Kansas Dismantles No. 6 Baylor In Waco
by Owen on Feb 8, 2012 8:05 PM CST
in Kansas Jayhawk Basketball 2011-12
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PrintThe first half started ugly. One game after losing to Missouri you would have expected Kansas to come out motivated and ready for the challenge at hand against Baylor. Instead the Jayhawks looked a bit sluggish, maybe even disinterested. Fortunately Baylor wasn't able to capitalize and run out on the Jayhawks in Waco. That proved to be a pretty big missed opportunity for the Bears.
Behind a MONSTER 1st half from Jeff Withey, Kansas would hang around throughout an ugly first half before eventually taking a surprising three point lead into the intermission. That lead was all the more surprising considering that Thomas Robinson spent a good chunk down the stretch relegated to the bench with two fouls. Add in the fact that the Jayhawks received very little offensively outside of Withey and Tyshawn Taylor and it was a good break for Kansas on the road.
In the second half that Kansas momentum continued and the Jayhawks exploded on Baylor as the offense continued to click and the Kansas defense really stepped up to the plate. Waco went from a potentially hostile road environment, to a pretty manageable road game for a Kansas team that has made a pretty solid living over the years on the road.
What makes this one a little extra special is that it marks the second win over Scott Drew and Baylor. This also marks a road win against the no. 6 team in the country. It is also big for the Jayhawks in terms of the Big 12 title race. With the win Kansas keeps pace with Missouri and the Tigers still have to come to Lawrence.
The Jayhawks were led by Jeff Withey who hit a career high at 17 points in the first half alone. The junior center would finish with 25 points on the night. Tyshawn Taylor also continued to show that he is one of the premier guards in the country finishing with 18 points. Thomas Robinson quietly put together another double double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. It's also worth mentioning Conner Teahan who provided a solid game for Kansas and looked like a player that picked up a bit of confidence as the night went on.
Kansas wins this one by a final score of 68-54. Now the Jayhawks prepare to host the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Saturday before heading to Manhattan for another big road contest against the Kansas State Wildcats on Monday. Every game is big for the Jayhawks right now, but this one certainly provides a nice lift and upholds the Kansas streak of not losing back to back games since 2006.
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Maybe this win will shut Missouri fans up a little bit.
Heard/read a lot of comments about how we hadn’t done anything on the road so far.
I can dream.
I always avoid RMN.
So not sure if they were saying the same things. I just read it on some KU forums elsewhere, and had a couple MU people I know tell me the same thing. Got a bit annoying and tonight should slow it down a bit.
by MJR on Feb 8, 2012 8:43 PM CST up reply actions
They were pretty disappointed in their open thread tonight
I’ve otherwise avoided it since Saturday.
It won't.
I was around Missouri fans all night long because of a conference in Jeff City. I was able to get the bartender to switch the channel over to our game so I could watch all of it.
For some reason, Missouri fans actually think they have a chance to beat us at Allen Fieldhouse. I may sound cocky, but I don’t think they stand a chance.
What? A girl who likes sports...INCONCEIVABLE!
Will the end of the game even be televised?
That is the more relevant question. ‘08-’09 they were giving the same yap after a 2 pt win in Columbia. The Sherron lit them up so bad CBS pulled a Heidi mercy move and switched away in the middle of the 2nd half.
I think Monday gets ugly also, but the real challenge could be a matter of being interested in the TT and other road games.
Withey's performance amplified how important he is to this team.
When this season started, I never thought I’d make that statement.
I dunno what to think
We played pretty well, not great. This show we are still a solid team, or that Baylor is the fraud we thought they were? Bears have escaped with a lot of close wins lately, finally played a good team and got murdered at home. They played soft too. How the funk is that the 6th team in the country? Its not.
Nice win though, we now have three top 10 wins (tOSU, Baylor twice) and a fringe top 10 win (Georgetown who is 11). One on the road, one at a neutral site. Throw in heartbreaking close losses to Duke and Mizzou and the Kentucky game, and we have certainly played a lot of tough teams (and won 4 of 7 there).
Shit happens when you win championships
If Baylor doesn't beat Mizzou, I assume people will start questioning them
I actually want them to be legit. But I’ve only see them play us, and I haven’t been impressed.
They have won some tough and close road games.
But both times they played us they folded like a wet napkin. Could be they don’t match up with us well, I guess.
You never know they might just surpise you..
