During the Kansas University men’s basketball team’s 97-70 victory against Central Missouri State on Wednesday, sophomore Wayne Simien was on his feet — when he was posting up, when he was running the floor, even when he was out of the game.
“I was trying to stay loose,” he said.
Simien stood at the end of the Kansas bench when he wasn’t contributing a career-high 22 points, second most on the team to Keith Langford’s 23.
The reason? That pesky ankle. The tendinitis just won’t go away, and Simien doesn’t see the pain stopping anytime soon.
“It’s something that’s going to stay with me for a little while,” Simien said. “I just got to deal with it.”
No problem. The 6-foot-9 bruiser dominated the paint all night, shooting 10-of-11 from the field, including several ferocious dunks, and his 10 rebounds gave him his fourth double-double of the season. He did it all in just 26 minutes.
“He was bigger than everybody,” sophomore Keith Langford said. “He was like 40 pounds more than everybody else out there. We got the ball to him inside, and they couldn’t stop him.”
The inside mismatch allowed Simien and Nick Collison to combine for 44 points and 18 rebounds.
The two, both listed at 6-foot-9, 255 pounds, made Wednesday a nightmare for CMSU’s Brian Rhodes (6-6, 200) and Mark DeBaun (6-6, 235).
“We definitely tried to take advantage of our size advantage going into this game,” Simien said. “Early on, it worked. It’s something we try to do every game.”
Simien was perfect in the first half, connecting on all five of his shots from the field, three of them dunks, and hitting both of his free throws. It wasn’t until early in the second half that he clanked a 15-footer, his only miss of the night.
He nearly posted a double-double in the second half alone, scoring 10 points and grabbing seven boards — in 13 minutes.
“I was out about three minutes before (halftime), and it was a little tight.” Simien said of his ailing ankle. “I’m trying to do what I can to take care of it.”
For the season, Simien is averaging 16 points and a team-high 9.8 rebounds for Kansas, now 3-2 on the season.
KU will pay a visit to No. 7 Oregon on Saturday.
During the Kansas University men’s basketball team’s 97-70 victory against Central Missouri State on Wednesday, sophomore Wayne Simien was on his feet — when he was posting up, when he was running the floor, even when he was out of the game.
“I was trying to stay loose,” he said.
Simien stood at the end of the Kansas bench when he wasn’t contributing a career-high 22 points, second most on the team to Keith Langford’s 23.
The reason? That pesky ankle. The tendinitis just won’t go away, and Simien doesn’t see the pain stopping anytime soon.
“It’s something that’s going to stay with me for a little while,” Simien said. “I just got to deal with it.”
No problem. The 6-foot-9 bruiser dominated the paint all night, shooting 10-of-11 from the field, including several ferocious dunks, and his 10 rebounds gave him his fourth double-double of the season. He did it all in just 26 minutes.
“He was bigger than everybody,” sophomore Keith Langford said. “He was like 40 pounds more than everybody else out there. We got the ball to him inside, and they couldn’t stop him.”
The inside mismatch allowed Simien and Nick Collison to combine for 44 points and 18 rebounds.
The two, both listed at 6-foot-9, 255 pounds, made Wednesday a nightmare for CMSU’s Brian Rhodes (6-6, 200) and Mark DeBaun (6-6, 235).
“We definitely tried to take advantage of our size advantage going into this game,” Simien said. “Early on, it worked. It’s something we try to do every game.”
Simien was perfect in the first half, connecting on all five of his shots from the field, three of them dunks, and hitting both of his free throws. It wasn’t until early in the second half that he clanked a 15-footer, his only miss of the night.
He nearly posted a double-double in the second half alone, scoring 10 points and grabbing seven boards — in 13 minutes.
“I was out about three minutes before (halftime), and it was a little tight.” Simien said of his ailing ankle. “I’m trying to do what I can to take care of it.”
For the season, Simien is averaging 16 points and a team-high 9.8 rebounds for Kansas, now 3-2 on the season.
KU will pay a visit to No. 7 Oregon on Saturday.
