Jayhawks to Battle Spartans in NCAA Sweet 16 in Indianapolis Friday

March 24, 2009

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Coming off a 60-43 win against Dayton Sunday, No. 3 seed Kansas (27-7, 14-2 Big 12) will face No. 2 seed Michigan State (28-6, 15-3 Big Ten) in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Friday, March 27, at approximately 8:45 p.m. (Central). KU is making its third straight and 26th overall Sweet 16 appearance with an 18-7 record in those contests. Michigan State has won eight of its last nine games after its 74-69 win against USC Sunday. This is a battle of two regular-season champions as Kansas won its fifth straight, ninth Big 12 and 52nd overall title with a 14-2 conference record. Michigan State won its 11th Big Ten Championship, fifth outright, with a 15-3 record. This is also a regular-season rematch as MSU defeated KU 75-62 on Jan. 10 in East Lansing, Mich.

About Kansas

No. 14/13 Kansas has won eight of its last 10 games heading into the Sweet 16. The Jayhawks are the defending NCAA National Champions, yet return less than 20 percent of all but one statistical category.

The Jayhawks are averaging 76.8 points per game and giving up 65.4 for a +11.4 scoring margin. The Jayhawks shot 50 percent from the field against North Dakota State (March 20) to mark the 16th time this season KU has shot 50 percent or better. Conversely, KU leads the Big 12, and is sixth nationally, in field goal percentage defense at 38.3 percent and has held 72 consecutive opponents to under 50 percent shooting from the field dating back to the second game of its 2007-08 NCAA National Championship season.

Junior guard Sherron Collins leads KU in scoring at 18.9 points per game. He is averaging 28.5 points in two NCAA Tournament games, including a career-high 32 in the NCAA Tournament opening round win against North Dakota State and 25 points against Dayton Sunday. An All-Big 12 First Team selection, Bob Cousy Award finalist, Oscar Robertson Trophy finalist, Wooden Award and Naismith Award mid-season candidate, Collins has led the team in scoring in 26 of 34 games this season. A three-time Big 12 Player of the Week, Collins has a team-high 75 three-point field goals and 171 assists. Also named All-Big 12 First Team and co-Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, sophomore center Cole Aldrich recorded the first official triple-double in school history with 13 points, 20 rebounds and 10 blocked shots against Dayton. Aldrich has seven double-doubles in his last nine games. Aldrich is averaging 14.8 points and 11 rebounds on the season. His 20 double-doubles on the season are second-most in the Big 12. Aldrich leads the Big 12 in blocked shots with a 2.6 per game average. He is second in the league in field goal percentage at 60.3. He and Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin are the only two Big 12 players to average a double-double. Freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor, a Big 12 All-Rookie Team selection, is next in scoring at 9.8 points per game. Named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Rookie of the Week four times this season, Taylor is second on the team with 102 assists. He is third on the team with 37 steals, just behind sophomore guard Brady Morningstar’s 41 and Collins’ 39. Morningstar leads the team with a 42.7 three-point shooting percentage and is scoring 6.6 points per game. Freshman Marcus Morris, a Big 12 All-Rookie Team selection, leads the Big 12 freshmen class with 4.8 rebounds per game, including seven boards and eight points against NDSU in the NCAA opener. Marcus is scoring 7.5 points on the season. Sophomore guard Tyrel Reed, an Academic All-Big 12 First Team selection, is a three-point threat whose last 15 field goals have come from behind the arc. Reed is averaging 6.6 points per game and is making 38.7 percent from three-point range. Freshman forward Markieff Morris, twin of Marcus, is scoring 4.7 points per game and has a 4.4 rebound average. Junior guard/forward Mario Little had seven points and six rebounds against Dayton and averages 4.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per outing. He was named the Phillips 66 co-Big 12 Rookie of the Week Feb. 9. He missed the first 12 games of the season due to injuries. Junior guard Tyrone Appleton tied his season high by playing six minutes against North Dakota State (0 points, 2 rebounds). His other six-minute contest was game two against Florida Gulf Coast on Nov. 18. Freshman guard Travis Releford (2.8 ppg) and freshman forward Quintrell Thomas (1.6 ppg) also see spot time on the floor for the Jayhawks.

