The University Daily Kansan Dec. 13 2018

THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904

The University Daily Kansan

vol. 137 // iss. 31 Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018

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K ANSAN.COM

SPORTS

ANALYSIS

Close calls, clutch plays will carry KU

staff NEWS MANAGEMENT

Editor-in-chief Shaun Goodwin

Managing editor Conner Mitchell

Digital operations editor Emily Cox

Audience engagement editor Grant Heiman

Associate audience engagement editor Arman Alhosseini ADVERTISING MANAGEMENT

Business manager Baylee Parsons

JACK JOHNSON @JohnyJ_15

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Following Saturday night’s 63-60 win over New Mexico State at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas men’s basketball extended its undefeated record to 8-0, and have yet to even scratch the surface of its true potential.

In Kansas’ eight games so far this season, only one has truly been marked as a “blow out,” in the 72-47 thumping of Wofford on Dec. 4. However, as frustrating and nail-biting finishes against teams that on paper should not be competing with the Jayhawks have become a common occurrence, the mindset of positivity should trump the negativity when reflecting

on these non-conference outcomes.

Ranking at the top of the list in the RPI rankings, Kansas’s least intimidating game came Dec. 1 versus Stanford, in which the spread was set at 20 points prior to tip. Contrary to what Vegas believed, the Jayhawks trailed for the better part of two halves until senior guard Lagerald Vick blew the roof off Allen Fieldhouse, carrying the offense through the final stretch to finish with 27 points in a thrilling overtime victory over the Cardinal, 90-84.

As Saturday’s game against New Mexico State progressed, once again the repetitive scene of the Jayhawks failing to sustain a sizable lead early, followed by the opposition eventu-

ally taking the lead, was apparent to the Sprint Center crowd.

Yet, although an unimpressive margin of victory

by Kansas in narrowly escaping the grasp of New Mexico State by three points in the final seconds, perhaps the answer to this conundrum of the Jayhawks not being as elite as advertised in the offseason has unfolded before everyone’s eyes.

What many don’t know about the visitors that nearly slayed the giant that is Kansas, is the now 7-2 Aggies are projected to finish first in the Western Athletic Conference this season after boasting a 28-6 record a season ago.

Aside from Stanford, no team Kansas has played has held a record lower than

21-14 in the 2017-18 campaign. With that being said, the highly anticipated arrival of Big 12 play is looming in the future for Kansas, and performances like Saturdays — or ones such as Stanford, Marquette and Louisiana — still do not guarantee success in conference play.

“There’s just so many mental mistakes that we can improve on,” Kansas coach Bill Self said following the New Mexico State victory. “I think we need more situations, talking through more things, and maybe go through more film.”

It would be an understatement in saying the players haven’t been necessarily clean or effective, and asserting dominance has basically eluded Kan-

Sales manager Mitch Tamblyn SECTION EDITORS

News editor Lara Korte

Associate news editor Hailey Dixon

Sports editor Braden Shaw

Associate sports editor Maddy Tannahill

Arts & culture editor Courtney Bierman

Associate arts & culture editor Josh McQuade

Opinion editor Rebekah Lodos

next game

Visuals editor & design chief Huntyr Schwegman

Photo editor Chance Parker

Copy chiefs Raeley Youngs Savanna Smith

General Manager Rob Karwath

vs.

Villanova

Chance Parker/KANSAN Coach Bill Self watches his players in the game against New Mexico State. Kansas defeated New Mexico State 63-60 on Saturday, Dec. 8.

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Sat., Dec. 15 11 a.m.

Women’s basketball rebounds from first loss LOGAN FRICKS @LoganFricks

The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee.

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sas in the early going of the season.

However, lacking any sort of consistency, along with injuries and players continuing to be sidelined hurting the total production, the Jayhawks have surprisingly come out unscathed at 8-0.

For Kansas fans, a multitude of outcomes that result in the decimation of lower tier programs would certainly sit well with a fan base that has aspirations of cutting down the nets in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at the end of the season.

But, having nowhere near played its best game to date, Kansas still remains unblemished with a handful of wins that have exuded an uncanny ability to overcome adversity by its veterans, especially redshirt junior forward Dedric Lawson —something that each team must possess come tournament time.

“He’s active and has a way of finding the ball and getting buckets,” freshman guard Devon Dotson said.

“He just fills up the stat sheet.”

Saturday’s game was ugly by all standards on the stat chart, however, the continuation of finding ways to win despite abysmal performances has not only tallied victories in the win column, but is slowly molding the Jayhawks for a deep run in March.

Coming off its first loss of the season, Kansas women’s basketball returned to Allen Fieldhouse on Sunday to throttle the Grambling State Tigers, 76-45, pushing its season record to 7-1.

The Tigers kept the game close in the first quarter, trailing 14-8 at the buzzer, but in the second quarter, it became takeover time for Kansas.

The Jayhawks scored 25 points in the second quarter alone, while allowing only nine, pushing their six-point lead to an insurmountable 22-point lead at the halftime break.

“We just ran better offense,” Kansas coach Brandon Schneider said. “We ran what I call ‘unrecognizable offense,’ it’s not anything you see us do in practice.”

