notes, Video
LJW Video and Audio pressers and post-game interviews
ESPN Recap, Video
ESPN Photos
UDK Photos
KC Star Photos
LJW Photos
KUAD Photos
TCJ Photos
There is an art to the blocked shot. It takes timing, athleticism and the sort of length that can only be ascertained from life’s genetic lottery.
Kansas’ Jeff Withey possesses all three of these gifts, of course. And if you ask him what makes him such a great shot-blocker, he may bring up his days as a stud volleyball player on the beaches of San Diego. Mostly, though, it’s a feel thing. And how can you explain that?
It’s better to witness it, to watch Withey set up shop in front of the rim and spend the night sending shots back the other way. It was easy to do on Monday night, when Withey recorded a KU single-game record with 12 blocked shots in a 70-57 victory over San Jose State at Allen Fieldhouse.
“Pretty stoked,” Withey said.
Withey’s performance was so dominating — he recorded just the second official triple-double in Kansas history — that it was easy to lose sight of the big picture: The Jayhawks were downright lackluster down the stretch while nearly coughing up a 60-36 lead midway through the second half.
“He won the game for us single-handedly,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.
KC Star
Withey scored six of the Jayhawks' next eight points as the lead slowly grew, and the crowd at Allen Fieldhouse began to realize that he was making history. He surpassed the 10-rebound mark midway through the second half before getting his 10th block to mark the triple-double.
"Most of the time -- I'm guilty of it, too -- we get caught standing around watching Jeff, like a fan or something, and that's when we need to snap back to it," Johnson said. "Jeff saved us a lot of times. There were times I caught myself looking instead of playing."
Unofficially, it was Withey's second time reaching the milestone.
The senior had 18 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocks against Pittsburg State in an exhibition game last season, when All-America forward Thomas Robinson missed the game due to injury.
AP
Withey stretched out his arm as if he were reaching over a volleyball net to stop a spike, something he did many times while playing volleyball growing up in California. His forearm met Jones’ shot with a distinctive thud.
The thud gave Withey his tenth block of the night and recorded his first career triple-double. This was the second time any Kansas player accomplished this feat.
“I’ve been wanting that for a while now and only me and Cole that have it, so it’s pretty special to me,” Withey said.
UDK
At one point during San Jose State senior James Kinney's 30-point explosion at Allen Fieldhouse on Monday, the hot-shooting guard and Kansas University coach Bill Self enjoyed a fun-filled exchange of words.
"It wasn't trash talk at all," said Kinney, a 6-foot-2-inch guard from Champaign, Ill., who provided most of the offense for the visitors during a 70-57 KU victory. "I'm familiar with coach Self because he coached at Illinois, but there wasn't any trash talk. It was all just friendly. It wasn't anything major. I'll always remember that. This is the most historic place I've ever played, and you remember moments like this."
LJW
Blocks, assists and steals were not recorded at KU until the 1970s and the NCAA until the 1980s. Research has shown Wilt Chamberlain had at least two unofficial triple-doubles and B.H. Born one.
Withey’s block total of 12 surpasses the old record of 10 blocks set by both Withey and Aldrich. Withey had 10 versus North Carolina State in last year’s NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in St. Louis. Aldrich had 10 in that aforementioned game against Dayton.
“I had no idea,” Withey said of his block total, which hit the 10 mark when he batted a Xavier Jones shot with about eight minutes left. “I knew I was getting up there. I didn’t know I had 12, that’s for sure. After the game, C.T., our media guy told me. I was pretty stoked,” Withey added of the news being delivered by Chris Theisen, in charge of basketball media relations.
LJW
Sometimes hearing bad news is good news. One such time occurred as Kansas University basketball coach Bill Self delivered a thumbs-down review of his basketball team’s offensive performance Monday night in a 70-57 victory against San Jose State in Allen Fieldhouse.
Self mentioned in passing that senior point guard Elijah Johnson was not at full strength.
“Elijah’s knee is nicked up,” Self said. “He has no juice, can’t get his shoulder past anybody.”
That bad news qualified as good news because it stands to reason that when Johnson’s knee gets better, so will his performance. When it does, no way Kansas goes 10-plus minutes without a field goal as it did during a second-half drought that turned a blowout into a game.
LJW
Kansas’ Jeff Withey possesses all three of these gifts, of course. And if you ask him what makes him such a great shot-blocker, he may bring up his days as a stud volleyball player on the beaches of San Diego. Mostly, though, it’s a feel thing. And how can you explain that?