About Michigan State

No. 8/12 Michigan State is coming off a 74-69 win against USC on Sunday. The Spartans defeated Robert Morris 77-62 in the NCAA opener on Friday and, like Kansas, played both games in the HHH Metrodome in Minneapolis. MSU is 28-6 on the season, and won its 11th Big Ten regular-season title with a 15-3 record. MSU lost in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament to Ohio State (82-70). Michigan State has been ranked in the top 10 on 13 occasions this season, including a current No. 8 ranking by the Associated Press and No. 7 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ polls. MSU is averaging 72.1 points per game and giving up 63.1 for a +9.1 scoring margin. The Spartans lead the nation in rebound margin at +10.1 (39.1 to 29.0) and also average 16 assists per game. Sophomore guard Kalin Lucas leads the team with a 14.6 scoring average. The Big Ten Conference Player of the Year, Lucas has a team-high 152 assists and is second on the squad with 34 steals and an 81 percent free throw percentage. Junior forward Raymar Morgan is next in scoring at 10.7 points per game and he is second on the team with 5.5 rebounds per contest. Senior center Goran Suton leads MSU with 8.3 rebounds per game to complement his 9.8 scoring average. He is making 86.1 percent from the free throw line. Sophomore guard Chris Allen has made a team-best 51 three pointers and is scoring 9.0 points per game. Sophomore guard Durrell Summers comes off the bench to score 8.3 points per outing, while senior guard Travis Walton (5.3 ppg) is a starter who is second on the team with 109 assists. Freshman forward Delvon Roe (6.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg) has a team-best 26 blocked shots. Senior forward Marquise Gray (3.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg), freshman guard Korie Lucious (3.0 ppg) and freshman forward Draymond Green (2.8 ppg) average more than nine minutes per game for the Spartans.

Kansas-Michigan State Series

Kansas and Michigan State are tied at 4-4 in a series that dates back to 1960. Earlier this season, then-No. 8 Michigan State evened the series with Kansas with a 75-62 win in the Jayhawks’ final non-conference game of the regular season on Jan. 10 at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Mich. Kansas’ Sherron Collins led all scorers with 25 points, while Cole Aldrich posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. The first half was all Spartans as they led by 19 points, 37-18, at intermission. KU outscored MSU 44-38 in the second half and cut the lead to nine on two occasions with under four minutes to play but were never able to get closer. Before this year’s battle, the last meeting had then-No. 6 Kansas defeating then-No. 3 Michigan State 81-74 on Nov. 25, 2003, in Allen Fieldhouse in Bill Self’s first season at KU. No team has won more than two straight in the series. Some of the more memorable games include KU’s 96-86 overtime win against Michigan State in the 1986 NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional Sweet 16 game in Kansas City. KU then defeated North Carolina State to advance to the Final Four in Dallas. In the next meeting, Michigan State defeated Kansas 66-54 in the Great Eight in Chicago, Ill. Michigan State has won both meetings in East Lansing – 81-62 in 1962 and 85-61 in 1979. This will be the second meeting between Kansas and Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament as they met in the 1986 Sweet 16 at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo., with KU winning 96-86 in overtime. Kansas is no stranger to the Big Ten Conference as the Jayhawks have faced all 11 members of the league and is a combined 32-35.

Triple-Double

Cole Aldrich’s triple-double against Dayton (13 points, 20 rebounds, 10 blocked shots) is formally the first recorded in Kansas men’s basketball history as blocked shots, assists and steals were not recorded at Kansas until the 1970s (and the NCAA until the 1980s). Lawrence Journal-World veteran reporter Bill Mayer provided Kansas with two instances in which Jayhawk legend Wilt Chamberlain recorded triple-doubles. Additionally, the NCAA Final Four record book shows that KU great B.H. Born had an unofficial triple-double against Indiana in the 1953 NCAA Tournament.

