KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Four Jayhawks scored in double figures as Kansas defeated Washington 73-54 on Monday evening here at the Sprint Center. Junior Sherron Collins led the Kansas charge with 18 points as KU remained undefeated on the season after collecting its third-straight win. UW dropped to 2-2 on the season.
The win advanced KU to the title game of the 2008 CBE Classic. KU will face Syracuse in the championship game at 9:15 p.m. Tuesday.
Collins scored 11 of his 18 points in the second half helping the Jayhawks pull away from the Huskies after forging a 10-point halftime lead. The Chicago native knocked down 6-of-12 field goals on the evening and also dished out five assists in the win.
The Jayhawk defense held Washington in check for much of the game, as the Huskies made just 19-of-65 shots from the field, good for just 29.2 percent. Kansas finished the game shooting 50 percent from the field, knocking down 28-of-56 shots from the floor.
Sophomore Cole Aldrich turned in 16 points, while also recording a career-high six blocks. Aldrich also led the Jayhawks on the boards with nine caroms.
Freshman Marcus Morris set a new career high as he finished the game with 13 points, canning 6-of-9 shots from the field.
Freshman Tyshawn Taylor was the fourth Jayhawk in double digits as he finished with a new career-best 10 points, including a lay-up at the buzzer to give KU its 32-22 lead at the break.
Isaiah Thomas led UW with 17 points, while Jon Brockman pulled down 18 rebounds as the Huskies finished the game with a 43-34 rebounding advantage, including a 21-8 edge on the offensive glass.
Kansas and Syracuse will compete for the tourney title in a rematch of the 2003 NCAA National Championship game. Syracuse advanced to the CBE Classic final after defeating Florida, 89-83, in the evening's first game.
My Thoughts…Once again I have to say I am very pleased with this team early on. I’ve seen several games year featuring other teams around the country ranked in the top 25 and few look put together very well and for whatever reason Kansas despite it’s youth looks to have a lot of the pieces working together.
Cole Aldrich continues to impress in a big way. The big guy is a leader on the floor, extremely active on the interior and with 16 pts. 9 rebs and 6 blocks, he is showing what he is capable of as a big man in division 1 basketball. I was impressed, Bob Knight was thoroughly impressed and if the kid can avoid the “dumb” fouls and snag a few more boards the sky is the limit.
Sherron “green light” Collins is showing a lot of leadership out there and seems to have a spring in his step I can’t recall from years past.
The Morris twins and Tyshawn Taylor are going to be a special group. Along with the other freshman that saw limited action this crew has the potential to develop into the foundation for the next Bill Self run at the title.
Lastly, Self was noticeably sticking to a shorter bench in this game as he said he would be looking to do. I think we will see a little bit of tinkering in the rotation over the next month or so as he fine tunes his squad and rotation for the conference stretch. If there is one thing that he proves game in and game out it’s that this guy can coach and if you missed his halftime interview, he is one cool customer to boot.
STARTERS MIN FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS 19 6-9 0-1 1-2 1 2 1 0 0 3 4 13 Cole Aldrich, C 31 6-12 0-0 4-4 2 9 2 1 6 1 3 16 30 6-12 1-3 5-5 0 2 5 2 0 1 2 18 36 1-4 0-1 1-2 1 4 5 2 0 0 2 3 25 4-5 0-0 2-3 0 2 1 0 1 2 1 10 BENCH MIN FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS 1 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 6 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 1 3 0 Tyrel Reed, G 24 1-5 0-3 0-0 0 4 1 2 0 0 0 2 21 2-4 0-0 0-0 2 6 0 0 3 2 4 4 3 1-2 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 TOTALS FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS 28-56 2-9 15-18 7 31 16 8 10 10 21 73 50.0% 22.2% 83.3%
Kansas' win over Washington...
... Made Kansas 3-0 for the second-straight season and third time under head coach Bill Self.
... Marked KU’s fourth-straight win over Washington and made the all-time series 8-1 in favor of the Jayhawks.
… Marked Kansas’ 28th-straight regular season win in Kansas City and improved the Jayhawks to 5-0 in the Sprint Center.
... Improved Kansas head coach Bill Self's record to 145-32 at KU and 352-137 overall. It also made Self 1-0 all-time versus Washington.
... Made Kansas 1,946-785 all-time.
Notes
- Kansas used the starting line-up of Sherron Collins, Brady Morningstar, Tyshawn Taylor, Marcus Morris and Cole Aldrich for the first time this season.
- KU recorded 10 blocks in the win, the most this season. KU’s 10 blocks also ties last season’s team high for blocks in a game.
- The Jayhawks also recorded a season-low 10 turnovers. Their previous season low was 15 versus UMKC on Nov. 16.
- Sherron Collins led the Jayhawks in scoring with 18 points. It marked the third-straight game Collins has led the team in scoring.
-Collins’ 18 points marked the 38th time in his career he has scored in double figures, including four-straight games.
- Cole Aldrich set a new career-best with six blocks. Aldrich had previously recorded four blocks versus North Carolina on April 5, 2008.
- Aldrich also posted collected a career-best 16 points. His previous career-high was 13 points versus UMKC on Nov. 16.
- Tyshawn Taylor recorded a career high 10 points. Taylor’s previous career best was seven versus UMKC on Nov. 16.
- Taylor also set new career marks in field goals made (4) and field goals attempted (5).
- Marcus Morris set a new career mark with 13 points in the win. His previous high was five points in his last outing versus Florida Gulf Coast.
- Marcus Morris made a career best six field goals on a career-high nine attempts.
- Markieff Morris collected a career-best three blocks for the Jayhawk defense. He now has five blocks in three games.
- Kansas has held all three of its opponents to 56 points or below on the season. The Jayhawks gave up 56 to UMKC in the season-opener.
- The Jayhawks were out-rebounded for the first time on the season as UW won the rebounding battle 43-34. Washington was especially strong on the offensive glass, pulling down 21 rebounds. UW’s Jon Brockman led all rebounders with 18 boards.