The South has risen again in the Big 12 Conference men’s basketball standings.
Four of the top five teams in the league hail from the South entering today’s Kansas University-Texas showdown at Allen Fieldhouse.
“Are we playing for North pride? Nah,” said KU coach Bill Self, whose Jayhawks (15-1, 5-0) take a No. 6 national ranking into the 8 p.m. battle against No. 16 Texas (15-4, 4-2).
“The next thing you know we’ve got the Civil War going on. I don’t see it that way at all,” Self joked.
KU has beaten South teams Texas A&M and Baylor and North squads Nebraska, Iowa State and Colorado. Today will mark KU’s first test this season against an elite South squad.
“There are four South teams that are really, really good,” said Self, whose Jayhawks will play Texas and Oklahoma State at home and Oklahoma and Texas Tech on the road.
“I think it’s cyclical. It’ll come back around. Now you’ve got four teams in the South really good while North teams are young and going through some things. Before it’s all said and done, it’ll balance itself out.”
The Jayhawks dropped a pair of games against Texas last season — 82-67 on Feb. 23 in Austin, Texas, and 64-60 in the Big 12 tournament semifinals March 13 in Dallas.
“Is this a statement game? I wouldn’t call it a statement game,” KU senior Aaron Miles said. “I’d say it’s a big game. We have a goal of winning the conference championship. Texas is one of the teams at the top of our conference. To get a win over Texas would be big as far as confidence.”
| When: 8 tonight.Where: Allen Fieldhouse.TV: ESPN2 (Sunflower Broadband Channel 34).Replay: 10:30 p.m., Channel 6. |
The Longhorns recently have suffered a pair of key personnel losses. Sophomore forward P.J. Tucker, the team’s leading scorer, is academically ineligible second semester, while freshman forward LaMarcus Aldridge is out because of a left hip injury.
“When Wayne was out, everybody on our team lifted up in different places,” Miles said of Wayne Simien, who missed four games because of a thumb injury. “They have other players on that team that may be able to score as good as Tucker.”
One of those players is freshman Daniel Gibson, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound McDonald’s All-American who averages 13.6 points, 4.2 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game. He’s made 44 of 116 threes for 37.9 percent.
“He has a chance to be mentioned in the same breath as T.J.,” Self said of former Longhorn point guard T.J. Ford, who now is in the NBA. “He (Gibson) is a fabulous shooter. He went 6-of-6 from three the last game.”
“He’s certainly stepped up his game in the absence of P.J. and LaMarcus. He’s playing to the top-10 player in America everybody projected him to be. He may be having the best year of any freshman in America.”
Texas coach Rick Barnes has been pleased with Gibson’s steady progress. The Longhorns are 1-1 since Tucker was forced to leave the lineup.
“I’ve watched him the last two weeks become much more aware,” Barnes said. “Against Texas Tech I said, ‘This is the type of game players make plays and do things.’ He smiled and knew what I meant. The best thing he’s done in the past couple weeks is his penetration. He makes his dribble count more than he did. He is aware of what is going on.”
Gibson is a deadly shooter.
“He is such a confident player with his shot,” Barnes said. “I told him, ‘There’s more to you than being a jump shooter.’ What makes him special is he thinks every shot is going in.”
Other double-digit scorers in the starting lineup are center Jason Klotz (10.3), forward Brad Buckman (10.9) and guard Kenny Taylor (10.5).
Buckman averages 6.9 rebounds a game and Klotz 5.0 as the Longhorns try to make up for the absence of Tucker, who averaged 8.0 boards.
“Buckman is a McDonald’s All American. Klotz is about as good a low-post guy with his back to the basket in the league,” Self said. “It’s not like they are void of talent. They are still good. They just don’t have as many big guys as they had in the past.”
Texas figures to use a 2-3 zone defense today. The Longhorns, however, still plan to run despite mainly using eight players.
“We are going to play fast,” Barnes said. “I tell our guys we need to push the tempo. If they want to go up-and-down, we’ll go with them.”
As far as intangibles today, the Jayhawks may have added incentive.
“We kind of redeemed ourselves from last year with the teams that beat us,” KU sophomore J.R. Giddens said. “We beat Nevada, Iowa State and Nebraska. We don’t want to lose, so it’s time to go out there and take care of business and do our thing.”
