Gary Bedore’s KU hoops notebook

By Gary Bedore     Nov 24, 2011

KU vs. Duke

Nick Krug
Kansas guard Elijah Johnson elevates to pass along the baseline as he is defended by Duke guard Andre Dawkins during the first half Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011 at the Lahaina Civic Center.

Duke remains perfect in Maui

Keegan: This one sure felt meaningful

Mike Krzyzewski lauds ‘dream shot’

Odom: Both teams benefit

The Keegan Ratings

Box Score

The all-tournament team: Thomas Robinson, Kansas; Jason Clark, Georgetown; Tim Hardaway, Jr., Michigan; Austin Rivers, Duke. MVP: Ryan Kelly, Duke.

KU’s Tyshawn Taylor had a career-high 11 turnovers, most in a game in KU school history. The previous record was nine twice, the last by Jerod Haase versus Baylor on Jan. 11, 1997. The other player and game could not be located in the record books. Since the 1997-98 season, no Jayhawk has had more than eight in a game.

“He’ll be fine,” KU coach Bill Self said. “He played great. He got careless there in the second half, but we put the ball in his hands a lot. We told him the game plan was drive it, drive it. When that is your game plan … he got out of control on key possessions the second half. But I thought for the most part he played really well. Looking back now, I wish I subbed him a bit. He played well. He competed hard. I thought our whole team really tried.”

KU’s Robinson had 16 points and 15 rebounds.

“Like we said yesterday, this is what we came to Kansas for … for games like this,” he said. “I haven’t been around that long. I’m still a young player. But I do believe that game will go down as one of the top games of the tournament. It’s too bad we got the short end of the stick, but I feel that my team got better. We did accomplish something when we came to the islands, and we’ll go back to Kansas a better team. So I’m happy, but at the same time, I wanted to have the trophy.”

Jeff Withey had 14 points and 10 boards.

“Like Thomas said, we come to Kansas to play big games like this. It was a rough game. We were going at it the entire game. It’s unfortunate that we lost, but like Thomas said, we got a lot better over this tournament. We’ve got to take good thoughts and bring it back home and try building off of it. You know, it sucks that we lost, but we’re going to go uphill from here and we’re going to learn a lot from this game.”

Self on Withey: “I thought Jeff was outstanding. I thought he was a presence. I also thought yesterday (in win over UCLA) he got some big-boy rebounds in the first half when he’s really challenged. In the Georgetown game I don’t believe he was as big a factor because of fouls, but I thought he played terrific. That is one thing about our team. I think there is a lot of room for improvement because Travis (Releford) making key plays for us over here, and Jeff and Elijah (Johnson). These are guys, in Conner (Teahan) and Jeff, these are guys that have never really been in the game except as a complimentary role when it’s not on the line. So I thought we got better, and I certainly thought Jeff played really big.”

Gary Bedore’s KU hoops notebook

By Gary Bedore     Oct 22, 2011

Langford to Maccabi

Former KU guard Keith Langford has signed a one-year contract with Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv, a pro team based in Israel, the team announced Friday. Langford averaged 18.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists a game for Khimky Moscow last season. The 6-4 Langford has also played in Italy, the NBA Developmental League and two games with the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs.

Papapetrou to decide

Ioannis Papapetrou, a 6-8 senior shooting guard from Florida Air Academy in Melbourne, Fla., today will orally commit to KU or Texas in a ceremony at his high school held in conjunction with the school’s 50th anniversary. Papapetrou, who averaged 22 points and seven rebounds a game last season, visited KU for the Sept. 24 Legends of the Phog game and Texas last weekend. Upon returning to the Academy, he canceled upcoming trips to Alabama, Florida and George Mason. He’s the son of former European pro player Argiris Papapetrou. Florida Air Academy is alma mater of former KU center Sasha Kaun. The Jayhawks have already landed two players in the Class of 2012: Perry Ellis, 6-8 forward, of Wichita Heights and Zach Peters, 6-9, forward, Prestonwood Christian Academy, Plano, Texas.

Gary Bedore’s KU hoops notebook

By Gary Bedore     Sep 10, 2011

KU not in Carrier Classic

The Associated Press on Friday incorrectly listed KU as a possible opponent for Connecticut in the second-annual Carrier Classic basketball game set for Nov. 11 (Veterans Day), 2012, aboard an aircraft carrier in San Diego Bay.

The director of the Morale Entertainment Foundation had said Friday that the Huskies’ foe would be either KU, Texas, Florida, Arizona or Illinois.

“We told them two months ago we couldn’t play,” said Larry Keating, KU’s special assistant to the athletic director, who is in charge of scheduling. “We didn’t want to play Connecticut in San Diego and Michigan State two days later in Atlanta (Champions Classic), then go to the 76 Classic four days later in Anaheim (Calif.). It would have been 6,000 miles in travel.”

Keating said KU would not be able to consider any offer to play in the Carrier Classic until 2014.

KU will play in the eight-team 76 Classic at the Convention Center in Anaheim in 2012, the eight-team Battle for Atlantis Tournament during Thanksgiving week of 2013 in the Atlantis Resort in Paradise Island, Bahamas and CBE Tournament in 2014 in Kansas City, Mo. The Jayhawks are tentatively scheduled to return to the Maui Invitational in 2015. KU will play Duke in 2013 in Chicago in the Champions Classic.

“We would like to play in the game, we just don’t have a place for it on the schedule right now,” Keating said of the Carrier Classic.

No word on Anderson

There was no word from the NCAA on Friday regarding the eligibility of Braeden Anderson, KU’s freshman forward from Canada, who has not been cleared academically to be on scholarship.

Freshmen Ben McLemore and Jamari Traylor were cleared to be on scholarship on Thursday and attended classes on Thursday and Friday.

Ellis visit

Kansas coach Bill Self and KU assistant coach Danny Manning conducted an in-home visit on Friday night with the family of Perry Ellis, a 6-foot-8 senior forward out of Wichita Heights who has a final list of KU, Kentucky, Kansas State and Wichita State. Ellis’ mom, Fonda, said in a text message that the family had a “great” time.

Gary Bedore’s KU hoops notebook

By Staff     May 27, 2011

Mike Yoder
Kansas forwards Marcus (22) and Markieff Morris get the crowd to its feet after a bucket during the second half of KU's 72-59 win against Illinois on Sunday, March 20, 2011 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla.

Twins update

Former KU forwards Marcus and Markieff Morris worked out for the Houston Rockets on Tuesday.

The Rockets pick at Nos. 14 and 23 of Round One, meaning they could wind up with both of the twins.

“Yeah, I hope so,” Marcus Morris told myfoxhouston.com. “But I don’t see either one of us falling that late.”

Interviewed before the workout, they listed their goals for the day.

“Show them I’m a hard worker, versatile like everyone else knows, and I would love to be in Houston,” Marcus Morris said.

“Just be able to score the basketball more. I was a defender and a rebounder at Kansas, and I’ll continue to do that in the league,” Markieff said.

