Kansas (15-4, 4-0) remains one of two Big 12 teams to be undefeated in conference play with Oklahoma at 6-0 as the Jayhawks continue Big 12 play at Nebraska on Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN2. Kansas has won four straight and seven of its last eight games. The Jayhawks are 4-0 in Big 12 play for the second straight season after their 82-67 win at Iowa State Saturday. Nebraska is currently 12-6 on the season and 2-3 in Big 12 play. The Huskers are coming off a 76-74 overtime loss to Oklahoma State in Lincoln, Neb., on Saturday.
Denverjhawks Thoughts...
First off my previews are going through a rebranding excercise. Since mine is more just the nuts and bolts of the who's and what's. I have decided to call it just that. Nuts & Bolts;Kansas vs. Nebraska. Getting on to the game, this one makes me slightly more nervous than the Iowa State matchup. Nebraska beat a tough Mizzou team at home and also handed it to Kansas State in Lincoln. Back to back losses at Oklahoma and at home against OSU mean we've got a likely motivated squad looking to get back on track. Defense is the name of the game in Lincoln and Doc Sadler will look to slow this one down and keep it low scoring. If they are successful it could get interesting. My hope is Mario Little continues his improvement, Sherron is his normal self and Cole Aldrich get's going early inside. If we can do that we should win this one pulling away middle of the 2nd half by my estimate. I'm looking forward to see what Coach Self has in store for the 4 spot, there will never be a better game to throw Quintrell Thomas in there and let him bring defense and rebounding without a lot of pressure to score. Should be a good one in Lincoln, hope you'll all join us for the OGT.
Score Prediction: Kansas 73 Nebraska 61
Kansas is 15-4 (4-0 Big 12) on the season after its 82-67 win at Iowa State Saturday. The win made the four-time defending Big 12 regular season champions 4-0 for the second straight season. The Jayhawks are averaging 79.2 points per game and giving up 65.1 for a +14.2 scoring margin. KU has shot a 50 percent or better in each of its Big 12 games for a league-best 54.8 field goal percentage in conference play. The Jayhawks lead the Big 12 in field goal percentage at 38 percent. Conversely, KU has held its last five and 13 opponents in 19 games to under 40 percent shooting. Junior guard Sherron Collins leads KU in scoring at 18.7 points per game, which is third most in the Big 12. He has led the team in scoring in 15 of 19 games this season. He has a team-high 43 three-point field goals and 101 assists. While scoring a career-high-tying 26 points at Iowa State Saturday, Collins became the 51st Jayhawk to score 1,000 points for his career, currently with 1,025 points. Sophomore center Cole Aldrich is next in scoring at 15.4 points per game and after his 16 points and 12 rebounds at Iowa State, he has a team-best 11 double-doubles on the season, second most in the Big 12. He leads the team with 9.8 rebounds per game, which is third in the conference and he leads the league in field goal percentage at 63.6 percent and blocked shots per game at 2.7. Aldrich is 26-of-37 (70.3 percent) from the field in Big 12 games. Aldrich has 51 of KU's 88 blocked shots in 2008-09. Freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor is scoring 10.2 points per game and has a team-best 26 steals. He is averaging 13 points in his first four conference games and was named Phillips 66 Big 12 Rookie of the Week for the third time on Jan. 19. Sophomore guard Brady Morningstar is a starter who is averaging 7.0 points per game with 56 assists and 21 steals. He has 21 assists, four turnovers and eight steals in his last six games. Freshman forward Marcus Morris has started the last two games for the Jayhawks and is scoring 7.5 points and pulling down 5.2 rebounds. Over the last four-plus games, junior guard Mario Little has made his last 11 field goals, including a 4-for-4 effort at Iowa State Saturday. He is scoring 5.0 points in seven games played this season. He missed the first 12 games of the season due to injuries. Freshman forward Markieff Morris (4.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg) and sophomore guard Tyrel Reed (7.5 ppg) are KU’s top reserves. Reed has scored in double figures in two of his last three games, including 10 points at Iowa State on 2-of-3 shooting from three-point range.
