Kansas Notes

Phog.net provides you the weekly the news and notes from the Kansas basketball program.

* Jekyll and Hyde
The regular season schedule winds down with Kansas looking for at least a share of the Big 12 title. KU appears to be rolling but takes on a Texas A&M team that appears to have a split personality. Which team will show up in College Station on Saturday? The one who scored just 37 points vs. Oklahoma or the team that just went on the road and beat Baylor? The Aggies have quietly moved up to 8-7 in conference and are tied for the fourth spot in the standings.

* Russell’s Resurgence
You can’t really say he was in a slump but senior guard Russell Robinson appeared to be struggling especially in KU’s most recent losses (vs. Texas, vs. Oklahoma State). It’s never easy to measure Russell’s contributions in numbers because it’s the emotion, leadership, and energy he brings to the court. The 6-1 senior has raised the level of his play the last two games with 29 pts on 9-13 shooting including 5-7 from three-point range. Robinson also tallied six steals during KU’s last two wins. In losses to Texas and Oklahoma State Robinson scored just 12 points and was 4-14 from the floor with just three steals.

* Hitting the Books
On Thursday the Big 12 conference announced its Academic All-Big 12 team. The Jayhawks placed two student-athletes on the first team – seniors Jeremy Case and Sasha Kaun. In order to make the first team a student-athlete must carry a GPA above 3.20.

Russell Robinson made the second team.

*Offense to Defense
Kansas has outshot its opponents in 29 of 30 games this season – only USC (Dec. 2) shot a better percentage than the Jayhawks.

On the defensive end of the floor KU continues to hold strong holding 29 of 30 opponents under 50 percent shooting this season. Overall for Bill Self his Hawks have managed to keep an opponent under 50 percent in 101 of KU’s last 104 games.

*On A Roll
A welcome sight for all Jayhawk fans the last two games has been the play of sophomore guard Sherron Collins. After nursing several injuries this season Collins appears to be back to full strength. In wins against K-State and Texas Tech Collins shot 12-20 from the floor (60 percent). He’s averaging 15.5 ppg in the last two contests and tied a career-high with four steals against the Wildcats. That’s quite a turnaround after Collins logged just 11 minutes and had no points in a loss at Oklahoma State while being limited by a bruised knee.

* Terrific Finish For The Seniors
Kansas fans hosted a Phog Allen Fieldhouse sendoff Monday and all five seniors went out in style. Every player topped their season average with the exception of Darnell Jackson who scored 10 points but averages 12.2 ppg on the season. Robinson doubled his average (7.7 ppg to 15 pts), Jeremy Case netted 9 points and more than tripled his average (1.6 ppg), Rodrick Stewart averages scored 6 points and averages 3.1 for the season, and finally Sasha Kaun, who averages 7.5 on the season, finished with 10 points for the game.

*Record Night
KU’s drubbing of Texas Tech Monday (109-51) set a Big 12 record for largest margin of victory. Kansas averages over 82.5 ppg and actually still leads the nation in scoring margin at +21.1.

*Zeros All-Around
Kansas finished the season undefeated for the 14th time in school history (20-0). KU’s 24-game home court winning streak ranks fourth nationally.

KU is 11-1 vs. Texas A&M all-time with the one blemish coming last season in Lawrence when the Aggies came out on top of a hard-fought 69-66 win. But Kansas happens to be 4-0 in Reed Arena and 5-0 in College Station overall.

*Have To Have Balance
Through 30 games seven different players have led KU in scoring and rebounding. Five different players have led the team in assists, eight different in steals, and amazingly seven different in blocked shots. In the last five games that theme continues – Robinson, Brandon Rush, Darrell Arthur, Darnell Jackson, and Mario Chalmers have all led the team in scoring during this stretch.

Six different players on this team have scored 20 or more point this season. Rush, Collins, Jackson, Chalmers, Arthur, and Robinson have all accomplished the feat.