ESPN’s Chad Ford has Marcus being selected No. 11 overall by the Golden State Warriors and Markieff No. 16 by the Philadelphia 76ers. Draftexpress.com has Marcus at No. 9 to Charlotte and Markieff No. 13 to Phoenix. NBAdraft.net has Marcus No. 11 to Golden State and Markieff No. 14 to Houston.

UCLA, UNLV, Arizona and Texas.

Daniels update

DeAndre Daniels, a 6-8 senior forward from IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla., gave a recruiting update to Steve Kyler of Hoopsworld.com on Thursday.

Kyler on Twitter reports that Daniels “backed away from Duke … says San Diego State, Kansas and Oregon (are) on his radar.”

Notably missing from the list was Texas. It was recently reported that Daniels was down to KU, Texas and Oregon.

A source close to Daniels responded to these Twitter developments Thursday by saying, “I don’t think DeAndre has eliminated any of his finalists,” meaning Texas still would be on the list.

UCLA, UNLV, Arizona and Texas.

Shabazz has seven

Shabazz Muhammad, a 6-5 junior from Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas, tells cbssports.com his list stands at seven schools: KU, Kentucky, Duke, UCLA, UNLV, Arizona and Texas.

Rules

The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel on Thursday approved adding an arc three feet from the basket, inside which a defender cannot take a charge. In other rules changes, the women’s three-point line will move back a foot to 20 feet, 9, same distance the men have used since 2008-09. The terminology for fouls will be changed to match the NBA. Intentional fouls will now be called Flagrant 1 and flagrant fouls will be called Flagrant 2.

Gary Bedore’s KU?hoops notebook

By Staff     May 21, 2011

Mike Yoder
Kansas forwards Marcus (22) and Markieff Morris get the crowd to its feet after a bucket during the second half of KU's 72-59 win against Illinois on Sunday, March 20, 2011 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla.

NBA measurements

Kansas University’s Morris twins and Josh Selby are attending the NBA pre-draft camp in Chicago. Here are their official measurements:

Markieff Morris: Height: 6-7 3/4 without shoes, 6-9 1/2 with shoes. Weight: 241 pounds. Body fat: 10.2. Wingspan: 6-10 3/4. Reach: 8-10 1/2.

Marcus Morris: Height: 6-7 without shoes, 6-8 3/4 with shoes. Weight: 230. Body fat: 8.0. Wingspan: 6-10. Reach: 8-9 1/2.

Josh Selby: Height: 6-13/4 without shoes, 6-3 with shoes. Weight: 195. Body fat: 7.9. Wingspan: 6-5 1/4. Reach: 8-2.

NBAdraft.net’s assessment of the twins at combine

“Marcus insisted on working out with the small forwards and looked like he belonged. Despite his bulky frame, Marcus was effortless going through the drills, and his offensive polish was evident in the small sample size at the combine.

“Even more impressive was Markieff who looks like he is in phenomenal shape and is displaying what I would call a perfect skill set for the modern power-forward position. Markieff is beating the other PF’s down the floor in wind sprints, is hitting his outside jumpers and is still a monster down low with his frame and footwork.”

Here’s ESPN.com’s Andy Katz’s take

“Josh Selby said he declared for the draft because he felt good about his game while working out with Joe Abunassar in Las Vegas after the season. It’s strange that the decision came down to his offseason workout.

“Marcus Morris said he wanted to be with the small forwards more than the power forwards for two reasons: that’s more his natural position and he wanted to be separate from Markieff. He said they need to be judged separately in a setting like this.”

Better mark

Marcus was happy to see his wingspan listed at 6-10. His wingspan was measured at 6-7 at last summer’s LeBron James camp.

“I read somewhere I had ‘T-Rex arms,”’ Morris said in an interview posted on draftexpress.com. “I said, ‘What? I have naturals.’ I felt my stock was dropping because they said my arms were short. I read I have a 6-7 wingspan. I thought, ‘I’m 6-9. Is that even possible?’ It’s amazing how many spots you can drop in the draft because they say your arms are short. Now it’s 6-10. I’m fine with that.”

Marcus joked about likely being apart from his brother next season for the first time.

“Hopefully one of us will become a superstar in the league and we can demand a trade and get one of us to the other team,” Marcus said. “It’s going to be hard. I’ll send him some fruit, some flowers and stuff like that, tell him I’m thinking about him. That’s my guy.”

They may have to guard each other in games.

“We’re getting paid to play. I can’t let him score points,” Marcus said. “That’d be like I was shaving points. You get in trouble for shaving points.”

Gary Bedore’s KU?hoops notebook

By Gary Bedore     Mar 26, 2011

? Robinson grabs 14 boards

Kansas University sophomore Thomas Robinson grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds to go with his 12 points.

“I just wanted to come off the bench and use my energy and go after every ball, and it happened to go in my favor tonight,” Robinson said.

Early rout

KU’s Brady Morningstar on KU rolling to a 31-9 lead: “I give credit to our scout team. They prepared us real well, and our coaching staff,” Morningstar said of Conner Teahan, Jeff Withey, Royce Woolridge, Niko Roberts, Travis Releford, Jordan Juenemann, Justin Wesley and Christian Garrett.

Richmond runs the Princeton offense and matchup zone defense.

“I think coming out and defending first of all gives us a lot of energy, and then on the offensive end we were hitting shots,” Morningstar said.

Good D

KU held Richmond to 33.8 percent shooting for the game. The Spiders hit four of 26 threes.

“I thought our guys for the most part followed the scout report great. Our ball screen defense was good,” KU coach Bill Self said. “And they usually can score behind their ball screens or behind their dribble handoffs, and that wasn’t the case tonight. Our goal was to take away layups and threes, and they got the one back or maybe two. And that was late.

“Our scout team is pretty good. And I think that was a big reason why our guys felt comfortable with their actions. Preparation was good in large part due to our scout team.”

Rebuttal

A reporter asked Markieff Morris about Louisville coach Rick Pitino allegedly saying he didn’t think KU would win a national championship because the Morris twins lack killer instinct.

“That’s coach Pitino’s opinion. And, not to be disrespectful or anything, but we’re still playing,” Markieff said. “And we have killer instinct. We definitely want to try to beat everybody like we did today. When we got them down early, we kept them down.”

Building the lead

KU went more than 10 minutes the first half without a Morris twin scoring, yet built a 20-point lead.

“I thought Thomas (Robinson) was great,” Self said. “Markieff struggled basically the whole night and got two quick ones (fouls) early and took him out of it and wasn’t a major factor offensively. But Marcus is still going to be the guy most teams key on to stop. He can pass, and Markieff can pass, and Thomas was effective and Josh (Selby) made the two threes (back to back in first half). Tyrel (Reed) and Brady combined for four the first half. That was a great start for us when we see the ball go in the hole. I thought Tyshawn (Taylor) was great. I thought his dribble penetration set up a lot of things for us.”

Close call in the hall

Self was asked if it was “somewhat odd” that, in a big football stadium, both teams entered the court through the same hallway. The Jayhawks and Spiders barked at each other before the game when Richmond’s players were blocking the Jayhawks’ way to the court.

“Maybe. I don’t know,” Self said. “Those are things I don’t really think about a lot of that stuff. Maybe a little odd, but certainly not a big deal. There was nothing. And my guys said, ‘Coach, that was nothing.’ I thought both teams played with great respect for each other tonight.”