Although senior guard Christalah Lyons led the way for Kansas, scoring 16 points in the first half, it was senior guard Kylee Kopatich who pushed the Jayhawks to their second quarter run.

Kopatich entered the quarter 0-for-2 on the game, which included a missed wide-open layup.

However, she would flip a switch in the second quarter, draining two three-pointers early, to help the Jayhawks’ go on a

12-0 run.

“I think our defense made our offense work well,” Kopatich said. “I think we got in passing lanes, got a lot of steals, we got a lot of stops and that just helps our offense in so many ways.”

Kopatich finished the quarter with nine points — the same amount as the entire Grambling State team scored in the quarter. “[We] really just tried to move the ball and make

good decisions, it wasn’t like we were trying to call a bunch of stuff for [Kopatich],” Schneider said.

“She made a couple of great decisions, refusing some screens and getting herself lose.”

According to Schneider, Kopatich was the best player in Kansas’ last two games, at LSU and Nebraska, once again showing out against Grambling State.

“She feels really comfortable in her role,” Schneider said.

Kopatich struggled early on in the season, scoring a total of 12 points through her first three games, which included zero in the game against Alabama A&M. Since then however, she has reached double figures every game, scoring at least 14 in four straight games, finishing with 11 against Grambling State.

Even with this standout individual performance against the Tigers, Kopatich left the game sat-

isfied thanks to a career milestone that the senior guard finally surpassed.

“I’m glad I got that 1,000 points over with,” Kopatich said.

next game

at

Washington St. Wed., Dec. 19 4:30 p.m.

David Han/KANSAN Kansas sophmore Bailey Helgren drives towards the hoop with Kansas senior Kylee Kopatich posting up.

Kansas defeated Grambling State 76-45.

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SPORTS

Thursday, December 11, 2018

K ANSAN.COM

K A N S A N .C O M /S P O R T S

Basketball Gameday Kansas vs. Villanova, Saturday, Dec. 15, 11:00 a.m.

Chance Parker/KANSAN Sophomore guard Marcus Garrett lays the ball in the net against New Mexico State. The Jayhawks defeated the Aggies 63-60 on Saturday, Dec. 8.

MADDY TANNAHILL & BRADEN SHAW @KansanSports

Beat Writer Predictions:

Maddy Tannahill: Kansas 76 Villanova 72 | Braden Shaw: Kansas 89 Villanova 86

KANSAS 8-0 (0-0 BIG 12)

VILLANOVA 8-3 (0-0 BIG EAST)

Dedric Lawson

Phil Booth

★★★★★

★★★★

Mitch Lightfoot

Eric Paschall

★★★

★★★★

Charlie Moore

Collin Gillespie

★★★

★★★

After getting the start over senior guard Lagerald Vick on Saturday night, Moore started out strong, scoring five early points, as well as adding three steals on the defensive end. He faltered down the stretch a bit, only playing 24 minutes and shooting just 2-for-7 from the floor. However, the 5-foot-11, 180-pound guard still provides depth at point guard and is still improving on the defensive end.

A consistent shooter from three-point range, Gillespie is a versatile guard for the Wildcats who presents a threat off both the pass and dribble. An off-the-bench contributor for the 2017-18 season, Gillespie has quickly transitioned into a starting role for Villanova as a consistent source of offense, averaging just over 10 points per game for the Wildcats.

Though undersized at 6-foot-3, Gillespie’s quickness on the

redshirt senior guard

redshirt junior forward

Lawson recorded his fifth double-double of the season on Saturday against New Mexico State, putting up 20 points and 10 rebounds against the Aggies. The 6-foot-9, 235-pound forward from Memphis, Tennessee, has been the most consistent Jayhawk this season statistically, averaging 19.1 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, always seeming to get a bucket when Kansas needs it. Look for Lawson

junior forward

redshirt senior forward

Even though he hasn’t made the biggest impact on the team this season, Lightfoot came up big off the bench against New Mexico State on Saturday, scoring seven points and grabbing six rebounds. Lawson called the junior forward “the player of the game,” and it’s hard to argue given how the Jayhawks were able to build back some much-needed momentum with Lightfoot on the

FOOTBALL

Another returning starter for the Wildcats, Paschall presented a matchup nightmare for Kansas in San Antonio, finishing as Villanova’s leading scorer with 24 points in a nearly perfect 10-for-11 night from the field, including a 4-for-5 mark from beyond the arc. A 6-foot-8, 255-pound forward, Paschall showcases the ability to both get hot from outside as well as make his presence known on the interior,

sophomore guard

redshirt sophomore guard

quick hits

Having contributed 10 points, six rebounds and three assists in Villanova’s Final Four victory over Kansas in March, Booth meets up with the Jayhawks again as the Wildcats’ leader in both scoring and assists on the season. The redshirt senior is an athletic, veteran point guard who proves dangerous as both a facilitator and scorer in the Villanova offense, as well as a lockdown on-ball defender.

SOCCER

WOMEN'S BASKE TBALL

MEN’S BASKE TBALL

All American Honors earned this season by Joe Dineen (AP, Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News).

GPA of Grace Hagan to make her the first ever Kansas soccer player to earn Big 12 Scholar Athlete of the Year honors

Shooting percentage that Kansas held Grambling State to on Sunday

Days since Kansas has beat Villanova

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