Kansas (16-4, 5-0) remains one of two Big 12 teams undefeated in conference play with Oklahoma at 6-0 as the Jayhawks continue Big 12 play hosting Colorado (9-10, 1-4). The game will tip at 3 p.m. and be seen on ESPNU. Kansas looks to add to the nation’s longest home court winning streak at 35 games and has won five straight and eight of its last nine games. The Jayhawks are 5-0 in Big 12 play for the second straight season after their 68-62 win at Nebraska Wednesday. Colorado is currently 9-10 on the season and 1-4 in Big 12 play. The Buffaloes are coming off a 55-49 win against Iowa State on Tuesday in Boulder, Colo. This is round two for KU-CU with the Jayhawks winning 73-56 at Colorado on Jan. 17.
Denverjhawk's Thoughts...
Back in the friendly confines of Allen Fieldhouse and a game against the Colorado Buffaloes. The first game in the series this year was ugly and Colorado wanted it that way. I'm assuming Bzdelik will try to pull it off again but I just don't see them keeping it as close or as sloppy in Lawrence. Kansas wins this one fairly easily and gets control of it much earlier than they did in Boulder. Here's to hoping we can rest Mario Little while sitting on a lead so that he'll be ready for Big Monday @ Baylor.
Score Prediction: Kansas 81 Colorado 61
More notes, quotes and pregame content after the jump...
Also a new feature inside, "A Trip Down Memory Lane"...give your own thoughts on favorite Buffalo hoopsters of "your" time.
Interesting of note is that Kansas is one of 13 teams in NCAA Division I that remains undefeated in conference play. At the same time KU takes it's longest winning streak of the season and the country's longest home court winning streak in the country, into the Colorado contest. Hard to believe we have all that going for us with as up and down as the season has been. The Jayhawks are averaging 78.7 points per game and giving up 64.9 for a +13.8 scoring margin. KU leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage at 48.9 percent and has shot 50 percent or better in each of its Big 12 games for a league-best 55.1 field goal percentage in conference play. Conversely, KU has held five of its last six and 13 of 20 opponents this season 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 16 of 20 games this season, including scoring 17 at Nebraska. He has a team-high 44 three-point field goals and 102 assists. Sophomore center Cole Aldrich is next in scoring at 15 points per game and he leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage at 63.5 percent and blocked shots with a 2.6 per game average. 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 second in the conference. Aldrich is shooting 69 percent from the field in Big 12 games. Aldrich has 51 of KU's 90 blocked shots in 2008-09. Freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor is scoring 10 points per game and has a team-best 26 steals. He has been named Phillips 66 Big 12 Rookie of the Week three times this season. Sophomore guard Brady Morningstar is a starter who is averaging 7.2 points per game with 56 assists and 21 steals. Freshman forward Marcus Morris has started the last three games for the Jayhawks and is scoring 7.4 points and pulling down 5.0 rebounds. Junior guard Mario Little is coming off a season high 30 minutes played at Nebraska where he scored four points with seven rebounds. He is averaging 4.9 points on the season, including 7.2 in Big 12 play. Little’s field goal percentage in Big 12 play is 72.7 percent. 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 is second on the team in three-point field goals made with 31 and second in three point field goal percentage at 39.7 percent.
Colorado snapped a four-game losing streak and got of the shneid in conference play with a 55-49 win against Iowa State Tuesday in Boulder, Colo. The Buffs are 9-10 on the season and 1-4 in Big 12 play. CU is 0-4 in true road games this season and 1-6 away from the Coors Events Conference Center. Colorado is scoring 66.1 points and giving up 66.3 per contest and it doesn't take a math wiz to realize won't translate into a lot of success. CU averages 12.2 assists per contest and 5.8 three-point field goals. Sophomore guard Cory Higgins leads the team in scoring at 17.6 points per game, rebounding with a 6.9 average and steals with 40. He is 120-for-139 (86.3 percent) from the free throw line, including a 12-for-12 effort against Kansas on Jan. 17. Junior guard Dwight Thorne II has a team-high 27 three-pointers to complement his 12.7 scoring average. Freshman forward Austin Dufault is scoring 8.9 points, while freshman guard Nate Tomlinson is at 8.2 ppg. Tomlinson and Higgins are tied with a team-high 54 assists. All of the aforementioned are averaging more than 30 minutes per game for CU. Senior forward Jermyl Jackson-Wilson is the fifth starter who is scoring 5.4 points per game. He and Dufault are averaging 3.9 rebounds each, which is second to Higgins on the CU squad. Jackson-Wilson has a team-best 14 blocked shots. Sophomore forward Casey Crawford (5.3 ppg), sophomore guard Levi Knutson (3.3 ppg) and freshman forward Trey Eckloff (2.4 ppg) round out the CU regulars.
