Kansas Men's Basketball Plays at Iowa State Saturday at 1 p.m. on ESPN

Jan. 22, 2009

Kansas notes for Iowa State in PDF Format

Kansas (14-4, 3-0) continues Big 12 play with two road games starting at Iowa State (12-6, 1-2) on Saturday, Jan. 24. The contest from Hilton Coliseum starts at 1 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN. KU will then play at Nebraska on Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN2. Kansas has won three straight and six of its last seven games. The Jayhawks are 3-0 in Big 12 play for the third straight season after their 73-53 win against Texas A&M on ESPN’s Big Monday. Iowa State is currently 12-6 on the season and 1-2 in Big 12 play. The Cyclones did not play a mid-week conference game and are coming off a 77-46 loss at Missouri last Saturday.

About Kansas

Kansas is 14-4 (3-0 Big 12) on the season after its 73-53 win against Texas A&M Monday. The win made the four-time defending Big 12 regular-season champions 3-0 for the third straight season. The Jayhawks are averaging 79.1 points per game and giving up 64.6 for a +14.1 scoring margin. KU has shot a 50 percent or better in each of its Big 12 games for a league-best 56.5 field goal percentage in conference play. Conversely, KU has held its last four and 12 opponents in 18 games to under 40 percent shooting.

Junior guard Sherron Collins leads KU in scoring at 18.3 points per game, which is second most in the Big 12. He has led the team in scoring in 14 of 18 games this season. He has a team-high 40 three-point field goals and 96 assists. Collins enters the Iowa State game with 999 career points, just one shy of becoming the 51st Jayhawk to score 1,000 points for his career. Sophomore center Cole Aldrich is next in scoring at 15.3 points per game and has a team-best 10 double-doubles on the season, second most in the Big 12. He leads the team with 9.7 rebounds per game, which is third in the conference and he leads the league in field goal percentage at 64 percent and blocked shots per game at 2.7. Aldrich is 19-of-25 (76 percent) from the field in three Big 12 games. Aldrich has 49 of KU’s 86 blocked shots in 2008-09. Freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor is scoring 10.2 points per game and is tied with Collins with a team-leading 24 steals. He is averaging 14 points in his first three conference games and was named Phillips 66 Big 12 Rookie of the Week for the third time Jan. 19. Sophomore guard Brady Morningstar is a starter who is averaging 6.9 points per game with 53 assists and 20 steals. He has 18 assists, four turnovers and seven steals in his last five games. Freshman forward Marcus Morris started the last game for the Jayhawks and is scoring 7.9 points and pulling down 5.1 rebounds. Junior guard Mario Little is coming off his best game as a Jayhawk scoring 15 points on 6-of-6 shooting against Texas A&M. He made his only three-point attempt and both free throws for a perfect shooting night against the Aggies. Little has played in six games; he missed the first 12 games of the season due to injuries. He is averaging 4.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. Freshman forward Markieff Morris (4.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg) and sophomore guard Tyrel Reed (7.4 ppg) are KU’s top reserves.

About Iowa State

Iowa State is 12-6 on the season and 1-2 in Big 12 play with both losses on the road – at No. 7 Texas (75-67) on Jan. 10 and at Missouri (77-46) Jan. 17. ISU defeated Nebraska in its league home opener 65-53 on Jan. 14. Iowa State is 10-2 at home this season and 2-4 on the road. The Cyclones average 66.2 points per game and are giving up 61.4. Sophomore forward Craig Brackins leads the team in scoring at 18.1 points per game which is third in the Big 12. He is also averaging a team-best 8.8 rebounds, including 10.7 rpg in conference play. Sophomore guard Diante Garrett is next in scoring at 10.6 points per game and he has a team-leading 95 assists and 15 steals. Sophomore guard Lucca Staiger has made a team-high 47 three-point field goals and is scoring 9.1 points per game. Senior guard Bryan Petersen is second on the team in rebound average at 4.4 rpg and also has 57 assists to complement his 6.4 scoring average. Freshman center Justin Hamilton (5.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg) rounds out the Iowa State starters. Junior forward Jamie Vanderbeken (4.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg), freshman guard Wes Eikmeier (4.1 ppg), senior forward Alex Thompson (3.2 ppg, 3.1 rpg) and senior guard Sean Haluska (3.1 ppg) round out the ISU regulars.

The Series

Dating back to 1908, Kansas leads the all-time series with Iowa State, 164-58, and the Jayhawks have won six straight against the Cyclones. KU is 17-7 in Big 12 regular-season play against ISU (19-7 including two Big 12 Championship contests). Prior to KU sweeping the last three season series, each team won seven games against the other from 1999-2005. Including season sweeps, the visiting team has claimed at least one victory eight times in the last eight seasons – dating back to 2000. KU is 63-39 against Iowa State in games played in Ames, yet holds a 19-18 edge in games played in Hilton Coliseum. KU has won the last four and six of the last seven meetings in the building dating back to 2002.

Team Notables

–Kansas ranks among the Big 12’s top four teams in scoring margin (fourth at +14.1), free throw percentage (fourth at 71.2), field goal percentage (third at 48.5), field goal percentage defense (second at 38.2), three-point field goal percentage (fourth at 38.6) rebound defense (second at 32.8), rebound margin (second at +5.7), assists (second at 17.4), blocked shots (tied for third at 4.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (second at 1.3).

