Another Big Monday in Lawrence

by Owen Kemp on Feb 22, 2010 7:48 AM CST in Basketball Comment 24 comments

Kansas vs. Oklahoma

No. 1 Kansas (26-1, 12-0) hosts Oklahoma (13-13, 4-8) in its fourth ESPN Big Monday appearance of the season. The Jayhawks won their 12th straight game with a 94-74 victory against Colorado Saturday. Kansas' 12-0 record in league play is the second best in Big 12 history next to KU's 16-0 mark in 2002. A Jayhawk victory against OU would guarantee its sixth-straight Big 12 regular-season conference championship. Oklahoma lost its fourth-straight game with an 83-68 loss to No. 7 Kansas State in Norman Saturday.

	PPG	FG%	FT%	3P%	RPG	ORPG	DRPG	APG	TPG	SPG	BPG	FPG
OU	73.3	43.4	73.5	35.3	35.5	10.7	24.8	12.6	12.4	5.8	2.7	16.0
KU	82.7	48.7	69.3	39.8	41.5	13.5	28.0	17.6	13.0	8.7	6.6	18.4
OU Opponents	72.9	44.5	70.9	38.4	35.7	10.8	24.8	14.1	12.1	6.3	3.4	18.6
KU Opponents	62.9	36.7	67.7	33.5	33.9	13.0	21.0	12.4	14.8	6.3	3.6	20.3

Rank and Records	OU	KU
RPI	#102	#1
Strength of Schedule	#34	#20
Overall	13-13	26-1
Conference	4-8	12-0
Home	11-2	16-0
Away	1-7	8-1
Top 25	1-2	4-1
RPI Top 50	3-6	9-1

About Kansas

Kansas won its 12th conference game for a remarkable 10th-straight season with its win against Colorado. The Jayhawks have the nation's longest active home court winning streak at 57 games. Kansas' 26-1 record is its best record since the 1996-97 team was also 26-1 and eventually went 34-2. KU averages 82.7 points per game and gives up 62.9 ppg for a Big 12-leading +19.8 scoring margin. In Big 12 play, Kansas is scoring 79.7 points per game and holds a +13 scoring margin.

Senior guard Sherron Collins leads the team in scoring at 15.0 points per game and has scored in double figures 21 times this season. Collins is third in the Big 12 in free throw percentage at 85.4 percent and he leads KU in assists with 116 and three-pointers with 53, one ahead of freshman Xavier Henry. Henry is coming off his league-high 24 points versus Colorado and is scoring 13.6 points per game. He averages 4.2 rebounds per game and leads KU with 44 steals.

Sophomore forward Marcus Morris has stepped up his game in Big 12 play and leads KU in scoring with 15.7 points per game and is pulling down 7.8 rebounds in league games. In all games, Morris averages 12.8 points and 6.3 rebounds.

Junior center Cole Aldrich has seven double-doubles in his last nine games and 13 DDs for the season. He is one of three Big 12 players to average a double-double with 11.6 ppg and 10.1 rpg this season. He has 10 blocked shots in his last two games and his 103 blocked shots are a KU single-season record. Aldrich's 3.8 blocked shots per contest rank second in the Big 12 and sixth nationally.

Sophomore guard Tyshawn Taylor moved back into the starting lineup against Colorado and has started 16 games this season. He is second on the team with 89 assists and his 17 points against Colorado were one shy of his season high.

Junior guard Brady Morningstar is scoring 4.8 points per game and averaging 3.3 assists per contest. Sophomore forward Markieff Morris, twin of Marcus, had 11 points and seven rebounds against Colorado Saturday. He is averaging 6.5 points and 5.2 rebounds.

About Oklahoma

Oklahoma looks to snap a four-game losing streak after its 83-68 loss to No. 7 Kansas State Saturday. OU averages 73.3 points and gives up 72.9 for a +0.5 scoring margin. OU leads the Big 12 in three-point field goals made per game at 8.4 and is a solid free throw shooting team, ranking second in the Big 12 with a 73.5 percent.

Sophomore guard Willie Warren leads Oklahoma in scoring at 16.3 points per game, which is ninth in the Big 12. He is second on the team with 86 assists for the season. Freshman guard Tommy Mason-Griffin is next in scoring at 14 points per game and he leads OU with 64 three-point field goals and 118 assists. His 4.5 assists per game are fourth in the conference.

Senior guard Tony Crocker is scoring 11.6 points per outing and he is second on the team with 6.5 rebounds per game and 15 blocked shots.

