Jayhawks to Host Saints in Men's Basketball Tuesday at 7 p.m. on Jayhawk TV

Jan. 5, 2009

Kansas notes for Siena in PDF Format Get Acrobat Reader

Kansas concludes it nonconference home portion of the 2008-09 season by hosting Siena, Tuesday at 7 p.m. on Jayhawk TV. The Jayhawks are 10-3 and coming off a 92-85 win against then-No. 14/18 Tennessee Saturday. Kansas has the nation’s third-longest home court winning streak at 32 games, which is fourth longest in school history. The game will be the 500th career game coached for Kansas’ Bill Self who has a 359-140 career record (152-35 at KU). Siena is 10-4 on the season following its 65-52 win against Saint Peter’s in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) competition Sunday. The Saints have won five straight and eight of their last nine.

About Kansas

Kansas is 10-3 on the season and has won two straight and three of its last four games. The Jayhawks are averaging 79.8 points per game and giving up 63.8 for a +15.9 scoring margin. KU leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage defense at 37.6 percent and free throw percentage at 72.7 percent. Two of KU’s three losses have been by one point to UMass (61-60) and in overtime to Syracuse (89-81), i.e. two possessions.

Junior guard Sherron Collins leads KU in scoring at 17.6 points per game and is coming off a career-high 26 points in the win against Tennessee. Collins has led the team in scoring in 10 of 13 games this season and has a team-high 28 three-point field goals and 66 assists, including nine versus Tennessee. Sophomore center Cole Aldrich is next in scoring at 14.8 points per game and has scored 42 points in his last two games – 20 vs. Albany, 22 vs. Tennessee. He leads the team with 9.6 rebounds per game. Aldrich has led Kansas in rebounding in 10 of the last 11 games. He also has seven double-doubles in that span, second most in the Big 12. Aldrich has 35 of KU’s 63 blocked shots for a Big 12-leading 2.7 per game. Freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor is scoring 10.2 points per game and leads Kansas with 21 steals. His 1.6 steals per game and 3.7 assists per game lead the Big 12 freshmen class. Freshman forward Marcus Morris comes off the bench and is scoring 8.4 ppg. He is second on the team with 5.8 rebounds, tops among Big 12 freshmen. Sophomore guard Brady Morningstar has made multiple three pointers in each of his last four games and is scoring 7.8 points per outing. Sophomore guard Tyrel Reed, 6.9 ppg, has scored 20 points in his last two games. Freshman forward Markieff Morris has started the last four contests and is third on the team with a 4.7 rebound average. He is scoring 5.5 ppg. Freshman guard Travis Releford (3.5 ppg) and freshman forward Quintrell Thomas (2.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg) are each averaging more than seven minutes per contest.

About Siena

Located in Loundonville, N.Y., near Albany, Siena is 10-4 on the season, including 4-0 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). The Saints won six of seven games in the month of December and bring a five-game winning streak to Allen Fieldhouse. Siena is 3-1 in true road games this season and 3-4 away from home. Siena is scoring 73.4 points per game and giving up 67.4. Junior guard/forward Edwin Ubiles leads Siena with 14.5 points per game and 17 blocked shots. He is pulling down 4.9 rebounds per game. Junior forward Alex Franklin is next in scoring at 13.8 points per contest and he has a team-high 6.9 rebounds per outing. Senior guard Kenny Hasbrouck is scoring 11.9 points per game and he and sophomore guard Clarence Jackson (7.7 ppg) have a team-best 13 three-point field goals. Junior guard Ronald Moore (8.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg) leads Siena with 82 assists on the year. Hasbrouck has a team-high 23 steals with Franklin and Moore close behind at 20 each. Sophomore forward Ryan Rossiter has 19 steals to complement his 8.7 scoring average. He is second on the team with 6.3 rebounds per game. Senior forward Josh Duell (2.1 ppg) and Owen Wignot (2.1 ppg) are averaging more than 11 minutes per game for the Saints.

Siena won the MAAC regular season and postseason championships in 2008 and defeated Vanderbilt in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament before falling to Villanova in the second round. Kansas defeated Villanova (72-57) in the Sweet 16 en route to its third NCAA National Championship. Siena was the unanimous choice of the conference coaches to win the 2009 MAAC title.

The Series

Kansas and Siena are meeting for the first time in men’s basketball, yet KU is familiar with Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opponents. The Jayhawks are 12-1 against MAAC opponents and last faced a MAAC foe when they defeated Loyola 90-60 on Jan. 8, 2008. KU is 2-0 vs. Niagara, Rider, Canisius and Saint Peters; 1-0 vs. Loyola and Fairfield and 2-1 vs. Iona.

Team Notables

–Kansas leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage defense at 37.6 and free throw percentage at 72.7. The Jayhawks also rank among the league’s top four teams in scoring margin (fourth at 15.9), rebounding (second at 40.3), rebound margin (second at +7.2), three-point field goal percentage (fourth at .373), assists (second at 18.2), blocked shots (third at 4.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (third at 1.3). Note: NCAA national stat rankings start back up this week.