–KU has outshot 14 of 18 opponents this season and has shot 50 percent or better in nine game. Kansas is 13-1 when outshooting its opponent this season and 1-3 when outshot.

–Kansas has outrebounded 12 of 18 opponents this season.

–Through 36 halves, Kansas has held its opponent to under 30 points 13 times, including four of six Big 12 halves.

–Kansas has shot 80 percent or better from the free throw line in six games this season.

–Through 18 games, four different Jayhawks have scored 20 or more points this season. Sherron Collins has five 20-point games, while Cole Aldrich has four. Tyshawn Taylor picked up his second in the conference opener with 20 points against Kansas State, while Brady Morningstar has one 20-point effort.

–Kansas has held 128 of its last 131 opponents to under 50 percent shooting, including all 18 foes this season. Eleven of those opponents have shot below 40 percent. The last team to shoot 50 percent or better against KU was Louisiana-Monroe in the 2007-08 season opener (51 percent) as Kansas has held 57 straight foes to under 50 percent shooting.

–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 99-14 (87.6 percent) in its last 113 games dating back to Jan. 21, 2006.

Player Notables

–Junior guard Sherron Collins leads Kansas with an 18.3 scoring average. He is scoring 19.3 points in Big 12 play. Collins has 39 assists in his last six games, including seven in each of his last two at Colorado and against Texas A&M. He has led (or tied for the lead) Kansas in scoring in 14 games this season. His next point will be his 1,000th career point, making him the 51st Jayhawk to accomplish the feat. Collins ranks second in the Big 12 in scoring at 18.3 ppg. He also ranks among the league leaders in assists (fourth at 5.3), free throw percentage (fifth at .828), field goal percentage (13th at .431), three point field goals made (ninth at 2.2), three-point field goal percentage (13th at 39.2) and assist-to-turnover ratio (12th at 1.5).

–Sophomore Cole Aldrich leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage at 64 percent and blocked shots at 2.7 per game. He has multiple blocked shots in each of his last seven games and 15 of 18 contests this season. Aldrich is 19-of-25 (76 percent) from the field in Big 12 play. He is five rebounds shy of averaging a double-double and his 10 double-doubles this season are second most in the Big 12. Aldrich has 37 of KU’s 59 dunks this season. Besides leading the league in field goal percentage and blocked shots, Aldrich is third in the Big 12 in rebounding at 9.7 rpg, sixth in free throw percentage at 79.5 and 11th in scoring at 15.3 ppg.

–Freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor was named Phillips 66 Big 12 Rookie of the Week Jan. 19 after averaging 17 points in his first two conference games. He is 15-for-20 (75 percent) from the field in his last three games, including 4-for-5 against Texas A&M in scoring eight points on Monday. He is third on the team with a 10.2 scoring average, which is third most among Big 12 freshmen. Taylor has been named Phillips 66 Big 12 Rookie of the Week three times this season. He is 15th in the league in assists at 3.1 apg (second among Big 12 freshmen) and 13th in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.5. His 1.3 steals per game are second among Big 12 freshmen.

–Sophomore guard Tyrel Reed is 5-for-8 (62.5 percent) from the field in his last two games, including 4-for-6 at Colorado Jan. 17. He was 1-for-2 against Texas A&M Monday. He has scored in double figures in three of his last five games and seven times this season and has made multiple threes in five of his last seven games.

–Sophomore guard Brady Morningstar has 18 assists, seven steals and only four turnovers in his last five games. He pulled down a career-high eight rebounds at Colorado last Saturday. He has made multiple three pointers in seven games this season. A lockdown defender, Morningstar leads KU with 31 floor burns through 18 games. He is ahead of Sherron Collins (26) and Tyrel Reed (25) and Cole Aldrich (24).

–Freshman forward Marcus Morris has scored 10 points in each of his last two games. It marks only the second time this season he has scored double figures in consecutive games. The other two games he has scored three and four points, respectively. He has shot 50 percent or better in each of his last five games and is 7-for-10 (70 percent) in his last two contests, including 3-for-4 from three-point range. He has shot 50 percent or better in 12 games this season. Marcus started the Texas A&M game Monday and has started seven games for KU this season. He is second on the team with 5.1 rebounds per game which leads the Big 12 freshmen in rebound average. His 5.1 boards are 18th overall in the conference.

–Freshman forward Markieff Morris has started seven games this season and is third on the team with 4.7 rebounds per game. His 4.7 rebounds on the season are fourth among Big 12 freshmen.

–Junior guard Mario Little scored 15 points on 6-of-6 shooting against Texas A&M, which was more than the 11 points he scored in his previous five appearances this season. His four rebounds against A&M were his second most this season and most in conference play. Little, the Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year, missed the first 12 games of the season due to injuries and has been working his way into the lineup.

–Freshman Travis Releford played a season-high 21 minutes at Michigan State (Jan. 10) and is averaging 8.1 minutes per contest.

Up Next

Kansas continues its conference road trip at Nebraska on Wednesday, Jan. 28. Tip time from the Devaney Center is set for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN2. KU returns home to host Colorado on Jan. 31 at 3 p.m. on ESPNU.