Freshman forward Tiny Gallon leads OU in rebounds with 8.1 rpg, which ranks seventh in the Big 12. Gallon has a team-high 18 blocked shots and he is scoring 10.1 ppg. Junior guard Cade Davis is just behind Gallon with a 10-point scoring average and he leads OU with 39 steals. Davis is second on the team with 48 three-pointers made. Freshman guard Steven Pledger (6.0 ppg), senior forward Ryan Wright (4.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg) and freshman forward Andrew Fitzgerald (4.3 ppg) round out the OU regulars.

NCAA Basketball

College Basketball

Meet the Opposing Coach

Oklahoma head coach Jeff Capel is 82-46 in his fourth season at OU and 161-87 in his eighth season overall. Under Capel, the Sooners' last two seasons have been particularly impressive, with seven-win improvements occurring both years. Oklahoma posted a 23-12 record in 2007-08 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. It followed with a 30-6 mark in 2008-09 and made the program's first Elite Eight showing since 2003. Last year's 30-win season was just the sixth ever for the school. Capel is 0-4 against Kansas.

The Series

This series dates back to 1920 when both schools were members of the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association and Kansas leads 134-64. Since 2006, the Jayhawks have won five straight against the Sooners. Kansas is 67-16 against Oklahoma in games played in Lawrence, including a 40-7 record in Allen Fieldhouse. Since 1994, KU has won nine straight versus OU in Allen Fieldhouse. Since the inception of the Big 12, Kansas is 13-4 against Oklahoma - 11-2 in regular-season play and 2-2 in the Big 12 Championship. Kansas coach Bill Self is 6-3 all-time against Oklahoma, including a 6-1 mark while at KU. OU's Jeff Capel is 0-4 against Kansas.

A Kansas Win Would...

Make Kansas 27-1 on the season, the best KU record since the 1996-97 team was 34-1.
Make Kansas 13-0 in conference play for first time since the 2002 KU team went 16-0.
Guarantee Kansas at least a share of its 53rd conference championship and 10th Big 12 regular-season title.
Give Kansas its 13th-straight victory, one win shy of its 14-0 start.
Give Kansas 13 league wins for the fifth-straight season, starting in 2001.
Extend the nation's longest home court winning streak to 58 games.
Give Kansas its sixth straight win against Oklahoma and make the all-time series 135-64 in favor of KU.
Give Kansas a 14-4 record against Oklahoma since the inception of the Big 12 in 1996-97.
Give Kansas its 10th-straight win against Oklahoma in Allen Fieldhouse and make the series in Lawrence 41-7 in favor of KU.
Make KU's record in Allen Fieldhouse 17-0 this season, 111-6 under Bill Self and 649-106 all-time.
Make Bill Self 196-41 while at Kansas, 403-146 overall and 7-3 all-time against Oklahoma, 7-1 while at Kansas.
Make Kansas 1,997-794 all-time.

