Tonight won’t be the first time Kansas Josh Jackson and Iowa State point guard Monte’ Morris will face each other in a packed house with plenty at stake.
“Oh, I owe him one,” Jackson said of Morris at Big 12 Media Day. “I owe him one. He sent me home crying when I was a freshman in high school.”
Morris scored 28 points to lead Flint Beecher to a 46-44 victory against Jackson’s Detroit Consortium in a Michigan Class C quarterfinal game on March 19, 2013. Morris stole the ball from Jackson, referred to as “Joshua” in newspaper accounts, with 2.9 seconds remaining to seal the victory. Jackson scored nine points in the game and a year later led Consortium to the state title.
“Monte’s a great guy,” Jackson said. “For as long as he’s been in college after he left high school, I still continue to talk to him. He offered me a lot of advice when I was in high school, still supported me. We still talk. We’re still friends.”
Morris was Big 12 preseason player of the year and the lone unanimous selection on a first team that included Frank Mason and Devonte’ Graham of Kansas, Johnathan Motley of Baylor and Jawun Evans of Oklahoma State.
Either Frank Mason or Devonte’ Graham likely will start the game defending Morris, but if KU coach Bill Self wants to give Morris a different look, it’s possible he could put Jackson on him for a stretch or two. Jackson’s primary assignment likely will be 6-foot-5, 250-pound Deonte Burton, an inside-outside threat who is the Cyclones’ third-leading scorer (12.4) and leading rebounder (6.9).