Kansas Triple-Doubles

Cole Aldrich vs. Dayton (3-22-09) – 13 points, 20 rebounds, 10 blocked shots (NCAA Tournament)

Wilt Chamberlain vs. Colorado (3-9-57) – 40 points, 13 rebounds, 12 blocked shots

Wilt Chamberlain vs. Marquette (12-8-56) – 39 points, 22 rebounds, 14 blocked shots

B.H. Born vs. Indiana (3-18-53) – 26 points, 15 rebounds, 13 blocked shots (NCAA Tournament)

Kansas vs. the Postseason Field

In 2008-09, Kansas faced 12 teams that are playing in this year’s NCAA Tournament field: Arizona, Michigan State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Siena, Syracuse, Temple, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M and Washington. KU went a combined 9-4 against those 12 squads in 2008-09. Kansas faced three teams – Baylor, Kansas State and Nebraska – in the 2009 NIT and was 5-1 against those foes.

Seed Notes

Kansas is the No. 3 seed for the fourth time since the NCAA Tournament started seeding in 1979 – 1985, 1991, 2005 and 2009. With their win against Dayton, the Jayhawks are 8-3 all-time as a No. 3 seed. In 1991, Kansas advanced to the NCAA Tournament title game as a No. 3 seed. The last time KU was a No. 3 was in 2005 – a first-round loss to Bucknell (64-63) in Oklahoma City. Kansas is 4-2 against the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and last faced a No. 2 seed in 2007, a UCLA 68-55 win in San Jose, Calif., in the NCAA Tournament West Regional final.

Team Notables

–Kansas leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage defense at 38.3 and rebound margin at +7.2. KU also ranks among the Big 12’s top four teams in field goal percentage (second at 47.8), scoring margin (third at +11.4), free throw percentage (fourth at 72.3), three-point field goal percentage (second at 37.3), rebounding (second at 39.2), assists (second at 16.0) and blocked shots (third at 4.4).

–Kansas climbed back into the national polls on Feb. 2 and is ranked No. 14 in the Associated Press and No. 13 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ polls released March 16. On March 2, KU’s No. 9 ranking was the first time the Jayhawks had been ranked in the Top 10 since the final polls of the 2007-08 season when KU was No. 4 by AP (final poll released before the NCAA Tournament) and No. 1 in the coaches’ poll. Kansas went seven weeks out of the polls before making the Feb. 2 rankings in 2008-09.

–KU has outshot 27 of 34 opponents this season and has shot 50 percent or better in 16 games, including 50 percent against North Dakota State in its NCAA Tournament opener. Kansas is 25-2 when outshooting its opponent this season and 2-5 when outshot.

–KU has outrebounded three straight, seven of its last nine opponents and 25 of 34 opponents this season, including a 50-43 advantage against Dayton. KU ended with a +8.2 rebound margin in Big 12 play and is +7.2 in all games.

–Through 34 games, four different Jayhawks have scored 20 or more points. Sherron Collins has 13 games of 20 or more points, including seven of his last nine games, while Cole Aldrich has seven. Tyshawn Taylor has three 20-point games, including a career-high 26 at Oklahoma (Feb. 23). Brady Morningstar has one 20-point effort.

–Kansas has held 144 of its last 147 opponents to under 50 percent shooting, including all 34 foes this season. Twenty of those opponents have shot below 40 percent, including 22.2 percent by Dayton. 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 72 straight foes to under 50 percent shooting.

–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 112-17 (86.8 percent) in its last 129 games dating back to Jan. 21, 2006.

Player Notables

–Junior guard Sherron Collins scored a career-high 32 points in the win against North Dakota State in the NCAA Tournament first round and answered that with 25 points against Dayton. He has 13 games of 20 points or more this season. He has averaged 28.5 points in the 2009 NCAA Tournament. Collins was named All-Big 12 First Team and was named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week three times this season. Making numerous All-America teams, Collins is a Bob Cousy Award finalist, Oscar Robertson Trophy finalist, Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy mid-season candidate and named to the NABC District 8 First Team March 5. Collins leads Kansas with an 18.9 point scoring average. He has led (or tied for the lead) Kansas in scoring in 26 games this season. At Baylor (Feb. 2), he set the Kansas record for consecutive free throws made with 35 before missing.

