Kansas guard Tyshawn Taylor soars in for a bucket around California forward Jamal Boykin during the first half, Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2009 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Tyshawn Taylor is from a certain city in New Jersey and proud of it.

“Now they’ve got the real Tyshawn in here … the one from Hoboken,” Taylor, Kansas University’s sophomore combo guard, exclaimed after Tuesday’s 81-51 victory over Belmont in Allen Fieldhouse.

Taylor, who scored seven points and dished five assists against one turnover, said he felt like a new man following a change in the introductions of the starting lineup.

For the first time in Taylor’s two seasons at KU, the public address announcer correctly reported Taylor’s hometown as Hoboken instead of Jersey City.

“I was actually listening for it. When he said ‘Hoboken,’ I got a little bit happy,” Taylor said.

The 6-foot-3, 185-pounder had pointed out the mistake to a KU administrator, who told Taylor it’d be fixed for the Belmont game.

It was an easy mistake to make.

“My high school was in Jersey City,” Taylor said of St. Anthony High. “I went to high school away from where I live, so they always mixed it up.”

He decided to speak up after visiting friends and family members in Jersey over a three-day Christmas break.

“People there were like, ‘Ty, you are not from Jersey City, you are from Hoboken, what’s up with that? Why do they do that?”’ Taylor said. “They’ll all be happy now.”

Taylor, who admits he prefers starting over coming off the bench, has become a better playmaker since coach Bill Self banished him to a bench role after an one-assist, three-turnover performance against UCLA on Dec. 6.

Taylor dished 12 assists against no turnovers in wins over Radford and La Salle, then returned to the starting lineup, and in the past three games has 17 assists, three turnovers.

“Coach was upset. We played pretty bad the first half,” Taylor said. The Jayhawks had 11 assists, seven turnovers the first half in struggling to a 36-26 lead.

“We kind of picked it up the second half (13 assists, eight turnovers while outscoring the Bruins, 45-25).

“It could have been a much better win. We’re going to pick it up, though,” Taylor added.

The top-ranked Jayhawks (12-0) will meet No. 18-ranked Temple (11-2) at 4:30 p.m., Saturday, in the Owls’ 10,224-seat Liacouras Center in Philadelphia.

That game has special meaning not only for KU’s Morris twins, who hail from Philly, but Taylor as well.

“It is only an hour and 15 minutes from home, so a lot of my friends and family are coming to the game,” Taylor said, “home” of course, referring to Hoboken, not Jersey City.

Recruiting

Terrence Ross, a 6-5, 180-pound senior shooting guard from Montrose Christian High in Rockville, Md., tells Rivals.com he’s backed out of his oral commitment to Maryland. Ross, the No. 43-ranked player in the Class of 2010, now is considering KU, Duke, Kentucky and Maryland.