**9:37 p.m.**: The two biggest storylines in the postgame press sessions were Russell Robinson’s chase for Aaron Miles’ school single game steals record of nine and Darnell Jackson’s now legendary spin move and score to start the second half.Robinson finished the game with eight swipes, falling one short of the record. Bill Self said he let Robinson play one extra minute, though it doesn’t sound like anyone was aware of the record being in sight. Self joked, saying he told Robinson he’d better get a steal if he was going to let him stay in an extra 60 seconds.Robinson and Mario Chalmers have now combined for 75 steals in 13 games. That is an incredible number.As for Jackson, he hit the 20-point mark for the second time this season, and continues to play like KU’s night-in, night-out MVP. To make an argument for anyone else would be pretty tough. Though Jackson said don’t look for the spin move to be in his regular repertoire.Other notes:-Mario Chalmers became a member of the 1,000-point club with his 11 points. He becomes the 50th player in KU history to claim that and the second this season, joining fellow junior Brandon Rush.-Tyrel Reed scored at least eight points for the fourth time this season, scoring exactly that many on 3-of-3 shooting, including a pair of threes.. It was big for the freshman, who hasn’t been the same, according to Self, in terms of confidence since tweaking his ankle a few weeks back.-KU, believe it or not, was outrebounded, 36-35.-The Jayhawks held yet another opponent to a miserable shooting night, with Yale making its final number a somewhat-respectable 37 percent with a 46.4 percent showing in the second half. KU was a solid 33-of-64 from the floor.-Conner Teahan was swatted from three-point range on one of his two attempts, dropping the hearts of millions.-Yale turned the ball over 27 times. Eek.That’s all for tonight. I’ll be talking to you all week from Miami starting Monday afternoon. Look forward to it. Happy New Year to everyone out there in KUSports.com land.**8:49 p.m.**: Big second halves for both Jackson and Sherron Collins, and now that the human victory cigar is in, that means it’s time to let you know I’ll be back in a bit with postgame nuggets.**8:13 p.m.**: Darnell Jackson made a play to start tonight’s second half that you can easily claim he doesn’t make two years ago. After stealing the ball from a Yale guard – yes, you read that right – at midcourt, he high-stepped over the poor Bulldog lying on the ground all while maintaining his dribble. Jackson then slid under the hoop for an up-and-under layup while drawing contact.The place flat-out went nuts. It was even crazier after he hit the free throw. Jackson was so caught up in it that after the free throw, he forgot to give himself his traditional three taps on the chest.It’s now undeniable what the weight he lost this offseason has done for Jackson, easily KU’s most valuable player to this point in the season. He’s shooting the ball at near a 70-percent clip, and he’s without question KU’s most intense rebounder. If he’s not a solid NBA Draft second round possibility, then that’s just nuts.**7:54 p.m.**: True to form, this is turning into a very valuable game for a couple of Jayhawks whose minutes have been limited of late in the rotation. Most notable of those are Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins.Aldrich continued to show his steadily-improving form under the hoop. He scored just three points, but is showing no hesitation on either end of the floor. He had a monster swat on a completely helpless Bulldog foul that the refs whistled as a foul, but that may have been a mercy call. Aldrich had three points and three boards.Collins only scored two points, but they were an acrobatic two under the basket which were reminiscent of the pre-stress fracture Collins. The three turnovers weren’t great, but the Jayhawks got a bit sloppy in the first half as a group, trying to produce too many highlights at times. But KU’s six team giveaways were nothing compared to Yale’s 17.Some other interesting first half numbers…-Darnell Jackson’s 10 points again came on an efficient showing from the floor, as he went 5-of-7. He’s now 58-of-87 on the year.-Mario Chalmers was 3-of-5 from the long range. The rest of the KU players combined were 0-for-5. Yale, though, was just 1-of-11.-KU was outrebounded 21-17.-KU already has 11 steals in this game, and Russell Robinson has five of them. He’s two shy of his career high of seven. **7:23 p.m.**: Wow, that didn’t feel like two hours.So much for the rust factor in the early minutes. KU certainly doesn’t appear in the mood to let the Bulldogs hang around for any stretch of time, already up 18-5 just over eight minutes into the game.The Jayhawks look to be having fun at this point, too. Mario Chalmers exhibited it on a fast break off a steal at midcourt in which he was fouled, mocking the motion for a Dominique Wilkins-esque dunk in the open floor, drawing chuckles from Darnell Jackson and Brandon Rush.This could be a crucial game for Sherron Collins to get himself back into form before the tougher games come around here in the next few weeks. He doesn’t look like he overfed his belly at the Christmas table. That should be a welcome sign to any Jayhawk fan, because if there’s one guy on the squad who could let himself go in one sitting at the dinner table, it’s No. 4. He looks the same.**5:09 p.m.**: Just got settled in here on the good ol’ baseline in Allen Fieldhouse, so it’s time to go to work.Now that Orange Bowl fever has set back in in Lawrence, basketball once again takes a back seat, especially when you consider tonight’s opponent. This is the perfect game for KU to shake off any holiday rust with, as the Jayhawks have a stiff advantage across the board against Yale tonight. The Bulldogs bring a nice storyline with them to Lawrence, with 6-foot-6 identical twin seniors Caleb and Nick Holmes (2004 graduates of Olathe South) playing in front of a smattering of family and friends.But since this one doesn’t promise to be a close contest for more than a half or so. With that said, lets go off-topic before this one tips off…**_In my blog from Atlanta_**, I gave a much-requested update on some former KU hoopsters still playing college ball at other schools. Someone in the comments section pondered how that group would fare in a game against the Jayhawks’ current starting five. Well, here are the matchups you’d be looking at probably…G: Russell Robinson (7.5 ppg, 4.8 apg) vs. Nick Bahe (Creighton – 6.7 ppg) G: Mario Chalmers (12.4 ppg, 4.7 apg, 3.1 spg) vs. J.R. Giddens (New Mexico – 11.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg) G: Brandon Rush (10.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg) vs. Micah Downs (Gonzaga – 10.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg) F: Darrell Arthur (13.3 ppg, 6.1 rpg) vs. Alex Galindo (Fla. Int’l – 12.1 ppg, 6.6 rpg) F: Darnell Jackson (10.8 ppg, 6.7 rpg) vs. C.J. Giles (Oregon State – 5.8 ppg, 6.0 rpg)If you wanted to go the completely superficial route, you could look at combined points per game (KU has the edge, 54.9 to 47.1). But looking a little closer… -Robinson is a better pure point than Bahe -Chalmers against Giddens is sort of a wash -Rush is a more diverse scorer than Downs, though Micah has become a solid rebounder -Arthur might have a tough time defending Galindo on the perimeter, but he ultimately has the advantage -Jackson has been KU’s MVP so far, while Giles has fouled out of three of the four games he’s played in since again becoming eligibleCurrent Jayhawks win. Not sure there’s much of an argument there.I had actually meant to put that in a blog earlier in the week, but I got sucked into the holiday malaise after last Saturday’s Miami (Ohio) game. Honestly, in a 72-hour stretch before Christmas Day, I stayed in my apartment the whole time, played far too much Madden 08 (J.P. Losman is a zeus, by the way) and at one point watched seven straight hours of I Love the 90s on VH1.Final note: I did the annual double feature on Christmas Day, like many of my Jewish brethren. Saw Juno, which I highly suggest seeing, and wished at the end of the day I’d seen that one second rather than first. The double-dip was finished by seeing I Am Legend. Will Smith is incredible and it’s well done, but everything about the movie is completely depressing. That’s my pop culture blurb for the day. See you around tip time.
