Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Kansas coach Bill Self allowed his players to return home for three days to celebrate Christmas with their families last week. For Cole Aldrich, the break came at the perfect time.
Aldrich went back to Bloomington, Minn., a day after struggling with only 10 points and four rebounds in an 84-67 defeat to Arizona. He didn’t let his performance ruin the holiday, but Aldrich kept thinking about basketball.
Photo Gallery
Men's Basketball vs. Albany, First Half
View photos from the first half of the Jayhawks' 79-43 victory against Albany.
“It was a nice time to get away and see some familiar faces and hang out with the family and whatnot,” Aldrich, a sophomore center, said. “And try to get our minds right again.”
Aldrich and Kansas certainly looked refreshed Tuesday as they breezed past Albany in a 79-43 victory. Aldrich responded from his rough game against Arizona with 20 points, six rebounds and three blocks.
Remembering the disastrous start to the Arizona game where he gave up a dunk on the first possession, Aldrich took the bite out of the Great Danes early in this one.
When Albany doubled down on Aldrich 10 seconds into the game, he coolly passed the ball off to freshman forward Markieff Morris for an easy assist. Aldrich then scored four of Kansas’ next seven points.
“I’m happy with the way I played,” Aldrich said. “Mostly, I’m happy with the way the whole team played. We played pretty well tonight.”
The Jayhawks (9-3) played arguably as well as they have all season. They shot a season-high 56 percent from the field. The 36-point margin of the victory was the second largest of the season, behind only an 85-45 outburst against Florida Gulf Coast in the second game of the year.
Kansas led 40-19 at halftime after playing tough defense for the first 20 minutes and holding Albany (8-5) to 24 percent from the field. The second half quickly became an amalgamation of big plays from the Jayhawks.
Aldrich, of course, played a key role in one of the most memorable moments. With 14 minutes remaining, Kansas ran a play where Markieff Morris set a screen to free up sophomore guard Tyrel Reed. Aldrich caught a lob-pass below the basket from Reed and threw it down for an alley-oop.
“I know he’s going to get it,” Reed, Aldrich’s roommate, said. “We’ve practiced a lot, me being a guard, feeding the post to Cole and things like that. I do feel especially comfortable throwing it to Cole.”
Reed felt especially comfortable throwing it in the basket in the first half, too. Reed, who tied a career-high with 12 points, connected on his first three three-point attempts and sparked a 19-4 Kansas run that Albany never recovered from.
Photo Gallery
Men's Basketball vs. Albany, Second Half
Click here to view photos of the second half of the Jayhawks' 79-43 victory against Albany.
Reed initiated a lot of Kansas’ brightest plays. With less than six and a half minutes remaining in the game, Reed stole the ball from Albany guard Tim Ambrose and quickly passed it down the court to freshman forward Marcus Morris.
Marcus caught the pass, elevated from the block and dunked the ball with one hand to send the Allen Fieldhouse crowd into its loudest frenzy of the night.
“My teammates always tell me I can’t jump,” Marcus – who finished with seven points and five rebounds – said. “So I always told them, “Alright, just let me get that one chance on the break and I’ll show what I can do.””
Marcus said assistant coach Danny Manning pulled him aside after the play and said, “you really can jump.” Marcus also proved he can make a long-range jumper.
The more heralded of the two Morris twins from Philadelphia, Marcus came to Lawrence with the reputation of being a big man who can shoot three-pointers. He finally made his first one of the year with three and a half minutes remaining from the corner.
All in all, the Jayhawks had a lot to be cheerful about after their final game of 2008. Self contemplated the state of his squad heading into 2009.
“I think this team is about where I thought it would be,” Self said. “I think our record is not as good as I thought it would be.”
Self still bemoans the 61-60 defeat to Massachusetts at Sprint Center three weeks ago. After the performance Tuesday, however, he’s enthusiastic about the rest of the season.
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