HIGH SCHOOL HOOPS: LHS falls to Rockhurst. 8B.
SPORTS
UNBEATEN NO MORE Steve Moore, left, and Missouri fell from the ranks of the undefeateds with a 73-59 loss to Rodney McGruder and K-State. Page 6B
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LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD !"LJWorld.com/sports !"Sunday, January 8, 2012
KANSAS 72, OKLAHOMA 61
Relatively awesome
Nick Krug/Journal-World Photos
KANSAS GUARD TRAVIS RELEFORD GLIDES FOR A BUCKET between Oklahoma defenders Sam Grooms, left, and Steven Pledger during the second half. Releford had a career-best 28 points in the Jayhawks’ 72-61 victory over OU on Saturday in Norman, Okla.
Inspired by family, Releford sparks KU By Gary Bedore gbedore@ljworld.com
NORMAN, OKLA. — After hitting the showers and meeting the media, Kansas University’s Travis Releford traipsed back into Noble Center on Saturday to meet his own personal cheering section — one led by his grandmother, Rose Cliff, who lives in Wagoner, and seven cousins from Tulsa. “We’re very proud. He was excellent. He put on a great show for us,” Releford’s cousin, Brandon Armstrong, said after watching Releford, KU’s 6-foot6 junior forward, explode for a career-high 28 points in KU’s 72-61 victory over Oklahoma. Releford hit nine of 13 shots
overall, including three of five from three. He made seven of eight free throws while also grabbing three rebounds with two assists and two steals in 34 minutes. Was he extra fired-up playing for his grandmother? “Maybe,” Releford said with a smile. “She doesn’t get to come see me play much. Last year she came to a few (NCAA) Tournament games. That was it. She never has seen a game in the fieldhouse. “I mean, I didn’t say, ‘I need to come out and score points for my grandmother.’ It was nice, but I was only playing, doing what I can to help us win.” Please see KANSAS, page 4B
Jayhawks think fast, act faster
KANSAS COACH BILL SELF GETS FIRED UP on the sideline during the first half.
NORMAN, OKLA. — Not many college basketball teams have four starters who could hang with Kansas University’s four best players in a sprint-relay/ high-jump competition. Tyshawn Taylor, Elijah Johnson, Travis Releford and Thomas Robinson all can fly and sky, and all know how to finish at the hoop without drawing an offensive foul. They all enjoy playing the game 94 feet at a time. The work the four fast men did in transition to open the second half spurred Kansas to a 72-61 victory against Oklahoma in front of 11,268 fans at Noble Center. Trailing by a point at the half, the senior and three juniors
Tom Keegan tkeegan@ljworld.com
didn’t need their coach to blister them at halftime — coach Bill Self chose not to do that this time — to know what they needed to do to play the game at the speed they prefer. They needed to turn up the defensive heat, use their quick feet and Please see KEEGAN, page 5B
KU women drop heartbreaker to KSU By Matt Tait mtait@ljworld.com
If you’ve followed the rivalry between the Kansas University women’s basketball team and in-state foe Kansas State, you probably figured that K-State guard Brittany Chambers would play a huge role in Saturday’s Sunflower Showdown at Allen Fieldhouse. Bingo. Chambers pretty much was the difference in K-State’s 6357 victory against KU in front of a split crowd of 5,657 fans. But it wasn’t just her final line
that made Chambers stand out. It was the way with which she competed and the timing of some of her biggest shots. None was bigger than an offbalance three-pointer from two feet beyond the line that put KState up 50-47 with 3:59 to play and ended a 6-0 run by the Jayhawks. “She’s very bouncy when she comes off screens,” said KU junior Angel Goodrich, one of three Jayhawks who took a turn at guarding Chambers. “That’s what’s tough, because she’s got screens coming from left and right.”
Or, as KU coach Bonnie Henrickson put it: “In football, she’s one of those players that runs 30 yards for a three-yard gain.” In many ways, Chambers was due. In two games against the Jayhawks last season — both K-State victories — she combined for 7-of-23 shooting and 18 points. Saturday, the junior from Jordan, Minn., finished with 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting (including 5-of-7 three-point shooting), eight rebounds and four assists in 40 minutes. “That’s Brittany Chambers,” K-State coach Deb Patterson said of her star floor general.
“She makes circus plays, circus shots, and I mean that with respect — impossible shots in critical situations.” Chambers’ big three-pointer sparked a 13-6 KSU run that put the Jayhawks away. Of course, KU had something to do with that, as well. The Jayhawks (122 overall, 1-1 in Big 12 play) shot just 8-of-26 from the field in the second half (20-of-54 for the game) and were outscored 35-25 John Young/Journal-World Photo in the final 20 minutes. Misses happen. And the play- KANSAS’ ANGEL GOODRICH REACTS TO A ers acknowledged that. But one TURNOVER late in the Jayhawks’ Sunflower Showdown with Kansas State. K-State won, Please see KU WOMEN, page 3B 63-57, Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.