–KU has outshot 10 of 13 opponents this season and has shot 50 percent or better in six games, including each of the last two. Last year, KU outshot 39 of 40 opponents.

–Kansas has outrebounded 10 of 13 opponents this season.

–Kansas made 16-of-19 free throws against Albany (Dec. 30) for 84.2 percent. It marked the fifth time this season the Jayhawks have made 80 percent or better from the charity stripe.

–Through 13 games, four different Jayhawks have scored 20 or more points this season. Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich each have three 20-point efforts. Other 20-point scorers include Brady Morningstar and Tyshawn Taylor.

–Kansas has held 123 of its last 126 opponents to under 50 percent shooting, including all 13 foes this season. Eight of those opponents have shot below 40 percent, including the last two games. The last team to shoot 50 percent or better against KU was Louisiana-Monroe in the 2007-08 season opener (51 percent).

–Kansas posted its 100th game of scoring 100 points in the 100-79 win against defending WAC champion New Mexico State (Dec. 3).

–Individually, eight different Jayhawks have led or tied for the team lead in steals this season, six in assists and three in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots.

–KU is 95-13 (88 percent) in its last 108 games dating back to Jan. 21, 2006.

Player Notables

–Junior guard Sherron Collins is coming off a career-high 26 points in Kansas’ 92-85 win against then-No. 14 Tennessee on Saturday. He has scored 19 or more points in six games this season and has led KU in scoring in 10 of 13 games this season. Collins has made 10 three pointers in his last four games. Collins ranks sixth in the Big 12 in scoring at 17.6 ppg. Also ranks among the league leaders in assists (sixth at 5.1), free throw percentage (ninth at .780), field goal percentage (13th at .433), three point field goals made (10th at 3.2) and assist-to-turnover ratio (13th at 1.7).

–Sophomore Cole Aldrich has scored 20-plus points in each of his last two games with 20 against Albany and 22 versus Tennessee. He has made 70.5 percent of his field goals (31-for-44) in the last five games. Aldrich has a team-leading seven double-doubles on the season, second most in the Big 12. He leads the Big 12 in blocked shots with 2.7 per contest. Aldrich is second in the conference in field goal percentage at 62.4, third in rebounding at 9.6 rpg, fourth in free throw percentage at 83.6 and 16th in scoring at 14.8 ppg.

–Sophomore guard Brady Morningstar has made 10 three pointers in his last four games and is 10-for-19 (52.6 percent) from beyond the arc in that span. His 12 points against Tennessee marked his third double-figure scoring game of the season. He has made at least one three-pointer in each of his last 10 games and is third in the Big 12 in three-point field goal percentage at 47.8 percent.

–Freshman guard TYSHAWN TAYLOR’s 12 points against Tennessee were the most since he scored 23 against New Mexico State six games earlier. In his last six games, Taylor has 29 assists and 11 steals. He had a solid stat line against Temple (Dec. 20) with 11 points, eight assists, one turnover and four steals earning Big 12 Rookie of the Week honors for the second time this season. He is 10th in the league in assists at 3.7 apg, eighth in steals at 1.6 spg and ninth in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.8. His assists and steals are tops among Big 12 freshmen.

–Sophomore guard Tyrel Reed has scored 20 points in his last two games and has a 6.9 ppg average on the season. Reed tied his career high with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting (3-for-5 from three-point range) against Albany (Dec. 30) and had eight points against Tennessee. He also had 12 against New Mexico State (Dec. 3) and UMKC in the season opener. Reed has made 16 three-pointers in his last seven games and is 16-for-31 (51.6 percent) from beyond the arc in that span. Reed had six assists and no turnovers in his last two games.

–Freshman forward Markieff Morris has started each of the last four games and is 9-for-14 (64.3 percent) from the field in those four games. His 4.7 rebounds on the season are second behind twin Marcus Morris (5.8 rpg) among Big 12 freshmen.

–Freshman forward Marcus Morris has four steals in his last two games. He had 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting at Arizona (Dec. 23). Against Albany (Dec. 30) he had seven points on 3-of-4 shooting with five rebounds. He has shot 50 percent or better in eight games this season. Marcus has started six games for KU this season and is second on the team with 5.8 rebounds per game. Marcus leads the Big 12 freshmen in rebound average, which is 15th overall in the conference.

–Freshman TRAVIS RELEFORD’s seven points against Albany (Dec. 30) were the most since he scored eight against Coppin State on Nov. 28. Releford was 3-for-4 from the field against Albany and is making 54.3 percent from the field on the season. He has played eight-plus minutes in each of his last three games.

Up Next

Kansas closes out the nonconference season at nationally-ranked Michigan State on Jan. 10. The game will start at noon (Central) and will be televised on CBS. KU, four-time defending Big 12 regular-season champion, will host Kansas State in its conference opener on Jan. 13.