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KU vs. UMass

Kansas City, Mo. — The time has come for Kansas University junior guard Sherron Collins to make this his team. In order to accomplish that, Collins first must make this a team, not a collection of individuals.

Collins didn’t do that Saturday afternoon in the Sprint Center, where Kansas lost to UMass, 61-60, in front of 17,252 fans.

Too often, during a forgettable first half in which he made one of nine shots and misfired on all three three-point attempts, Collins responded to a UMass guard draining a three by trying to get all the points back immediately. It didn’t work. Not much did for Kansas, which is 6-0 in Allen Fieldhouse and 1-2 in the Sprint Center.

The freshmen played like freshmen, and all parties concerned said that was because they have practiced like freshmen, which is why they sat for long stretches. Bill Self made his feelings known about that in the loudest way a coach can, by playing less talented players in their place. The coach wasn’t as disappointed in the performance of Collins.

“He’s got to get where he trusts guys more,” Self said of Collins. “He’s out there trying, but he tried to do a little too much in some key moments. But he was at least out there, in my opinion, competing very hard.”

Collins always competes hard. Basketball is too important to him to do otherwise. It’s his ticket to a better life than he knew growing up on the wild side of Chicago.

His wisdom wasn’t razor-sharp with the ball in his hands, but his effort led to him holding quick, hot-shooting UMass guard Ricky Harris to four second-half points after he scored 14 in the first half.

Collins had just one turnover in 38 minutes, but also made just six of 21 shots, including one of seven three-pointers. His quickness and strength enable him to get a shot just about whenever he desires. In this one, that was more a curse than a blessing.

“I think I pressed a little bit,” he said. “I think I pressed too much.”

His tendency to fly solo too often is a correctable flaw. He’s a proven winner. He’ll figure it out. But will enough of his talented teammates pour as much effort into each possession for this team to develop into one that can win on the road in the Big 12 with any sort of regularity?

Projecting Collins to earn first-team All-Big 12 honors and to develop into a guard who does a better job of showing he believes in teammates isn’t difficult.

Guessing what sort of freshman season KU will get from Marcus Morris, no worse than the fourth-most talented player on the team (Collins, Cole Aldrich, Tyshawn Taylor), presents a greater challenge.

So far, learning to play basketball doesn’t look as important to Morris as to Collins. Starting Matt Kleinmann ahead of him once didn’t trigger intensity. Neither did benching him for the first 10:40 of Saturday’s second half, penalized with others for not following the scouting report. Such disciplinary acts didn’t prevent Marcus from, on consecutive possessions late in the second half, jacking up a three-pointer and fouling a shooter from 18 feet out in the shot clock’s last second.

Nobody said trusting teammates with that sort of judgment will come easily for Collins, but it’s the best path for him and the team to take in order to become a team.