..I think Baylor can do it, I think they’ll upset Mu, if they do get hot could be a long day for the tigers
by HometownKC86 on Feb 8, 2012 11:54 PM CST up reply actions
Mizzoo was running away from them early in Waco
but the Bears made a game of it late. The tiggers are also winning a bunch of close games. I still say they are more poser than player.
Baylor isn't the 6th best team in the country...
But they’re 21-3. One of those losses was by a point. The other two came courtesy of KU blowouts. They’re soft, but they beat anyone who doesn’t punch them, and I wasn’t as easy to land that punch tonight.
Combine the run to end the first and start the second, and we went on a 37-7 run. Doing that on the road against anyone is impressive – against a team as talented as Baylor, that is unreal. Especially coming off the emotional letdown on Saturday.
by hiphopopotamus on Feb 8, 2012 9:15 PM CST up reply actions
Withey obviously had a great game
But this game also emphasized how critical Tyshawn is to us. If he ever slips into a slump, I don’t see how we win. T-Rob may be the national player of the year, but Tyshawn is the most valuable player on our team.
I think we might overcome a TT shooting slump...
but an injury or something that affected his ability to run the team on offense would be hard to overcome.
Duke looks pretty one-dimensional tonight
Just 3 after 3. Plumlee might as well be not playing.
The not losing two in row since 2006
may be my new favorite stat.
I always drink the Kool-Aid
Going for #8 in a row!
As far as coming out motivated Owen...
It’s pretty natural to have a letdown after an emotional loss such as Saturdays. Quite frankly, I expected us to be a bit sluggish and wasn’t really surprised at the way the game started. All we really had to do was keep it close until Baylor/Scott Drew imploded. I feel damn good about this one regardless of how we started. As Andrew said above, we have 4 top-11 wins and a near miss at #4 Mizzou. Be happy and move on. It’s a long conference season and we’re in a good spot after tonight.
Fair point. I hoped for some more energy bit I get it.
Questions, Comments? email me at denverjhawk@hotmail.com
by Owen on Feb 8, 2012 9:37 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
Baylor also seemed really motivated
as they should have been in their house after the way they were spanked in the Phog. It only last so long, as usually is the case of the sort of nervous energy. But we have Coach Self and Crew.
My takeaway
was that Drew is even worse than I thought. If you can’t beat KU after how poorly they played in the first 12-15 minutes or so you’re simply not going to beat them. That zone is insanely soft and their offense doesn’t even try to go through Perry Jones.
Perry Jones thoughts:
1. Does Self have it in for him because he chose Baylor? He certainly gets shut down by KU.
2. How far has he dropped in the draft? I can’t imagine taking a lottery pick on him now. He’s not even the top pick on his team in my mind.
It says a bunch about how far this team has come
That, in November, I was thrilled that we were able to keep it close with Duke.
And today, I really think we should have been able to handle them easily.
yep
i really think we would beat them by double digits if we played them today (though they do shoot a lot of threes so a hot night from them would probably stop that prediction)
I write everywhere. You're probably better off following me on twitter
I thought the way we lost sucked big time.
I think losing at home the way UNC did might be worse.
I can't believe they didn't call that.
Was screaming at the TV when it happened.
And I’m still struck by how much Tyler Zeller and Tyrel Reed look alike.
Loved it
UNC & Duke rotate between number 2 & 3 on my most disliked list. UK is 4th and KSU if 5th. When they play, I am always for the one ranked lower. Worked out for me this time.
anyone else think that HCBS
Was pushing the ‘toughness’ button during the last 4 mins? T2 was stumbling around the court, EJ was gesturing asking for a timeout, Throbinson was grabbing his shorts and Baylor was making a mini run. Most coaches would have called a timeout but HCBS was clearly not interested. Think he was trying to see how much ‘wont to’ (to use a Roy-ism) the boys had?
The name of that song played at KC Comets games in the '80's was Giorgio Moroder's "The Chase." Now you know.
by labbadabba on Feb 8, 2012 10:47 PM CST via mobile reply actions
I don't know if EJ will ever consistently make shots
or ever make shots at all, 0-6 tonight.
All we can hope for is that he gets hot at tourney time. He doesn’t really turn it over though, and he can play some good defense. Looking for positives…
Self has kept him shooting, which is good
When he shoots out of his slump and gets hot for our tourney run, Self will be coach of the year and have his 2nd title
/unrealistic dream
May seem unrealistic
But crazier things have happened in March. Arizona in 1997 comes to mind for some reason
by jhwk316 on Feb 8, 2012 11:00 PM CST via Android app up reply actions
Tyrel had a cold slump a year ago early
then finished strong, and wasn’t Brady also really cold to start the season with many questioning why he was playing at all?
