Ellis on top again after memorable Senior Day

By Matt Tait     Mar 5, 2016

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Kansas forward Perry Ellis (34) chases down a loose ball with Iowa State forward Abdel Nader (2) and teammate Wayne Selden Jr. during the first half on Saturday, March 5, 2016 at Allen Fieldhouse.

**1. Perry Ellis -** Aggressive play early staked Kansas to an early lead. Finished with 22 points and tied for the team lead with seven rebounds, all before giving a speech that showed off his comedic side. Talk about one heck of a Senior Day.

**2. Devonte’ Graham -** The sophomore has become so confident in his own ability to knock down clutch shots that those shots just keep finding him. Graham hit two of Saturday’s biggest shots and finished 6-of-11 overall, 4-of-8 from downtown for 16 points.

**3. Frank Mason -** Offensive numbers were decent, defensive numbers were excellent. Junior point guard kept Iowa State’s Monte’ Morris in check all afternoon and atoned for KU’s poor effort guarding the Cyclones’ PG in Ames in January.

**4. Wayne Selden -** Finished with 16 points and hit 3 of 4 from downtown but also missed 3 of 4 free throws. Dished four assists, grabbed three rebounds and recorded quite possibly the block of the year for the Jayhawks on what looked to be a sure-fire dunk for ISU’s Jameel McKay.

**5. Jamari Traylor -** So active and aggressive during his last game in Allen Fieldhouse, Traylor even knocked down a jumper. Finished 4-of-6 from the floor with 8 points, 2 rebounds, 3 steals and a block in 18 minutes.

**6. Landen Lucas -** KU coach Bill Self said he didn’t think Lucas really played like Lucas until the second half. Could have been the product of him being out of rhythm after starting the game on the bench. Still finished with six points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes.

**7. Cheick Diallo -** Didn’t do anything overly impressive on the stat sheet but did play with great energy for the five minutes he was out there. He’s still not completely in sync with what Self wants him to do, but the possession when he blocked a shot then hustled down an offensive rebound and scored on the put-back showed he still has something to offer this team.

**8. Brannen Greene -** Played just nine minutes and missed all three field goal attempts (0-for-2 from downtown) but made all four free throws in crunch time.

**9. Carlton Bragg -** If you blinked, you might’ve missed his two minutes on the floor. But he managed three rebounds in that short time, including two offensive, and scored on a late put-back.

**10. Hunter Mickelson -** Senior forward got the nod in the starting lineup and played hard for the first five minutes, grabbing a rebound and blocking a Georges Niang shot to start a key transition opportunity early.

**11. Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk -** Played just five minutes and missed his only two three-point attempts on a day in which he didn’t factor into the game plan.

SEASON STANDINGS
———–

Perry Ellis — 266

Frank Mason III — 266

Wayne Selden Jr. — 243

Devonté Graham — 239

Landen Lucas — 166

Jamari Traylor — 157

Brannen Greene — 132

Carlton Bragg — 131

Svi Mykhailiuk — 130

Cheick Diallo — 95

Hunter Mickelson — 81

Lagerald Vick — 26

— See what people were saying about KU’s Senior Day vs. Iowa State during KUsports.com’s live coverage.


More news and notes from KU’s regular-season finale vs. Iowa State




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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.