Some thoughts…from Waco
Gary Bedore, Journal-World KU men’s basketball beat writer
“It was good to see the Jayhawks jump on a team early and put them away. KU had a nice evening all around, claiming a blowout victory and moving into a tie for first in the conference.
Brandon Rush and Julian Wright had great games and it was nice to see everybody get to play, including Brady Morningstar, who had four points, including a bucket off a nice steal and spin move.
KU’s defense was strong as usual and the Jayhawks bounced back nicely from the loss at Tech.
It’s important to beat Baylor, Colorado and Nebraska and start to make a dent in the league standings the next several days.
And Happy Birthday to Russell Robinson and Brady Morningstar.”
Tom Keegan, Journal-World sports editor
“This is what happens when a really good defensive team that’s into it from the otuset confronts a scoring-challenged, young team that is making progress but still isn’t ready to compete on a nightly basis in the Big 12.
It should be more of the same for KU on Saturday, when an overmatched Colorado team visits Allen Fieldhouse.”
Inside the numbers
18: That was Baylor’s first half field goal percentage, which made it an easy situation for Kansas to separate from the Bears on the scoreboard as long as the Jayhawks weren’t inept as well. But KU was the complete opposite, shooting at a 64 percent clip (16-of-25) in the first 20 minutes. That stemmed mostly from better shot selection and better ball movement.
2: That’s how many three-pointers Mario Chalmers cashed in the victory, doubling his total entering the game from the four previous Big 12 games. Chalmers hit 26 trifectas in the non-conference season, but had struggled to a 1-of-8 start in four conference games from beyond the arc. If he finds that stroke and the open looks again from deep, it diversifies KU’s offensive capabilities a ton.
21: That was how many offensive rebounds KU allowed Baylor to pull down. While the Jayhawks held a final rebounding advantage of 44-42, the Bears got most of their points on the night inside, and plenty were on second and third chances.
3: That’s how many three-pointers Sherron Collins hit, as he is quickly emerging as KU’s resident run-killer. In the second half, Baylor began to surge a bit with a 7-0 spurt which cut the Jayhawks’ lead to 18 points, but Collins promptly hit his third longball, and he now has 29 on the season – tied with Chalmers for second-most on the team behind Brandon Rush’s 36. After that three, though, he continued to hurt Baylor, hitting two driving deuces and never letting the Bears threaten again.
Just in case you missed it…
In the hyped-up showdown between former South Oak Cliff teammates Darrell Arthur and Kevin Rogers, Rogers won the battle and Arthur staked claim on the war. Rogers notched a career-high 16 rebounds to go with his 11 points, but while Arthur had just eight points, six rebounds and five turnovers in 21 minutes of play, he left the Ferrell Center with the win.
Hopefully you didn’t miss it…
KU’s defense wasn’t just great with the numbers it forced Baylor into putting up, but it got the Bears to play outside of themselves – especially point guard Aaron Bruce. Bruce was forced into hoisting up bad shot after bad shot after hitting his first three-point attempt of the night, as Baylor had to play catch-up seemingly all night. He went 1-of-6 from deep the rest of the way and was 3-of-12 overall on the night. If KU’s defense can open games strong, force bad shots, and capitalize the way it did in opening up a 17-3 lead on Baylor Wednesday, it can make conference season much less stressful for Bill Self and his crew. But, then again, who knows which team will show up Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse to take on Colorado. That’s been the theme so far this season.
