Jayhawks to Host Jackson State in Men's Basketball Saturday at 1 p.m. on Jayhawk TV

Dec. 5, 2008

Kansas notes for Jackson State in PDF Format

Kansas concludes its six games in 13 days when it hosts Jackson State of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, Saturday, Dec. 6, at 1 p.m. The game will be televised by Jayhawk TV. The 25th-ranked Jayhawks are 6-1 on the season and have the nation’s fourth longest home court winning streak at 29 games. Jackson State is 1-7 and lost at Arizona State 81-60 Thursday.

About Kansas

No. 25 Kansas is 6-1 after defeating New Mexico State 100-79 Wednesday. Kansas has won its last 29 home games dating back to the last four contests in Allen Fieldhouse of the 2006-07 season. Kansas is scoring 83.1 points per game and giving up 62.3 for a +20.9 scoring margin. The Jayhawks force 16.4 turnovers per game. KU leads the Big 12 in free throw percentage at 73 percent and is 47-for-53 (88.7 percent) in its last two games. KU is outrebounding foes by a +11.1 rebound margin and outshooting opponents 48.4 percent to 36.1 percent. KU’s lone loss on the season was 89-81 in overtime to Syracuse in the championship game of the CBE Classic.

Junior guard Sherron Collins leads KU in scoring at 17.9 points per game. Collins, a CBE Classic all-tournament team member, has led the team in scoring in five of seven games this season and has a team-high 12 three-point field goals and 34 assists. Sophomore center Cole Aldrich is one of two players in the Big 12 who average a double-double with 14.6 points and 10.4 rebounds. The other is Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin. Aldrich has recorded a double-double in each of his last four games, including 13 points and 13 rebounds against New Mexico State. Aldrich has 19 of KU’s 41 blocked shots for a Big 12-leading 2.7 per game. Freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor became the fourth Jayhawk to score 20-plus points this season with his career-high 23 points against New Mexico State. He is averaging 12 points on the season and is second on the team with 19 assists. Freshman forward Marcus Morris (8.1 ppg, 7.0 rpg) is a starter who has two double-doubles in 2008-09. Sophomore guard Brady Morningstar rounds out the KU starters. He is scoring 8.1 points per game, including an average of 11 in his last three contests. Sophomore guard Tyrel Reed (6.7 ppg) and freshman Markieff Morris (5.6 ppg, 5.7 rpg) are the first KU subs. Reed had 12 points on 4-of-6 three-pointers against NMSU. Freshman forward Quintrell Thomas (3.0 ppg, 3.4 rpg) is coming off a career-high 17 minutes while freshman guard Travis Releford is averaging 4.7 points in only 7.6 minutes per game.

About Jackson State

Jackson State is 1-7 after its 81-60 loss at Arizona State on Thursday. The Tigers lost their first five games before defeating North Carolina Central 69-49 last Sunday. JSU averages 67.5 points per game and is giving up 76.6. The Tigers are outrebounding opponents 35.4 to 34.2 and have 55 steals to their opponents’ 51 on the season. Junior forward Grant Maxey leads JSU with a 15.9 point scoring average and 7.8 rebounds per contest. He has a team-high 12 three-pointers, eight blocked shots and is 23-for-25 from the free throw line this season. Senior guard Darrion Griffin is next in scoring at 13 points per game to go along with 4.3 rpg. He leads the team with 22 assists and has seven steals for the season. Senior forward/center Jeremy Caldwell (10.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg) and junior guard/forward Garrison Johnson (6.6 ppg, 2.0 rpg) round out the JSU starters. Freshman guard Rod Melvin leads Jackson State with 10 steals and 6.1 points. He is just behind Griffin with 19 assists on the season. Top reserves for JSU include sophomore guard De’Suan Dixon (5.0 ppg) and freshman guard Phillip Williams (2.4 ppg).

The Series

This three-game series dates back to 1983 and Kansas has won all three meetings. Under Kansas head coach Larry Brown, KU defeated Jackson State 89-57 in Allen Fieldhouse on Dec. 5, 1983. Under KU head coach Roy Williams, the Jayhawks defeated the Tigers 93-85 in the opening round of the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Dec. 27, 1992. JSU’s Lindsey Hunter still holds the KU opponent record by scoring 48 points in that game. KU went on to finish runner-up in the event defeating North Carolina State (84-64) in the semifinals before falling to Michigan (86-74) in the championship. In KU’s 34-2 season of 1996-97, the Jayhawks defeated Jackson State 78-64 on March 13, 1997, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Memphis. KU would later lose to eventual NCAA champion Arizona in the Sweet 16.

Team Notables

–After going 32-for-36 from the free throw line against Kent State and 15-for-17 against New Mexico State, Kansas leads the Big 12 in free throw percentage at 73 percent. KU also leads the conference in rebounding at 43 rpg and rebound margin at +11.1.

–KU is 76-9 (89.4 percent) in its last 85 games.

–Kansas’ 29-game home winning streak ranks fourth nationally.

–KU has outshot six of seven opponents this season and has shot 50 percent or better in three of its last four games – 50 percent vs. Washington, 52.7 percent vs. Coppin State and a season-best 54.9 percent against New Mexico State. Syracuse outshot KU 48.3 percent to 41.9 percent. Last year, KU outshot 39 of 40 opponents.

