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Kansas guard Tyshawn Taylor delivers an exclamation point in front of Tennessee forward Scotty Hopson during the second half Saturday, Jan. 3, 2009 at Allen Fieldhouse.
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Kansas gets big win Saturday
With losses to Syracuse, UMass and Arizona, the KU men's basketball team was looking for its first marquee win of the season - that is, until Saturday.
Jeanell Taylor jumped out of her lower-level Allen Fieldhouse bleacher seat Saturday as Kansas University’s Brady Morningstar sprinted along the baseline and heaved a Todd Reesing-like bomb to her son, Tyshawn.
The 6-foot-3 freshman from Jersey City, N.J., stormed in for a mom-pleasing one-handed slam with 1:43 left in the Jayhawks’ 92-85 nonconference basketball victory over Tennessee in Allen Fieldhouse.
“I was happy to see him dunk today. I always got to see him dunk in high school and never saw him dunk in college,” said Jeanell Taylor, also caught by ESPN’s cameras rejoicing after a one-handed breakaway flush at the 10:36 mark — this one off a two-handed inbounds pass from the same Morningstar.
Jeanell has been in town since Dec. 29 with Tyshawn’s two sisters, his stepdad and cousin. The happy pack of Jersey City, N.J., natives is here for three games — KU’s victory over Albany on Dec. 30, as well at the Tennessee game and Tuesday’s 7 p.m. contest against Siena.
“This game was loud, exciting, interesting,” Jeanell said. “It’s been a great stay. I had to see a live game. I was tired of watching him on TV.”
Tyshawn scored three points with an assist and a turnover in 19 minutes of a 79-43 victory over Albany. He scored 12 points off 6-of-11 shooting with three assists and a turnover in 23 foul-plagued minutes in the 92-85 victory over the No. 14-ranked Vols.
“The crowd was great. My gosh, it was so loud during warmups,” Tyshawn Taylor said. “My mother, my family were here. It’s the first time they’ve seen this kind of atmosphere.”
The Jayhawks expended a lot of energy in building a 17-point lead, then hanging on against the athletic, fullcourt-pressing Vols.
“With their speed, quickness, pressure, it might have been the hardest college game I’ve played in,” Taylor said. “We’ve lost a couple games I don’t think we should have lost. We proved we are a good team and can compete with the best of them.”
Taylor was happy to spend quality time with his family after Saturday’s big victory.
“We’ve been chilling, going out to eat. My family loves it here. They think it’s the perfect place for me,” Tyshawn Taylor said.
Of course, Lawrence is a lot different from Jersey.
“It reminds me of Florida. It’s much cleaner, quieter, not too busy,” Jeanell said. “The whole environment about Kansas is a good environment. They’ve got a good team. They have an awesome coach.”
She said seeing her son has been the highlight of the trip.
Others?
“We were downtown yesterday. We ate at the Buffalo Wing House (Buffalo Wild Wings). We’ve been shopping. We went to J.C. Penney’s and got a lot of Jayhawk stuff, Kansas shirts and stuff.”
Coincidentally, Cole Aldrich’s mom, Kathleen, and dad, Walter, made the trip from Bloomington, Minn., to attend both the Albany and Tennessee games.
Aldrich scored 20 points and grabbed six rebounds versus Albany and scored 22 points off 10-of-14 shooting and grabbed 10 boards with six blocks against the Vols.
“My parents came to a few games last year. They’ve been to five or six,” said Aldrich, whose parents drove back to Minnesota after Saturday’s game. “You always want to play well no matter what. It’s always fun to see your parents in the crowd, though.”
lSiena at a glance: Siena, will take a 10-4 record into Tuesday’s 7 p.m. game against the Jayhawks. Siena improved to 4-0 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play by downing Saint Peter’s, 65-52, Sunday. Starter Ryan Rossiter and captain Josh Duell, who averages 12.1 minutes a game, were sidelined because of the flu.
Three of Siena’s losses came at the Old Spice Classic in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The Saints fell to Tennessee, 78-64, Wichita State, 72-70, and Oklahoma State, 77-68. Siena also has lost at Pittsburgh, 79-66.
Siena returns five starters off last year’s 23-11 team. The Saints clubbed Vanderbilt, 83-62, in a first-round NCAA Tournament game, before falling to Villanova, 84-72, in the second round.
lBrady battles flu: Morningstar’s 12-point, six-assist, four rebound, 33-minute performance versus Tennessee was even more impressive since he’s been flu-ridden.
“He missed Thursday’s practice and was not himself Friday. He played really well against Tennessee,” Self said.
More like this
- Jayhawks destroy Albany, 79-43 26 comments / December 30, 2008
- Disappearing ‘D’ 59 comments / January 7, 2009
- <b>FINAL:</b> Aldrich scores 24 as KU holds on for 91-84 victory over Siena 51 comments / January 6, 2009
- FINAL: Collins' 26 points, 9 assists lead KU to 92-85 win over No. 14 Tennessee 178 comments / January 3, 2009
- FINAL: KU picks up first road win with 73-56 victory over CU 68 comments / January 17, 2009













Comments
Strikewso (anonymous) says...
Great story, it's always interesting learning about the players' families and their Lawrence experiences. I've been through Jersey City and Lawrence is quite a big change, as the Taylors have found out.I hope the guys don't take Siena lightly, they make the tourney on a regular basis and have played some good teams tough this year.
January 5, 2009 at 2:11 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AsadZ (anonymous) says...
Good to see our freshmen starting to DUNK rather than going for soft layups everytime.
January 5, 2009 at 7:48 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jayhawk1996 (anonymous) says...
