Marcus Morris Leads Kansas Over Cowboys

College Hoops Player of the Day for Monday, February 21, 2011

Resuming their winning ways after being knocked off the #1 spot in the polls, the Kansas Jayhawks put together a rather convincing win over Oklahoma State Monday night at Phog Allen Fieldhouse, blasting the Cowboys off their saddles with a 92-65 explosion.

A week ago, just as pollsters earlier in the day had anointed the Jayhawks the #1 team in the land, A determined Kansas State squad had humiliated them, 84-68. Since then, Kansas has been on a mission, to finish the season with a flourish and a top seeding in the NCAA tournament.

After knocking off Colorado by 26 points on Saturday, the Jayhawks muscled and hustled their way to a 27-point win over Oklahoma State, led by Marcus Morris' 27 points. Morris hit 9 of 13 shots, including 2 of 3 three-pointers, adding six free throws and five rebounds.

The Jayhawks dominated the glass, outrebounding the Cowboys, 38-25, and shared the ball, with 20 assists in the game. It also didn't hurt that they were red-hot from the field, hitting 54% and 44% from beyond the arc. Kansas upped its record to 26-2, but remain 1/2 game behind the Texas Longhorns (11-1) in the Big 12 standings at 11-2.

The only chance the Jayhawks will have to avenge their two losses (Texas and Kansas State) will be in the conference tournament. Kansas has just three remaining dates in the regular season, at Oklahoma, home against Texas A&M and at Missouri.

NOTABLE: With the top teams suffering upsets all week, the top spot in this week's polling fell to the Duke Blue Devils, though the voting seems rather a case of triumph by elimination rather than one of deserved respect. Sure, Duke's a quality team, but the ACC is in a down year and the Blue Devils are an eminently beatable team. Still, they seemed vulnerable last season as well, before their run to the championship. For now, the polls matter little. What happens on the court will offer more in terms of seeding for the tourney.

Morris Twins, Little, Prove Too Much for Tigers

College Hoops Player of the Day for Monday, February 7, 2011

The Missouri Tigers - ranked #19 in the most recent poll - have a very good basketball team, likely to go deep into the NCAA field come March, but, as proven Monday night, they still can't keep up with the big men from Kansas in the low post.

The Tigers fell victim, for the 9th time in their last 10 meetings, to the #2 Jayhawks (23-1, 8-1), losing a 103-86 decision in Lawrence, KS. Missouri got off to a flashy start and was able to hang in, down by only four points at the half, but Kansas continually got the ball inside to their big men, Marcus Morris, Markeiff Morris and 6'6" "guard" Mario Little, who had a season-high 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting.

Marcus Morris led all scorers with 22 points, also going 7-for-9, with a three-pointer and 7-for-12 from the foul line plus eight rebounds, five on the offensive end. Twin brother Markeiff went 6-for-8, also with a trey, for 16 points.

The Jayhawks shot a sizzling 61% for the game, a pace the Tigers could not match, though they hit at a 52% rate themselves. The Jayhawks' 103 points was the most they've scored this season since their opener against Longwood, when they lit it up for 113.

Missouri dropped to 4-5 in the Big 12, though their 18-6 record nearly ensures that they'll be in the field for the NCAA tourney. Kansas trails Texas (8-0) by 1/2 game in the conference. The Longhorns handled the Jayhawks 74-63 in January and do not play them again.

The Tigers will get another chance - at home - to knock off Kansas in the regular season finale for both teams, Saturday, March 5th.

KU Slugs Texas, Closes in on Big 12 Title

College Hoops Player of the Day for Monday, February 9, 2010

As many expected, the Kansas Jayhawks emerged from their visit to Texas Monday as clearly the class of the Big 12, corralling the Longhorns with a no-contest, 80-68 decision.

While the match-up was endlessly hyped on ESPN as part of "Rivalry Week," what occurred on the court was something closer to a victory lap for Kansas and confirmation that Texas may not even be Top 25 material.

The Jawhawks continued their march through the otherwise-competitive Big 12 with their 9th straight win without a loss. Since their closest pursuers are Kansas State and Texas A&M, both 6-3, Kansas should be able to lay claim to the regular season title either on Feb. 20 or 22, when they host Colorado and Oklahoma, respectively, maybe sooner.

As for the Longhorns, now losers of 4 of their last 6 conference games, their focus is likely to be on getting a couple more wins in the conference, finding another scorer besides Damion James (24 points), and hoping to get seeded something along the lines of an 8 or 9 in the NCAA tournament. Of course, there are still 7 or 8 games left in the conference schedule and the Big 12 tournament, but this Texas team has the look of a one-and-done unit when crunch time comes.

Kansas improved to 23-1 overall and will likely remain in the top spot on the AP Poll, which kept them there for the second straight week. The most recent poll was released just prior to their game with the Longhorns.

Marcus Morris again proved to be one of the most complete players in the country, scorching Texas for 18 points and 8 rebounds. Following a 1-point performance in a 71-66 win against Cornell and a 5-point game in Kansas' only loss, at Tennessee, 76-68, Morris has stepped up his game in conference action, averaging 17.8 points and 8.4 boards.

Kansas appears headed for a #1 tourney seed, almost certainly in the MidWest region.