Wolf Pack payback
Jayhawks exact revenge
Finally, Kansas University’s basketball players can forget about last year’s humbling, shocking loss to the University of Nevada in Reno.
“I wish we could have won by 40, but we’ll take that,” KU sophomore guard J.R. Giddens said after the motivated, No. 2-ranked Jayhawks’ 85-52 rout of the Wolf Pack on Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
“I figure they beat us by 14 last year, and we beat them by 33, so we’re still up a little bit. It’ll give them something to remember,” Giddens added.
It’s a good Nevada team the Jayhawks whacked. Nevada took a 3-0 record into the contest.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for them,” said Giddens, who scored 13 points, including three big threes the first half. “They played us hard, but payback is a ‘Mmmm.”’
The Jayhawks (3-0) definitely paid back the unranked Wolf Pack for December’s 75-61 loss.
KU raced to a 21-4 lead and never looked back, leading by 22 (43-21) at halftime and as many as 39 (79-40) late.
The Jayhawks’ Christian Moody and Wayne Simien hounded standout power forward Nick Fazekas into a miserable night. The 6-11 Fazekas, who scored eight meaningless points the final two minutes, finished with 17 points off 5-of-18 shooting. Forward Kevinn Pinkney scored four points off 1-of-10 shooting.
On the perimeter, Russell Robinson had three of KU’s 10 steals as the Jayhawks forced 18 turnovers.
The Jayhawks were all over the court defensively, looking like a team that wanted to take out some anger on Nevada for last year’s shocking setback.
Kansas University's J.R. Giddens triggers from three-point range in the Jayhawks' 85-52 rout of Nevada. Giddens had 13 points in Kansas' victory Monday at Allen Fieldhouse.
“It was in the back of my mind,” Simien said. “They whipped us pretty good last year. They were pretty talkative last year. We wanted to give them a reminder. Coach brought out the tapes (of the game). We definitely came out and set the tone early.”
Simien had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Giddens and Robinson tallied 13 points and Keith Langford 12. Aaron Miles had 10 assists against no turnovers and scored eight points.
“We thought about last year’s game,” Miles said, “but this wasn’t the same team we played last year. I would rather have played them in the NCAA Tournament last year to get revenge.”
That almost happened. Nevada lost to Georgia Tech in the 2004 Sweet 16. A Nevada win last postseason would have forced a KU-Nevada rematch in the Elite Eight.
“Tonight, our guys came out and were ready to play,” KU coach Bill Self said. “(Nevada) just ran into a buzz saw. I think they will finish in the top three in that league (WAC).”
Self was impressed with KU’s defense. The Jayhawks held Nevada to 27.9 percent shooting, including two of nine threes.
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Moody and Simien definitely answered the call on defense, as did Sasha Kaun, the first freshman big man called upon off the bench. Self said Kaun had been practicing better than C.J. Giles and Darnell Jackson since the last game.
“Christian guarded him (Fazekas) 15 minutes, and Dub (Simien) 15 minutes,” Self said. “Both did a good job. We did a good job on their big guys.”
The Jayhawks next will meet Pacific at 2 p.m. Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.