Reed nears mark

KU senior Reed now has 132 victories in a KU uniform and on Sunday can tie Duke’s Shane Battier as winningest four-year college player of all-time. Battier won 133 games from 1998-2001. Reed, who has lost just 16 games in four years, has tied four Kentucky players (Scott Padgett and Wayne Turner, 1995-98; Jeff Sheppard and Allen Edwards, 1996-99) for second on the all-time win list.

Recruiting budgets

KU spent the second-most money of any public university on basketball recruiting last year, Bloomberg.com reports. Kentucky spent $434,095 in fiscal 2010. KU was second with $419,228, and Florida third with $326,306, according to expense reports from 53 schools obtained through open-records requests. Private schools such as Duke aren’t required to divulge the information. Wisconsin spent the least ($57,397) on recruiting of public universities in the six biggest conferences cited: the Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, Southeastern, Atlantic Coast and Pac-10.

This, that

KU, 35-2, has tied for second-most season victories in school history. … Kansas advanced to the Elite Eight for the 20th time in school history. … KU is 19-8 in the Sweet 16 and 27-8 as a No. 1 seed. … Kansas has won 11 straight games. … Morningstar scored a team-high 18 points, which was one off his season-high of 19 at Nebraska on Feb. 5. It was his ninth game of the season in double-figures and the 16th time he had done so in his career. It was the second time of his career to lead KU in scoring. … Morningstar’s seven made field goals tied his career high, also done vs. Coppin State on Nov. 28, 2008. … Taylor dished seven assists to up his season total to 161 and tie Sherron Collins (2010) and Russell Robinson (2007) for 21st place on the KU single season list. … Taylor had a career-high tying two blocked shots. He has done it two other times including against Colorado State this season. … Kansas, which averages a nation-best 17.9 assists, dished 20 assists against Richmond. It was the 13th time this season the Jayhawks had 20 or more dimes.

Gary Bedore’s KU?hoops notebook

By Gary Bedore     Mar 20, 2011

? Praise for Illini

Illinois senior guard Demetri McCamey averages 14.9 points, 6.1 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game heading into tonight’s Round of 32 game against Kansas.

“He makes the game easier for everybody else,” KU coach Bill Self said. “He’s fast, strong, has great vision. When he gets in rhythm, he may be the best guard we’ve played against this year.”

McCamey, 6-3, 200 from Bellwood, Ill., is “one of the biggest guards at our position,” KU freshman Josh Selby said. “We’re going to have to get up close on him because he can shoot from anywhere.”

KU junior Tyshawn Taylor believes he’ll open defensively on McCamey.

“He has deep range, can shoot the three-ball,” Taylor said. “He controls their team. As a senior, it’s different. Seniors know it’s their last hurrah and let everybody have it.”

Self was asked if Brady Morningstar might spend some time on McCamey.

“It could be Brady. It could not be, too,” Self said with a smile.

Noted Morningstar: “Whoever is on him will have a tough task. He’s an all-around point guard that can score and pass the ball. Whenever you have a guy like that, you have to be on your toes and make sure you know where he is at all times.”

KU senior Mario Little, a native of Chicago, played against McCamey in high school. Junior Marcus Morris became friends with McCamey at the LeBron James Skills Academy last summer in Ohio.

“He’s a good guy, a great player. We Tweet a lot,” Morris said. “He reminds me of Deron Williams. He is my favorite point guard.”

Favorite except for KU’s guards, of course.

“I take my guys over everybody, but other than that, yeah,” Morris said.

Roberts has Illini roots

KU freshman Niko Roberts lived in Champaign, Ill., for three years, from the ages of 8 to 11 when his dad assisted Self on the U of I coaching staff.

“It was kind of like Kansas, a college town. It was a little bit colder,” Roberts said. “The main thing I remember about Illinois is, it was right next to a pig farm. The whole time, all you could smell was pigs and cows.”

Roberts said he idolized Illini player Sergio McClain as a youth.

“He was like my brother, a member of the family,” Roberts said. “They were my favorite team when I was younger. I think it’ll be a great game. They are a good team. We are a good team.”

Collins headed overseas

Former Kansas University basketball guard Sherron Collins has signed with Lietuvos Rytas in Lithuania.

Collins, who spent most of the season with the Charlotte Bobcats, was waived by Charlotte after the trade deadline. The Bobcats wanted to bring back Collins, but he missed two separate flights back to Charlotte.

Collins will play on the same team with former Maryland player D.J. Strawberry.

Loose team

KU’s Thomas Robinson put Elijah Johnson in a headlock as Johnson, Selby and Robinson performed a rap number with a Topeka TV reporter in the locker room Saturday.

“This is my roommate. I have to keep him under control,” Johnson joked of Robinson.

Tall bombers

Illinois’ starting lineup includes 7-foot-1 Mike Tisdale and 6-9 bookends Mike Davis and Bill Cole. The tall Illini can step out and shoot from the perimeter.

“When you have to defend all five spots, it puts a lot more pressure on you defensively,” Self said. “Illinois runs some things into their motion, but they are a true motion team. The hardest teams to guard are teams that run motion that really know what they are doing and they know what they are doing.

“A lot of times, if you are defending motion, you have to use one guy to clog you up, and you can’t do that with Illinois, because all their guys can make shots to 17, 18 (feet) and beyond that. I think it’s a game we have to be as alert defensively as we have been at any point in time this year.”

NBA talk

Self was asked if he will have to talk to underclassmen more than usual after the season about the NBA Draft. There is expected to be a lockout this postseason.

“I would think so,” Self said, “but trust me, they are getting counseling, and it’s not always from the staff. They are getting counseling from family members, from agents, from a lot of people that they trust or whatnot, that see it through their eyes. Coaches may see it through our eyes.

“And a lot of times I think there are people out there that feel like coaches are being selfish because they want you back for their own personal benefit. But the lockout is an interesting twist because it doesn’t do a lot of good to get drafted real high if you are not going to get paid. But the agent will say, ‘But you’ll get to your second contract quicker.’

“There’s going to be a give and take on everything. I think the big thing is to have a good relationship with your players where you can be open and honest.

“We’ve always had the philosophy and there’s only been once or twice I thought kids didn’t make great decisions. The majority of the time the kids we’ve have made great decisions. And when the time’s right, they’ve got to go (pro). That’s the way I look at it.”

Antlers rumor debunked

There was a rumor Missouri’s Antlers have been phoning Marcus Morris to bother him in the NCAAs. Morris said the rumors were false.

“I’ve seen some junk on the Internet about me texting somebody about them losing or something like that. I don’t hate them. That’s where I think they get it wrong. They hate me. They hate us. I don’t hate them. I don’t have a problem with them at all. Their guys had a great season this year. They came (up) short, but it happens like that in the NCAA Tournament.

“I don’t have a problem with anybody. I definitely did see what they said, that I was texting somebody back about them losing or something like that. I mean, I’m not worried about them. I’m worried about us. I’m worried about us not losing. I could care less about what they do over there.”

