photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Josh Selby talks with reporters about his excitement for Saturday's game against USC, Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010.

Jesse Newell: Welcome back to the GameDay Cram Session, as KU is taking on USC on Saturday. Most of the talk, though, will be about KU freshman Josh Selby’s debut after serving a nine-game NCAA suspension. Tom, what are you expecting from Selby in his first game?

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Josh Selby talks with reporters about his excitement for Saturday's game against USC, Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010.

Tom Keegan: I’ve never seen him practice and only have seen him play on TV and during Late Night. It’s never a good idea to draw any conclusions from Late Night because it’s pick-up basketball. High school All-Star games are pretty much the same. He’s obviously, long, quick, a good shooter and a gifted passer, but will he try to do too much, instead of letting the offense do the hard work so he and teammates can make the easy plays? That will take time.

JN: Obviously, Selby’s debut isn’t the only news for KU this week, as senior forward Mario Little was suspended indefinitely after getting arrested Thursday morning on charges of battery, criminal damage and criminal trespassing.

Tom, how do you think Little’s suspension affects KU’s rotation?

TK: Maybe it takes a lot of pressure off of Jeff Withey in this way: He looked like a guy trying too hard to make an impression, fearing if he didn’t his chances at returning to the court would vanish.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas center Jeff Withey clears out Ohio defenders Adetunji Adedipe (11) and Asown Sayles (44) during the second half of the Las Vegas Invitational, Friday, Nov. 26, 2010 at the Orleans Arena.

Now, he moves from the fifth post player to the fourth and with foul trouble being what it is, the coach will have to play him now. We’ll get a chance to see how talented he is. Against smaller teams, Travis Releford could play a little inside.

JN: It’ll be interesting to see if Withey has an impact against USC, which comes in as one of the best defensive rebounding teams in the nation. Opponents have only come away with offensive rebounds on 24.7 percent of their misses against the Trojans, giving USC the eighth-best mark in that statistic nationally. Withey — in limited minutes — has been KU’s best offensive rebounder percentage-wise, pulling down 20.4 percent of KU’s missed shots.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas center Jeff Withey soars in for a dunk against Longwood during the second half, Friday, Nov. 12, 2010 at Allen Fieldhouse.

We’ll see if Withey can give KU a lift on the offensive boards Saturday.

All right, Tom, what’s your prediction for this game?

TK: Kansas 72, USC 62. In his first job, at Marquette, Kevin O’Neill established a reputation as a great defensive coach and that reputation has only grown since. As an NBA assistant, he was in charge of defense. As an NBA head coach, his teams played rugged D, and since his return to the college game, it’s been more of the same.

JN: I’ll say KU by 14. USC plays at an extremely slow pace, which should keep the scoring down in this one. Also, in this game, the Trojans are adding guard Jio Fontan, who is a former high school teammate of Tyshawn Taylor.

While KU coach Bill Self has been trying to lower expectations for Selby, O’Neill has done anything but that for Fontan.

“He’s our best player, our best leader, our best scorer, our best defender, our best passer … our best player,” O’Neill said of Fontan earlier this week. “We’ll all expect too much of him. But the players have tremendous confidence in him and he’s going to be a real difference on our basketball team.”

The one who will appreciate Fontan the most is USC freshman guard Maurice Jones, who has averaged 38.4 minutes per game so far this season.

OK, Tom, who’s your Hawk to Rock?

TK: Tyrel Reed.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas forward Tyrel Reed puts up a three from the top of the key over UCLA guard Malcolm Lee during the first half, Thursday, Dec. 2, 2010 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Despite a 3-for-10 shooting night from long range against Colorado State, Reed’s three-point stroke has looked better of late and with either Tyshawn Taylor or Josh Selby breaking down the defense, he’ll be spotting up for open jumpers. With his minutes pared back to make room for Selby, Reed will have fresher legs, which could result in more accurate shooting the rest of the season.

JN: Though USC doesn’t have many shots blocked and also doesn’t give up many offensive rebounds, this still looks like another game where Thomas Robinson could thrive.

The reason? The Trojans hardly ever substitute their big guys. Six-foot-10 Nikola Vucevic averages 35.9 minutes per game — the most by a player at least 6-foot-9 in the nation. Six-foot-9 Alex Stepheson, meanwhile, averages 31.6 minutes per game. To put that in perspective, no one on KU is averaging more than 28 minutes per game.

Vucevic and Stepheson won’t be too happy when the springy Robinson hops off the bench and into the game.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas forward Thomas Robinson salutes his teammates while waiting to check in after a Jayhawk bucket against Colorado State during the second half, Saturday, Dec. 11, 2010 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City.

Even if Robinson’s minutes are limited, he could have a huge impact for KU on Saturday by simply putting his motor to work and out-running USC’s tired big men.

Tracking the picks

Predictions tally (through nine games)
Tom: 8-1 record, 138 points off (15.3 points off/game)
Jesse: 9-0 record, 140 points off (15.6 points off/game)

Hawk to Rock

Tom Keegan
Longwood: Tyrel Reed (6th in Keegan ratings)
Valparaiso: Marcus Morris (1st in Keegan ratings)
North Texas: Tyrel Reed (6th in Keegan ratings)
Texas A&M-CC: Marcus Morris (5th in Keegan ratings)
Ohio: Markieff Morris (3rd in Keegan ratings)
Arizona: Marcus Morris (1st in Keegan ratings)
UCLA: Tyshawn Taylor (1st in Keegan ratings)
Memphis: Markieff Morris (4th in Keegan ratings)
Colorado State: Tyshawn Taylor (2nd in Keegan ratings)
Average Hawk to Rock: 3.2nd in Keegan ratings

Jesse Newell
Longwood: Markieff Morris (1st in Keegan ratings)
Valparaiso: Brady Morningstar (8th in Keegan ratings)
North Texas: Tyrel Reed (6th in Keegan ratings)
Texas A&M-CC: Thomas Robinson (2nd in Keegan ratings)
Ohio: Tyshawn Taylor (4th in Keegan ratings)
Arizona: Brady Morningstar (8th in Keegan ratings)
UCLA: Markieff Morris (6th in Keegan ratings)
Memphis: Thomas Robinson (1st in Keegan ratings)
Colorado State: Markieff Morris (1st in Keegan ratings)
Average Hawk to Rock: 4.1st in Keegan ratings