About Nebraska
Nebraska is looking to rebound from a 76-74 overtime loss to Oklahoma State on Saturday in Lincoln. The Huskers are 12-6 on the season, 2-3 in Big 12 play and have lost two straight and three of their last four. Nebraska is 11-2 at home this season. Nebraska averages 67 points per game and has a stifling defense giving up 57.8 ppg. The Huskers have a balanced scoring attack with only two players
averaging double figures and they are second in the conference with 7.1 steals per game. Senior guard Steve Harley leads NU in scoring with 12.1 points per game. He is second on the team in assists with 41 and steals with 25. Senior guard Ade Dagundero is the only other Husker averaging double figures at 10.7 points per game. He is shooting a team-best 51.8 percent from the field. Senior guard Paul
Velander comes off the bench to score 9.3 points per contest and he leads the team with 49 three-point field goals. Junior guard Sek Henry is just behind Velander with 9.1 points per contest, while sophomore guard Cookie Miller (7.2 ppg) has a team-high 71 assists and is making 81.6 percent of his free throws. Freshman guard Toney McCray’s 11 blocked shots are a team best. He is scoring 6.4 points per game. Junior guard Ryan Anderson (6.3 ppg) leads the team with a 4.8 rebound average to go along with his 6.3 ppg. Junior forward Chris Balham (2.1 ppg, 2.2 rpg) is a starter, while freshman guard Brandon Richardson (3.9 ppg) is averaging nearly 15 minutes a game for the Huskers.
Meet the Opposing Coach
Doc Sadler is in his third season at Nebraska with a 49-33 record. He is in his 10th season as a head coach with a 217-90 mark. Sadler guided the Huskers to 20 wins last season, including a postseason appearance in the NIT where they advanced to the second round. His 17 wins at NU in 2006-07 made him the third-winningest first-year coach in Nebraska history. Prior to Nebraska, Sadler was head coach at UTEP where he guided the Miners to a 48-18 record in two seasons and postseason play both years – the NCAA Tournament in 2005 and NIT in 2006. He is 0-5 against Kansas.
This series dates back to 1900 and Kansas leads 164-71. Kansas is 60-44 against Nebraska in games played in Lincoln, yet the series is tied at the Bob Devaney Center at 16-16. Kansas has won 11 straight against Nebraska and 20 of the last 21 dating back to the 1998-99 season. The last Nebraska victory in the series was 74-55 on Feb. 15, 2004, in Lincoln, Bill Self’s first season at KU and his only loss to
Nebraska. The previous NU win was 64-59 on Feb. 10, 1999, in Lawrence. Kansas holds a 25-3 record against Nebraska since the inception of the Big 12 and has swept the season series 10 times, including each of the last four seasons. KU and NU have played each other four times in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship with the Jayhawks winning all four contests, including last year, 64-54, in the quarterfinals of the event at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.
Improve Kansas to 16-4 on the season, 5-0 in Big 12 play for the second straight season… Give Kansas its fifth straight win, the longest winning streak of the season… Give Kansas its third straight and third overall true road win of the season… Give KU its 12th straight win against Nebraska and give Kansas a 165-71 series advantage against the Huskers…Give KU its fifth straight win versus NU in matchups in the Bob Devaney Center… Improve Bill Self to 158-36 while at KU, 365-141 overall and 14-1 against Nebraska… Make Kansas 1,959-789 all-time.
With the first points of the Iowa State game, junior guard Sherron Collins became the 51st player in Kansas history to score 1,000 career points. Collins vaulted to 47th on the school scoring list, currently with 1,025 points. Last season, Brandon Rush and Mario Chalmers each accomplished 1,000-point feat. Rush ended his career ranked 20th on the KU scoring list with 1,477 points, while Chalmers is 24th
with 1,341 points. Collins already ranks 13th on the KU career three-point field goal list with 128 and 14th on the three-pointers attempted list at 329. His 319 career assists are also in the KU top 20 at No. 18.
2008-09 Kansas Roster (*last game starters)
No. Pos. Name Cl.-Exp. Ht. Wt. Hometown (Previous School)
2 G Conner Teahan So.-1L 6-5 215 Leawood, Kan. (Rockhurst HS)
*4 G Sherron Collins Jr.-2L 5-11 200 Chicago, Ill. (Crane HS)
10 G Brennan Bechard Sr-2L (TR) 6-0 185 Lawrence, Kan. (Lawrence HS/Barton Co. [Kan.] CC)
11 F Quintrell Thomas Fr.-HS 6-7 240 Newark, N.J. (Saint Patrick HS)
*12 G Brady Morningstar So.-1L(RS) 6-3 180 Lawrence, Kan. (Free State HS/New Hampton)
14 G Tyrel Reed So.-1L 6-3 185 Burlington, Kan. (Burlington HS)
*15 G Tyshawn Taylor Fr.-HS 6-3 180 Hoboken, N.J. (St. Anthony HS)
21 F Markieff Morris Fr.-HS 6-9 232 Philadelphia, Pa. (Prep Charter HS/APEX Academy [N.J.])
*22 F Marcus Morris Fr.-HS 6-8 225 Philadelphia, Pa. (Prep Charter HS/APEX Academy [N.J.])
