Some thoughts…from the Galen Center

Gary Bedore, Journal-World KU men’s basketball beat writer

“KU survived on the road to beat a tough USC team. Russell Robinson did a nice job on O.J. Mayo and Darnell Jackson had a batch of rebounds. Chalmers hit a clutch three to ice the game. It was ugly at times but a nice victory.”

Tom Keegan, Journal-World sports editor

“Until Sherron Collins returns, this won’t be the last ugly offensive effort, particularly if Darrell Arthur continues to play at times as if he’s auditioning for an NBA small forward’s job instead of trying to dominate as a collegiate power forward. Mario Chalmers spared the team from what would have been an ugly loss and O.J. Mayo, forcing the action terribly, did his part as well.”

Ryan Greene, KUSports.com editor

“The most eye-popping statistic on the final sheet is the one showing KU’s six assists compared to 22 turnovers. Sloppy doesn’t do this one justice. But winning slopfests is key, especially in March when every game is turbocharged with emotion. Chalmers’ second half was huge, in which he scored 17 of his game-high 20 points. This one won’t replace the memory of his late three in regulation against Texas in last year’s Big 12 Tournament title game, but it helped in solidifying him as this team’s go-to shooter in the clutch…alongside a 100-percent Brandon Rush.”

Inside the numbers

22: KU turned the ball over 22 times, which was seven more than their previous season-high this year. But while committing those 15 against Arizona last Sunday, the Jayhawks assisted 17 of their own shots. This time, KU racked up just six assists. It was very symbolic of how ugly this game truly was. USC helped keep it that way by registering 18 giveaways.

37.9: The Jayhawks shot just 37.9 percent from the floor, but in the second half shot 42.3 percent, which in other words was just good enough to string together a couple of decent runs and create separation on the scoreboard, including a 55-47 lead with 2:10 to play.

15: Freshman O.J. Mayo forced the issue for much of the night in the Trojans’ offensive sets, hitting on just six shots and clanking on 15. Other than sending him to the foul line on a three-pointer in the first half, the Jayhawks did a good job of keeping him away from the charity stripe, as he only shot six free throws all night. In that 6-of-21 performance from the floor was a 3-for-11 showing from long range. Only one other Trojan registered double digits in shot attempts, and that was freshman Davon Jefferson with 11. Jefferson was much more efficient, going 6-of-11, scoring 17 points to Mayo’s 19.

42: In a grind-it-out game, any coach will tell you that rebounding is one of the biggest keys in making sure you leave with a victory in your pocket. KU grabbed 42 boards to USC’s 30, and outdid the Trojans on the offensive glass 14-6. Four Jayhawks tallied at least seven rebounds, with two being forwards (Darnell Jackson with a career-high 13 and Darrell Arthur eight) and two being guards (Mario Chalmers and Rodrick Stewart each had seven). It was as well-rounded of a rebounding performance as KU has had all year.

10,017: Something that went a bit unnoticed was how KU never really allowed the 10,017-spectator crowd in the gorgeous Galen Center to play a huge role in the game. The Jayhawks looked a bit timid early, but once they settled in before halftime – thanks in large part to a clutch Russell Robinson three-ball – it was pretty much neutral. Plenty of crimson and blue in the maroon seats.

Just in case you missed it…

Darnell Jackson will be the first to tell you that he doesn’t care whether he starts the game on the floor or comes off the bench. But in two games now as a starter, the 6-8 emotion-filled center has totaled 22 points and 17 rebounds. He brings energy to the floor at the start, and did so to begin the second half today with a pair of huge dunks. He could become a regular in the starting five.

Hopefully you didn’t miss it…

Russell Robinson was huge for KU on the defensive end. He had two steals, but more importantly was the key cog in limiting O.J. Mayo in terms of clean looks. The formula was simple – rotate plenty of guys and don’t give up anything easy, just stay in front of him. KU did that, and as the game wore on, with Bill Self continually putting fresher legs in front of the 6-5 guard, Mayo had to settle for guarded threes instead of slashing to the rack and getting mid-range looks.

They said it…

Bill Self on closing out the game late in heart-attack fashion: “We never had the game totally under control, but we were up eight with three (minutes) left, you’re supposed to put that game away. We found a way to, I think we turned it over twice in that stretch and they scored a couple of times and certainly made it very entertaining for fans, but that shouldn’t happen with a veteran ballclub. Hopefully that won’t happen again.”