Gary Bedore’s KU?hoops notebook

By Gary Bedore     Mar 19, 2011

KU-Illinois at 7:40 p.m.

Kansas University will meet Illinois approximately 7:40 p.m. Sunday at BOK Center, NCAA officials announced Friday night. The Texas-Arizona opener will begin at 5:10 p.m. Both games will be televised on TNT.

Self on Illini

No. 9-seed Illinois of the Big Ten Conference defeated No. 8 UNLV, 73-62, on Friday night.

“I am pretty familiar with Illinois,” said Kansas coach Bill Self, who coached three years at Illinois before taking the KU job eight years ago.

“They are capable of beating anybody in the field, which they have shown,” added Self, who most certainly at today’s news session will be peppered with questions about going against his former school.

Illinois (20-13) has beaten North Carolina (79-67), Gonzaga (73-61), Wisconsin (69-61) and Michigan State (71-62) in a somewhat inconsistent season.

“We definitely have to protect him,” KU senior Brady Morningstar said of Self. “It’s where he coached before. Whenever we play, we want to play for him.”

The Jayhawks were sort of looking forward to playing against UNLV’s Quintrell Thomas, who started his career at KU.

“I saw Quintrell in the hall and patted him on the back,” Morningstar said. “I said it was good to see him and good luck.”

Thomas had nine points and four boards versus Illinois.

Selby’s debut

KU freshman guard Josh Selby scored two points on the fast break and was one of five players to score in a 21-4 run that stretched a 47-41 lead over Boston University to 68-45.

For the game, Selby scored four points with two assists and two rebounds in 15 minutes.

“In the second half, my team told me they needed me to bring energy and do what I do, play defense, make easy layups,” said Selby, who played 11 minutes the second half of KU’s 72-53 victory.

“So I tried to play with energy, keep my man from scoring and make buckets I usually make. Actually, that gave us a spark, and I’m happy I could do that for the team.”

Selby was understandably nervous in his NCAA Tournament debut.

“I’m nervous every game,” the Baltimore combo guard said. “No matter if it is a street ball game, I am always nervous. It is a natural habit. I’m nervous because my mother always told me if you aren’t nervous, you aren’t ready to play. It’s my way of calming down.”

Of Selby, Self said: “Today was a game in which he gave us a boost. It was positive. The ball still didn’t go in the hole for him (2-for-6 shooting), and I believe it will, and the lid’s going to come off. But he was a boost for us the second half.”

Guarding Holland

Marcus Morris took a turn guarding John Holland (19 points, 7-for-19 shooting) late in the first half.

“He came at the four, so I had to guard him. It was my assignment, but, I mean, he’s a helluva player,” Morris said. “For a team like that to come in and play the way they did, you have to give them a lot of credit. He’s definitely a leader on that team, and I think they have a great team.”

Brady Morningstar was the primary defender on Holland, who scored just four points the second half off 1-of-9 shooting.

“Brady guarded Holland really well,” Self said. “He got two threes when Brady wasn’t in the game or when he wasn’t on him because they went small and played at the four and we didn’t get to him a couple of times.

“He did a nice job on him. He tried to front him in the post. He made shots,” Self added of Morningstar, who hit three of five threes and scored 13 points, eight the second half.

“He made a couple of boneheaded plays throwing it away (two turnovers), trying to hit a home run. But Brady’s dependable. You know what you are getting with him, and he was very good on both ends tonight.”

‘Soft’ shooting

Self was bothered by one part of the Jayhawks’ offense on a night KU hit just 41.9 percent the first half, heating up to 61.5 the second.

“We shot the ball soft,” he said. “I don’t know how many times we missed layups underneath, particularly shots we normally make.”

Also … “mental mistakes, scouting-report mistakes or them beating us to loose balls and things like that probably irritate me the most.”

‘Wake up’

Self screamed “wake up” at Tyshawn Taylor on BU’s third possession of the second half.

Self was asked if that message was for Taylor or the whole team.

“That was for him,” Self said. “The thing about it is, he’s looking around to see where a ball screen’s coming, and there wasn’t one. You can’t do that. You can’t have your head on a swivel worrying about where everybody else is. I thought that was a very poor play by him. But Tyshawn played well. He had seven dimes and three turnovers. He shot it well (10 points, 4-for-8 shooting). That’s a pretty good performance because their point guard was good.”

Tired Terriers?

Did KU wear out Boston?

“Well, you hope so,” Self said. “But you don’t wear people out in the first half. They had guys play a lot of minutes. We had guys play more minutes than normal the first half. In the NCAA Tournament, the minutes aren’t as big a factor because the timeouts are so long. And there is one more of them.

“But we did get the ball inside. Usually size, when you are able to do that, size does take advantage of the offensive rebounds, the kind of back-breaking type points, and we got several of those. It helps when your big guys can step out and make a shot, too.”

Gary Bedore’s KU hoops notebook

By Gary Bedore     Mar 12, 2011

T-Rob returning

Kansas sophomore forward Thomas Robinson, who reportedly said on ustream.com Thursday night that he is definitely returning to KU for his junior season, confirmed that is indeed the case.

“We have a lot of season left to play, but of course I’ll be back next year,” Robinson said.

KU freshman Josh Selby, who also was on ustream Thursday night, said he’d not decided yet whether he’d return to KU or enter the NBA Draft.

“I don’t know my status (for next year), to be honest,” Selby said. “Right now I am just focused on getting two rings. Like I said yesterday (in interview with Matt Tait of Journal-World), that’s what I am focused on. After the season, I will talk to my family about it.”

Better foot forward

Selby is happy to report he no longer is wearing an orthotic in his right shoe — one to help soothe his stress reaction.

He discarded the orthotic before KU’s first-round Big 12 tournament game Thursday.

“I’m about 90 percent,” Selby said. “It (foot) feels better. I just have to get used to this feeling in my foot. I went from a 12 to a 13 (size shoe), now to a 121/2, so it’s a little adjustment to make.”

KU assistant Kurtis Townsend gave Selby a little pep talk before Friday’s semifinal in which he scored six points with four rebounds, two turnovers and no assists in 11 minutes.

“He wanted me to get back my ‘swag,”‘ Selby said. “I wasn’t confident at first. He told me to play my game. It’s what I tried to do. I got a three and an and-one. I’m getting back in the flow.”

Ripping Reed

KU coach Bill Self was miffed that Tyrel Reed didn’t try to call for the ball on the inbounds play with :30 seconds left.

“Unbelievable. Side out of bounds, best free-throw shooter on our team and he doesn’t try to get open on the side out. That’s the kind of mental mistakes that you can’t have in this situation. I think he will (get open) next time,” Self said.

KU hit 29 of 33 free throws.

“That’s what I told our guys, ‘Be excited we won, but if we shoot 67 percent like we have all year long, that’s anyone’s ballgame,”‘ Self said. “So we stepped up and made them today and did a really good job in that regard, but certainly we have to do a better job late game to get the ball to our right free-throw shooters’ hands.”

KU went 10-for-10 from the line over the last 10 minutes. In that span, KU made just two field goals.

