Taylor Responds

By Case Keefer

Published on Wed., January 14th, 2009

Kansas coach Bill Self thought Tyshawn Taylor might have contracted a dreaded case of the freshman slump. Taylor felt like he had lost confidence.

The freshman point guard had only scored 10 points with two assists and four turnovers in Kansas’ last two games. Everyone seemed to be worried about Taylor. Except junior guard Sherron Collins.

Collins knew all that talk was nonsense. Collins, who says Taylor is almost like a little brother, expected him to break out. Collins was right. Taylor scored 20 points and had four rebounds, three assists and two steals to lead Kansas to an 87-71 victory against Kansas State in its Big 12 Conference opener.

“I think this game put Tyshawn on the map,” Collins said. “Everyone is going to have to respect him.”

If the question before the game was who will emerge as Kansas’ third option behind Collins and sophomore center Cole Aldrich, Taylor gave a resounding answer.

The Jayhawks jumped out to an 18-0 lead to start the game behind 13 combined points from Taylor, Collins and Aldrich.

Collins said Self challenged the Jayhawks to get off to a fast start by telling them in practice that the Wildcats would come out and “punk” them early. It was the other way around.

“When we hit them with it, they were just surprised,” Collins said. “They couldn’t counter it very well.”

Taylor was the primary reason why Kansas State never took the lead. Among his brightest moments was a blocked three-point attempt by Kansas State’s Fred Brown that led to junior guard Mario Little’s first field goal at Kansas on the other end.

His aggressiveness paid off as he got to the free-throw line for 13 shots. Taylor made nine of them.

“I just felt like I had to step up,” Taylor said. “I’ve been hearing a lot about Tyshawn not playing good, the twins not playing good so I felt like my time was now.”

Despite Taylor’s intensity, the Wildcats roared back to make it a one-possession game in the second half. Kansas State guard Denis Clemente made a three-pointer to cut the lead to 45-42 with 15 minutes remaining.

Self said he figured Kansas State would come back from its 18-point hole, but not that fast and not that close. Sophomore guard Brady Morningstar ensured the Wildcats wouldn’t get any closer when he answered Clemente’s three-pointer with one of his own from the corner.

“In my opinion,” Self said, “it was the biggest shot of the game.”

Kansas State never trailed by less than six again. But Kansas still encountered one last fright.

With eight minutes remaining, Aldrich and Collins both had four fouls and were forced to sit on the bench. The Jayhawks desperately needed someone to hold them together and withstand a possible Wildcat surge.

Taylor did. He scored two points and coolly ran the offense without Kansas’ leaders in the game. Taylor said he felt like “the man” during those four minutes. The stretch without Collins and Aldrich impressed Self.

“That was one of the most encouraging things,” Self said. “We played, really, pretty good ball without those two guys in the game.”

No one, however, would dispute the influence Collins and Aldrich had while they were on court.

Collins converted six straight free-throw attempts at the end of the game to finish with a game-high 24 points. Aldrich went five-for-six from the field for 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

But the attention surrounded Taylor, who stepped up to become the third cog the Jayhawks were looking for after struggling in the last two games.

“It’s just something that I had to overcome,” Taylor said. “And I felt so good today.”

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