Meet the Opposing Coach
Colorado coach Jeff Bzdelik is in his second season at CU with a 21-30 record. Bzdelik is in his sixth season at the collegiate level with a 96-77 overall record. Bzdelik came to Colorado from the United States Air Force Academy, where he guided the Falcons to a 50-16 record (a 75.8 winning percentage) in two seasons from 2005-07. During those two seasons he led the Falcons to a 2005-06 NCAA
Tournament and a 2006-07 NIT Final Four appearance. Bzdelik brings 29 years of coaching experience to CU from the collegiate and professional ranks. He returned to the college game in 2005-06 after 15 seasons as both a coach and scout in the NBA, including two-and-a-half seasons as head coach of the Denver Nuggets. Bzdelik is 0-3 against Kansas.
This series dates back to 1931 and Kansas leads 116-39, including a 58-7 record in Lawrence (49-5 in Allen Fieldhouse)...WOW!!!. Kansas has won 12 straight and 39 of the last 40 meetings with CU dating back to 1991. The last Colorado win in the series was a 60-59 thriller on Jan. 22, 2003, in Boulder. The previous CU win was a 79-71 victory on Feb. 20, 1991, also in Boulder. Kansas has won the last 25 meetings with Colorado in Allen Fieldhouse starting in 1984. CU’s last win in the Fieldhouse was 75-74 on Feb. 10, 1983. Since the inception of the Big 12, Kansas is 25-1 against Colorado – 24-1 in regular-season play and 1-0 in the league championship. Earlier this season, five Kansas players scored in double figures led by Sherron Collins’ 18 points as the Jayhawks defeated the Buffaloes 73-56 in Boulder. Cole Aldrich scored 15 and pulled down 10 rebounds for a double-double. Other KU scoring leaders included Tyshawn Taylor with 14 points, Tyrel Reed with 11 points and Marcus Morris with 10 points.
Improve Kansas to 17-4 on the season and 6-0 in Big 12 play for first time since the 2004-05 team opened league play 9-0… Give Kansas its sixth straight win, the longest winning streak of the season…Extend the nation’s longest home court winning streak to 36 games… Give KU its 13th straight win against Colorado and give Kansas a 167-39 series advantage against the Buffaloes… Give KU its 26th
win against CU in Allen Fieldhouse matchups… Make Kansas 628-106 all time in Allen Fieldhouse, including 90-6 under Bill Self… Improve Bill Self to 159-36 while at KU, 366-141 overall and 12-0 against Colorado… Make Kansas 1,960-789 all-time.
A Trip Down Memory Lane: Colorado
A New feature and w/Nuts and Bolts and if you've made it this far soak it in and give some thoughts of your own favorite CU Buffs in your time...
Donnie Boyce - Any guy that breaks his leg two years in a row deserves some props
Chauncey Billups - Really the only relevant Buff in a long time
David Harrison - Sure was fun to beat him
Poncho Hodges - Do you even need to ask? His name is Poncho
2008-09
No. Pos. Name Cl.-Exp. Ht. Wt. Hometown (Previous School)
2 G Conner Teahan So.-1L 6-5 215 Leawood,
*4 G Sherron Collins Jr.-2L 5-11 200
10 G Brennan Bechard Sr-2L (TR) 6-0 185 Lawrence,
11 F Quintrell Thomas Fr.-HS 6-7 240
*12 G Brady Morningstar So.-1L(RS) 6-3 180 Lawrence,
14 G Tyrel Reed So.-1L 6-3 185
*15 G Tyshawn Taylor Fr.-HS 6-3 180
21 F Markieff Morris Fr.-HS 6-9 232
*22 F Marcus Morris Fr.-HS 6-8 225
23 G Mario Little Jr.-TR 6-5 210 Chicago,
24 G Travis Releford Fr.-HS 6-5 200
32 G Tyrone
40 G Jordan Juenemann Fr.-HS 6-4 195 Hays,
41 G Chase Buford So.-1L 6-3 210
*45 C Cole Aldrich So.-1L 6-11 245
54 C Matt Kleinmann Sr-3L (RS) 6-10 250
C Jeff Withey Fr-HS (RS) 6-10 225
Head Coach: Bill Self (Oklahoma State, 1985)
Assistant Coaches: Joe Dooley (George Washington, 1988); Kurtis Townsend (Western Kentucky, 1982);
Danny Manning (
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl-Exp Hometown (Previous School)
*1 Nate Tomlinson G 6-2 180 Fr. Sydney,
10 Ryan Kelley G 6-2 185 Fr. Pomona,
*11 Cory Higgins G 6-5 185 So.
(The
*12 Dwight Thorne II G 6-2 185 Jr.
14 Javon Coney G 6-3 200 So.
15 Toby Veal F 6-7 225 Fr. Savannah,
24 Levi Knutson G 6-4 190 So.
25 Andrew Zehnder G 6-3 175 So.
*31 Jermyl
*33
34 Casey Crawford F 6-9 235 So.
44 Trent Beckley F 6-9 230 Jr. Vail,
55 Trey Eckloff F 6-9 225 Fr. Englewood,
Head Coach: Jeff Bzdelik (Illinois-Chicago, 1976)
Associate Head Coach: Steve McClain (Chadron State, 1984)
Assistant Coaches: Charles Baker (Eastern Kentucky, 1990); Derrick Clark (California Lutheran, 1995)
Upcoming Games
February
2 *at Baylor (ESPN) ..................
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23 *at