Stats, facts

KU has won 18 in a row versus Colorado and 45 of 46 meetings dating to 1991. … KU advanced to the Big 12 title game for the ninth time. KU has won four of the last five titles. … Marcus Morris moved into 27th place on the Kansas all-time scoring chart with 1,288. He passed Eric Chenowith and Jo Jo White, who finished their KU careers with 1,281 and 1,286 points, respectively.

Faces in crowd

Former KU athletic director Lew Perkins kissed his wife, Gwen, when the two were shown on the ‘Kiss Cam.’ Others in attendance: football coach Turner Gill and ex-KU hoopsters Wayne Simien and Aaron Miles.

Gary Bedore’s KU hoops notebook

By Gary Bedore     Mar 1, 2011

Starters revealed

Kansas University coach Bill Self said he would start seniors Brady Morningstar, Tyrel Reed and Mario Little to go with the Morris twins in Wednesday’s 8 p.m. Senior Night game against Texas A&M.

He said sophomore point guard Elijah Johnson, who has started the past two games for suspended junior Tyshawn Taylor, would be first guard off the bench.

Self was asked on his Hawk Talk radio show if he’d come to a resolution regarding Taylor’s status.

“There probably is in our (coaches) mind. I will not say anything yet. He has done well,” Self said. “He has to take care of some business. He is well on his way to taking care of that. I’ll keep it at that until everything is complete.”

As far as Johnson being ahead of Taylor in the rotation, Self said: “It doesn’t matter if we bring Tyshawn back or not. Elijah has earned that right (to be first guard off bench),” Self said, noting Johnson would be starting point guard if the NCAA Tournament started today. “I like Tyshawn and his game and a lot of things, but we played pretty well when he didn’t play. It’s not something I feel we have to change what we’re doing.”

Morris on list

Marcus Morris on Monday was named one of 10 finalists for the Oscar Robertson Trophy. The other finalists for the U.S. Basketball Writers player of the year award: Jordan Hamilton, Derrick Williams, Jimmer Fredette, JaJuan Johnson, Terrence Jones, Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith, Jared Sullinger and Kemba Walker.

Brevity works

Self said he placed a four-minute limit on Wednesday’s Senior Day speeches.

More on travel

The Jayhawks’ long travel day back from Saturday’s game at Oklahoma, chronicled in Monday’s Journal-World, included a 3.5-hour bus ride from Tulsa. It turns out the Jayhawks rode one old bus.

“It was a ’67 model. We had VHS (movie capability), but we didn’t have the big cassette so we couldn’t watch anything,” Self said. “We had air, but the bus driver had never driven a bus that old and didn’t know how to turn it on. He called for instructions and said, ‘Thirty minutes from now it’ll kick in.’ He was right. It finally did. It all just added to the stories we’ll tell 30 years from now,” Self added.

Mum is word

Self said he would not make public what Taylor did to warrant suspension.

“If I have a problem with my son or daughter, I am not going to tell the neighbors, period,” Self said. “Coaches even though they want to discipline their guys I don’t think want to embarrass their guys. I want them (players) to understand if I get on them and these are the ramifications they understand it but also it stays within us. It has to be that way.”

Self was told there have been some wild rumors in the Internet.

“I have heard some of the rumors going on. I haven’t heard one that I would look at and say, ‘That’s a very educated, thought-out deal.’ There are some out there that’s pretty far-fetched,” he said.

Recruiting

Nino Jackson, a 6-2 junior from Ardmore (Okla.) High, confirmed Monday he has eliminated Oklahoma from his list of schools. He has a final two of KU and Baylor.

Big 12 title talk

Texas’ loss to Kansas State on Monday dropped the Longhorns (12-3) a half game behind KU in the Big 12 standings. The (12-2) Jayhawks can earn at least a share of the league title with a victory Wednesday against Texas A&M. KU has won six league titles in a row.

Deuce

The Jayhawks are ranked No. 2 in the country behind Ohio State this week in both the AP and USA Today/ESPN polls.

Gary Bedore’s KU hoops notebook

By Gary Bedore     Dec 12, 2010

KU vs. Colorado State

Box Score

Jayhawks survive injuries, Rams

Keegan: Break, Selby should boost KU

Rams’ Green frustrated by setback

Keegan ratings

Booth kudos

Kansas coach Bill Self exclaimed, ‘Wow,’ when asked about KU grad David Booth’s purchase of James Naismith’s original rules of basketball for $4.3 million.

“Allen Fieldhouse is unbelievable. It just took a different level,” Self added. “It went from the most historic building in our biased opinion in the country to now it’d be hard for anybody else to ever say it’s not if we have the rules out there (in fieldhouse) and we do it right (in displaying them).

“It’s terrific. I’ve had numerous anonymous e-mails saying how impressed they are with that (winning bid). Kudos to the Booth family and their generosity.”

This ‘n’ that

Saturday’s game was the first between the schools. … KU improved to 18-4 versus Mountain West Conference teams. … KU is 9-0 for the second straight season and fourth time in the Self era. … KU is 10-2 in Sprint Center (five straight victories) and 195-76 all-time in Kansas City. … KU’s last Sprint Center loss was 61-60 to Massachusetts on Dec. 13, 2008. … Kansas wore crimson uniforms for the first time this year during the regular season. The Jayhawks also wore crimson in their exhibition contest against Emporia State. The last time KU wore crimson during a regular-season game was in a 98-31 victory over Alcorn State on Dec. 2, 2009. … Markieff Morris recorded six offensive rebounds, passing his previous career high of five against Kansas State on March 3, 2010. Six offensive rebounds are the most by a Jayhawk this year. … Markieff also had three blocked shots, which was a season high. … KU outrebounded Colorado State 50-30, which was the largest rebound margin in favor of the Jayhawks this season. The last time KU was at least plus-20 in rebounding margin was when KU was plus-28 against Missouri on Jan. 25 of last year. … Tyrel Reed’s 10 three-point attempts were the most by a Jayhawk this season. He made three. Now he has 120 for his career, good for 15th place on KU’s all-time list. … Tyshawn Taylor recorded two steals and has 100 in three years. … KU set season highs in free throw attempts (31), offensive rebounds (18) and total rebounds (50). The team tied season highs in three-point attempts (23), blocked shots (10) and fouls (19). … KU set season-lows in points (76), field goals (25), field goal percentage (46.3), two-point field goals (17), two-point field goal attempts (31) and assists (13). The team tied season lows in points in a half (35) and field attempted (54). … KU shot under 50 percent for the first time this season (46.3 percent).

Faces in crowd

KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little attended with her husband, Shade. Shade visited with former KU athletic director Lew Perkins at halftime. … Former KU center Sasha Kaun also attended. … Former KU football player Darren Green watched behind the Colorado State bench in support of his son, CSU’s Dorian.

Gary Bedore’s KU hoops notebook

By Gary Bedore     Nov 13, 2010

KU vs. Longwood

Nick Krug
Brothers Marcus Morris (22) and Markieff Morris (21) both go up for a defensive rebound against Longwood during the first half, Friday, Nov. 12, 2010 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Box score

Johnson sits

Kansas University sophomore guard Elijah Johnson did not suit up. He was held out for disciplinary reasons.

