Case in point---
---Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart against Kansas last night at the end of regulation; he was going to take that shot, he never looked anywhere else. KU knew it and they defended it perfectly. The Jayhawks are hard enough to attack 5 on 5, trying to do it 1 on 5 had predictable results.
Winning numbers?
If you had the following information on KU before tipoff at Oklahoma State how would you have bet it? KU turnovers: 16-- KU assists: 5 on 26 baskets-- KU three-pointers: 1-11-- 10:06 2nd half: Ben McLemore scores his first point of the game. The astute KU fans wonders why I didn’t offer up any defensive numbers—that’s what makes them astute. The Cowboys managed just 33 percent shooting, their poorest effort of the season.
Ebb and flow—
It was a double overtime game played in an eight point bracket. KU’s biggest lead was five, OSU’s was three. The game featured 23 lead changes and 16 ties which, frankly, make it sound more exciting than it really was. Sure, Kansas won the game by one point in two overtimes, but did you know that they scored just one basket in the ten extra minutes they played? The ‘Hawks did their damage at the line in the two overtime going 9-12. In fact, they were just 1-8 from the floor in extra time, but that one field goal was the winner on a drive by Nadir Tharpe with 0:09 left in the second OT.
Seeing double---
Jeff Withey had his third straight double-double in the game and his 9th of the season. Bill Self essentially played just seven players in this 50:00 minute game, Wichitan Perry Ellis wasn’t one of them he got off the bench for all of 07:00 minutes.
Just five games left---
Kansas and Kansas State turn for home dead even in the Big 12…well, ok maybe not-- exactly. Kansas has two wins against the ‘Cats, but they do share the conference lead.
‘Hawks at the NBA trade deadline---
What a weird dynamic there is out in Sacramento where the Kings appear to be dumping salary before what appears like a move to Seattle. Yesterday, they traded former KU All-American Thomas Robinson to the Houston Rockets in a multi-player deal that includes KU’s Cole Aldrich going to Sacramento. Robinson was the fifth pick in last summer’s draft, but wasn’t even averaging five points a game. The trade saves the Kings about $3M and probably gives Robinson a new lease on life; it’s hard to imagine that things could have been much fun in Sac-town this season. Earlier in the day, the Rockets shipped Kansas product Marcus Morris to the Phoenix Suns where he’ll be reunited with his brother Markieff.