Bill Self on Mario Chalmers’ game overall: “I’ll be the first to tell you I wasn’t pleased at all with his play from a mental standpoint at all. But good gosh, he competed hard, showed a lot of poise and made some big plays down the stretch. And of course, the (late three) was the biggest shot of the game. But you’ve got to win games when you don’t play great, especially on the road. That was one of those grind-it-out games in which our guys competed hard. We didn’t execute worth a flip, but we certainly competed hard. Give Tim (Floyd) and his guys credit, they guard very well, too.”

Bill Self on the play where Chalmers hit the late three to ice it: “We subbed small, so that way we could defend a three-point shot potentially on the other end. And then we ran what we call ‘Five-Game,’ and we didn’t execute it very good. I mean, it wasn’t executed well at all. The shot clock ran down, and then Mario just rised up and made a shot behind the ball screen. But it wasn’t great executions by any means. In that situation I’d much rather attack the rim.”

Bill Self on his team defending O.J. Mayo: “We didn’t do anything special. All we did was just try to guard him. I think O.J.’s about as talented as any kid I’ve ever coached against, maybe the most talented kid I’ve ever coached against. There’s a lot of ’em up there, but certainly nobody I think has more raw talent. The whole deal was just make him earn everything, try to keep him off the free throw line, which we did a bad job of the first half, and hope he shoots a bad percentage and gets tired. And I think that’s what happened. We traded guys on him and he played the entire 40. And he missed some shots because maybe his legs weren’t under him. But give Russell (Robinson) credit on that. I thought Russell defended him very, very well.”

Mario Chalmers on making a statement against O.J. Mayo and USC: “I think we made a good statement tonight. I mean, I think we just proved that not one player can beat us. Chase tried it, and O.J. tried it tonight, but I think our defense is too good at focusing and just trying to stop the team.”

Mario Chalmers on the play where he hit the big three: “The original play was trying to get the ball to (Darnell Jackson) in the post, but they kind of sagged back, and I’d seen that there were only five seconds left, and the person that was guarding me kinda sagged back, so I got the ball back and just shot it and I was fortunate for it to go in…I’ve always felt like I should get the ball at the end of the game, just because I feel like I can make a play and get either me a shot or my teammates a shot, and my teammates have trusted me to do that, too.”

Darnell Jackson on the importance of winning the rebounding battle: “That was just a whole mindset for everybody, even the guards, just crash the glass, even on the offensive ends. Keep going until somebody gets the loose ball. If a ball’s on the ground, make sure somebody dives after that. That’s what we did, we came out pretty successful on the glass.”

Darnell Jackson on Mario Chalmers being a clutch shooter: “I think Mario’s the big-shot guy. If Mario’s off, then it’s gonna be Brandon. It’s always one of those two who’s always gonna make big shots for us.”

Darnell Jackson on O.J. Mayo: “He’s just a regular guy. I don’t see anything impressive about him. He’s a player. I respect him as a player. Other guys shouldn’t give him that much respect on the court. Because if you love to compete, go out there and compete against him. He’s just another player. He’s just like us. He puts on a jersey, a practice jersey, just like everybody else, every day…I’m not saying we’ve got better guards. He’s a great player. He was making some shots, getting fouled, but I think our guards did better on him today in the game.”

Russell Robinson on O.J. Mayo: “He’s a pretty good player. He can get a shot whenever. But the main thing today was he played 40 minutes, so he was a little tired, so he kinda settled for a lot of shots and made my job a lot easier.”

Rodrick Stewart on his reception at the Galen Center, including the student section chanting against him: “I expected way worse, but that was cool.”

Notable…

…KU has defeated four of its last five ranked opponents…KU’s 27-25 deficit at halftime marked the first time this year the Jayhawks have trailed at the break…KU has forced at least 18 turnovers in every game this season…KU held USC to a 38.5 field goal percentage, having now held six of its seven opponents to under 50 percent from the floor…USC was the first team to outshoot KU this year (38.5 – 37.9)…Mario Chalmers’ three steals made him just the sixth player in KU history with 200 career swipes…USC’s 55 points were the fewest allowed by a ranked opponent since KU held then-No. 19 Kentucky to 47 on Jan. 7, 2006…KU is 7-0 for the first time since the 2004-05 season and the 22nd time in school history…