–Through seven games, four different Jayhawks have scored 20 or more points this season. Sherron Collins leads the list with two 20-point efforts (25 vs. Florida Gulf Coast and 21 vs. Syracuse). Other 20-point scorers include Brady Morningstar (21 vs. Coppin State), Cole Aldrich (23 vs. Coppin State) and Tyshawn Taylor (23 vs. New Mexico State).

–Kansas has held 117 of its last 120 opponents to under 50 percent shooting, including all seven foes this season.

Player Notables

–Junior guard Sherron Collins has led the team in scoring in five of seven games this season. Collins is tied for fifth with Leo Lyons of Missouri in the Big 12 in scoring at 17.9 ppg. Following his career-high 11 assists against New Mexico State, Collins’ 4.9 assists per game are tied for fifth in the conference with Justin Mason of Texas. Collins also ranks among the Big 12 leaders in field goal percentage (ninth at 48.4 percent), free throw percentage (third at 84 percent) and assist-to-turnover ratio (eighth at 1.9). He leads KU with 12 three pointers. He has two games of 20 or more points this season – career-high 25 vs. Florida Gulf Coast and 21 vs. Syracuse.

–Sophomore center Cole Aldrich is in good company as he and Oklahoma standout Blake Griffin are the only two Big 12 players to average a double-double. Aldrich is at 14.6 ppg and 10.4 rpg, while Griffin is at 25.6 ppg and 17.3 rpg. Aldrich has recorded a double-double in each of the last four games and is at 15.3 points and 13.3 rebounds in that span. Aldrich leads the Big 12 in free throw percentage at 86.7 and in blocked shots at 2.7 per game. He is second in the conference in rebounds at 10.4 rpg and fourth in field goal percentage at 57.6 percent.

–Freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor led Kansas in scoring with a career-high 23 points against New Mexico State. Averaging 27 minutes per contest, Taylor has started all but the opener for KU and has scored in double digits in each of those games. He is 11-for-12 from the free throw line in his last three games and has four steals in his last two outings.

–Sophomore Brady Morningstar scored a career-high 21 points against Coppin State and is averaging 7.3 points. The Lawrence, Kan., starter averages 2.6 assists per game and has a 1.3 assist-to-turnover ratio. His 1.7 steals per game are tied 14th in the Big 12 with Oklahoma’s Taylor Griffin..

–Freshman Marcus Morris has two double-doubles on the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds against Syracuse and 14 points and 10 rebounds against Kent State. Marcus, who has started the last five games for KU, is eighth in the Big 12 in rebounding with 7.0 boards per game.

–Freshman Markieff Morris’ 5.7 rebounds per game are 19th in the Big 12. He is 6-for-6 from the free throw line in his last two games.

is young. How young? Ten of its top 11 scorers are freshmen or sophomores. Junior Sherron Collins is KU’s leading scorer at 17.9 ppg. Below is a breakdown of KU’s scoring for 2008-09. Note: KU’s seniors Brennan Bechard and Matt Kleinmann are walk-ons and have combined for four points.

Kansas Scoring for 2008-09

Freshmen – 40 percent

Sophomores – 37 percent

Juniors – 23 percent

Seniors – 1 percent

KU Freshmen in the Big 12

The Kansas freshmen are making quite the impact in the Big 12. Guard Tyshawn Taylor is second among Big 12 freshmen in scoring with 12.0 per game. He trails Oklahoma’s Willie Warren at 13.4 ppg. His 1.43 steals per game are third and 2.71 assists are tied for third among league freshmen. Marcus and Markieff Morris are 1-2 in the conference freshmen rebounders with Marcus at 7.0 rpg and Markieff at 5.7 rpg. Quintrell Thomas’ 3.4 rpg is seventh among conference freshmen.

Home Court Winning Streaks

Kansas’ 29-game home court winning streak, with 28 in Allen Fieldhouse and one at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo., ranks fourth on KU’s all-time home win streak list and is the longest since the all-time high 62 from 1993 to 1998. The current streak started Feb. 7, 2007 with a 97-70 win against Kansas State and is the fourth longest nationally.

Kansas’ Longest Home Court Winning Streaks

62 – from 2/26/93 to 12/8/98

55 – from 3/3/84 to 1/30/88

33 – from 3/7/51 to 1/4/55

29 – 2/7/07 (current)

28 – from 12/1/69 to 12/4/71

NCAA Division I Active Home Court Win Streaks

Streak – Team (Next Game)

51 – BYU (Dec. 10 vs. Boise State)

40 – Notre Dame (Dec. 13 vs. Boston U.)

35 – Tennessee (Dec. 20 vs. Belmont)

29 – KANSAS (Dec. 6 vs. Jackson State)

24 – Georgetown (Dec. 6 vs. American)

Up Next

Kansas will play Massachusetts in the M&I Bank Kansas City Shootout on Dec. 13 at 1 p.m. on ESPN at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. The UMass game is part of the KU season ticket package. The Jayhawks will then return to the friendly confines of Allen Fieldhouse to host Temple on Dec. 20 at 1:30 p.m. on ESPN2, concluding a six-game home stand.