Everyone’s a Lobo

Number six ranked Kansas Jayhawks defeated the Kansas State Wildcats yesterday night, 88-74. The Jayhawks are 26-3, and lead the Big 12 with a 11-3 conference record.

Jayhawks guard Russell Robinson finished with 14 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assist. He had three blocks, and five turnovers. Robinson respects Wildcats forward Michael Beasley’s talent, and understood his productiveness towards his team.

“It was a quiet 39 if you ask me,” said Robinson. “He’s a real great player. He finds his way to make baskets. We got them into quick foul trouble early and kind of got them out of sync. We didn’t give them anything easy.”

Jayhawks head coach Bill Self believes their home court advantage helped against the Wildcats. “The crowd was great,” said Self. “That makes such a big difference.”

The Jayhawks are currently tied with the Texas Longhorns, whom is ranked number 5. They’ve happen to lose against Texas Tech early Saturday. “Everything was good today,” said Self. “Texas getting beat didn’t hurt our feelings much.”

According to Self, the Jayhawks “horrible” performance against the Wildcats in their first meeting, helped them succceed yesterday. “I think the motivation that they beat us the last time certainly adds to the anticipation of the game,” Self said. “The way I look at it, is you have a couple of teams that really feel like they need a win. Both teams should be anxious to play.”

Self notice improvement from his team, and said they’ve played better then the last three weeks. The players were more energized, and focused on success. “When you’re 24-3, you shouldn’t be able to say the ship needs righting. But our players all know that it did,” Self said. “We were a better team tonight than we were the last two to three weeks. Our guys had more energy and they seemed to be more focused and played with more of a purpose.”

Jayhawks forward Brandon Rush lead with 21 points, and shot 7-16 from field goals. Guard Sherron Collins had 18 points, but shot 3-7 from three point range. Forward Darrell Arthur and Darnell Jackson had 10 points each.

The Wildcats head coach Frank Martin believed their chances were there, but they weren’t taken. “That’s what broke our backs,” said Martin. “We had cut it to nine at one point in the first half, and then they pop it back up to 12 and we were still fine with that. But the second half starts and we give up six offensive rebounds in the first minute-and-a-half. If that’s the way you start a second half when you’re down, it’s hard to get back in the game.”

Beasley lead all-scores with 39 points, and had 11 rebounds. He shot 11-23 from field goals, and 4-7 from three point range. Beasley was 13-16 from free throws, and was the only Wildcat to score double-figures. He said,the Jayhawks played with a purpose, and the Wildcats didn’t play to expectations.

“They came out and played with a purpose,” Beasley said. “We didn’t play up to our potential. We laid down. As a whole we just weren’t there, energy-wise, intensity-wise. We got out-rebounded the whole game. We just didn’t have no will to win. No fight.”

He said the Jayhawks played with a “chip” on their shoulders, and wanted revenged. “They played with a chip on their shoulders,” said Beasley. “They played with a vengeance. They just came out and played relentlessly.”

Clent Stewart lead with six assist, but finished with six points. He suffered with four turnovers, and shot 2-7 from field goals. “All their 3s were wide-open,” said Wildcats guard Stewart. “My nephew could sit out there and make wide-open 3s, and he’s three years old. You can’t do that. You have to contest every shot.”

Original post by Kenrick Thomas