–Sophomore center Cole Aldrich, Big 12 co-Defensive Player of the Year, was also named All-Big 12 First Team and registered the first official triple-double in school history with 13 points, 20 rebounds and 10 blocked shots against Dayton in the second round. His 20 rebounds tied a career high at Oklahoma on Feb. 23. In his last 10 games he is averaging 15.9 points and 12.4 rebounds. Like Collins, Aldrich was named to the NABC District 8 First Team on March 5 and Athlon Sports’ National Most Improved Player on March 6. His 20 double-doubles on the season are second most in the league next to Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin’s 28. He and Griffin are the only two conference players to average a double-double. Aldrich has seven 20-point efforts in 2008-09. Aldrich currently ranks 12th on the Kansas career blocked shots list with 124. Aldrich leads the Big 12 in blocked shots with 2.6 per game. He is second in the Big 12 in rebounding at 11.0 rpg and second in field goal percentage at 60.3 percent.

–Freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor was named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Rookie of the Week for the fourth time this season on March 2. A CBSSports.com Freshman All-America Third Team selection, Taylor is third on the team in scoring with 9.8 points per game. Taylor has led Kansas in scoring four times this season. His 9.8 point average on the season is second most among Big 12 freshmen (OU’s Willie Warren at 14.7 ppg) as are his 3.0 assists and 1.1 steals.

–Sophomore guard Brady Morningstar had eight points on 3-of-5 shooting, 2-of-3 from three-point range, against North Dakota State in the NCAA Tournament opener. He is making 42.7 percent from three-point range and has multiple threes in 16 games this season. Except for Senior Day, Morningstar has started every game for Kansas in 2008-09. He is scoring 6.6 points on the season. He has at least one steal in five of his last six games and 17 of his last 21 outings. A lockdown defender, Morningstar is second on the team with 47 floor burns. He is behind Sherron Collins’ 59 floor burns and just ahead of Tyrel Reed’s 45.

–Freshman forward Marcus Morris has started 15 of the last 17 games for KU and 21 games this season. Named to the Big 12 All-Rookie Team, Marcus has shot 50 percent or better in four of his last six contests and is 18-for-30 (60 percent) from the field in that span. He was 3-for-3 with eight points and seven rebounds against North Dakota State. He has scored in double figures in 11 games this season. He is second on the team with 4.8 rebounds per game, which leads the Big 12 freshmen, and has two double-doubles on the season.

–Freshman forward Markieff Morris is scoring 4.7 points on the season. He has started seven games in 2008-09 and is third on the team with 4.4 rebounds per game. His 4.4 rpg on the season is third among Big 12 freshmen.

–Sophomore guard Tyrel Reed’s last 15 field goals have been three pointers dating back to Feb. 7 against Oklahoma State, a span of 12 games. He had nine points with one three pointer and six free throws against Dayton. He is averaging 20.7 minutes per contest and has been KU’s first player off the bench 13 times this season. An Academic All-Big 12 First Team selection, Reed has 17 games with multiple threes during 2008-09, including three of his last six. He has shot 50 percent or better in 15 games. Reed is making 38.7 percent from three point range.

–Junior guard Mario Little scored seven points on 3-of-4 shooting and pulled down six rebounds against Dayton. His points were his most since he had nine at Missouri on Feb. 9 and his rebounds the most since a home game against Missouri on March 1. Little is averaging 4.8 ppg and 3.3 rpg. He has appeared in 22 games this season with three starts has shot 50 percent or better in 11 of those contests. Little is averaging 12.8 minutes per game. He has pulled down six or more rebounds four times this season. Little, the Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year, missed the first 12 games of the season due to injuries.

–Junior guard Tyrone Appleton tied for his season high by playing six minutes against North Dakota State (0 points, 2 rebounds) in the NCAA Tournament first round. His other six-minute contest was game two against Florida Gulf Coast on Nov. 18.

–Freshman guard Travis Releford averages 7.0 minutes per contest with a 2.7 ppg. He is making 56.9 percent from the field in 2008-09.

Up Next

Should Kansas win against Michigan State, it would advance to its third straight and 20th overall regional final game against the winner of the Arizona-Louisville game on Sunday. Game time is TBD.