“He has been irresponsible in some areas off the court,” KU coach Bill Self said. “I don’t know if he’s going to have time to correct some of those by Monday (game against Valparaiso) so I wouldn’t look for him to play Monday.”

Self did not address any specific reasons.

Teahan to red-shirt

Senior Conner Teahan did not play. He will red-shirt this season.

“We talked today. Unless injuries occur, unless something unforeseen happens, which I don’t think will, we will definitely put the red-shirt tag on him,” Self said.

Freshman guard Royce Woolridge, who had six points, will not red-shirt.

“There was no deliberation. I never talked to him about it,” Self said, indicating Woolridge, “needs to play. He needs the reps. He wants to play. It’s best for him to be out there.”

Wow

KU’s 113 points were the most during the Self era and its top total since tallying 113 against Emporia State on Dec. 14, 2002. … KU had its most points in an opener since 122 versus UMBC on Nov. 23, 1991.

Stats, facts

Longwood received $75,000 guarantee money. … Freshman Niko Roberts’ jumper gave KU its 100th point. … Markieff Morris’ 15 rebounds matched a career high (15 vs. UMKC on Nov. 16, 2008). Morris also set career highs in assists (five) and steals (four). … Thomas Robinson tallied a career-best 16 points, which included a career-high six from the free-throw line. … KU has won 60 straight home games. School record is 62 from 1993 to ’98. The current streak started Feb. 7, 2007, with a 97-70 victory over Kansas State. KU last lost in Allen on Feb. 3, 2007, against Texas A&M, 69-66. … KU has won nine straight season-openers. Last loss was to Ball State, 93-91, on Nov. 19, 2001, at the Maui Invitational.

Gary Bedore’s KU hoops notebook

By Gary Bedore     Nov 10, 2010

KU vs. Emporia State

Nick Krug
Kansas forward Marcus Morris leans in for a shot after being fouled by Emporia State guard Taylor Euler during the second half, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2010 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Big things to come? Robinson powers Jayhawks

Hornet ‘proud’ of KU’s Robinson

Selby circling, circling

Kaun on hand for blowout

Tharpe to sign

Naadir Tharpe, a 6-foot senior point guard from Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, Mass., said Tuesday he will sign a national letter-of-intent with Kansas University today.

It’s the first day of the week-long early signing period.

Tharpe orally committed to KU on Oct. 13. He chose the Jayhawks over Oklahoma, Minnesota, St. John’s, UCLA, North Carolina State and others.

Tharpe averaged 13 points and six assists a game last season for 35-5 national prep champion Brewster, then had a big spring and summer competing for the New England Playaz AAU team.

Originally from Worcester, Mass., Tharpe was a standout at St. Peter-Marian High before heading to Brewster two years ago.

KU discovered him while recruiting two of the top players in the Class of 2012 — New England Playaz’ Kaleb Tarczewski, a 7-foot center, and Alex Murphy, a 6-8 forward, who are ranked Nos. 13 and 11 respectively. Tharpe is rated No. 91 in the Class of 2011.

KU in the early period is also hoping to land Ben McLemore, 6-5 senior from Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va. McLemore, who is Rivals.com’s No. 17-rated player, has a final two of KU and Missouri. As of Tuesday, McLemore had still not made a decision. Most recruiting analysts believe he’s leaning toward KU.

Teahan sits

KU senior guard Conner Teahan did not play in KU’s second and final exhibition game. It’s expected he will red-shirt the season and extend his career through 2011-12. The finance major plans to get an MBA.

“It may be 60-40 probably as far as red-shirting,” Teahan said. “There are probably more benefits for me to do that.”

Releford nets dozen

Travis Releford, who red-shirted last year, had 12 points off 5-of-6 shooting.

“Coach said take open shots, don’t try to force anything and create for others, so that’s what I was trying to do,” Releford said.

Withey plays

Jeff Withey, who had surgery in September to repair a broken bone in his foot, played three minutes.

Coach says …

KU coach Bill Self on the game: “We had some really good possessions defensively where we rebounded the ball decent. We also had some really poor possessions defensively. Offensively, I thought the ball stuck more than it did the other night. We don’t guard as a team like we should. I don’t know if there is near enough pride in that regard with our team. There were some bright spots. I thought Tyshawn Taylor played well. Mario (Little) played decent in the second half after struggling in the first half. Thomas (Robinson) did some good things. Overall, it was just kind of a mediocre performance. Everybody just played OK, I don’t think anybody was exceptional.”

He added: “The two guys we know can play and impact the game are Brady (Morningstar) and Tyrel (Reed) and they’re not impacting the game either with shooting or defense. We will get there. The pieces just don’t quite fit. I’m not sure all the pieces fit for any team this early in the season. We’re fine, but there are big steps that need to be taken and we need to take them pretty soon because we start for real on Friday.”

Stats, facts

Marcus Morris left the game with nine minutes left after taking a hard shot to the groin area. He was fine after some recovery time on the bench . … KU has won 37 straight exhibition games dating to 1995 when KU lost three games to teams in France. … Self’s KU teams are 23-0 in exhibitions. … KU wore crimson uniforms for the first time since the Alcorn State game last season (Dec. 2). … In KU’s two exhibition wins this season, the team shot 67-for-75 from the free-throw line (89.3 percent), including 35-for-40 against Emporia State. The 35 free throws made would be the most by a Jayhawk team since Feb. 9, 2008, when the team recorded 36 in a game against Baylor. … Tyshawn Taylor, who had his fingers taped in response to a dislocated right ring finger, had six assists, which would have been his best total since he recorded six against Missouri in last season’s finale. … Marcus Morris is 15-for-15 from the line this preseason.

Gary Bedore’s KU hoops notebook

By Gary Bedore     May 5, 2010

Nick Krug
Current Kentucky coach John Calipari responds to a question during a news conference at the 2008 Final Four when he was still coach at Memphis.

UK no KU, OK?

The University of Kentucky basketball program took a publicity hit this week following the Lexington Herald-Leader’s revelation that first-year coach John Calipari’s Wildcats had a cumulative grade-point average of 2.025 for the fall semester.

“I was disappointed,” UK President Lee T. Todd told the newspaper, which filed an open-records request to obtain the figures.

The 2.025 was the worst GPA of all 20 UK athletics teams.

“I don’t know if this story was meant to embarrass me, but with my background, I don’t think that happens,” Calipari said at a Monday news conference. “My job is to make sure there’s growth academically and they’re on line to graduate. It’s pretty obvious I’ve done that over my career as a coach.”

He pointed out that he graduated 19 of his 23 players at Memphis and had an 80 percent graduation rate at UMass.

Kansas University, meanwhile, has been riding a wave of positive pub concerning its recent men’s basketball academic achievements. The Jayhawks recorded a 2.95 GPA for the fall semester after recording a 3.00 in the spring of 2009.

What’s more, the Jayhawks garnered national headlines this past March by winning Insider Higher Ed’s Academic Performance NCAA Tournament.

KU held the top Academic Progress Rate score of any of the 65 teams participating in the 2010 NCAAs. In the mock tourney, KU won each of its matchups, then defeated BYU in the national semifinals and Duke in the mock NCAA academic final.

