Jayhawks finish Ottawa trip on high note
Tyshawn Taylor electrified Kansas to a 95-60 victory against Ottawa in its final Canadian exhibition game.
By Case Keefer (Contact)
Sunday, August 31st, 2008
OTTAWA, ONTARIO — Conventional wisdom would say a team playing its third game in two days without its best player would play poorly.
Throw out conventional wisdom when talking about the Jayhawks. Kansas finished its Canadian trip with its most complete performance – a 95-60 blowout against the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees.
“We’ve gotten better since we’ve been here,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “This has been a great trip for us. I’ll look back on this with very fond memories.”
Sunday night’s contest was the only one of the three exhibition games that resulted in a lopsided margin of victory for Kansas. They slipped past McGill, 72-67, and outlasted Carleton, 84-83, Saturday. But Ottawa never had a chance Sunday.
The players who led the shellacking were just as surprising as the feat itself. With junior guard Sherron Collins resting on the bench, newcomers Tyshawn Taylor and Mario Little guided the Jayhawks.
Neither Taylor nor Little played well last night against Carleton – combining for only 11 points. Against the Gee-Gees, however, the duo scored 41 total points as Little finished with 21 and Taylor with 20.
The Gee-Gees were able to stay within single digits of the Jayhawks for most of the first half. Then Taylor, who started all three games, checked back in with about four minutes remaining in the half. He scored seven points off of fast breaks in just more than 30 seconds.
“I felt like when I got in,” Taylor said, “I changed the whole game.”
He really did. Taylor’s seven points put Kansas ahead 40-27 and it never looked back. Taylor said Self spurred his outburst by chastising him on the bench for a foolish foul at the beginning of the half.
Self also challenged Little, who struggled in both games Saturday. Little scored 17 points in the first two games combined but regularly tossed ill-advised shots and played shoddy defense.
Self wasn’t happy with his prized junior-college recruit. He delivered a message to Little before the Jayhawks took the floor at Montpetit Hall.
“I told him before the game, ‘I’d like to find out if you can play or not,” Self said. “‘You’re the number one junior college player in the country - play like it.’”
Little took it to heart. He opened the game by hitting two fade-away jumpers and led all scorers at halftime with 15 points. Little finished with 21 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
If Little, who tallied 28 minutes, would have played a little longer, he might have compiled triple-double. He said he didn’t realize it at the time but wished he would have.
“If I would have known that,” Little said. “I probably would have played a little harder.”
But the Jayhawks didn’t need him to play any harder in the second half. The court turned into their personal playground.
Freshman forward Quintrell Thomas, who had only scored 10 points in the first two games, started to shine offensively. He grabbed offensive rebounds under the basket on three occasions for put-back points and scored 10 points in the second half.
Thomas came away with 12 points and eight rebounds. Thomas excelled as the big man down low without sophomore center Cole Aldrich, who only played 13 minutes.
Aldrich, who finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, got into foul trouble at the beginning of the game. Self decided to let Aldrich rest for most of the game after that.
Sophomore guard Chase Buford was the only Jayhawk on the trip who hadn’t scored any points as time dwindled off the clock at the end of the game. But even Buford got in on the action at the buzzer by hitting a deep open jumper from the left corner.
Every Kansas player scored in Canada. The newcomers on the trip gained invaluable experience. Self said he doesn’t think the trek to Ottawa could have gone any better.
"I'm in no means giddy," Self said. "But compared to where we were eight or nine days ago, I'm happy."
Discussion
All comments are moderated by Kansan.com staff. For our full user policy, click here.
Share your 2¢
Requires free registration.