Southeast Regional
West Regional
Thursday at New Orleans Florida 83, BYU 74, OT Butler 61, Wisconsin 54
Thursday at Anaheim, Calif. Connecticut 74, San Diego State 67 Arizona 93, Duke 77
NCAA SCOREBOARD
Southwest Regional
East Regional
Today at San Antonio Kansas (34-2) vs. Richmond (29-7), 6:27 p.m. Florida State (23-10) vs. Virginia Commonwealth (26-11), 8:57 p.m.
Today at Newark, N.J. North Carolina (28-7) vs. Marquette (22-14), 6:15 p.m. Ohio State (34-2) vs. Kentucky (27-8), 8:45 p.m.
SWEET 16 EDITION
L A W R E N C E
JOURNAL-WORLD
Vol.153/No.84 34 pages
®
75 CENTS
LJWorld.com
FRIDAY • MARCH 25 • 2011
KANSAS VS. RICHMOND
Sweet-talking
Nick Krug/Journal-World Photos
KANSAS FORWARD MARCUS MORRIS, FRONT, AND THE REST OF THE JAYHAWKS get warmed up during a day of practices and news conferences at the Alamodome in San Antonio. KU worked out Thursday, the eve of today’s Sweet 16 matchup with Richmond.
Marcus Morris has words of wisdom for Spiders By Gary Bedore gbedore@ljworld.com
SAN ANTONIO — Marcus Morris bounced a basketball while walking down an Alamodome hallway with brother Markieff and TBS announcer Craig Sager on Thursday afternoon. Small talk was interrupted when a cart carrying a couple Richmond players drove by. “You boys better be ready,” Morris, Kansas University’s junior forward, said to the Spiders, who take a No. 12 seeding and 29-7 record into today’s 6:27 p.m. Southwest Regional semifinal contest against top-seeded KU (34-2). Morris, who has become a bit more outspoken the past month or so as he’s embraced an unofficial role as team leader, seemed surprised when a reporter asked if he was simply joking around with the Spiders.
MARCUS (WITH BALL) AND MARKIEFF MORRIS encounter Richmond players in a golf cart at the Alamodome. During the encounter, Marcus said, “You boys better be ready.” “I was serious,” Morris said. “Play little mind games with them, try to get funny with them so they could come out all excited, and we could come out all
loose and have the shoe on the other foot. “You know how some people try to put the tough face on sometimes and try to not show
their emotions? I am the type of guy who wears my emotions on my sleeve. You can tell if I’m mad or not mad.” Regarding this particular comment ... “I am so serious,” Morris said. “I want their best shot. A lot of people say we should win and things like that. That’s not the truth. Everybody is here to play. They have beaten capable teams this year. It’s time to go.” To advance to Sunday’s Elite Eight game against either VCU or Florida State, the Jayhawks must overcome a Richmond team that enters today’s Sweet 16 as red-hot as any team in the land. The Spiders of the Atlantic 10 Conference — who are led by the inside-outside punch of 6-foot-10 Justin Harper (17.8 ppg, 6.9 rpg) and 6-foot Kevin Anderson (16.7 ppg, 3.3 apg) — have won nine of 10 games, 13 of 14 and 18 of 21.
What’s more, the Spiders have five starters capable of shooting the three, including Harper, who has made 75 of 166 treys for 45.2 percent. “We’ve played other teams where all five could shoot threes. Iowa State ... all five of their guys could shoot threes. We beat them twice,” Morris said. “There’s a small adjustment knowing we need to run them off the (threepoint) line, to guard them tighter and know what they are trying to get.” Morris, who is 6-9, 235 pounds, said he figures to open defensively on the 6-10, 225 Harper. “A lot of people say he’s a great player, good player. A lot of people say I’m a good player. So just see who is the best player,” Morris said. Morris played at camps this
KANSAS VS. RICHMOND Records: Kansas is 34-2; Richmond is 29-7 When: 6:27 tonight Where: San Antonio TV: TBS (cable channels 51, 251 Line: KU by 101⁄2
Please see KANSAS, page 4A
Recent slump not worst thing Selby has experienced
Selby
SAN ANTONIO — When Kansas University freshman guard Josh Selby is asked about the Baltimore neighborhood where he grew up, he shakes his head, says very little and comes across a bit like a veteran of a foreign war who just doesn’t want to go there. What, I wondered, was the most difficult thing he ever witnessed in Baltimore?
“I don’t think I want to talk about that one,” Selby said from a chair in front of his locker in the Alamodome. “I just saw some stuff. I just saw some stuff. I don’t want to talk about that.” The question surfaced after Selby said he thought Baltimore, per capita, produces the best basketball players in the nation.
What makes it so? “Just because of our toughness at heart, that’s why,” he said. From where does that come? “Being in Baltimore,” he said. “If you saw Baltimore, you’ll understand why. I can’t talk about it, but you’ll understand why if you’re in Baltimore.” Rough neighborhoods tend to develop basketball talent.
“It’s true because I think it just carries onto the court,” Selby said. “What you learn from the street or in your normal life, you take it over to basketball. If you see certain things or you’ve been through something that’s going to make you mentally and physically tough, Please see SELBY, page 5A
Tom Keegan tkeegan@ljworld.com