It’s better to witness it, to watch Withey set up shop in front of the rim and spend the night sending shots back the other way. It was easy to do on Monday night, when Withey recorded a KU single-game record with 12 blocked shots in a 70-57 victory over San Jose State at Allen Fieldhouse.
“Pretty stoked,” Withey said.
Withey’s performance was so dominating — he recorded just the second official triple-double in Kansas history — that it was easy to lose sight of the big picture: The Jayhawks were downright lackluster down the stretch while nearly coughing up a 60-36 lead midway through the second half.
“He won the game for us single-handedly,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.
KC Star
Withey scored six of the Jayhawks' next eight points as the lead slowly grew, and the crowd at Allen Fieldhouse began to realize that he was making history. He surpassed the 10-rebound mark midway through the second half before getting his 10th block to mark the triple-double.
"Most of the time -- I'm guilty of it, too -- we get caught standing around watching Jeff, like a fan or something, and that's when we need to snap back to it," Johnson said. "Jeff saved us a lot of times. There were times I caught myself looking instead of playing."
Unofficially, it was Withey's second time reaching the milestone.
The senior had 18 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocks against Pittsburg State in an exhibition game last season, when All-America forward Thomas Robinson missed the game due to injury.
AP
Withey stretched out his arm as if he were reaching over a volleyball net to stop a spike, something he did many times while playing volleyball growing up in California. His forearm met Jones’ shot with a distinctive thud.
The thud gave Withey his tenth block of the night and recorded his first career triple-double. This was the second time any Kansas player accomplished this feat.
“I’ve been wanting that for a while now and only me and Cole that have it, so it’s pretty special to me,” Withey said.
UDK
At one point during San Jose State senior James Kinney's 30-point explosion at Allen Fieldhouse on Monday, the hot-shooting guard and Kansas University coach Bill Self enjoyed a fun-filled exchange of words.
"It wasn't trash talk at all," said Kinney, a 6-foot-2-inch guard from Champaign, Ill., who provided most of the offense for the visitors during a 70-57 KU victory. "I'm familiar with coach Self because he coached at Illinois, but there wasn't any trash talk. It was all just friendly. It wasn't anything major. I'll always remember that. This is the most historic place I've ever played, and you remember moments like this."
LJW
Blocks, assists and steals were not recorded at KU until the 1970s and the NCAA until the 1980s. Research has shown Wilt Chamberlain had at least two unofficial triple-doubles and B.H. Born one.
Withey’s block total of 12 surpasses the old record of 10 blocks set by both Withey and Aldrich. Withey had 10 versus North Carolina State in last year’s NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in St. Louis. Aldrich had 10 in that aforementioned game against Dayton.
“I had no idea,” Withey said of his block total, which hit the 10 mark when he batted a Xavier Jones shot with about eight minutes left. “I knew I was getting up there. I didn’t know I had 12, that’s for sure. After the game, C.T., our media guy told me. I was pretty stoked,” Withey added of the news being delivered by Chris Theisen, in charge of basketball media relations.
LJW
Sometimes hearing bad news is good news. One such time occurred as Kansas University basketball coach Bill Self delivered a thumbs-down review of his basketball team’s offensive performance Monday night in a 70-57 victory against San Jose State in Allen Fieldhouse.
Self mentioned in passing that senior point guard Elijah Johnson was not at full strength.
“Elijah’s knee is nicked up,” Self said. “He has no juice, can’t get his shoulder past anybody.”
That bad news qualified as good news because it stands to reason that when Johnson’s knee gets better, so will his performance. When it does, no way Kansas goes 10-plus minutes without a field goal as it did during a second-half drought that turned a blowout into a game.
LJW
KU’s Elijah Johnson was whistled for a technical foul along with San Jose State’s La Vanne Pennington in the second half. The two barked at each other after Xavier Jones was called for an intentional foul on a breakaway by KU’s Andrew White.
“I felt that was dangerous for him to grab Drew like that,” Johnson said. “I asked him, ‘Can he watch those kind of plays with my teammate?’ The referee felt it was more a hostile conversation.”
Self was upset that a point guard received a technical for standing up for a teammate, not a big man.
“That’s the first thing I said (to team), ‘Why are you letting him (Johnson) do that? I mean that’s ridiculous,’’’ Self said. “We haven’t had teams here in the past act that way, ever. It should have been a big guy go get it. C’mon, if you are going to say something to somebody it shouldn’t be your point guard doing it, it is one of your enforcers. So our point guard did it.”
