Posted on Wed, Jan. 06, 2010

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Kansas survives Cornell scare

BY J. BRADY MCCOLLOUGH

The Wichita Eagle

LAWRENCE — Kansas coach Bill Self was finally calm. In the first half, as his team fell behind to underdog Cornell, he was a crimson tide, berating his players and officials on the way to a technical foul. But with 46 seconds left and the No. 1 Jayhawks trailing the Big Red by 1, Self called a timeout, grabbed his clipboard and huddled the players around him.

He was calm because he had Sherron Collins. He knew exactly what to draw up.

"It was get the ball to No. 4 and get out of his way," Self said.

Collins would describe it differently. Self asked for Brady Morningstar to come to Collins and act as if he was going to set a pick. Collins made a move toward Morningstar, then crossed over the defender, who was convinced Collins would use the pick. The lane opened as Self had hoped, and Collins drew contact and converted a three-point play that gave the Jayhawks the lead for good in a 71-66 victory on Wednesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.

"It was the perfect play," Collins said.

No doubt, this win was the work of Collins, who had a career-high 33 points. With KU trailing by six halfway through the second half, he decided it was his game.

"I had to do something to turn it," Collins said. "We needed a spark. I was going to be the spark. Some of the young fellows still aren't used to these situations, and I am. So I do what I do."

Collins hasn't been asked to win a game for KU (14-0), this season. But he proved on Wednesday that he is more than capable of performing the duties he took on last season, when every game was about Collins.

"To me, I think he's the best guard in the country," Self said. "I think tonight he showed that tonight he was definitely the best guard in the country. I told our guys after the game, 'Two things won the game for us: Sherron and the crowd.' (The weather was) horrible, and we've got 15,500 here, whatever it is. If our fans would have stayed home tonight because of the weather, there's a good chance we would be 13-1 instead of 14-0. I'm very thankful for that."

Collins and the Fieldhouse both had a lot to lose against Cornell. Collins had lost just two games at Allen in his career, and those were back when he was just a cocky freshman. Fifty straight wins later, and the Jayhawks were suddenly in trouble of leaving the old barn red in the faces because of the Big Red.

Within five minutes, Self was yelling at his players for trying to be heroes, instructing them to "Do your damn job." At the 8:04 mark of the first half, Self called timeout and stormed halfway across the floor to yell at a referee. Self wanted a traveling call, but he ended up getting a technical foul. Self was irate at the refs, sure, but some of it had to be related to the situation as a whole.

This was, after all, Cornell against No. 1 Kansas. This was the Ivy League against the Big 12 Conference. This was Cornell senior guard Geoff Reeves, who played alongside KU guard Tyrel Reed at Burlington (Kan.) High, guarding KU freshman guard Xavier Henry, a projected first-round pick in next year's NBA Draft.

Yet, as mismatched as it seemed, it was not a mismatch at all. An upset by Cornell in this hallowed building, by the stretch of any imagination other than that of a Jayhawk, would be one of the greatest stories in college basketball this season.

And, thing is, the question asked by the Big Red of the Jayhawks was not, "Are you smarter than us?"; it was most definitely "Are you tougher than us?" And what is toughness but finding a way to answer every time you're challenged? That's what Cornell did against all odds on Wednesday, usually with a shot by Ryan Wittman, who had 24 points.

But Wittman's last shot, a three-point try with 10 seconds left and KU leading 69-66, came up short. KU and Collins could finally relax.

"Tonight was like a tournament game," Collins said. "Things aren't going good, you gotta find a way to win. I was the way to win. I wasn't gonna let us lose."

Wednesday’s box score

CORNELL (66)

Min Fg-a Ft-a R A TO F TP

Wittman 35 7-17 5-6 4 3 1 3 24

Jaques 17 1-3 0-0 6 0 0 3 2

Foote 26 5-8 2-5 6 3 5 3 12

Wroblewski 35 3-8 1-1 5 4 6 4 9

Reeves 26 1-3 0-0 1 0 0 4 3

Coury 24 1-2 0-1 7 2 0 3 2

Dale 19 4-8 1-1 1 5 4 4 10

Tyler 12 2-4 0-0 3 0 0 2 4

Wire 4 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

Peck 2 0-1 0-0 0 1 0 0 0

Totals 200 24-55 9-14 29 18 16 26 66

Team reb. 4

Percent 43.6 64.3

KANSAS (71)

Min Fg-a Ft-a R A TO F TP

X.Henry 34 3-13 5-9 6 1 3 3 14

Mc.Morris 24 0-3 1-2 2 0 0 1 1

Aldrich 23 4-8 5-6 9 1 2 2 13

Taylor 22 0-1 0-1 0 3 1 4 0

Collins 35 9-16 13-14 4 3 1 1 33

Morningstar 25 1-2 0-0 1 1 1 3 3

Mk.Morris 19 0-4 4-4 6 0 1 2 4

Reed 12 1-2 0-0 3 0 0 0 3

Robinson 3 0-0 0-0 1 1 1 0 0

C.Henry 3 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 1 0

Totals 200 18-49 28-36 28 11 10 17 71

Team reb. 5

Percent 36.7 77.8

Cornell (12-3) 41 25 — 66

Kansas (14-0) 38 33 — 71

Three-point shooting—Cornell 9-26 (Wittman 5-14, Wroblewski 2-5, Reeves 1-2, Dale 1-3, Jaques 0-1, Peck 0-1), Kansas 7-15 (X. Henry 3-5, Collins 2-5, Morningstar 1-2, Reed 1-2, Mk. Morris 0-1). Blocks—Cornell 1 (Foote), Kansas 4 (Aldrich 3, Morningstar). Steals—Cornell 8 (Reeves 3, Wittman 2, Coury 2, Wire), Kansas 12 (X. Henry 4, Mc. Morris 3, Colilns 2, Mk. Morris, Morningstar, Taylor). Technicals—Kansas bench. Officials —Steve Welmer, John Moore, Patrick Adams. A—16,300.

Check J. Brady McCollough’s KU blog at blogs.kansas.com/jayhawk. Reach him at jmccollough@wichitaeagle.com.