“It all starts with coach (Bill Self). He is clear with everybody that comes here that this is important, and we’re going to take care of business on the court and in the classroom,” said Scott Ward, KU’s associate athletic director/academic and career counseling.

Each of the seniors who played for KU in the seven-year Self era has graduated. It’s expected KU senior Sherron Collins will graduate this month.

Junior Cole Aldrich, the men’s basketball Academic All-American of the Year, will need just 12 hours of coursework over the next school year to achieve his goal of graduating in May of 2011.

Jones saga continues

Terrence Jones, a 6-foot-8 senior forward from Portland’s Jefferson High who held a news conference Friday announcing his plans to attend Washington, has told Rivals.com he’s torn between Washington and Kentucky.

“I’m still not sure yet who I’m going to sign with,” Jones told Rivals.com. “I just wasn’t sure and basically picked on the spot. My mom said I needed to think about it some more.”

Jefferson coach Pat Strickland told the Oregonian that he believes Friday’s news conference was premature. Jones reached for a Kansas University hat before putting the Washington hat atop his head.

“I know a lot of people in the (Jefferson) gym wanted Terrence to go to Washington, and he felt a lot of pressure,” Strickland told the Oregonian.

Nellie remembered

One of KU’s greatest sports fans in history, Bob Nelson, died on April 9. A memorial wake for the man affectionately referred to as “Nellie” and “The Old Jayhawk” was held on April 24 at KU’s Alumni Center.

“The University of Kansas over time lost maybe its greatest fan ever in Bob Nelson,” Self said. “What a great guy. Until his health failed him, he’s a guy who traveled everywhere with Kansas in football and basketball to see his Jayhawks play. I was really fortunate to get to know Bob and Eleanor (wife) well. This was a big loss to the KU community.”

Gary Bedore’s KU hoops notebook

By Gary Bedore     Apr 3, 2010

Collins wins award

Kansas senior guard Sherron Collins on Friday was named the winner of the inaugural Lute Olson National Player of the Year Award, as presented by collegeinsider.com. The Olson Award will be presented annually to the country’s top Div. I player who has played at least two seasons with his respective team. The award is named in honor of former Arizona coach Olson.

Lamb update

Doron Lamb, a 6-foot-4 senior guard from Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., will meet with new St. John’s coach Steve Lavin after the Final Four, Zagsblog.net reports.

Lamb, Rivals.com’s No. 21-rated player, who is from Queens, N.Y., has had a firm list of Kansas, Kentucky, Arizona, UConn and West Virginia for many weeks.

“St. John’s is an option,” a source told Zagsblog.net.

Lamb will orally commit to a school at the Jordan Brand Classic, set for April 17, in New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Grant on radar

Jerami Grant, a 6-7 sophomore forward from DeMatha High in Hysattsville, Md., made an unofficial visit to KU earlier this week, Rivals.com reports. Grant is the brother of shooting guard Jerian Grant, who has signed with Notre Dame. Grant’s dad is former Oklahoma standout Harvey Grant.

Gary Bedore’s KU hoops notebook

By Gary Bedore     Feb 28, 2010

KU vs. Oklahoma State

Nick Krug
Kansas forward Marcus Morris collides with Oklahoma State guard Obi Muonelo during the first half, Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010 at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater.

Box Score

Cowboys end Jayhawks’ run

Keegan: Loss could help KU down line

Cowboy standout lights up KU

No outright title yet

Kansas University’s basketball team failed to clinch the outright Big 12 title Saturday in Stillwater, Okla.

Kansas State’s victory over Missouri in Manhattan kept the Wildcats in contention for a possible tie.

KU is 13-1 in league play. KSU is 11-3 with two games remaining.

KSU will meet KU at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Allen Fieldhouse.

No. 1 in the house

Saturday’s game was Oklahoma State’s first against a No. 1-ranked opponent in Stillwater in more than 20 years. OSU beat top-ranked Oklahoma, 77-73, on Feb. 4, 1989.

The fans celebrated the ‘Pokes’ eight-point victory over KU by storming the court. Several hundred orange-clad students hoisted sophomore guard Keiton Page on top of their shoulders, giving him a victory ride.

“It was a great feeling,” Page said after scoring 15 points off 5-of-6 shooting. He was 4-of-4 from three.

“I was feeling a little claustrophobic. When they picked me up, I caught my breath. I thought I was going to pass out,” Page said with a laugh.

Obviously, it’s been a long time between games versus No. 1 teams at historic Gallagher-Iba.

“I was born in 1989,” OSU standout James Anderson told the Daily Oklahoman before the game.

Anderson, a 6-foot-6 junior from Junction City, Ark., chose the Cowboys over the Jayhawks in recruiting.

He told the Tulsa World that both OSU and KU seemed “like a big family.”

“Not besides the time I was getting recruited,” he said, asked if ever envisioned himself a Jayhawk.

Anderson, by the way, played despite suffering back spasms at practice on Friday.

“Coach (Bill Self) told us at halftime about it. He just said he’s killing us, and he wasn’t even supposed to play,” sophomore Marcus Morris said.

Tourney-bound

Oklahoma State surely clinched an NCAA Tournament bid by beating top-ranked KU. OSU is 20-8 overall, 8-6 in conference play.

“No question. We’re a tournament team now,” senior Obi Muonelo said after scoring 17 points off 6-of-13 shooting.

“It’s not a relief at all,” junior Anderson said after exploding for 27 points off 9-of-19 shooting, 4-for-6 from three. “With talent like this, we can play with anybody.”

Just like Paul

Self was asked if Anderson reminded him of any other player. Ex-Jayhawk Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics was the one who came to mind.

Henry’s draft stock appears solid

The Daily Oklahoman surveyed many NBA Draft sites regarding the possible draft status of KU freshman Xavier Henry.

NBA-draft.com has Henry headed to Philadelphia with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2010 June draft. Others: nbadraft.net: No, 11, Minnesota; insidehoops.com, No. 12, Chicago; mynbadraft.com, No. 15, Minnesota; draftexpress.com, No. 15, Houston; nbadraftguru, No. 16, Chicago.

Henry entered KU as a probable one-and-done college player. He has said he’s only thinking about helping KU win a national championship right now.

Donation

Oklahoma State mega booster T. Boone Pickens presented a $100 million check to the university at halftime after the university president announced that the school has started a campaign designed to raise $1 billion.

Don’t give up

KU sliced a game-high deficit of 19 with 13 minutes left to six points with over a minute to play. KU trailed by 17 with just over seven minutes left.

“There’s always enough time,” Henry said. “We never panic. We keep playing. You never know what might happen.”