		GP	GS	MPG	PPG	FG%	FT%	3P%	RPG	ORPG	DRPG	APG	TPG	SPG	BPG	FPG
#11	T. Mason-Griffi	26	22	35.038	14.038	41.5	77.9	44.8	3.038	0.5	2.538	4.538	2.654	0.808	0.0	1.346
#5	T. Crocker	25	25	32.16	11.64	41.8	73.4	35.0	6.52	1.84	4.68	1.76	1.32	1.04	0.6	2.2
#34	C. Davis	26	22	30.692	10.0	39.7	75.0	34.5	3.654	0.731	2.923	0.846	0.615	1.5	0.231	2.192
#13	W. Warren	21	19	32.286	16.333	43.8	79.5	30.9	3.286	0.667	2.619	4.095	3.81	1.0	0.048	2.286
#24	T. Gallon	25	17	23.28	10.12	53.3	70.4	26.7	8.08	2.72	5.36	0.84	2.32	0.68	0.72	2.8
#2	S. Pledger	25	3	18.64	6.0	36.6	84.6	30.5	1.64	0.56	1.08	0.6	0.72	0.36	0.16	1.52
#1	R. Wright	25	12	18.56	4.12	55.7	62.5	0.0	4.48	1.4	3.08	0.28	0.64	0.28	0.4	2.28
#4	A. Fitzgerald	21	7	14.0	4.333	53.7	57.6	0.0	1.762	0.81	0.952	0.333	0.619	0.381	0.238	1.143
#41	R. Willis	12	2	13.0	2.833	25.0	75.0	31.6	2.333	0.75	1.583	0.333	0.75	0.333	0.417	1.167
#21	O. Allen	9	1	7.0	1.222	50.0	75.0	0.0	1.889	0.556	1.333	0.0	0.444	0.0	0.556	1.333
#3	T. Franklin	12	0	1.833	0.167	0.0	33.3	0.0	0.167	0.0	0.167	0.333	0.25	0.0	0.0	0.25
#45	B. Gerber	7	0	1.286	0.571	66.7	0.0	0.0	0.286	0.143	0.143	0.0	0.286	0.0	0.0	0.0
		GP	GS	MPG	PPG	FG%	FT%	3P%	RPG	ORPG	DRPG	APG	TPG	SPG	BPG	FPG
#4	S. Collins	27	27	32.481	15.0	42.2	85.4	36.8	2.037	0.148	1.889	4.296	2.148	1.222	0.037	1.519
#1	X. Henry	27	27	27.037	13.556	44.2	76.9	40.0	4.185	1.222	2.963	1.741	2.037	1.63	0.407	2.0
#45	C. Aldrich	27	27	26.741	11.63	55.8	69.7	0.0	10.111	3.111	7.0	1.0	1.444	0.667	3.815	2.63
#22	M. Morris	27	24	24.778	12.815	56.8	69.0	34.8	6.296	2.852	3.444	1.0	1.074	1.0	0.296	2.444
	T. Taylor	27	16	22.333	7.222	45.9	70.1	35.0	2.407	0.407	2.0	3.296	1.889	1.111	0.148	2.148
#12	B. Morningstar	18	9	24.278	4.833	42.3	66.7	40.5	2.667	0.722	1.944	3.333	1.0	1.333	0.222	1.444
#21	M. Morris	27	2	16.0	6.519	56.1	57.4	56.2	5.222	1.667	3.556	1.074	1.333	0.519	0.889	2.556
#14	T. Reed	27	0	15.037	4.481	47.3	83.3	43.5	1.333	0.111	1.222	1.185	0.407	0.815	0.074	0.815
#0	T. Robinson	25	1	8.2	2.96	48.3	40.0	0.0	3.0	1.2	1.8	0.36	0.96	0.24	0.52	1.48
#15	E. Johnson	19	2	7.737	2.947	56.8	66.7	30.8	1.263	0.421	0.842	1.526	0.789	0.368	0.053	1.105
#13	C. Henry	12	1	8.25	4.083	53.1	50.0	50.0	1.0	0.167	0.833	0.417	0.5	0.5	0.083	1.167
#2	C. Teahan	14	0	4.929	1.357	33.3	66.7	37.5	1.286	0.714	0.571	0.429	0.286	0.143	0.071	0.5

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Comments

I'm slightly nervous about this game, for whatever reason I'm having trouble believing OU is this bad.

Also, somewhat OT- KenPom now has the Jayhawks at 2. Check out who is number 1. Uh…

Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.

People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.

by Warden11 on Feb 22, 2010 8:21 AM CST reply actions

I saw the KenPom rating last night

I think Pomeroy does a great job, but sometimes you really have to scratch your head. Last season, his ratings had Memphis as the best team heading into the tournament. They were good, no doubt, but I don’t think ANYBODY thought they were the best team in the nation. Same goes for Duke this season. They’re good, no doubt, but I don’t think they’re any better than about the 7th or 8th best team in the nation. They’ve got a shot to go deep in the tournament, but I don’t see them winning 6 in a row in March/April.

I think a lot of it is that, for whatever reason, their offensive rating is substantially higher than the rest of the nation, so their defensive defficiencies are masked somewhat.

Operation 39-1 is a go. Proceed to target.

by Bensa on Feb 22, 2010 8:37 AM CST up reply actions

To add in,

Pomeroy still has Texas at 9 and K-State at 11. That plus the Duke at #1 really stretches confidence right now.

Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.

People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.

by Warden11 on Feb 22, 2010 9:12 AM CST up reply actions

Defending my boy Kenny

from his web site

Consistency is basically the standard deviation of scoring difference by game for a team. Again, it’s not included in the ratings calculation. It can be an aid in determining which teams are overrated by my system. Highly rated teams that are inconsistent tend to look beatable more often.

Look at Duke’s consistency rating.

What’s disconcerting is that our consistency rating is not so hot either.

by bt01 on Feb 22, 2010 10:00 AM CST up reply actions

Defend him all you want.

Anything that has what I pointed out earlier is obviously off.

Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.

People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.

by Warden11 on Feb 22, 2010 10:12 AM CST up reply actions

No need to defend Ken

it’s just an algorithm that looks at the whole season, and every game of the season, 100% objectively. If a person takes the time to read what he is and has been doing, they’ll find that he is continuing to refine the algorithm, but unfortunately hasn’t found a way to factor in consistency and luck that makes sense. Therefore, he leaves it up to humans with brains to do so, or come up with a better algorithm.

Looking at all of the numbers, and not just the left hand column, shows that Duke had a better non-con SOS, which shouldn’t be news to anyone. Almost all our quality non-con games have turned into dogs at best. It pulls our ranking down (to #2!).

The CONS number shows that we, like many top teams, have pounded inferior opponents. That shouldn’t be news either. The LUCK number indicates we have been good in close games (how many OT’s have we won?), whereas Duke has not. We take the OT win against CU and move on, but the algorithm doesn’t move on. It keeps it like all the others.

The thing that Ken’s, and all other, algorithm doesn’t take into consideration is the master’s touch in developing a team. The way that Coach Self has managed the team to maximize the production of McM and now TT, not to mention the way that Danny has developed the bigs, and Cole in particular, isn’t algorithmable. I like our ’Hawks regardless of what any poll says. Rock Chalk!

by dagger108 on Feb 22, 2010 12:12 PM CST up reply actions

Note:

Look at the difference in the “Pyth” column, which is basically the index that he uses to rank the teams. Duke has a rating of 0.9818. Ours is 0.9817. The next highest team? 0.9643. Talk about splitting hairs between no. 1 and no. 2

by 2.1 seconds left on Feb 22, 2010 12:20 PM CST up reply actions

Good knowledge!

by dagger108 on Feb 22, 2010 12:29 PM CST up reply actions

It is.

But Duke has no business being that high.

Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.

People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.

by Warden11 on Feb 22, 2010 12:38 PM CST up reply actions

I understand where you're coming from

and I hate Duke a little more than the next guy. But Kenpom’s actual rating is, by his own account, pretty much just glorified adjusted scoring margin. So even though Duke has lost some tough road games (@ Wisc, GT, and G’town) and a headscratcher (@ NC-State…really?), they’ve blown out a lot of teams, and a lot of decent-good teams. So they get the nod over us, because we’re just beating pretty good teams.

by 2.1 seconds left on Feb 22, 2010 1:41 PM CST up reply actions

Don't worry

Puke will lose in the second round like it always does and that’ll be that.

Seriously whens the last time they made it past the sweet 16? 2002?

by KU Grad 08 on Feb 22, 2010 8:58 AM CST up reply actions

didn't we play them in the Elite 8 in 2003?

Me no likey T2.

by labbadabba on Feb 22, 2010 9:44 AM CST up reply actions

believe it was Arizona in the Elite 8...

Duke in the sweet 16.

52 Conference Championships!! Holy Hell...Good Luck with That!!

by Owen Kemp on Feb 22, 2010 9:50 AM CST up reply actions

correct

Collison went off in that Duke game. I think that was when Redick and Shelden Williams were both freshmen.

Operation 39-1 is a go. Proceed to target.

by Bensa on Feb 22, 2010 9:53 AM CST up reply actions

wasn't that the game...

where Lute Olson was apparently watching in the crowd and looked at one of his assistants and said, “He’s the best player in college basketball” with regards to Collison.

Seems like I remember them talking about that during the Elite 8 game.

52 Conference Championships!! Holy Hell...Good Luck with That!!

by Owen Kemp on Feb 22, 2010 9:57 AM CST up reply actions

murderers row.

Me no likey T2.

by labbadabba on Feb 22, 2010 12:16 PM CST up reply actions

Always or lately

Have they had a complete team lately? I seem to recall them lacking a frontline or PG recently, tho they are never lacking for hype. This year, it remains to be seen f they have a PG. Scheyer (?) seems to be “statistically significant”, but is still a converted 2. How will he hold up defending true 1’s like Sherron and TT? My guess is that he/they will come up short for the same reason that Coach reinserted TT as a starter.

by dagger108 on Feb 22, 2010 12:27 PM CST up reply actions

I am off CBB analysis for another week

But I will just say that Duke has the best offense in the country, and they’ve done it against the toughest defensive slate in the country. That’s impressive. They’re good.

Beadlemaniacs - Award winning* college basketball blog
Olympics!

by fetch9 on Feb 22, 2010 1:06 PM CST reply actions

I'm waiting to see an inside game worth a damn from them

and is Scheyer still playing hte point? He is a shooting guard nooooo doubt. I think that could hurt them but if he’s not playing PG anymore then it’s a non-issue.

by I need more Esteban on Feb 22, 2010 1:35 PM CST up reply actions