Friday, March 9, 2007
A week after a late-night battle with the Oklahoma Sooners, the Kansas Jayhawks hope for the same result today at a much earlier time.
Tip-off is scheduled for 11:35 this morning in Oklahoma City. That might not mean much for the Jayhawks, but it could make a big difference for the Sooners, who had to earn their way into today’s game with a 68-63 defeat against the Iowa State Cyclones on Thursday.
“We know it will be awfully tough,” Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said. “We will get some rest, and hopefully we will be rested up enough to where we can make it competitive and have a chance down the stretch.”
The last time the teams met was on Oklahoma’s home court in Norman, just 20 miles south of the Ford Center, where today’s game will be played. In that meeting, Kansas charged out to a 14-point lead, but watched it disappear as Oklahoma shrank the deficit and tied the game in the final minutes. Sophomore guard Mario Chalmers hit some clutch free throws, and Kansas emerged with a 67-65 victory.
This time around, coach Bill Self will try to improve his team’s performance against Oklahoma’s pressure defense. Freshman guard Sherron Collins had a rough time handling the ball down the stretch in Norman, and the Sooners will likely key in on him during today’s game.
At his press conference Monday, Self said that it didn’t matter to him whether Oklahoma or Iowa State was the opponent, because the team did not practice for either of them.
“The bottom line is that we’re going to focus on us,” he said. “If there’s a good thing, it’s that we played Iowa State and Oklahoma just three and two games ago, so it should be relatively fresh.”
The Jayhawks left Lawrence after they watched Thursday’s game and arrived in Oklahoma City late in the afternoon. Two Kansas assistant coaches went to Oklahoma City ahead of time to scout the game between the Sooners and the Cyclones.
“We’ve got to get ready for a team basically within 24 hours,” sophomore guard Julian Wright said.
pullquote
We’ve got to get ready for a team basically within 24 hours.
-sophomore guard Julian Wright
While they watched the game, the Jayhawks no doubt noticed the dominating inside presence of Oklahoma’s Nate Carter, who managed to keep the Iowa State offense out of the paint for most of the first half. He also chipped in 22 points on the offensive end, and was complimented by guard Tony Crocker’s 15 points — most of those three-pointers late in the game.
The victory came without the services of guard Michael Neal, who was suffering from the stomach flu. Neal underwent an IV treatment before the game, but never saw playing time. Without his services, it may be hard for Oklahoma to keep pace with Kansas and still stay out of foul trouble.
Self said the early tip-off time won’t affect his team much but will help them better prepare for Saturday’s game if they win today.
“Anytime you play at night, the game may end at a certain time, but the game doesn’t really end until early the next morning,” he said. “There are so many things going on that you have no free time by playing that late, and then you play in the afternoon the next day. So I think the advantage isn’t in the first game, but in the second game.”
If the Jayhawks win today, they face the winner of the Kansas State vs. Texas Tech game at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Kansan senior sportswriter Michael Phillips can be contacted at mphillips@kansan.com.
– Edited by Trevan McGee
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