“I kind of have it in the back of my head, ‘All right, already lost to Texas twice.’ I don’t want to lose again, personally, and I know we don’t want to lose again as a team.”
Richard Gwin/Journal-World PhotoMedia members have referred to Alabama-Birmingham’s aggressive, pressing, relentless style of basketball as “40 minutes of hell.”
Second-year UAB coach Mike Anderson, not wanting to copy the slogan his mentor, Nolan Richardson, used at both Tulsa and Arkansas, says that moniker is not exactly accurate.
“We call it, ‘the fastest 40 minutes of basketball,”’ Anderson said Tuesday. “It’s what we call it here.”
That style of ball, which has helped UAB to a 22-9 record and a share of the Conference USA championship, propelled the No. 9-seeded Blazers to a 102-100 win over No. 8-seed Washington and a shocking 76-75 decision over No. 1-seed Kentucky in last week’s NCAA Tournament first- and second-round games in Columbus, Ohio.
UAB next will meet Kansas in the Sweet 16 at 6:10 p.m. Friday at Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.
Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photo“I think that’s accurate,” KU coach Bill Self said of Anderson’s way of describing his team’s play. “I think they play fast on both ends.
“On defense, they go 100 miles an hour at all times. I don’t think anybody in America plays faster than they do on both ends. We have not played anybody that plays the way they do. Maybe the closest is TCU and Illinois-Chicago, and we had turnover problems in both games.”
KU suffered 20 turnovers versus TCU and 25 against Illinois-Chicago but won both games by 19 and 25 points respectively.
“To prepare this week,” Self said, “to simulate it, we will have to put seven or eight guys on the court instead of five.”
At least Kansas has a whole week to prepare for UAB’s press. Kentucky had one day.
“We caught a break in that regard,” Self said.
The Blazers’ pressing system accounts for 75.5 points a game. KU’s style isn’t far behind, however, at a near-identical 75.2 points a game.
Yet nobody talks about KU’s rapid fire offense.
“People think we play slow-down. We average 75 a game,” Self said. “College scoring is down as a whole. The thing we do best is run. We will not take away what we do.”
As far as the history of what the Blazers do, it all goes back to Richardson.
“This is a system coach Richardson used. I had an opportunity to play in it,” said Anderson, who played for Richardson at Tulsa from 1981 to ’83.
“I had an opportunity to coach in it,” added Anderson, Richardson’s assistant at Arkansas from 1985 to 2002. “Nobody (nationally) knows the system. I do think you’ll see more people do it down the line. It’s fast-paced, the way players like to play.”
At UAB, everybody gets a chance to contribute. Twelve Blazers average eight or more minutes.
“You’ve got to commit to this style, not halfway, the whole way,” Anderson said. “It’s harder to coach this way. You allow a lot of freedom.”
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Bus to St. Louis: The Jayhawks were to board a charter bus at 12:30 p.m. today and drive to St. Louis. KU will hold an open practice from 2:10 to 3 p.m. Thursday at Edward Jones Dome.
“I really think domes should be saved for the championship game,” KU junior Wayne Simien said Tuesday. “But the baskets are still 10 feet high, and the courts are the same everywhere so we should be OK.”
The Jayhawks won two games at the Jones Dome two years ago in the NCAAs, beating Holy Cross and Stanford.
“I remember how long it took to get to the court from the locker room,” Simien said. “It’s a football field. It takes 200 yards to get you to the court. You’re already tired and loose before you get to the court. It’s a track medley to get from the court to the locker room.”
Simien on Tuesday was named a third-team AP All-America selection.
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Bumps, bruises: There’s no change on KU’s injury situation. Several Jayhawks sat out or practiced part-time Tuesday as they have the past couple weeks.
“Keith may spend a day on the Elliptical (stationary) bike,” Self said of Keith Langford, who has a knee injury that will require postseason surgery. “Wayne will hardly be able to do anything this week,” he added of Simien who has a strained groin.
Also, David Padgett, J.R. Giddens and Bryant Nash have foot injuries, Jeff Graves a knee injury and Jeff Hawkins a back injury. Those players all practiced at least part of the time Tuesday.
“Conditioning is a factor, and you could see that against Pacific,” Self said. “We were sucking air pretty good out there.”
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Good grades: Self on this week’s revelation that KU has the highest graduation rate among teams in the Sweet 16: “I read in one of the local papers that Kansas has the highest graduation rate of any of the teams left in the tournament at 73 percent. That is a tribute to the players, academic staff here and the previous coaching staff,” Self said.
