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Kansas guard Brady Morningstar lines up a shot as he soars to the bucket past Washburn guard Paul Byers during the first half Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008 at Allen Fieldhouse.
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KU tops Washburn in exhibition play
The Kansas men's basketball team defeated Washburn in the squad's first exhibition game of the season.
Photo Gallery
KU vs. Washburn
Audio clips
2008 KU-Washburn basketball
Podcast episode
Spodcasters
Spodcasters Postgame: Washburn
The guys (Tom Keegan, Jesse Newell) analyze KU's 98-79 exhibition victory over Washburn. The two discuss the newcomers' struggles, the strong efforts of Tyrel Reed and Brady Morningstar and where Sherron Collins ranks among the nation's top guards.
Go figure
60.7
Kansas' field-goal shooting percentage (34 of 56)
39.4
Washburn's field-goal percentage (26 of 66)
65
Free throws shot by both teams combined
42
Free throws made by both teams combined
18
Turnovers by each team
11
Washburn assists
17
Kansas assists
33
Points by Jayhawks not on the team last season
KU vs. Washburn: Postgame
The Kansas kids on Kansas University's basketball team stole the show Tuesday night in Allen Fieldhouse.
Sophomores Tyrel Reed of Burlington and Brady Morningstar of Lawrence combined for 31 points off 12-of-18 shooting while starting and playing 29 minutes apiece in the Jayhawks' 98-79 exhibition victory over Washburn.
"I'm just happy for those two guys. I knew they were good enough to play with us out there and good enough to play against those guys. I think they are for real," KU junior point guard Sherron Collins said after his own 22-point, seven-assist outing against the outmanned Ichabods.
"We saw it every day in practice last year. We see it every day in practice so far this year."
If the stats counted, the Kansas connection would have set a batch of personal-best marks Tuesday.
Reed hit five three-pointers in six attempts and scored 16 points. His best official game at KU was an 11-point outing - which included three treys - against Louisiana Monroe last season. His previous high in minutes was 21 versus Northern Arizona.
Morningstar, who red-shirted last year, hit seven of 11 shots, good for 15 points. His previous high was five points three different times, with two field goals his best mark. Morningstar's previous high in minutes was 14.
"I think we're going to count on them no matter what," KU coach Bill Self said, asked if he'd count on the two sophomores a lot early in the season as the seven newcomers learn the system.
"We can't bank on Tyrel being 5-of-6 from three every game. Tyrel was the most important player in the game from my vantage point because when the game was close he stepped up and made plays."
Reed and Morningstar combined for 18 of KU's first 27 points as the Jayhawks grabbed a 27-19 lead. Reed had 12 of KU's first 21 points.
"We're going to count on those guys. Those guys can make shots, can get those (other) guys into it a bit more," Self said.
Reed acknowledged it was a thrill to be in the starting lineup.
"Just being from Kansas, being a small-town kid, it was nice to get your name heard over the loudspeaker," he said. "But once that's over with, you just have to play basketball. It doesn't matter if you come off the bench or are a starter. Last year we had Sasha (Kaun) come off the bench, and he was one of our main guys. So starting doesn't mean much, but it was nice to have that feeling."
Of his start, Morningstar noted: "It was good. It was fun, but coming off the bench would have been just as good as starting. It was a great feeling to be out on the court (after sitting out last year)."
Reed scored 13 points the first half and Morningstar 10 - to go with Collins' 14 - as KU took a 57-35 lead into halftime. The Jayhawks were outscored the second half, 44-41.
"We actually have played better than that second half (at practice this year). Of course, so have most junior varsity junior high teams," Self said, admitting he was "really kind of mad, to be honest" when he called two quick timeouts in the second half. "We were absolutely not very good in the second half. I mean, there were turnovers and carelessness. I thought our young kids really played to their age in the second half."