23 G Mario Little Jr.-TR 6-5 210 Chicago, Ill. (Washington HS/Chipola [Fla.] CC)
24 G Travis Releford Fr.-HS 6-5 200 Kansas City, Mo. (Bishop Miege HS)
32 G Tyrone Appleton Jr.-TR 6-2 203 Gary, Ind. (Harmony Prep/Midland [Texas] College)
40 G Jordan Juenemann Fr.-HS 6-4 195 Hays, Kan. (Hays HS)
41 G Chase Buford So.-1L 6-3 210 San Antonio, Texas (Alamo Heights HS)
*45 C Cole Aldrich So.-1L 6-11 245 Bloomington, Minn. (Jefferson HS)
54 C Matt Kleinmann Sr-3L (RS) 6-10 250 Overland Park, Kan. (Blue Valley West HS)
C Jeff Withey Fr-HS (RS) 6-10 225 San Diego, Calif. (Horizon HS)
Head Coach: Bill Self (Oklahoma State, 1985)
Assistant Coaches: Joe Dooley (George Washington, 1988); Kurtis Townsend (Western Kentucky, 1982); Danny
Manning (Kansas, 1991)
Nebraska Cornhuskers
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Class Hometown (Previous School)
1 Eshaunte Jones G 6-4 180 Fr. Fort Wayne, Ind. (Hargrave Military (Va.) Academy)
2 Nick Krenk G 6-0 185 Sr. Nebraska City, Neb. (Nebraska City)
3 Brandon Richardson G 6-0 190 RS-Fr. Los Angeles, Calif. (Hawthorne)
*4 Steve Harley G 5-11 180 Sr. Temple Hills, Md. (South Plains (Texas) College)
*5 Sek Henry G 6-3 200 Jr. Los Angeles, Calif. (The Patterson School)
*11 Ade Dagunduro G 6-5 200 Sr. Inglewood, Calif. (Antelope Valley CC)
12 Matt Karn G 6-3 190 Jr. Philpot, Ky. (Shawnee (Ill.) CC)
13 Ross Ferrarini G 6-2 175 Fr. Omaha, Neb. (Westside)
14 Christopher Niemann C 6-11 265 Fr. Kühlungsborn, Germany (Erdgas Ehingen/Urspringschule)
15 Alonzo Edwards F 6-7 230 RS-Fr. Houston, Texas (Klein Forest)
*24 Cookie Miller G 5-7 165 So. Charleston, W. Va. (Harmony Comm. (Ohio) School)
25 Paul Velander G 6-2 200 Sr. Blacksburg, Va. (Blacksburg)
30 Toney McCray G 6-6 205 RS-Fr. Missouri City, Texas (Fort Bend Elkins)
31 Alex Chapman F 6-9 240 RS-So. Canby, Ore. (Sheridan (Wyo.) College)
*32 Chris Balham F 6-8 235 Jr. Kansas City, Kan. (Shawnee Mission West)
34 Andrew Wicklund G 6-5 170 So. Colorado Springs, Colo. (Rampart)
35 Ben Nelson F 6-8 230 Jr. Atwater, Minn. (Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City)
43 Cole Salomon G 6-5 220 Jr. Omaha, Neb. (Nebraska-Kearney)
44 Ryan Anderson G 6-4 205 Jr. Seattle, Wash. (Rainier Beach)
Head Coach: Doc Sadler (Arkansas, 1982)
Assistant Coaches: David Anwar (Fitchburg State, 1998); Philip Mathews (UC Irvine, 1972);
Walter Roese (BYU-Hawaii, 1994)
Upcoming Games
January
28 *at Nebraska (ESPN2) ....... 6:30 p.m.
31 *COLORADO (ESPNU) ........ 3 p.m.
February
2 *at Baylor (ESPN) .................. 8 p.m.
7 *OKLAHOMA STATE (ABC) ...2:30 p.m.
9 *at Missouri (ESPN) ............... 8 p.m.
14 *at Kansas State (ABC) ..... 2:30 p.m.
18 *IOWA STATE (B12) ............. 7 p.m.
21 *NEBRASKA (B12) ............... 3 p.m.
23 *at Oklahoma (ESPN) ............ 8 p.m.