Collins says focus crucial for freshmen

To Kansas University junior Sherron Collins, the most disappointing thing about last Saturday’s loss to UMass was the fact the Jayhawks weren’t totally into the game from the start.

“We’ve got a lot of young guys. Sometimes they may say, ‘We’re gonna beat them. We’re going to beat them.’ We can’t take it for granted any more. This isn’t last year’s team,” Collins said.

“We’re not going to beat somebody by 30 by not playing. We’re not going to walk over anybody. We’ve got to take every game and every possession seriously.”

Added KU coach Bill Self: “These (young) guys … it’s not their fault. They don’t really understand you happen to be everyone’s biggest game. Last year they loved that. They loved going into places saying, ‘We’ll get their best shot tonight and find out how tough we are.'”

This, that

Self is trying for his 150th win as KU coach. He’s 149-34 in six seasons. … KU leads the all-time series, 5-3. Temple won the last meeting, 74-66, in overtime on Dec. 22, 1995, in East Rutherford, N.J. … KU has won 29 straight games in Allen. … Temple is 3-1 on the road this year. Coach Fran Dunphy is 38-34 in three years at Temple.