Quintrell Thomas had the best game of the freshmen with 10 points and six boards. Tyshawn Taylor had seven points and an assist against five turnovers. Markieff and Marcus Morris were a combined 3-of-9 shooting, with Marcus fouling out in seven minutes. Travis Releford had three points and three boards.
"The young kids don't know how to guard yet,. This is a good experience for them. We are really young. Every day it's a box of chocolates," he quipped of not knowing what to expect.
KU will meet Emporia State at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Allen Fieldhouse.
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Jeff Withey says he considered leaving early April 9, 2012
Final thoughts following KU's run to national championship game April 3, 2012
Elijah Johnson and Tyshawn Taylor post-game interviews April 3, 2012
Tyshawn Taylor and Thomas Robinson: Linked through their KU careers April 2, 2012
Comments
funkitect (anonymous) says…
marcus fouls out in 7 minutes? wow.
rockchalkin54 (anonymous) says…
I'm so excited for this season.
milehighhawker (anonymous) says…
I've been saying since we signed this guy that Q. Thomas was a player. I watched some of his highlight tapes and the guy is relentless. The Morris twins lack the physicality and the toughness right now to be players. They have to toughen up and learn how to not foul. While the fouls are truly a freshman mistake they need to be corrected or we will be seeing a lot of Matty K.
jayhawker_97 (anonymous) says…
no fear of shooting - that's a good change that hopefully will be carried on throughout the season!! coach Self and our young guys will take care of every opponents once they toughen up the defense.
KU (anonymous) says…
My eyes STILL hurt. But it will be fun to watch these guys improve throughout the season. Self is different than Roy Williams in this: Williams played every game to win from the first exhibition game of the season on; Self plays the first 10-12 games of the season to set his team up to win the conference. He would rather teach kids in the non-con and have them lose if it means they will be tougher and better during the conference schedule.
KU (anonymous) says…
I've said since last year that Tyrel Reed can contribute at this level. I still maintain that Morningstar cannot, despite his offensive productivity last night. He won't score like that against good competition and he's a liability on defense. If Morningstar is still playing a major role when we get to conference play, we've got problems.
CMKUbLu304 (anonymous) says…
amen to that, KU
ralsterKUMed95 (anonymous) says…
I agree with most of what KU said above. I like Reed. He was a frosh last year who also was hurt alot--so we really do not know what he can do. I sure liked what I saw out of him last night. He will give Sherron/Tyshawn an option on a kick-out for the 3. I was a little concerned with Teahan's play, but hey, its only 1 game. Morningstar: I would say that the jury is still out on him-I mean really--who has seen him play meaningful minutes? And who among us sees every KU practice, like Sherron was referring to about Reed & Morningstar? I obviously think his offense is better than his defense-and no, Im not saying he will be a Robinson or a Chalmers, maybe more like a RyanRobertson or Jerod Haase(who hustled like hell, but was not lightning quick). But then last night it was obvious, even the raw athelete-freshmen need to improve the D. Q looks like he has half of the Hi-Lo figured out. At this point--sit back and trust your Self. The last 2 sets of players he recruited went all the way to the Champ game (Illini + KU). Roys leftover boys wouldnt buy into Self, and gave us a 'B'ummer.. Now the cycle begins again. The sign hangs in Allen and it applies to the players as well in this Self-era: "Pay heed..."
kvskubball (anonymous) says…
Hey KU,Just a thought, it would have been easy to say the same thing about Christian Moody. He played significant minutes, and while that team did have it's limits, in my opinion it still succeeded because there was excellent effort and teamwork. On the other hand, one of the reasons why it might not work (Having a player play who isn't solid on D) on this team is because with everyone else being so young, our defense will require everyone to be able to do their part. I believe that as a sophomore, Christian wasn't ready to contribute either. So I say let's not be hasty in saying someone that is recruited to KU can't help. His (Brady's) maturity will probably be very helpful this year to a young team. Another reminder is that Jeremy Case didn't play much last year, but there were a few times when we weren't playing well, that he came in and was a calming, steadying influence, even though he was nowhere near as talented as the other players. There is a reason why it is called a TEAM sport. I see useful parts that our Coach will make the most of.
