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Saturday, November 10, 2007

KU basketball notebook

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Jackson hits career-high 21 points

The Jayhawks swept the Lousiana-Monroe Warhawks tonight at Allen Fieldhouse, 107-78.

KU takes on ULM tonight

A year ago, the Kansas basketball team opened the season by ripping Northern Arizona and then falling to Oral Roberts. Tonight the '07-'08 season begins against Louisiana Monroe.

Useless fieldhouse trivia with DJ

Kevin and DJ face off in a game of useless fieldhouse trivia.

Audio clips

2007-08 Nov. 9 KU-ULM Basketball

Photo Gallery

KU vs. ULM

KU vs. ULM

Kansas University coach Bill Self was unhappy with his squad's defense, to say the least. Louisiana-Monroe hit 51 percent of its shots in becoming the third team in the last 75 games to hit 50 percent or better against the Jayhawks.

"Our transition defense was brutal," Self said. "Their guards torched us. It was a good thing Hooper (Tony, 19 points) got in foul trouble because he was scoring at will. Our guys did so much running - running downhill on offense and uphill on defense. I never knew the court was tilted that way."

¢He didn't call 'bank': Darrell Arthur banked in a three-pointer off a pass from Mario Chalmers to close the first half and give KU a 50-35 lead.

"I shot it out of desperation," Arthur said. "The play was set up for him (Chalmers) to shoot it. He got double teamed so I was open."

¢Debuts: Freshman guard Tyrel Reed had 11 points in 11 minutes. His three 3-pointers in four tries are most by a KU freshman in a debut since the inception of the 3-point line in the 1986-87 season.

"I was not too nervous tonight," Burlington native Reed said. "I always dreamed of playing on this court. I had no expectations of how I'd do, how many shots I'd make. That doesn't matter. All that matters is we won."

Freshman Cole Aldrich had six points and six boards in 10 minutes.

"Cole asked me this morning, 'Are you nervous D-Block?''' Darnell Jackson said. "I said, 'No.' I told him, 'Relax, you'll be fine.' He played well.'''

¢Rush update: KU coach Self said Brandon Rush won't play Sunday against UMKC. However, Rush, who had right ACL surgery on June 1, is practicing full-go, which means he plays in scrimmages every day.

"He's doing everything," Self said. "He's not as active rebounding the ball. When he doesn't look good, it's not his knee, but timing. His timing is off. His knee and quickness look good to me."

¢One extra chest bump: Jackson, who pounds his chest three times after made free throws (one for his mom, one for his grandmother, one for friend Don Davis), pounded his chest four times Friday night.

"I did it an extra time after my last free throw. It was for a friend. I told a friend I was going to do it," Jackson said.

Jackson wasn't willing to divulge any further information.

"C'mon," Jackson said.

¢Notables: Rodrick Stewart had a career-high eight assists. His previous high was five against Washington as a freshman at Southern Cal. : Cody Larson, a 6-7, 190-pound sophomore forward from Sioux Falls, S.D., attended on an unofficial visit. : KU has scored 100 or more points four times in Self's five years. : KU went on an 12-0 run to up a 58-43 lead to 70-43 after standout Hooper picked up his fourth foul. : A fan displayed a sign that said: 'Pay Heed, Top Five,' referring to KU being ranked in the top five in both football and basketball. : Sasha Kaun hit four of six shots and had eight points with five boards, but just two points and one board the first half. "Sasha had a couple of opportunities to help us blow the game open. He fumbled some balls. We've got to get Sasha playing better around the basket," Self said.

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Comments

KU_Kiwi (anonymous) says...

Something not commenting on is that KU shot 15-19 from the free throw line, a respectable 79%.

November 10, 2007 at 11:04 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Yahweh (anonymous) says...

Great to see some of the guys who aren't the "usual suspects" step up big in this game. Hats should be off to Darnell and Hot Rod. Roderick looks like a whole new beast this year. Those boxing sessions may have paid off.

November 10, 2007 at 11:42 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

lrahardja (anonymous) says...

This year, Rodrick with his energy and strength can blanket on smaller opponent's main scoring threat. Darnell with his enormous effort and energy, can help tie loose ends during transitioning and provides that second opportunity. Cole shows he can dominate the board, and provides the much needed solid interior defense. Tyrell Reed can provide that sure 3 points thread beyond the arc line.

Championships caliber team always depend on role players to complete the team. This is definitely a more complete team than last year's. Let's see if we can be as effective with higher caliber opponent.

November 10, 2007 at 1:20 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

ralsterKUMed95 (anonymous) says...

Very, very early, and how much can you really expect out of freshmen (except Oden and Durant), BUT, Cole looks good enough to be in the rotation and give us Sasha-like productivity (at least), Tyrel Reed looks comfortable, but he's just proving its in his blood...and we kinda figured Darnell would be solid this year, and its now or never for Rodrick, and Im happy he is contributing significantly in a 'RussRob' kind of way. ku-land take notice: 79% ft!! Lets see where the team takes this percentage this year....And it would appear, that after losing Ju, we may get meaningful minutes from Cole, Tyrel, and Rodrick: Coach can pick and choose the versatility he wants or needs in a given situation.
SO, 4 bigs in a real effective rotation, A-rated guard play in ALL facets, and hopefully stellar defense like last season, and this year's version of Acie Law goto guy(Rush, we hope..), and a team that plays TEAM ball, and we show the world the best in college basketball is right
here at KU. Self's gotta be licking his chops, gotta be--along with the rest of us. Im more stoked than last year!

November 10, 2007 at 2:14 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Lebowski (anonymous) says...

I still agree with you ralster. :) There's a lot to be optimistic about. This team is going to score a buttload of points this year, and I totally agree with the announcers that the steal record is in major jeopardy.

The one thing that concerns me most this year (about the loss of Julian) is rebounding. I think BOTH Sasha and Darnell look ready to pick up a lot of the slack there. And I wasn't sold at first, but I'm really starting to believe a lot in Rodrick. I mean 8 assists in his limited role while having the potential to be a major contributor on the glass is priceless. I don't like comparing freshmen to past players... but there's something about Reed. It's not even the shots he's making, it's just how he plays. Once his defense catches up, he's going to be a great one.

November 11, 2007 at 12:02 p.m. ( | suggest removal )