Senior guard Sherron Collins overcame a slow start to lead six Jayhawks
in double figures with 19 points. Sophomore guard Tyshawn Taylor had 15
off the bench. Xavier Henry had 14, junior center Cole Aldrich had 13
to go with 13 rebounds and sophomore forwards Markieff and Marcus Morris added 12 and 10, respectively.
“Well, I thought we started out pretty good, but I though we got stale,
offensively,” coach Bill Self said. “My biggest thing to me was our
carelessness with the ball and obviously we rebounded the ball poorly.
We didn't defend the three very well and we didn't do some other things
very well.”
Self was pleased, however, with his collection of new talent, including
Xavier Henry, Elijah Johnson and Thomas Robinson.
He said, “I thought our young kids played good. I think Elijah's going
to be really good, and Xavier should us that he can score the
basketball. I thought Thomas played well in the limited time that he
was out there. He's got a motor and shoots the ball pretty well. There
were some good things that happened tonight.”
KU opened the game, 9-2, but the Tigers turned into The Thing That
Wouldn't Go Away in a rhythm-less half in which 30 fouls were called
(14 by Kansas, 16 by Fort Hays State). KU's lead hovered around nine or
10 points most of the half, and at the 7:43 mark, the Tigers had kept
it close, 30-21.
Hays scored at the 3:08 mark to keep Kansas within reach, 42-31.
Sherron Collins finally warmed up to hit a three-pointer and then
another off a Hays turnover which reset the Jayhawks lead at 17, 48-31.
All told, KU finished the half on a 12-4 run to take a 54-35 lead into
the intermission.
The second half was more of the same. KU rattled off a 12-0 run to turn
the game into a no-brainer, 66-37, by the under-16 timeout in the
second half. The Tigers never got closer than 25 in the second period,
and they didn't help themselves by committing their seventh team foul
and putting Kansas at the charity stripe just 4:38 in.
KU only out-rebounded the Tigers 20-17 in the first half, but FHSU foul
trouble – four Tigers fouled out of the contest – and longer, more
athletic Jayhawk bodies resulted in a 13-rebound edge, 47-34, by the
end of the game. Aldrich led Kansas with 13, Markieff Morris chipped in
nine and newcomer forward Thomas Robinson grabbed seven.
It's also worth noting that the Jayhawks had 10 blocks. Aldrich and
Markieff Morris each had three.
The Jayhawks see their final exhibition action next Tuesday when
another MIAA foe, the Pittsburg State Gorillas, come into venerable
Allen Field House. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Other game notes
- It doesn't quite have the same ring as “New York, NEW
YORK!”, but the PA announcer may be onto something when he announced
starter Cole Aldrich as being from “BLOOOOmington, Minnesota.”
- I'll call the race early: “The Jayhawk Most Likely To Be
Stared at a Little Too Long by my Wife” is... Xavier Henry.
- Xavier Henry, Tyshawn Taylor and Elijah Johnson blew the
roof off the barn with a steal (Henry), a perfect alley-oop pass
(Taylor) and a big dunk (Johnson) early in the second half.
- Someday, Thomas Robinson will eat Mike Tyson's children.
Yeah, he's that bad.
- Bill Self's antacid bill will almost certainly go down this
season, if Markieff and Marcus Morris' improved play Tuesday is any
indication.
- Kansas recorded its 34th straight exhibition victory and
31st consecutive home exhibition victory. KU is now 52-7 all-time in
exhibition games. KU improved to 45-4 in exhibition games in Allen
Fieldhouse and to 20-0 in exhibition games under coach Bill Self.
- KU is now 7-0 against Fort Hays State.
- Kansas used the somewhat-surprising starting lineup of
Tyrel Reed, Xavier Henry, Markieff Morris, Cole Aldrich and Sherron
Collins. Tyshawn Taylor came off the bench because, coach Bill Self
said, he's been “careless” in practice lately.
- Nine of 10 players made their first shot. The exception was
Collins, who later made three straight three-pointers.
- Kansas has already matched last season's output of 100
point games: one. KU's only game in which they hit the century mark was
Dec. 3, 2008, against New Mexico State.
- All 10 Jayhawks who played scored.
- Kansas has scored in the 90s or more against the Tigers in
six of their seven meetings.
- Kansas scored 22 fast break points compared to just six for
the Tigers.
- The last time Kansas tallied 10 blocks as a team was last
season against Washington on Nov. 24, 2008.
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