justanotherfan (anonymous) says…
kvskubball,I agree with your premise, except for one thing - Moody's presence on those KU teams in a significant role really limited the team. Other teams knew what his physical limitations were and they were able to exploit that weakness against us. Moody simply didn't have the physical talent to handle other high level big guys. I think the same could be said of Brady. While he will be helpful in short spurts, giving him extended time may expose him to guys that, over the course of a full game, will use his lack of quickness and explosiveness against him, turning him into a liability on both ends. By giving him fewer minutes, it keeps other teams from figuring him out.Meanwhile, our new guys look confused. I know its early, but they all looked confused as to where they were supposed to be and what they were supposed to do when they got there. More than once I saw our young guys drive into traffic, or pass into traffic, unsure of what was going on. I think we are in for a rough five or six weeks.That said, I can see some physical skills. Once Mario Little is healthy, I think he will give us an added dimension of toughness. We are going to really lean on Sherron and Cole until we can find some consistency from some of the others.
Yahweh (anonymous) says…
Tyshawn Taylor will be the man. Just give him time. That guy is lightning fast.
ralsterKUMed95 (anonymous) says…
...stated another way, I realize that players like Robertson, Haase, Hawkins, and probably Morningstar are surpassed now by the likes of Self's do-it-all combo guards, who are either bigger, faster, more skilled, or all three...I figure Reed somewhere inbetween. I still hope he can approach Hinrich's productivity while at KU. He just needs playing time to show us AFTER a few games what he can really do. Might as well say the same for Morningstar--he may be able to come off the bench as a role player. You gotta love these 2 KS kids--they obviously love KU, and we are not talking about Bechard or Spoonie talent-wise, who would have been on the bench even in the Roy-era. Brady and certainly Tyrel have some talent, and Self will find out just how much and how to use them. I shall take my cue on these 2 players from Self...as he knows a helluva lot more about either of them than any of us here.
kvskubball (anonymous) says…
ralster,I agree...you said it very nicely above:At this point--sit back and trust your Self.
kuwillkillit (anonymous) says…
marcus fouling out in 7 min what the heck is that all about. Defence is key in this leauge of ours, we need every board and we need someone to help cole out. How about we tie his hands together for a couple practices so he can learn to get his body where it needs to be with out resorting to hard fouls.
KGphoto (anonymous) says…
How 'bout we have a fan contest. Every time he commits a foul, one of 5 lucky winners gets to plunk him with a plastic BB.Nah, I'm kidding. Listen, until proven otherwise I'd say that Self's coaching (at that position) lends itself to freshmen fouling. Look at Arthur. He's the closest thing to Morris in the Self era, and he was doing the same thing. Hell, Arthur still fouls a lot. It's a very slow curve.Let him foul away. He'll figure it out.
arundberg (anonymous) says…
Does anyone know where to find the new intro video?
kuwillkillit (anonymous) says…
No video but i found this interesting tidbit on the top 50 NBA rooks. Chalmers and Aurther at 8th and 9th respectivly.http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/rookies/rankings
yovoy (anonymous) says…
all morningstar has done ALL his life (i started watching him when he was in 8th grade) is surprise people. every time i was ready to count him out, he'd just handle his biz, and do what he had to do. someone thought he was talented enough to play some summer ball w/ rush (i saw him more in the summer than i did during the year), so he can't be that bad. he *was* small, and a little slow, but i don't think so any more. YOU try to defend someone shorter than you. bet you can't. he will match up fine with some taller guys that are actually playing the postion he plays. he's got a smooth gait, and a nice set of skills to go with it. he's always got his poker face on, and if the kid is scared (doubtful), he never shows it. he's got a pretty good pedigree, he's smart, and he's got the heart of a lion. no, he's not hyped like some players are, but i would have no problem putting my money on him in a game.