During the Kansas University men’s basketball team’s 97-70 victory against Central Missouri State on Wednesday, sophomore Wayne Simien was on his feet — when he was posting up, when he was running the floor, even when he was out of the game.
“I was trying to stay loose,” he said.
Simien stood at the end of the Kansas bench when he wasn’t contributing a career-high 22 points, second most on the team to Keith Langford’s 23.
The reason? That pesky ankle. The tendinitis just won’t go away, and Simien doesn’t see the pain stopping anytime soon.
“It’s something that’s going to stay with me for a little while,” Simien said. “I just got to deal with it.”
No problem. The 6-foot-9 bruiser dominated the paint all night, shooting 10-of-11 from the field, including several ferocious dunks, and his 10 rebounds gave him his fourth double-double of the season. He did it all in just 26 minutes.
“He was bigger than everybody,” sophomore Keith Langford said. “He was like 40 pounds more than everybody else out there. We got the ball to him inside, and they couldn’t stop him.”
The inside mismatch allowed Simien and Nick Collison to combine for 44 points and 18 rebounds.
The two, both listed at 6-foot-9, 255 pounds, made Wednesday a nightmare for CMSU’s Brian Rhodes (6-6, 200) and Mark DeBaun (6-6, 235).
“We definitely tried to take advantage of our size advantage going into this game,” Simien said. “Early on, it worked. It’s something we try to do every game.”
Simien was perfect in the first half, connecting on all five of his shots from the field, three of them dunks, and hitting both of his free throws. It wasn’t until early in the second half that he clanked a 15-footer, his only miss of the night.
He nearly posted a double-double in the second half alone, scoring 10 points and grabbing seven boards — in 13 minutes.
“I was out about three minutes before (halftime), and it was a little tight.” Simien said of his ailing ankle. “I’m trying to do what I can to take care of it.”
For the season, Simien is averaging 16 points and a team-high 9.8 rebounds for Kansas, now 3-2 on the season.
KU will pay a visit to No. 7 Oregon on Saturday.
During the Kansas University men’s basketball team’s 97-70 victory against Central Missouri State on Wednesday, sophomore Wayne Simien was on his feet — when he was posting up, when he was running the floor, even when he was out of the game.
“I was trying to stay loose,” he said.
Simien stood at the end of the Kansas bench when he wasn’t contributing a career-high 22 points, second most on the team to Keith Langford’s 23.
The reason? That pesky ankle. The tendinitis just won’t go away, and Simien doesn’t see the pain stopping anytime soon.
“It’s something that’s going to stay with me for a little while,” Simien said. “I just got to deal with it.”
No problem. The 6-foot-9 bruiser dominated the paint all night, shooting 10-of-11 from the field, including several ferocious dunks, and his 10 rebounds gave him his fourth double-double of the season. He did it all in just 26 minutes.
“He was bigger than everybody,” sophomore Keith Langford said. “He was like 40 pounds more than everybody else out there. We got the ball to him inside, and they couldn’t stop him.”
The inside mismatch allowed Simien and Nick Collison to combine for 44 points and 18 rebounds.
The two, both listed at 6-foot-9, 255 pounds, made Wednesday a nightmare for CMSU’s Brian Rhodes (6-6, 200) and Mark DeBaun (6-6, 235).
“We definitely tried to take advantage of our size advantage going into this game,” Simien said. “Early on, it worked. It’s something we try to do every game.”
Simien was perfect in the first half, connecting on all five of his shots from the field, three of them dunks, and hitting both of his free throws. It wasn’t until early in the second half that he clanked a 15-footer, his only miss of the night.
He nearly posted a double-double in the second half alone, scoring 10 points and grabbing seven boards — in 13 minutes.
“I was out about three minutes before (halftime), and it was a little tight.” Simien said of his ailing ankle. “I’m trying to do what I can to take care of it.”
For the season, Simien is averaging 16 points and a team-high 9.8 rebounds for Kansas, now 3-2 on the season.
KU will pay a visit to No. 7 Oregon on Saturday.