LJW
“Has anybody ever gone 10 minutes in the fieldhouse without making a field goal when you’re up 24?’’ Self asked, disgustedly. “I don’t know if it has ever happened. We were just awful. That was certainly beyond discouraging on how we played during that stretch.’’
TCJ
"I've seen bad offense before, third- and fourth-grade YMCA basketball with no good ball reversal and bad handling," coach Bill Self said. "Our offense surpassed that tonight for the last 12 minutes of the game."
The Jayhawks tacked on a gratuity dunk from Ben McLemore in the closing seconds, but the final score didn’t represent KU’s second-half frustration. After going ahead 60-36, the Jayhawks committed seven turnovers and went 2-for-12 from the field over the final 11:45.
TCJ
Freshman forward Zach Peters is leaving the Kansas basketball program at the end of the fall semester, coach Bill Self announced Monday.
Self said that Peters, a 6-foot-9 forward, was battling lingering health issues and decided he needed to return home to Plano, Texas, to address his health before he mapped out the rest of his college career. Peters had dealt with a nagging shoulder issue, but Self also said Peters had suffered multiple concussions — including two since he arrived at Kansas.
“I hate that this is happening,” said Peters, who added that he needed to return home to heal. “I have really enjoyed my time at KU.”
According to Self, Peters has been diagnosed with four concussions since the beginning of his senior year of high school. He suffered one last summer after arriving in Lawrence and another in September. Peters, who was also a standout football player in high school, is still deciding whether he wants to continue to play sports. Self added that if Peters were his son, he’d probably suggest the same thing.
“He wants to move in a different direction,” Self said.
KC Star
“I really like all my teammates. This was the best situation I could have put myself in to excel in basketball,” he added. “I want to say thank you to KU, the coaches, staff, teammates and fans that have supported me. I wish it didn’t have to end up like this, but it's important for me to do so for my future. I plan on continuing to take classes while I'm home but I will not be playing sports in the near future.”
LJW
Kansas senior guard Travis Releford has been selected as the men’s basketball Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week for games from Nov. 19-25. The weekly honor is voted on by a media panel which covers the conference.
Releford led No. 12/11 Kansas to wins over Washington State (78-41) and Saint Louis (73-59) en route to the championship of the CBE Hall of Fame Classic at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. A 6-foot-6, 210-pound from Kansas City, Mo., Releford averaged 20.0 points and shot 65.0 percent from the field before being named the CBE Classic Most Valuable Player. He also connected on 60.0 percent from three-point range while making 8-of-9 (.889) from the free throw line. Releford is third for the Jayhawks in scoring this season with 11.8 points per game.
It is the second career Big 12 Player of the Week honor for Releford, who received the honor last January. It is the first league weekly accolade for KU this season.
Link
Big 12/College News
First of all, lest you thought the Bruins' drop from No. 11 to outside the top 25 is the steepest in poll history, rest assured, it is not. According to ESPN Stats and Information's Jeremy Lundblad, Missouri's fall from No. 9 in 2011 was higher -- the only decline steep enough to eclipse the Bruins.
ESPN
ACC/Big 10 Challenge schedule
2012-13 Early Season Events List
Big 12 Composite Schedule
Recruiting
Julius Randle will be sidelined for the next three months with a fractured right foot, according to his mother Carolyn Kyles.
Randle, a senior forward at Prestonwood Christian (Plano, Texas) and a preseason American Family Insurance ALL-USA selection, suffered the injury in the first half of the Lions’ game against Duncanville (Duncanville, Texas) at the Thanksgiving Hoopfest on Nov. 24. Prestonwood, which is ranked No. 14 in the Super 25, was up 10 when Randle left with the injury. They ended up falling 58-48.
Randle, who is ranked No. 2 in the Rivals150, will undergo surgery Tuesday afternoon.
...“He’ll be ready for the postseason all-star games if not sooner,” Webster said. “It’s all a part of the game. These things happen. Now the hard work begins, and it’s a challenge for him. The doctor says three months, but he’s the type of player that will work hard to be ready before that. We’re not rushing anything, but we’ve got work to do.”
Kyles said she's ready to help Randle return to the court.
“We're doing this story now and then we’re shutting things down," added Kyles. "We’re not doing interviews or anything like that. We’re just 100 percent focused on the task at hand.”
USA Today
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