Conner seems to be coming out of his slump lately as well.
EJ will be fine in time, and as long as he keeps playing solid D with 5 A’s to 1 TO, the team will be fine as well.
Just a good ole fashion beat down tonight
I’m stating the obvious here, but Tyshawn Taylor is the man! So many different pieces to this team and keys but I’m convinced he is the X Factor. March is going to be damn interesting. Personally, I’m hoping for a 2 seed. If we get a 1, I just see this team not being able to handle the 1 seed aura.
by I need more Esteban on Feb 8, 2012 10:58 PM CST reply actions
Yeah, my best case scenario is winning the conference outright
Losing in the first round of the conference tournament
Getting a 2 seed
Running all the way to New Orleans
Sorry, can't stomach that loss in the first game of the conference tourney.
If we do that, it probably paves the way for missouri to win the conference tournament championship. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let them have something like that on their way out.
I could not care less about the conference tournament championship
I’d rather this team get some rest and go into the tournament with a slightly lower seed and a chip on their shoulder.
by KSinDC on Feb 9, 2012 8:59 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
me too
but I don’t want Missouri to win it either so
I write everywhere. You're probably better off following me on twitter
Kemba Walker wants to know
What this “rest” you talk about it like.
by 2.1 seconds left on Feb 9, 2012 3:47 PM CST up reply actions
Good thing Conner is coming out of his slump
Aside from his 8 pts, 1 FT for Travis was all the points scored by anyone other than Jeff, TRob, and TT.
What was the stat during the game about bench points, etc.? Something like 250th in the nation? Amazing!
Missed the game but...
Looking at the box score I was very pleased to see Teahan with a respectable 8 points and 2 for 3 from beyond the arc. That’s what we really need him to do so I hope this boosts his confidence.
I don’t know why, but I’ve always liked EJ and hope that he breaks out of this slump. I think the way our offense has solidified, it’s put EJ in a much quieter role (see: EJ with 5 assists) but I’m pulling for him to be a more consistent shooter.
My only concern was that in the last 8ish minutes, looking at the score graph, we only scored 6 points. I know Baylor had pretty much been knocked on its heels by then but I wish we closed out a bit stronger, but thankfully never let them get within 10. Fortunately for us, Baylor had a much longer drought from about 2:30 in the first half to about the 12 minute mark in the second where we did our thing.
On an unrelated note, much as I hate Duke, that was some brutal 3-point sniping down the stretch in the Duke/UNC game. I’d give them props, but Lord knows ESPN will be doing so all week long.
It was my fault
I got to the game late (0-9 at the 17:00 mark) and then had to travel late in the 2nd half when it went from 22 to 12 pt lead. That makes my +/- off the hook at +33.
Yeah, the game would have been a little different had we not exploded out of the gate in the second half.
Scored 19 points in the first 5 minutes, and only 16 the last 15. Not a good finish.
by MJR on Feb 9, 2012 2:10 AM CST up reply actions
Probably because your team is softer than an extra soft down pillow.
“I don’t know why Withey likes playing against us so much, but he looks like an All-American when he does,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said.
Agreed.
Bears seem to not play full games when the pressure’s on and collapse if every aspect isn’t a perfect storm in their favor. But I’ve only watched them play KU and MU so maybe that’s being a bit harsh.
by Scott_Pilgrim on Feb 9, 2012 5:19 AM CST up reply actions
Yep, while talented, their bigs are soft as hell
TRob and now Withey have had a field day. Its why KSU nearly beat them too, and other teams. You can get a lot of second chance points and easy looks in the post.
Plus playing zone against someone as quick (and good at getting to the lane as Tyshawn) is suicide. How many times did he just dribble to the foul line and hit Withey for an easy dunk?
Shit happens when you win championships
Bench scoring
I don’t think I’m as concerned with bench scoring as every else this game. Yes, our bench only made 3 baskets. But look closer… own bench only took 6 shots. That is a 50% make rate tonight. I’m more concerned with EJ’s 0 for 5 and Releford only having 1 attempt.
I'm concerned that our bench isn't able to provide production
If I thought they’d make half of the shots they’d take in every game, I’d be fine with our bench (and would wish they’d shoot more).
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