Just one editing note: Should be Jersey City, N.J., not Jersey City, N.Y.
January 5, 2009 at 7:59 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jchief40 (anonymous) says...
Taylor has said he is not from Jersey City! Isn't he from Hoboken or something? This was an issue a few games ago and everyone wants to keep saying he's from Jersey City.. apparently because it has the word Jersey in it.
January 5, 2009 at 8:35 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rockchalkin54 (anonymous) says...
I hope they don't look toward Michigan State and forget about Siena.
January 5, 2009 at 8:49 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
scmitchem (anonymous) says...
I am glad that Tyshawn's family is learning the landscape of Lawrence,Ks and they are having a good time while in town.
January 5, 2009 at 9:09 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
fihsch (anonymous) says...
TT said that he is from Hoboken, NJ. Hoboken is just accross the Hudson River from Manhattan...situated north of the Holland Tunnel and south of the Lincolan Tunnel. It's considered part of the NYC metropolitan area with high population density . Living in Lawrence must be a big change for TT.
January 5, 2009 at 9:12 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
joedavis (anonymous) says...
Strikewso: Siena has made the NCAA tournament four times (1989, 1999, 2002, 2008). Since when does four times equal "regularly"?
January 5, 2009 at 9:28 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
63Jayhawk (anonymous) says...
I like this quote from Tyrese Rice of Boston College referring to BC's victory over Roy's Tarheels in Aaron Beard's article I found on Rivals.com.“We just met the challenge,” Rice said. “I felt like they hadn’t been challenged all year. Every team that they’ve played against, they just walked right through them. You look at people playing defense against them, they stay back, people drive and they’re standing straight up and not trying to contest shots. I can’t watch a tape if everybody’s playing like that.“We wanted to challenge them to see if they could step up and play as hard as we were going to play.”Sounds a lot like what happened to Roy's Boys when the played the Jayhawks in the final four. Here's the link to the article.http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=200901040413.
January 5, 2009 at 9:28 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
joedavis (anonymous) says...
And his Kansas Athletics profile says his hometown is Jersey City, NJ: http://kuathletics.cstv.com/sports/m-...
January 5, 2009 at 9:29 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Nutflush21 (anonymous) says...
Joedavis- The profile also says he was born in Hoboken. His high school, St. Anthony's, is in Jersey City. Either way, the two cites border each other.
January 5, 2009 at 9:57 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
carterpatterson (anonymous) says...
Lawrence, Kansas reminds Jeanelle of Florida? And she said this after a January basketball game?That's awfully nice. I love Lawrence, but I am going to have a hard time understanding that quote.
January 5, 2009 at 10:29 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
vmwskywalk (anonymous) says...
It was warm on Saturday.
January 5, 2009 at 10:47 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jaybate (anonymous) says...
63Jayhawk,Rice's quote goes into the Basketball Quote HOF.Rice could have made one heck of a Jayhawk under Bill Self.What a stud!
January 5, 2009 at 12:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Bleed_Crimson_Blue (anonymous) says...
Great article about Royce Woolridge, a 2010 commitment, in the KC Star today:http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/964555.html
January 5, 2009 at 1:21 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ChicagoJHawk (anonymous) says...
Agreed carterpatterson. As much as I love KU basketball & Lawrence Kansas, I have to completely disagree. Sorry Jeanell, Lawrence Kansas is in no way, shape or form like Florida, at all. Other than the fact that they are both places in the United States, they are not alike in any way, especially in January!Anyway, good job Tyshawn & the rest of the Jayhawks. I was at the game this weekend & have to say this is definitely the best game of the season so far. It's been a while since I've been to a game & forgot just how loud it gets in AFH!
January 5, 2009 at 1:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Strikewso (anonymous) says...
Siena's more of a tourney regular than say...KState! But seriously, they've won in the first round of the last two tourneys they competed, and have also been in several NITs. In 1994 they made the final 4 of the NIT - not bad considering they need to win their conference tourney to get in the NCAA tourney.
January 5, 2009 at 2:16 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
bg_duck1 (anonymous) says...
we better be ready to play against siena they have played some tough teams and they aren't a bunch of freshmen and sophomores like we are (mostly) and you know they are going to be pumped as hell to be playing the defending national champs in their house.
January 5, 2009 at 5:21 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jayhawk159 (anonymous) says...
who cares where he is from the dude is straight up RAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! u best believe it
January 5, 2009 at 6:58 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ralster (anonymous) says...
Excellent comments from player Rice from BostonCollege--watching the tape and analyzing the lack of true defensive intensity vs UNC--he is a player truly after Bill Self's heart. That BC stuck to their plan and proved their theory is that much more impressive. Self would say (after April 5, '08): "told ya so..." Someone on another thread very nicely broke down the problem with transition only offense that UNC runs: they rebound, then they run. That is their rhythm. Get back on defense and force them into halfcourt offense, and their rhythm is off! This is why I love Self & he is my coaching hero: learn to play defense, learn and execute a dedicated half-court offense, and oh ya: that defense will feed that fun, fun transition highlight game as well. Prepared for whatever type of game an opponent can throw at you. Already we are seeing in the last few games THIS team being able to handle different types of defenses, although at this point some better than others. Zone bothered (uh, still bothers) Roy's teams. Zone doesnt bother Self's teams, and this particular team is getting better by the week in their offensive execution. Defense improving slowly also...
January 5, 2009 at 10:19 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rockchalkjayhawk4ku11 (anonymous) says...
Great story, I am excited to watch Tyshawn develop over time. It'd be nice to see him get some meat on his bones. He has the skinniest kegs I've ever seen.
January 5, 2009 at 11:19 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )