Elijah Johnson Steps Up As Kansas Handles Oklahoma State

by Owen on Feb 21, 2011 10:28 PM CST in Kansas Jayhawk Basketball 2010-11

Kansas got some good news and some bad news headed into Monday nights game against Oklahoma State. Thomas Robinson would return to the court ahead of schedule, but the Jayhawks would be without the services of junior guard Tyshawn Taylor due to suspension. As for the performance on the court, Monday night was all good news for the Jayhawks as they cruised past an overmatched Oklahoma State Cowboy team.

In the first half the Jayhawks were paced by the Morris twins and specificially Marcus Morris who's 17 points on 6 of 9 shooting was a major reason for the 24 point Kansas lead at the half. In place of Taylor, Kansas went to sophomore guard Elijah Johnson who along with the other Kansas guards stepped up the defensive effort and did an excellent job of sharing the basketball on the offensive end. The result was a pretty clean, crisp first half of basketball with more than enough in the way of positive takeaways.

The second half provided more of the same and while most of the mystery surrounding the result of this one was already lost it was certainly an opportunity for the Jayhawks to fine tune their game. Marcus Morris continued his dominance early, but with a sizable lead Bill Self was able to work in Mario Little. With Taylor out and a solid lead Self allowed Selby and Johnson to work through some of their struggles and hopefully that time provides a little more confidence and trust as this team heads into the postseason.

All in all it was a very good all around effort with perhaps the only concern being the interior defense with Oklahoma State's Marshall Moses having a career night on the inside. Kansas wins by a final score of 92-65. The Jayhawks were led by Marcus Morris who finished with 27 points and 5 rebounds. Brother Markieff added 15 and 7, while Elijah Johnson turned in a notable performance in place of Taylor and certainly made a strong argument for more playing time down the stretch with. Johnson scored a career high 15 points including a perfect 4 for 4 effort from beyond the arc.

Next up for Kansas is Oklahoma in Norman on Saturday. A long week to prepare for a game that doesn't inspire much motivation. Hopefully the Jayhawks can find a way to carry over their intensity from Colorado and Oklahoma State into Norman.

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EJ

Best performance by a freshman or sophomore all season. We always give Brady props for his intangibles- I saw the same things from The Prophet tonight.

Too bad he’ll be back on the bench by the aTm game.

by KennyGregoryRockThaCradle on Feb 21, 2011 10:37 PM CST via mobile reply actions

people see what they want to see

College Hockey!

by fetch9 on Feb 21, 2011 10:43 PM CST up reply actions

Not sure I'd agree...

EJ had a great game but I’m not sure I’d say best performance by a sophomore this year. TRob has had some outstand performances this year. I still say if it wasn’t for him, we lose the Nebraska game at home. He was also huge in the first KState and the Tech games. I’m not trying to take anything away from EJ cause he had a hell of a game, but to say best performance of the season by a freshman or sophomore might be taking it too far.

by hawkinwihita on Feb 21, 2011 10:56 PM CST via mobile up reply actions

trob

has had a breakout year. No one else comes close. He is a key part of this team, and we can see that when he is out of the game, the team suffers for it.

I think Johnson will still be important this year. Hopefully, he stays hot right on through the tournament, and we get an extra consistent scoring threat off the bench ala Trob, Little, or Selby.

by Alex Jones on Feb 21, 2011 11:03 PM CST reply actions

Really impressed with EJ tonight

The comparison that was significant IMO was with Josh. I only half caught the comment during the game – EJ started b/c Josh didn’t practice due to foot pain? I hope the foot also explains a lot abut his play also, b/c it is not intense and at least a little off. Josh does show flashs that get me excited about the future. It is just a bit unfortunate that the future looks a bit farther away than most expected.

EJ’s A/T wasn’t great, but his D sure was – totally took Paige out of the game. 4-4 from deep helps the O side of things, and shows me that he was taking his shots within the flow. Mostly though, I just loved his demeanor all the way around.

by dagger108 on Feb 22, 2011 1:02 AM CST reply actions