Photo Gallery

Kansas Basketball vs. Kansas State

A photo gallery of the men's basketball game against Kansas State.

KANSAS 85, KANSAS STATE 74

Game Over

The usual suspects were there for Kansas, but it was the play from Marcus Morris that put the Jays over the top Saturday afternoon.

In 28 minutes, Morris recorded 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. In a game that got ugly with chippy fouls in the second half, Morris gave Kansas the extra boost it needed.

Kansas State owned the first 12 minutes of the game. After that, though, Kansas was in control and it never felt like Self's crew would relinquish its lead down the stretch.

This week Kansas doesn't have to worry about a quick turnaround for a Monday game. Instead Kansas will welcome Iowa State to Allen Fieldhouse Wednesday night.

Kansas is now 20-5 overall and 9-1 in Big 12 play.

KANSAS 72, KANSAS STATE 68

3:59 left in the second half

Looks like Kansas will go down to the wire for the second-straight game.

Clemente and Pullen are still doing whatever they please against Kansas' defense. Somehow the Jays are still on top despite going nearly eight minutes without a field goal. Cole Aldrich ended that with a turnaround jumper. He drew a foul on the play and showed some rare emotion with a scream and chest bump.

It's still a scrappy and ugly game, but it's also getting really exciting as we approach the final minutes.

KANSAS 65, KANSAS STATE 59

6:51 left in the second half

Kansas State is shooting terribly on its first shot, but the Wildcats' ability to gather offensive rebounds are keeping them in this game.

Sherron Collins is a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. If he can get there a few more times than Kansas has a great chance to extend its lead.

KANSAS 61, KANSAS STATE 51

11:37 left in the second half

The ugliness hasn't subsided, but in between loose balls and elbows the Jays have completely taken over this game.

If Kansas continues on this pace, then the key play may be a technical foul on Denis Clemente. Brady Morningstar was called for reaching in on Clemente, but Denis gave him an elbow before they were separated and Clemente was called for a technical. Since then, the Jays are on an 8-0 run and they smell blood.

KANSAS STATE 49, KANSAS 46

15:53 left in the second half

This game is getting nutty.

There have been a ridiculous amount of loose balls and we're getting close to a scrum breaking out at any time. It's difficult to tell if there's actually been any basketball played yet in this half.

Neither team can gain much momentum because everything on both ends is just out of control

KANSAS STATE 43, KANSAS 42

Halftime

That was a crazy first half.

For 15 minutes, Kansas State looked like the best team on the court by far. Denis Clemente was raining threes, all the bounces went towards the Wildcats and their defense completely shut down Kansas' inside presence.

But then Kansas flipped a switch and erased their deficit with ease. The Jays closed out the half on a 15-5 run, including yet another first-half buzzer beater. I have never seen one team make so many buckets with less than five seconds left in the first half. This is at least the sixth time Kansas has done it since Big 12 play started.

Besides Clemente, Jacob Pullen is lighting it up for the Wildcats. He's 3-of-3 behind the three-point line with 13 total points.

On Kansas side, no one has reached double-digit scoring, but Marcus Morris, Sherron Collins and Brady Morningstar are all at nine. Despite being ignored for much of the half, Cole Aldrich finished with eight points.

That last run showed that the Jays still remember how to play basketball. The key for them in the second half is containing Clemente. They don't have to shut him down, but he can't score another 18 if the Jays want to win.

KANSAS STATE 38, KANSAS 29

3:32 left in the first half

Kansas has taken a bite out of its defecit, but Clemente still isn't slowing down. He's already got 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting. I imagine most of Bill Self's halftime speech will revolve around containing him in the second half.

However, there's still 3:32 to go in the first and for Kansas it's important to keep this game within single digits. If the Jays can do that then there's something to build on. If not, then the Wildcats have a chance to run away in the second.

KANSAS STATE 30, KANSAS 17

7:42 left in the first half

Denis Clemente is too much for Kansas to handle right now. The speedy guard has cross-upped Jay defenders for an easy layup and he's also hit 3-of-5 behind the three-point line.

Sherron Collins hasn't been able to contain him at all, so Self brought in Tyrone Appleton. No matter how bad Collins is playing, I don't think Appleton is the solution.

KANSAS STATE 20, KANSAS 11

11:52 left in the first half

Kansas State can do no wrong. Jamar Samuels chucked up an air ball jumper, but Fred Brown cleaned it up to put Kansas State up six.

The Wildcats kept piling it on and now lead by nine.

While coach Frank Martin's crew has gotten a little lucky offensively, there's no luck involved in their stingy defense thus far. The Wildcats are just hounding the Jays and forcing them to play 30-40 feet away from the basket.

If Kansas' guards can't get Cole Aldrich involved quickly, then he may become a complete non-factor today.

KANSAS 11, KANSAS STATE 10

15:34 left in the first half

These two teams are going blow-for-blow right now.

Each possession is just trumping the one before it and it's brought this stadium to life early.

The Wildcats already have two three-pointers and it'll be interesting to see how well they keep up with that. If Jacob Pullen continues to drain treys, then Kansas could be in a lot of trouble.

2:30 p.m.

Prediction time.

Case Keefer just showed me something interesting on the KSU athletics site. You can buy a two-disc box set of last year's game in Manhattan.

That's right. For $40 you can re-live one regular season game where Kansas State beat the eventual national champion. My point is that it took a spectacular environment and amazing talent (Michael Beasley) for Kansas State to beat Kansas on its home court.

The Wildcats don't have either of those today, so I'm going with the Jays. It won't be too easy, but I don't expect Kansas State to challenge in the final five minutes either.

Mark me down for a 78-70 Kansas victory.

2:15 p.m.

Signs at a college basketball game traditionally suck. It's just a fact of life.

Today, it's basically the same. There are predictable Valentine's Day signs (Denis Clemente Be Mine) and of course stupid one's that use ABC to spell something (Always Believe in the Cats). Blah, blah, blah.

However, I have been impressed by a couple of signs in the student section.

The first one is a picture of Cole Aldrich as the Phantom of the Opera. That's good enough, but then it has a phone number (presumably Aldrich's) on the bottom of the sign.

There's another one that says 'Sorry Sherron, I'll take the Stairs.' The kid next to him has a picture of Sherron in a bellhop hat and a speaking bubble that says, 'Going up?'

Collins' legal troubles are an easy target for opposing fans, but that's by far the best use of it that I've seen this year.

2 p.m.

Maybe it's just me, but this one doesn't have even close to the same feeling as Monday's game in Columbia.

For the second straight game the Jays are on the road to play a major rival. But this time I just don't feel the same anticipation and there's not the same electric atmosphere that was abundant Monday night.

It could be for a number of reasons:

1. That was a prime time game on ESPN. There was more time to build it up throughout the day and by the time 8 p.m. rolled around, the excitement had reached a fever pitch.

2. Kansas lost that game. If the Jays were still undefeated in league play, then there would be more hype in Manhattan about trying to be the first team to knock them off.

3. Kansas is a 1-point favorite. On Monday, the Jays were 4.5-point underdogs. Today they're a slight favorite, but still just having that number on their side gives this game a more business-like approach for Kansas.