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2008 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Kansas basketball notebook

By Gary Bedore

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2007-08 March 22 KU NCAA Day 4

KU Basketball

Stewart has tonsillitis: Kansas University senior Rodrick Stewart, who had complained of a sore throat Friday, was unable to attend Saturday's KU-UNLV game.

Saddled with a tonsillitis, Stewart watched the game at the Embassy Suites Hotel.

"He's at the hotel. We have him quarantined," KU coach Bill Self said. "He was sick yesterday morning. He said no way he could go today. He'll be fine in a couple of days."

Stewart and the Jayhawks' traveling party took two buses this week from Lawrence to Omaha. Stewart was to ride on the second bus back to Lawrence on Saturday night, so as to not infect any teammates.

KU sophomore Sherron Collins said he spoke with Stewart at the hotel right before leaving for the game.

"He's got a little bug, but he's pretty sick," Collins said. "I feel sorry he couldn't play today, but we told him we'd try to get the win and he'll be ready to go the next game."

¢ Collins 'OK': Collins wore a wrap on his bruised left knee during the game. He didn't score the first half, but finished with 10 points off 5-of-8 shooting.

"I don't think it took me a while to get going. I just played into their hands the first half," Collins said. "It's a little sore, but I'm OK."

Self said Collins is not 100 percent.

"He couldn't practice yesterday," Self said. "He couldn't move (on the court). The doctors talked to him today. They said, 'You bruised your knee again. You are fine.' His biggest basket may have been when we called time with five seconds on the shot clock.

"He comes back on the court and makes a play."

Collins headed into the paint and scored just ahead of the shot-clock-violation horn to give KU a 46-37 lead with 13:58 left.

What did Self tell Collins during the huddle?

"Just drive it," Self said.

¢ Mario's fall: Mario Chalmers landed hard on a drive to the goal late in the game.

"I landed on my wrist and banged my knee. I'm fine," Chalmers said.

Also, Darnell Jackson was whacked in the face during the game. Self said Jackson's only injury was his eyes watering for a moment.

¢ K-State's season over: Self was sorry to see K-State lose to Wisconsin in the first game on Saturday.

"I talked to Frank before the (KU) game," Self said of KSU coach Frank Martin. "Also Blake (Young), Michael (Beasley) and Clent (Stewart) to say, 'You had a great year, one they should be proud of.' I like Frank. He wished us the best."

¢ Stats, facts: KU improved to 33-3, matching last year's 33 wins. ... The Jayhawks have won nine straight games. ... KU has reached its 25th Sweet 16. KU has made the Sweet 16 six times in the last eight years dating to 2001. ... KU is 5-1 in NCAA games played in Nebraska. ... KU is 4-0 versus UNLV. ... Self improved to 138-32 at KU. ... Brandon Rush nailed two three-pointers to move his season total to 75, which ties his effort from last season for ninth place on the KU single-season list. The two treys increased his career total to 200 made threes and tied him with Terry Brown (1990-91) for fourth place on the KU career list. ... Chalmers has 1,285 points and ranks 26th on KU's all-time list. ... Chalmers has 85 steals this season. ... Rush fouled out for just the second time in his career.

Comments

jayhawkinatl (anonymous) says...

Please, please, please...nobody bump into Sherron's knee in practice this week!!!! How about no-contact for Sherron this week, coach???

March 23, 2008 at 7:20 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

palewhale (anonymous) says...

I thought for sure Chalmers shattered his nose on that fall. That would have been very bad...

March 23, 2008 at 8:20 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

skwahjayog (anonymous) says...

I'm a KU alum and huge Jayhawk fan living in central Michigan. Does anyone have ideas on how I can get tickets to the games in Detroit, as I would love to take my son to these games.

Go Hawks!!!!!

March 23, 2008 at 10:02 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

FlaHawk (anonymous) says...

Sherron is pretty injury prone. For a football guy, you got to wonder how he survived on the gridiron!

I can not see him lasting a NBA season of 82 games and then th e real season starts!

This may play to KU's favor in the draft!

March 23, 2008 at 10:03 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Sparko (anonymous) says...

Sherron plays tough. He is always making plays around the ball--that is why he appears "injury prone." The kid is for real.

March 23, 2008 at 11:22 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

actorman (anonymous) says...

"Chalmers has 1,285 points and ranks 26th on KU's all-time list."

I realize that this is ridiculously unimportant, but I'm a numbers guy and it's the type of thing I think about. Let's say KU wins the championship and Mario averages 15 points a game over the next four. That would give him a career total of 1,345 points. Then (assuming he comes back) if KU plays 40 games next year, Mario would only have to average about 16.5 points a game, on a team where he'll probably need to be a much bigger scorer, to get to 2,000. He'd be only the second player in KU history to get there.

Okay, now back to the important stuff of getting ready for Friday.

March 23, 2008 at 12:18 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

actorman (anonymous) says...

Whoops, I guess Collison and LaFrentz each had over 2,000, so Mario would be the fourth player to do it, not the second.

March 23, 2008 at 12:19 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

hawk_bred20 (anonymous) says...

It would still be pretty cool, though, for Chalmers to get to that mark.

March 23, 2008 at 12:31 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jhawkdan42 (anonymous) says...

Sherron, how about wearing a kneepad this week to protect that knee? We kneed your spark to bring home the championship!

March 23, 2008 at 4:44 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

ralsterKUMed95 (anonymous) says...

Sherron wears support shorts that have built-in thigh pads down to the knee--you can see that in the mid-air action photos in the photo galleries on this LJW site. Yes, kneepad could help, or could it be a distraction? Maybe he wisely chose bball over football regarding the injuries, BUT I certainly give him respect for being a tough kid.

March 23, 2008 at 8:19 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Strikewso (anonymous) says...

Mario will never average that many points, but that's ok. We don't want him mentioned in the same breath with Lafrentz, he was a big, slow clod and gave us nothing but numbers and disappointment.

March 23, 2008 at 9:39 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

prairie_rattler (anonymous) says...

Strikewso... perhaps you're thinking of someone else? Lafrentz was unquestionably one of the best college big men ever, and we were lucky to have him wear a Kansas jersey... big yes... clod definately not... and the most fundementally sound forward/ center since Manning. And he starred on (and often carried) the greatest Jayhawk team ever assembled...

March 23, 2008 at 10:06 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

bobsarobot (anonymous) says...

strikewso is a doofus, plain and simple. anyone who bags on a great jayhawk like lafrentz is either trying to stir the pot or suffering from a head injury. hopefully his family, extended and immediate, are much more basketball savvy and loving towards kansas basketball.

March 23, 2008 at 10:26 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

ralsterKUMed95 (anonymous) says...

Wasnt Lafrentz one of the "good guys"? Geez. Why not save the crap comments about past players for the likes of Axtell, Chenowith, Lester Earl, Padgett, Giles--but then again, who the heck cares, and what does it matter? Bygones are bygones. Yes the '97 team was great...life went on...now its 2008 and lets see what our wonderful, talented team can do this year!

March 23, 2008 at 11:08 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Lebowski (anonymous) says...

Guys (or gals), that comment about Raef doesn't even need to be argued against. Let Strikewso go on being a moron, because there's nothing any of us can do about it.

About Sherron, I'm starting to grow more concerned that this kid is ALWAYS going to be banged up, hurt, or ailing in some way. He's always associated with being tough, and maybe his injuries are coming more because of HOW he plays... but I do think some of these have to be aches and pains that other players don't even talk about when they get them. Rub some dirt on it, Sherron, let's go!

March 24, 2008 at 9:27 a.m. ( | suggest removal )