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Matchup: Giddens was asked if it’d be tough matching up with quick UAB. “I don’t think it will be hard,” he said. “It is still all about playing basketball. How hard is it for them to match up with Wayne inside? With Jeff and David inside, we are a bigger team. I think we can take advantage of that. As far as guards, we can match up with anybody in the country.”
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UAB coach and Auburn: Anderson on Tuesday said Auburn had not yet contacted him about its coaching vacancy:
“It’s flattering for your name to be mentioned. I think that means we’re doing a good job here,” Anderson said. “At the same time, my focus I know is to stay grounded and try to pursue a national championship. We’re in the hunt for a national championship, so it’d be doing the kids a disservice if I tell them, ‘Hey, we’ve got to be focused,’ and I’m floating out here and there.”
J-W File PhotoWINSTON-SALEM, N.C. ? Kansas returns to the scene of a near crime tonight.
The Jayhawks, seeded No. 8 in last year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, almost stole a victory from No. 1-seeded, top-ranked Duke last March 19 in a second-round East Regional game at Lawrence Joel Coliseum.
The building is the site of tonight’s nonconference contest between KU and Wake Forest (6:05 p.m., ESPN).
“There may be some memories (of 69-64 loss), but we are not playing Duke. We are playing Wake Forest,” KU point guard Kirk Hinrich said. “They have a great team and we’ll have to play well to beat them.”
Hinrich scored 12 points and dished six assists against Duke, outplaying fellow freshman Jason Williams, who committed eight turnovers and scored six points.
“We knew it was Duke and we’d have to come ready to play,” Hinrich said. “Tournament time is a little different. It’s do or die. There’s a little extra emotion. Other than that, I was not thinking about having a breakout game. I wanted to play well, but was not thinking in those terms.”
Hinrich hit three early threes, but also picked up three fouls in the first 111/2 minutes.
“It was frustrating. I wish that hadn’t happened,” Hinrich said. “It was a tough loss. This year, hopefully, we’ll have a great team and that won’t happen again.”
The No. 3-ranked Jayhawks (7-0) may learn a lot about themselves and their potential tonight. No. 11-rated Wake Forest (6-0) has won 11 straight games dating to last year’s Postseason NIT.
KU guard Kirk Hinrich on tonight’s game at Wake Forest
“It’s our first real road game. We had a taste of it in New York playing against St. John’s,” Hinrich said of KU’s 82-74 Coaches Vs. Cancer championship victory over the Red Storm on Nov. 10 at Madison Square Garden. “We’ve got to win on the road if we want to accomplish the things we want to this year.”
KU went 5-6 in true road games last year, including blowout losses at Missouri and Oklahoma State.
“I think if anything the guys are really anxious to play a really good team,” Hinrich said. “I’ve heard some of the guys say they are ready to play a big game. This is a big-time atmosphere we’re going to be in.”
Kansas coach Roy Williams doesn’t think the Jayhawks’ familiarity with the building will matter tonight.
After all, 14,407-seat Lawrence Joel Coliseum happens to be Wake Forest’s home court.
“We’ve played 12 years at Missouri and Ames, Iowa, and some of those places and it doesn’t help us any when we get there,” Williams said.
“It depends on how we play and how Wake Forest plays and nothing to do with the building. They’ll have a majority of the fans and we realize that. We have to learn to play on the road and this will be a major test for us.”
Williams is wary of Wake’s veteran team.
The Demon Deacons boast standout guards Craig Dawson (15.5 ppg) and Robert O’Kelley (13.7), plus junior forward Darius Songaila (13.2 ppg). The Deacons average 80.7 points on 54.9 percent shooting.
“The test we have against Wake Forest … that is a different animal,” Williams said, comparing tonight’s game to the past five home opponents.
KU recently mopped up on North Dakota, Boise State, Washburn, Middle Tennessee State and Illinois State.
“We gained some things from those five games,” Williams said. “We are a better team than we were before playing those games.”
Injury update Kenny Gregory (stress fracture in right foot) practiced on a limited basis again Wednesday and is expected to play tonight. Jeff Boschee (left ankle sprain) practiced full-time and is expected to play. Luke Axtell (left ankle sprain) and Mario Kinsey (anterior compartment syndrome) also practiced and are expected to play.
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