Kansas smothers Bearcats
Jayhawks bounce back convincingly
The Nevada trip officially has been erased from the memory banks of Kansas University’s men’s basketball players.
“Those weren’t the real Jayhawks out in Nevada. Tonight we showed the way the Jayhawks can play,” KU freshman guard J.R. Giddens said after the No. 13-ranked Jayhawks’ 78-46 bounce-back victory over Binghamton University Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
The win came eight days after KU’s 75-61 loss to Nevada in Reno.
“The last game we played was horrible,” said Giddens, who scored a game-high 16 points Monday off 5-of-9 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds. “You guys have me thinking about that again. I never want to think about that game again.”
While Monday’s victory over overmatched Binghamton (4-6) really doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things — “No, it doesn’t, but it came after some really good practices,” said Keith Langford, who scored 14 points — it was a feel-good affair.
“I didn’t see a lot of guys smiling last time out. Tonight, guys were smiling, having a good time,” said KU junior forward Wayne Simien, smiling despite the fact he wasn’t the recipient of many inside feeds from teammates.
In fact, the All-America candidate attempted just four shots, hitting one, to go with five free throws in six tries, good for seven points with four boards.
“It feels good because we’ve had some good practices since we came back from break, we played pretty well and we won,” Simien said. “It’s always good to practice well, then get a win.”
The Jayhawks, who hit 46.9 percent of their shots including seven of 26 threes, had just two players in double-figure scoring.
Kansas University's J.R. Giddens -- the Jayhawks' leading scorer with 16 points -- and Aaron Miles, right, trap Binghamton's Troy Hailey (22). KU used a 1-2-2 zone press to stifle the Bearcats, 78-46, Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
Senior Jeff Graves contributed eight points and six rebounds in 16 minutes, while freshman Omar Wilkes had nine points in nine minutes, and sophomore Moulaye Niang eight in just six minutes.
The story on this night was defense, not offense. KU bothered Binghamton with a 1-2-2 zone press in forcing the Bearcats to miss 10 of their first 11 shots as KU opened to a 21-2 lead.
“It was more a token press, putting some pressure up front,” said Simien. “We tried to slow them down a bit. It’s something different to put in our arsenal. We tried it against Nevada, but it wasn’t very effective.”
Binghamton hit just five of 28 shots the first half and committed eight turnovers in falling behind, 33-14, at the break. The 14 points in a half were the fewest by a KU foe since Oklahoma scored 14 in the first half Feb. 20, 1999. KU won that game, 60-50.
“We soft pressed them. We’ve worked on it some,” KU coach Bill Self said. “We spent 30 minutes working on it the other night. I thought it was fairly effective.”
Kansas smothers Bearcats
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See the photos: KU-BinghamtonKU had great effort on the press.
Graves dove for loose balls several times, including once in front of the KU bench, where Self clapped loudly for the player who was suspended for the Oregon game for disciplinary reasons.
“Jeff has always been willing to give up his body. He does that in practice,” Self said in praising the 6-9, 255-pounder. “I think Jeff has done well. He’s got a lot of confidence back. He’s playing hard, being a presence. He’s had a great attitude. When he plays hard, good things will happen. He doesn’t need distractions.”
Self said it was nice to have Kansas (7-2) jump to an early lead. Langford had six points, Giddens five and David Padgett four of his seven total points in that early 21-2 run.
“It’s good to start ahead,” he said. “We had good starts against Fort Hays State and Michigan State. That’s been it.”
KU’s 26.9 three-point marksmanship still left something to be desired, though Langford hit three of four threes and Giddens two of six. The starters, in fact, were five-of-13 from three-point range.
Kansas University's Aaron Miles (11) puts on the brakes against Binghamton's Brett Watson in the first half of the Jayhawks' 78-46 victory. KU bolted to a 21-2 lead and never was challenged Monday by the Bearcats at Allen Fieldhouse.
“To look good offensively we’ve got to stretch the defense,” Self said. “I still think we will shoot it better. We had some good possessions, a couple off the high/low the second half. Still for Wayne to get two shots in one half, it’s ridiculous. In practice we can get it inside whenever we want, and in the games we still can’t like we need to.
“I think we needed to get some confidence. We got some tonight, but overall still did not shoot it very well. We defended very well.”
The Jayhawks’ next test comes Friday against Villanova (8-2). Tipoff is 7:05 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse.