photo by: Nick Krug

A handful of creative Kansas fans display a reminder of Mario Chalmers' game-tying shot in the 2008 National Championship game, during the first half against Memphis Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Note: Here is a listing of definitions for some terms used in this blog. Also, feel free to ask questions in the comments section below if something doesn’t make sense.

Just like the 2008 national championship game, Memphis lost Tuesday night’s game against Kansas at the free-throw line.

It was a little different this time around.

In 2008, Derrick Rose’s missed free throw changed history, allowing Mario Chalmers to put in his miracle to force overtime.

photo by: Nick Krug

A handful of creative Kansas fans display a reminder of Mario Chalmers' game-tying shot in the 2008 National Championship game, during the first half against Memphis Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

On Tuesday night, Memphis shot 72.7 percent from the line — a percentage right in line with its season average.

So how did free throws cost Memphis the game?

This time, the Tigers didn’t get to the line nearly enough.

http://www2.kusports.com/videos/2010/dec/07/33619/

Memphis came into the game getting 26 percent of its points from the free-throw line, which was the 29th-highest split nationally.

The Tigers were great at forcing teams to foul them. Coming into the game, the fewest free throws Memphis had shot in a game this season was 25.

Against KU, Memphis made it to the line only 11 times. The Tigers’ eight made free throws accounted for just 11.8 percent of their scoring total.

If Memphis just had an average night from the line, shooting 10-15 more free throws, then all of a sudden a 13-point game becomes interesting down the stretch.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Tyrel Reed (left) defends against a shot by Memphis guard Will Barton during the first half of the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Credit KU’s guards for cutting off the driving lanes while keeping their hands to themselves.

KU’s defensive play against Memphis’ guards is a non-story today, but if KU had lost, it most likely would have been the main story.

The Jayhawks’ perimeter defense did very well for itself against a Tigers team that was forcing almost all its opponents into defensive mistakes.

Meanwhile, Memphis coach Josh Pastner might be scratching his head today wondering just how he should prepare his team to play the Jayhawks the next time around.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Brady Morningstar blocks a shot by Memphis guard Will Barton during the second half of the Jimmy V Classic Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

In the two games he’s coached against KU, his Memphis team had almost identical struggles offensively: It shot poorly and also had extremely low assist numbers.

Take a look.

Memphis’s 41.1 eFG% was its fifth-lowest in the last two seasons. Last year against KU, Memphis had a 40.0 eFG%.

The Tigers also only had assists on 37 percent of their field goals. Two of their three lowest assist percentages in the last two years have come against KU.

Memphis senior forward Will Coleman seemed to sense his teammates weren’t playing together against KU.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Tyshawn Taylor looks to pass against the Memphis defense during the second half of the Jimmy V Classic Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

“I’m not going to lie. I talked to them (teammates). I told them, ‘There’s a lot of selfishness. A lot of one-on-one going on,'” Coleman said after the game. “We can’t have that if we’re trying to accomplish what we want to accomplish.”

M.O.J. (Most Outstanding Jayhawk)

Though he battled foul trouble in the first half, KU forward Markieff Morris finished as the Jayhawks’ most efficient player.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas forward Markieff Morris fights for the ball with Memphis guard Chris Crawford during the first half of the Jimmy V Classic Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

He produced a whopping 1.53 points per possession used while ending 18 percent of KU’s possessions while he was in there (just below NCAA average). He also grabbed 21.7 percent of the available defensive rebounds and also dished out 17.8 percent of KU’s assists when he was on the floor.

Perhaps most importantly for Markieff, in a game where many of his teammates had trouble holding onto the ball, he was sure-handed. He had just one turnover in 24 minutes in a game where his brother, Marcus, almost doubled his turnover count for the season (5 in the game, now 11 on the season).

Room for Improvement

The stats tell us what we already know: KU turned it over too many times against Memphis.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Tyrel Reed comes away with the ball as he is pressured by Memphis defenders Will Barton (5) and Charles Carmouche (4) during the first half of the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York.

The game turned out similar to last year’s KU-Memphis game, as the Tigers’ quickness and length defensively gave the Jayhawks fits both games. Two of KU’s top three turnover percentage games in the last two years have come against Memphis, as KU turned it over on 29.7 percent of its possessions Tuesday.

The Jayhawks were able to overcome the giveaways by shooting a great percentage (62.5 eFG%) while also dominating the Tigers on the offensive glass (grabbing 44.8 percent of the offensive rebounds, its best mark of the season).

KU still managed a healthy 1.10 points per possession with 22 turnovers. Do the math, and that means the Jayhawks scored an impressive 1.56 points per possession when they didn’t turn it over.

That kind of efficiency is one way to overcome a sloppy ball-handling night.

Tough-Luck Line

Are you going to believe your eyes or the stats?

We might as well call Thomas Robinson the Jeff Francoeur (Now a Royal. Ugh.) or Yuniesky Betancourt of college basketball — he’s the one that oftentimes advanced statistics are not going to love.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas forward Thomas Robinson gets physical with Memphis forward Tarik Black during the second half of the Jimmy V Classic Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Robinson had a double-double: 10 points, 10 boards.

Let’s say this first: Robinson was absolutely spectacular rebounding the basketball. He pulled down 27.5 percent of the available offensive rebounds and 40.5 percent of the available defensive rebounds — both huge totals.

That’s where Robinson being “active” was a positive. Unfortunately for him, the advanced numbers also point out that his being “active” actually wasn’t all beneficial for the Jayhawks.

Robinson had a remarkable line for only playing 15 minutes. He put up 11 field goals and also had three turnovers.

Take a second to let that sink in. In 15 minutes, Robinson was potentially the last person to touch the basketball on a KU possession 14 times.

Robinson attempted 52.3 percent of KU’s shots when he was in. He used an enormous 39.6 percent of KU’s possessions when he was in.

And because he didn’t shoot particularly well (5 of 11) and had three turnovers in limited minutes, Robinson was only able to contribute 0.83 points per possession used — the second-lowest number of any Jayhawk and the lowest by any Jayhawk that scored.

Self said that Robinson was KU’s best performer of the game, and I’m sure most of that evaluation had to do with his excellent rebounding.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas head coach Bill Self encourages his defense during the first half of the Jimmy V Classic Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Robinson’s usage will be a story to follow all year. Right now, he’s a role player, yet he still consumes more possessions (28.3 percent) than any other Jayhawk when he’s out there.

Bottom Line

It might have looked sloppy at times, but outside of turnovers, the Jayhawks performed extremely well against Memphis on a neutral court.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas forward Marcus Morris comes out to defend against Memphis guard Antonio Barton during the second half of the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York.

The Jayhawks were remarkably efficient when they did get shots. They dominated the glass. They forced the Tigers into selfish play on the offensive end.

And, perhaps most importantly, they forced the Tigers to earn their points from the floor instead of bailing them out by putting them on the free-throw line.

File this victory in this year’s “KU-played-better-than-expected” cabinet — a file that seems to be getting awfully crowded already.