Senior guard Sherron Collins claps his hand after finishing a bucket. Collins was 6 for 11 from the field and led the Jayhawks with 19 points Tuesday evening at Allen Fieldhouse.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Lawrence, Kan. — Kansas’ debut Tuesday against Fort Hays State went as everyone should have expected.
They had the offense of the No. 1 college team beating Fort Hays 107-68 shooting 53.3 percent from the field.
Photo Gallery
Kansas Basketball vs. Fort Hays State
A gallery of the men's basketball exhibition game against Fort Hays State University Tuesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
Despite holding their opponents to 33.8 percent shooting, the defense looked like a team that has only practiced that side of the ball for two weeks- which they have.
Miscues with the basketball contributed to 18 turnovers.
Senior guard Sherron Collins led the night with 19, but the night went to the newcomers.
Freshmen guards Xavier Henry and Elijah Johnson showed why head coach Bill Self recruited them. Henry had 14 (2-4 three pts), his first shot being a three pointer.
Johnson finished with nine points, but four of them were the biggest shots of the game. He had two dunks- one in the first half off of a steal and the other in the second off an alley-oop pass from sophomore guard Tyshawn Taylor.
“The dunk felt real good,” Johnson said. “I didn’t see it coming, but when I saw the ball in the air I knew I had to go get it.”
Overall, the team didn’t play up to the coach’s standards. Self saw some plays he disliked, but expected it in the first game of the season.
“Well, I thought we started out pretty good. I thought we got really stale offensively in the first half.”
The Jayhawks play Nov. 10 against Pittsburgh State and Self knows there is a lot for his team to work on.
“I think practice is moving a little slower than what it has in the past,” he said. “We need to definitely start doing some more things so we can get a lot of stuff in.”
HALFTIME:
Finally, after months of build up and anticipation — and after an intra squad scrimmage on Late Night — Kansas faced an actual opponent inside Allen Fieldhouse.
It certainly started as expected.
In the game’s opening seconds, sophomore forward Markieff Morris sealed his defender and dunked. Then, on Kansas’ next possession, freshman guard Xavier Henry connected on a three-pointer.
Kansas held a 54-35 lead at halftime.
Yet there was also sloppy play and that, too, was to be expected. The Jayhawks turned the ball over, occasionally struggled to rebound and went stretches without scoring.
Simply put, Kansas played like a team making its season debut.
Senior guard Sherron Collins led the Jayhawks with 13 first-half points, while sophomore forward Markieff Morris and sophomore guard Tyshawn Taylor added seven points.
Freshman guard Xavier Henry chipped in seven points.
The Jayhawks played without junior guards Connor Teahan and Brady Morningstar, freshman center Jeff Withey, freshman C.J. Henry, senior guard Mario Little and sophomore guard Travis Releford — all of whom were dressed in street clothes.
Starting lineup:
Guard – Sherron Collins
Guard – Tyrel Reed
Guard – Xavier Henry
Forward – Markieff Morris
Center – Cole Aldrich
Play of the half:
Freshman guard Elijah Johnson picked up a loose ball with six minutes left in the half, raced down the other end of the court and triggered a burst of noise inside Allen Fieldhouse with a right-handed dunk.
It was Johnson’s first points of the game and left senior guard Sherron Collins standing on the court pumping up the crowd.
Player of the half:
Sherron Collins. Big surprise, right? Collins started off somewhat slowly but finished the half with 13 points. At one point, he hit back-to-back threes. Just another day at the office for Collins.
Trend of the half:
Offensive fouls. Kansas had a handful of offensive fouls in the first half. And, no, that’s not an alarming trend. Instead, it simply shows the aggressive nature of a team that hasn’t faced an opponent all season.
Hats off to…
The new “Meet the Players”-themed segment that featured Mario Little. Not only was it somewhat informative, it was also really well put together and funny.
It had most of the Jayhawks not dressed out laughing outside of the huddle.
PREGAME:
The highly-anticipated debut of Kansas’ basketball season kicks off in less than an hour against Fort Hays State.
The Jayhawks, the consensus preseason No. 1 team in the country, return all five starters, while also adding one of the country’s top-recruiting classes.
Check back in at halftime for more from Kansas’ season opener.
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