Wildcat-Jayhawk report: KU 68, K-State 57
Saturday’s box score
No. 9 Kansas 68, Kansas St. 57
KANSAS ST. | Min | FG-A | FT-A | OR-TR | A | PF | PT |
Thomas | 23 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
Foster | 35 | 7-18 | 2-4 | 1-6 | 0 | 1 | 19 |
Williams | 22 | 1-7 | 2-2 | 2-2 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
Iwundu | 29 | 2-6 | 0-2 | 0-6 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
Gipson | 30 | 7-13 | 5-7 | 4-7 | 0 | 2 | 19 |
M Harris | 17 | 0-1 | 2-2 | 1-3 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
Schoen | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Edwards | 15 | 0-6 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
Bolden | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
N Johnson | 16 | 0-3 | 1-4 | 2-3 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
Rohleder | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Meyer | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Hurt | 10 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
Totals | 200 | 20-60 | 12-21 | 13-37 | 9 | 20 | 57 |
Percentages: FG .333, FT .571. 3-Point Goals: 5-14, .357 (Foster 3-10, Hurt 2-2, Iwundu 0-1, Edwards 0-1). Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked Shots: 4 (Williams, Iwundu, Edwards, Hurt). Turnovers: 7 (Hurt 2, Foster 2, M. Harris, Thomas, Edwards). Steals: 2 (Foster, Williams). Technical Fouls: None.
KANSAS | Min | FG-A | FT-A | OR-TR | A | PF | PT |
Mason III | 33 | 3-12 | 4-4 | 1-3 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
Selden Jr | 30 | 5-13 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 2 | 2 | 14 |
Oubre Jr | 25 | 3-6 | 2-2 | 2-9 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
Traylor | 27 | 3-7 | 0-1 | 1-5 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
Ellis | 34 | 7-9 | 2-6 | 2-12 | 3 | 3 | 16 |
Alexander | 19 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Graham | 18 | 1-4 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
Greene | 14 | 4-5 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 3 | 11 |
Totals | 200 | 26-58 | 10-17 | 11-42 | 18 | 15 | 68 |
Percentages: FG .448, FT .588. 3-Point Goals: 6-17, .353 (Greene 3-4, Selden Jr. 3-6, Graham 0-1, Oubre Jr. 0-2, Mason III 0-4). Team Rebounds: 5. Blocked Shots: 7 (Selden Jr. 4, Oubre Jr., Alexander, Ellis). Turnovers: 8 (Greene 2, Traylor 2, Selden Jr., Oubre Jr., Ellis, Mason III). Steals: 7 (Traylor 2, Oubre Jr., Greene, Graham, Mason III, Selden Jr.). Technical Fouls: Graham.
Kansas St. | 17 | 40 | — | 57 |
Kansas | 33 | 35 | — | 68 |
A—16,300. Officials—Mike Stuart, Steve Olson, Kipp Kissinger.
Williams plays
In a surprise move, Nino Williams was in K-State’s starting lineup against Kansas.
The senior forward was recovering from a sprained left knee suffered in his last game against West Virginia, and was deemed doubtful to play Saturday by K-State coach Bruce Weber. He didn’t practice on Thursday or Friday leading up to the game, but he participated fully in pregame warmups and convinced coaches he was fit to play.
That bodes well for his health moving forward, but he was not a factor against the Jayhawks, missing six of seven shots and scoring four points.
“I could tell by his first couple shots, I’m not sure where his mindset was,” Weber said. “Our only fear of him playing was the next nine games. Hopefully he responds well.”
Same old story
K-State has lost eight straight games at Kansas, all by double digits. The lopsided scores were all a result of early leads by the Jayhawks.
Three K-State coaches have been involved in that streak. Weber isn’t sure what it will take for the Wildcats to change that routine.
“You have to come in with the right mindset and can’t be affected,” Weber said. “We go to Iowa State, we’ve been to Oklahoma and we were so focused. Then we come here and we weren’t ready to guard them the way we need to guard.…
“If you are going to come in here you have to guard them and fight them. I’m not saying with fists. You have to battle them. If you don’t do that, if you think you are going to go in and just be pretty and soft, you aren’t going to win.”
Greene goes off
Kansas guard Brannen Greene continued his hot outside shooting Saturday.
While K-State tried to climb back into the game, Greene drilled two second-half threes, blunting the Wildcats’ momentum. He finished with 11 points, hitting three of four from three-point range. Greene also hit a long jumper.
“I thought that Brannen Greene kind of bailed us out,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “The dude takes five shots outside 17 feet and makes four of him. I thought he kind of bailed us out when we didn’t play great offense.”
For the season, the sophomore wing is now shooting 50 percent (27 of 54) from long distance. He’s been even better during conference play, hitting 13 of 21 from three.
“Where other guys need a lot of daylight, he doesn’t need that much daylight,” Self said. “So I like it when the ball leaves his hand.”
Worth noting
Kansas freshman guard Devonte’ Graham picked up a technical foul in the second half for taunting K-State’s Marcus Foster. Self said that, according to the officials, both players had just been warned about trash talking on a previous possession. “He didn’t say anything bad,” Self said. “But he ran up there and yelled at him. He deserved it. It was an immature and bad play, but he’ll learn from it.”… Sophomore guard Wayne Selden set a career high with four blocks, which also matched the most by a KU player this season.… Kansas has won 49 of 53 games against K-State, dating back to the 1994 season.
Kellis Robinett, Rustin Dodd
This story was originally published January 31, 2015 at 7:09 PM with the headline "Wildcat-Jayhawk report: KU 68, K-State 57."