Stats, facts

Self is now 6-7 all-time against Oklahoma State, 5-4 as coach of the Jayhawks. He’s 1-3 as KU coach in Gallagher-Iba Arena. … The loss halted KU’s 13-game win streak. … KU leads the all-time series, 102-53. The teams have played to a 31-31 deadlock at Gallagher-Iba. … KU is 13-6 versus OSU since the Big 12 began in 1996-97. … Self is 196-42 at KU, just four wins from 200. … Sherron Collins moved into seventh place on the all-time KU scoring list. His 22 points against OSU gave him 1,774 career points and moved him past Kirk Hinrich (1,753 from 2000-03), Dave Robisch (1,754 from 1969-71) and Pierce (1,768 from 1996-98). … Collins tied a season-high with six turnovers. … Cole Aldrich (11) scored in double figures for the third time in the last four games and 20th time this season. … Henry (406 points) moved into fourth place on KU’s all-time freshman scoring list. He moved past Darnell Valentine (392 in 1978) and Pierce (404 in 1996). The record is 496 by Danny Manning in 1985. … Henry’s three free throws gave him 76 for the season. He moved into a tie for sixth place with Tyshawn Taylor (76 in 2009). … Henry (17) scored in double figures for the sixth straight game. He’s averaging 17.8 ppg in that span. … Brady Morningstar (two assists, no turnovers) has six games this season without a bobble. He has an impressive 64/19 assist/turnover ratio. … Tyrel Reed tied a season-high three steals … The Jayhawks trailed by as many as 19 points, largest deficit of the season. Previous high was 11 at Nebraska.

Gary Bedore’s KU hoops notebook

By Staff     Feb 14, 2010

KU vs. Iowa State

Nick Krug
Kansas guard Sherron Collins pats his chest after a three-pointer against Iowa State during the second half, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2010 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Box Score

KU coach Self gets milestone victory

Brackins lauds KU

Keegan: Press boosts KU

Jackson in the ‘house

Former Kansas University power forward Darnell Jackson decided to work up a sweat before Saturday’s KU-Iowa State game.

“I walked by the practice gym, and Darnell is in there working out. I told him, ‘When you were here, I never saw you do that once,”’ KU basketball coach Bill Self said, joking with the second-year member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. “He looks great, so confident.”

Jackson, whose contract runs out after this season — “If they keep me I’ll be happy, if not I’ll go somewhere else,” he said simply — loves KU’s new practice digs.

“It made me upset because as soon as I left, they get this,” he said with a smile. “Nah … they deserve it.”

Jackson thinks KU has what it takes to win the national title, just as his ’08 team did.

“I feel they can pull it off as long as they stay focused and keep their minds right,” Jackson said. “They’ll have their ups and downs, but have guys who have been through it — Cole (Aldrich), Sherron (Collins) and Brady (Morningstar).”

Jackson wore his national title ring to the game and flashed it to the fans when he was introduced on the videoboard.

“It was great to wear it here tonight. I never wear it during the (NBA) season,” said Jackson, who was guest on the halftime KU radio network broadcast of the game and also met the media afterward.

Injuries

Freshman Thomas Robinson took an elbow at practice Thursday and suffered a concussion. Self said Robinson still had some symptoms Saturday, so he wasn’t cleared to play. He’s listed as day-to-day. … C.J. Henry is just 60 percent recovered from his severely bruised tailbone that has kept him out of several games, Self said.

Selby in the house

Josh Selby, a 6-foot-2 senior point guard from Baltimore’s Lake Clifton High, attended with his mom, Maeshon, on his recruiting visit. Selby, who is rated No. 4 nationally by Rivals.com, made an unofficial visit to KU for Late Night in the Phog. He has a final list of KU, Kentucky, Arizona, UConn, Indiana and Syracuse. He is slated to visit Kentucky the weekend of March 7. His mom said no decision was on the immediate horizon with other visits to make.

Running on

Marcus Morris, on KU’s 14-0 run against Iowa State and similar run that busted open the Nebraska game: “It might just be something that coach is saying because every time there’s a timeout, and then we’re coming out with a different spark. I’m not saying coach is sparking us out in the huddle, but the words are not good. He actually referred back to the Nebraska game about how they went up four. I guess we just came out of that timeout and started playing.”

Stats, facts

Former KU players Calvin Thompson, Jeff Carey and Jeff Hawkins attended. … Aldrich blocked three shots. He has 93, good for third on KU’s all-time single season block list. Greg Ostertag had 97 (1994) and Aldrich 94 last season. … KU, which won its 56th straight game in Allen, has won 10 in a row versus ISU.

Gary Bedore’s KU hoops notebook

By Gary Bedore     Jan 11, 2010

KU vs. Tennessee

Nick Krug
From left, Kansas players Marcus Morris, Tyshawn Taylor, Markieff Morris, Thomas Robinson, C.J. Henry and Elijah Johnson watch from the bench as time dwindles in the Jayhawks' 76-68 loss to Tennessee Sunday, Jan. 10, 2010 at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville.

Box Score

• Keegan: KU’s big men didn’t play big

Jayhawks suffer first loss

McBee stings KU

‘Lucky’ shot

Walk-on Skylar McBee swished a three-pointer with 36 seconds left, giving the Vols a 74-68 lead.

“I think it was lucky. He didn’t know where the clock was,” KU senior Sherron Collins said of the freshman, who barely beat the shot clock horn.

“It definitely deflated us,” Collins added. “We played good defense, ran the shot clock down, and he hit it. He’s a good shooter.”

Half-brother excels

Renaldo Woolridge, the half-brother of future KU player Royce Woolridge, had 14 points off 4-of-6 three-point shooting. He said he would not text Royce after the game.

“I don’t really know him, to be honest,” Renaldo said.

He said the Vols never doubted they could beat KU, despite the fact they lost Tyler Smith to a season-long suspension and three other rotation players, currently suspended.

“I expected to win. We all did,” he said. “The big thing is we never get rattled. When they tied it (at 64 with 4:21 left after UT blew nine-point lead), we kept our composure, poise. We stayed together.”

This ‘n’ that

KU coach Bill Self, who said last week he likely would be trimming the rotation, with players earning their shots in practice, used eight players 13 or more minutes. Thomas Robinson and C.J. Henry were used three and two minutes. Elijah Johnson did not enter the game. … KU is 5-2 against the SEC in the Self era and 29-30 all-time against the conference. … KU shot its second-lowest field-goal percentage of the season, making just 37.7 percent of its shots. Tennessee shot 48.1 percent from the floor, the best shooting percentage by a KU opponent this season. … KU had a season-low three steals. … Cole Aldrich (18 boards) had 12 the first half, to mark the most rebounds in a half by a Jayhawk since Nick Collison pulled down 13 in the second half versus Syracuse on April 7, 2003. … Aldrich had four blocked shots for his 14th game with three or more rejections. … Collins scored in double figures for the third-straight game and 12th time this season, as he finished with a team-best 22 points. Collins also attempted a season-high 20 field goals. … Freshman Xavier Henry recorded double-digit points for the third-straight game and 14th time this season. He scored all 10 of his points in the second half. … Sophomore Tyshawn Taylor had three assists. He has three-plus assists in seven of his last eight games and 10 times this season. He also attempted a season-high 11 field goals. … Tyrel Reed hit a three-pointer at the end of the first half to tie the score. He has at least one trey in each of the last six games.

Classy crowd

The Vols’ fans did not storm the court after the first game against a No. 1-ranked team in Thompson-Boling Arena. The public-address announcer reminded fans with over a minute left that not only could they be arrested for running on the floor, but tickets could be revoked for future games.

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