Morningstar's offense pushes Kansas to victory

By Case Keefer

Friday, November 28, 2008

Brady Morningstar is all business all the time.

Morningstar, a sophomore guard, keeps a straight face when he runs through the tunnel after he hears his name called in the Kansas starting lineup. He takes pre-game warm-ups seriously and never jokes around with teammates while stretching or shooting. When he hits a big shot, Morningstar’s first thought is to get back on defense.

But even Morningstar couldn’t help but show a slight smile after his 21-point, seven-rebound performance in Kansas’ 85-53 victory against Coppin State Friday night.

“It was good,” Morningstar said. “I’m just glad my teammates were able to get me open shots and I knocked them down.”

He knocked down a career-high of them. Morningstar shot seven-of-nine from the field and made six three-pointers. Morningstar wasn’t sure if he had ever made that many three-pointers in a game, even in high school or during a scrimmage.

He certainly never compiled a game like this one at Kansas. His previous career-highs were one three-pointer, six points and four rebounds.

Kansas coach Bill Self knew Morningstar’s breakout would come during this game. Heck, Self ordered it.

After watching the film of Tuesday’s 89-83 defeat to Syracuse, Self decided Morningstar needed to be more involved in the offense. He gave the normally defensive-minded Morningstar a new assignment for the game against Coppin State.

“I told Brady I wanted him to shoot every time he was open,” Self said. “And he did.”

Morningstar connected on his first four three-point attempts in the first half. His efficiency helped the Jayhawks cruise to a 34-5 lead with six minutes remaining in the first half.

It erased a sluggish start from Kansas’ leading scorer, junior guard Sherron Collins, who only scored two points on one-for-five shooting in the first half. And it allowed freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor to run the offense.

Taylor scored 10 points and recorded six assists. More importantly to him, he committed only one turnover. Before the game against the Eagles, Taylor hadn’t compiled a collegiate game with more assists than turnovers. He became motivated to change that after assistant coach Joe Dooley challenged him.

“Coach Dooley told me that the other day,” Taylor said. “And I thought, ‘Whoa, a point guard can’t be doing that.’”

The night wasn’t without a scare, however, for Taylor. With nine minutes remaining in the game, Taylor went up to contest a three-point shot by Coppin State guard Tywain McKee and turned his left ankle.

Taylor lay on the Allen Fieldhouse floor for about a minute before limping to the locker room with trainers. Although he didn’t play again in the game, Taylor ran back out a couple minutes later and watched the rest of the game from the bench.

Taylor said he would play in Monday’s game against Kent State.

“It’s a little sore, but I should be fine,” Taylor said. “I will be fine.”

Taylor’s injury came at the end of a rough 11 minute stretch for Kansas. The Eagles out-scored the Jayhawks 28-21 to open the second half.

As pleased as Self was by the way his team responded after its first loss overall, he became frustrated during the second half and slapped the scorer’s table at one point.

“We got a big lead and played a little dumb,” sophomore center Cole Aldrich said. “We went a little brain dead.”

The Jayhawks put together a collection of mistakes during the run.

The side of the rim rejected a one-handed dunk attempt by freshman forward Marcus Morris. His twin brother, Markieff Morris, got whistled for a three-second violation. Morningstar traveled after grabbing a rebound.

“And then Cole has got Markieff wide open on a high-low and throws it out of bounds by trying to make a pass that we never practice,” Self said. “We just lost focus.”

But Kansas re-gained it. Aldrich scored seven of his career-high 23 points in the final eight and a half minutes. Aldrich also finished with 11 rebounds.

Collins made a three-point play and used a crossover to drain an 18-foot jumper as the shot clock expired late in the game. Collins finished with 11 points and eight assists.

Morningstar caught a pass in the corner with three minutes remaining and recorded his sixth three-pointer of the night. Self subbed in for Morningstar less than 30 seconds later and the Allen Fieldhouse crowd gave him a standing ovation.

Collins greeted Morningstar on the bench with a hug and congratulatory slaps. Morningstar, of course, took the business approach and sat back down on the edge of his seat to watch the rest of the game.

“It’s time to go out there and play and to hit shots and to help my team win,” Morningstar said. “And tonight, I felt like I took a step forward.”

Comments

Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.

Advertisement