J.R. Giddens said the “real” Kansas University Jayhawks showed up Sunday, the ones who swish three-pointer after three-pointer every day at practice.
“We are a good shooting team,” Giddens, KU’s freshman guard, said after hitting three three-pointers in five tries in the Jayhawks’ 78-57 victory over Colorado at Allen Fieldhouse.
“We shoot real well in practice. Some games we are like, ‘Why do we shoot so bad in games, because we don’t miss in practice?’ I guess you could say it’s a confidence thing. We went out there and just hit the shots today.
“You could say we are the worst three-point shooting team in the conference,” Giddens added, “but right now we are 4-0. I think we are doing pretty well.”
The Jayhawks had their best three-point outing — eight threes in 18 tries — since a 10-point trey attack against TCU Dec. 1 in Texas.
“Any time you make three-pointers, it opens it up so much,” point guard Aaron Miles said.
Miles said the Jayhawks improved in another area Sunday — in unselfish play. KU had 21 assists to the Buffs’ eight.
“Early in the season, we had selfish play. Everybody was selfish, out to get theirs,” Miles said. “Everybody has learned to sacrifice their own for the betterment of the team. Keith Langford has sacrificed the most. He can score with anybody in the country. He can shoot the ball. He’s playing so unselfish, passing the ball so we can win as a team.”
Langford had three assists, three turnovers and 13 points in 25 minutes.
The bottom line on the effort?
“I really believe that we’re going to be a good basketball team here real soon,” KU coach Bill Self said.
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Line woes: KU hit 18 of 31 free throws after making 18 of 28 in Wednesday’s loss versus Richmond.
“I’m not one to talk about free-throw shooting a lot or bring in a hypnotist to shoot them better,” Self said. “The bottom line is, guys have to step up and make them. I still think we are a good free-throw shooting team.”
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Theory on crowd: Self thought most of the 2,000 or so no-shows were in the student section.
“You know, Saturday night is a big night in Lawrence, so who knows, there may be some guys just now getting up (out of bed),” Self quipped late Sunday afternoon.
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“When you are gone, you are gone”: Self was asked about KU fans cheering during Thursday’s Richmond game when it was announced that North Carolina had lost to Florida State.
The cheers mean KU fans obviously still are upset at Roy Williams for bolting for UNC.
“When I went to Illinois and Lon (Kruger) just left, everybody talked about him, naturally, and I said, ‘All you are doing is making me feel like you don’t want me here very bad because you wish Lon was still here,'” Self said of Illini fans. “That was at Illinois. I don’t feel it at all here. I don’t have a pulse for what’s going on.
“People need to move on wherever. The one thing I have found out is, when you are gone, you’re gone. There’s no going back. You can define why you leave, all those things, the bottom line is people don’t care. When you are gone, you are gone.
“All they care about now is, is Kansas going to win? Is Carolina going to win? Is Illinois going to win? They don’t care about who is in charge. They want results.”
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Lee, Miles excel: Michael Lee had a career-best eight rebounds and career-best six assists to go with seven points, including two threes in three tries.
Miles had four turnovers the first half, but rallied to finish with seven assists and no turnovers the second half.
“Aaron tries to play full-speed every possession,” Self said. “He was going too fast early. His parents are in town from Portland. I don’t know if he was trying to make great plays early. He didn’t let the game come to him early, but he settled down.”
Also in town was Pete Padgett, the father of KU center David Padgett.
KU signee Darnell Jackson, a 6-foot-9 forward from Midwest City, Okla., attended and sat behind KU’s bench.
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Stats, facts: KU has won three in a row over Colorado and 21 straight versus CU in Allen Fieldhouse. … The crowd officially was listed at 16,300 because all tickets were sold. … Colorado hit five of 28 shots the first half for 17.9 percent, worst mark by a Big 12 foe since Oklahoma hit 16.1 percent Feb. 20, 1999.