Watching film with basketball coach Roy Williams is not Kirk Hinrich’s idea of a good time.
“I really like coach, but hopefully now I won’t have to go watch tape with him.
“I don’t like to sit there and watch tape of the mistakes I made over and over,” Hinrich said Saturday night after scoring a career-high 22 points in Kansas’ 99-56 victory over Washburn at Allen Fieldhouse.
Hinrich, who had six assists against one turnover in 31 minutes, broke down film with Williams twice after Hinrich’s six-turnover outing against Boise State on Monday night.
“I’d like to take that kind of credit, but we did not talk about his shot. We talked about his decisions on the offensive end,” Williams said of the dual film sessions. “We talked about the thinking part of the game. Kirk’s shot was the least of my worries.”
Hinrich’s sweet shot is what historians will remember about Saturday’s victory KU’s 500th in Allen Fieldhouse against 98 losses.
Hinrich swished the first five three-pointers he attempted, finally missing with 6:11 left. Had he hit that final trey, he’d have tied Rex Walters for the most threes without a miss in KU history.
Walters hit six threes in six tries in an NCAA Tournament win over Ball State in 1993.
“I knew I hadn’t missed. I took the last one and all I could do was smile when I missed because I was feeling so good,” said Hinrich, who finished 7-of-8 shooting with five of six treys.
Hinrich also made three of four free throws on a night the Jayhawks (5-0) made just 18 of 35 charities.
“I wasn’t feeling good after Monday’s game. I had a double double (10 points, 10 assists) and still didn’t feel good about myself,” Hinrich said of his play in KU’s rout of Boise State. “Tonight I was feeling good. You make your first two or three shots and it all feels good.”
Needless to say, Williams was impressed with Hinrich’s display. The 6-3 sophomore from Sioux City, Iowa, had just one turnover to go with his offensive display.
“Kirk Hinrich shooting the ball in the basket like that was something else,” Williams said. “If you play the way Kirk played tonight, you’ll be pleased all year long.”
Eric Chenowith contributed 19 points and 17 rebounds, while Kenny Gregory, a player Williams cited for strong defense, had 18 points and six boards. Drew Gooden tallied 12 points and six boards as KU buried NCAA Div. II Washburn (2-1).
In addition, Jeff Boschee had nine assists, four steals and just one turnover while scoring seven points. Luke Axtell returned from a sprained ankle to play his first game of the season. He tallied five points with three assists in 17 minutes.
“I jumped Eric hard the first half,” Williams said of Chenowith, who hit eight of 12 shots. “I said, ‘You’ve got a size advantage, you have to post up lower. He was posting up 10 feet out and trying to make moves like Magic Johnson instead of turning around and shooting.
“Even if I don’t like everything he does, you look down and see 19 points and 17 rebounds.”
One big eyesore was KU’s foul shooting.
“Our whole goal was to get the ball inside and get to the free throw line,” Williams said. “We did, but didn’t finish the play by making the shot at the free throw line.
“I hope the dickens we’ll shoot free throws better because this is a good shooting basketball team,” Williams added, noting the Jayhawks spent time on free throws on Thanksgiving Day and would spend some extra time at practice today on charities.
“You can’t go 18-of-35,” he said.
Sophomore forward Nick Collison played just 10 minutes because of foul trouble. He scored two points on 2-of-6 free throwing.
“A bad day,” Williams said. “Maybe the moon wasn’t right.”
Collison came off the bench for the second time this season, giving way to Gooden.
“I told Nick, ‘I’ll probably have you come off the bench, don’t screw it up just to prove to me you are better as a starter,'” Williams said, noting there remains “no set plan” to the lineup. “I don’t think it had anything to do with it. Just a bad night.”
This game was over by halftime.
Hinrich hit three three-pointers and scored 12 points the first half as KU raced to a 48-25 lead.
The Jayhawks hit four of six threes the first half as Axtell returned to action by immediately canning a three. However, KU made just eight of 20 free throws to Washburn’s one of three the first 20 minutes.
Gooden and Gregory had nine points apiece the first half as KU hit 60 percent of its shots to Washburn’s 30.3 percent.
In the second half, the Jayhawks blew it open, upping a 64-38 lead to 93-51 late.
“I was proud that we came out and played good defense,” Hinrich said after his offensive explosion. “We got after them on defense.”
The Jayhawks will meet Middle Tennessee State at 7:05 p.m. Monday at Allen Fieldhouse.
Three-point goals: 4-22 (Miller 1-2, Kruger 1-3, Walker 1-3, Carter 1-8, Williams 0-1, Ware 0-1, Murphy 0-4). Assists: 14 (Kruger 4, Ross 3, Williams 2, Tomlins 2, Carter, Auguste, Walker). Turnovers: 18 (Williams 5, Murphy 3, Walker 3, Ross 2, Auguste, Douglas, Hundley, Miller, Ware). Blocked shots: 4 (Auguste 2, Douglas, Murphy). Steals: 5 (Ross, Tomlins, Hundley, Walker, Murphy). |
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Three-point goals: 9-15 (Hinrich 5-6, Ballard 2-2, Gregory 1-1, Axtell 1-3, Boschee 0-3). Assists: 28 (Boschee 9, Hinrich 6, Axtell 3, Gooden 2, Gregory 2, Harrison 2, Chenowith, Ballard, Collison, Nash). Turnovers: 14 (Gooden 5, Chenowith 4, Collison 2, Hinrich, Boschee, Carey). Blocked shots: 4 (Collison 2, Chenowith, Axtell). Steals: 11 (Boschee 4, Gregory 2, Chenowith, Hirnich, Collison, Nash, Zerbe). |