Kansas rolls past Oklahoma, 81-68

The No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks had little difficulty properly disposing of the Oklahoma Sooners in an 81-68 victory.

It really wasn’t one of the most impressive victories from the Jayhawks, but when did they start caring about style points?

Kansas quickly jumped out to a double-digit lead, and it was clear from that point on that the game was already over.

The Jayhawks took a 15-point lead into halftime thanks to a well-rounded offensive attack and tremendous defense.

They let off the gas a little bit in the second half, giving up 39 points to Oklahoma, but the game was well in hand.

Sunday, February 28, 2010 at 12:52 pm by steve

Kansas stomps Colorado, 94-74

The No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks made quick work at home of the Colorado Buffaloes in a 94-74 victory.

Kansas delighted their fans by jumping out to a 14-point lead by halftime and never looked back.

Cole Aldrich led the Jayhawks with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks. He is a one man wrecking crew down on the low block.

Xavier Henry scored a game-high 24 points and is really starting to show why he was so highly touted coming into college.

With the victory, Sherron Collins and Brady Morningstar tied a school record with 123 wins in their illustrious careers.

Friday, February 26, 2010 at 7:45 pm by steve

Kansas escape Texas A&M, 59-54

The No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks were able to escape with a 59-54 victory over the host No. 25 Texas A&M Aggies.

The game was close for the entire way, with the Jayhawks generally trailing by a basket or so for most of the contest.

However, it was the Jayhawks who made the key plays down the stretch, rallying back from a four-point deficit to remain undefeated in Big 12 play.

Credit the Kansas defense for the victory, which held the Aggies scoreless over the last four minutes of the game.

Head coach Bill Self was relieved to get out of a very hostile road environment with a win, and was very pleased how his team relied on their defense to get them through a poor shooting night.

Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 4:42 pm by steve

Kansas rolls past Texas, 80-68

The No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks had little trouble storming into Austin and coming away with an 80-68 victory over the No. 10 Texas Longhorns.

After a defensive struggle in the early going, Kansas got going on the offensive end of the floor and built a double-digit lead heading into halftime.

The Jayhawks spent much of the second half milking the clock and holding onto the lead, although they did have to withstand a Texas run with just minutes to play.

When it came down to it, Kansas just made enough plays at critical times to hold off the slumping Longhorns, who have lost a few games in recent weeks.

Xavier Henry had a breakout game, scoring 15 points. The Jayhawks will need more where the came from if they want to make a run at a national championship.

Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 1:26 pm by steve

Kansas escapes Colorado, 72-66

The No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks barely avoided getting knocked off again in a 72-66 overtime win over the Colorado Buffaloes.

It was a game that went back and forth the whole way, although Kansas led until the final minutes.

It was a good example of how tough it can be for the No. 1 team in the country to travel around with a bullseye on their back.

Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich led the Jayhawks with 16 points each. Aldrich also had 14 rebounds. Marcus Morris added 15 points.

Kansas was dreadful from the free-throw line, knocking down just 18 of 38 attempts. Had they just made 10 more, the game wouldn’t have been that close.

Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 7:26 am by steve

Jayhawks Escape Colorado in OT, 72-66

Largely on the back of Marcus Morris, the Kansas Jayhawks made sure that the No.1 curse didn’t strike them as well.

For Kentucky and Texas, the two other most recent No. 1s, the ranking proved to be too much, as they both fell in their first game after earning the top ranking. If it wasn’t for Morris, Kansas likely would have suffered the same fate in Colorado on Wednesday; instead, Kansas escaped Colorado with a 72-66 victory in Colorado.

Morris scored six points in overtime, but none were more key than the bucket that put Kansas up 67-60. Morris missed a shot, grabbed his own rebound, missed that shot, rebounded it again, missed it again, then finally put the ball through the hoop on his fourth try.

“I was done. I gave everything I had on that last play and the altitude was ridiculous out there. It was hard to catch our breath,” he said. “It was a tough game. Nothing was going our way and still nothing was going our way because I was missing right around the rim.”

Morris, who had 15 points and eight rebounds total in the game, also had to sink two free throws with 26 seconds left to ice the game for Kansas. Considering that Morris was 0-for-5 at the free throw line at that point in the game, knocking down both was no small task.

“Heck, he’s 2 for 7. You should make at least two free throws if you shoot seven, OK?” Kansas coach Bill Self said, chuckling. “So, I’m not going to give him that much credit.”

“But I will tell you this: He made the play of the game. That was the best basketball play of the game. From a competitive standpoint, guys are really tired and he goes after his own ball three or four times and gets the put-back.”

Morris’ free throw troubles only compounded upon a team-wide problem for Kansas – the Jayhawks only shot 18-of-38 from the line in the near-upset.

Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 8:41 pm by bryan