Related pages Inside the numbers Coach Williams' comments Box score Season stats Possession analysis

This game looked like it was going to be an easy win as the Jayhawks jumped out to a 19-6 lead at the 12 minute mark. MTSU then went on a 13-2 run to close the gap to 21-19 (Note: This was a bit disconcerting to watch, particularly because the Jayhawks got away from feeding the ball into the post and instead made some poor decisions on shot selection. KU has the talent to avoid this type of run, but they clearly lost focus.) Coach Williams called a time-out and ripped into the team on the sideline and helped them re-focus on the task at hand. The Jayhawks went on an impressive 24-9 run that took their half-time lead to 45-28 and the game was never close again. I was really impressed by how Coach Williams took the time-out at just the right time and grabbed the attention of his players. This was an excellent coaching move on his part. I was equally impressed by how well the players responded to him and came out with much better intensity and execution. Eric Chenowith: Eric, if you could see me right now, you would see me standing up and applauding you for your third double-double in a row (15 pts, 12 rbs). Nice game, big man. Eric was extremely active in the paint and also scored a couple of transition baskets by out-hustling his man down the court. He had 8 points and 4 rebounds in the first half and 7 points and 8 rebounds in the second half. That is exactly the kind of consistent effort this team needs from Eric this season. I noticed on several occasions that Eric was establishing solid low post position and taking the ball strong to the basket. He has been much more active on the court the past three games and it is showing up in his stats. His rebounding, in particular, has helped keep him involved in the flow of the game. Keep up the great work, Eric! Jeff Boschee (19 pts, 6 assists) had a huge game offensively, hitting a couple of short jump shots in the 1st half and starting the 2nd half 3-for-3 from three point land. Jeff was much more aggressive tonight offensively than he has been at any point in the season and I liked seeing him take (and make) shots other than 3’s. BALANCED SCORING AGAIN. Not one. Not two. Not three. Not four. Not five. Not six. But SEVEN players in double figures tonight (Gooden, Gregory, Chenowith, Boschee, Hinrich, Collison, and Axtell). AWESOME. This team has so many offensive weapons and each of them is willing to step in and out of the spotlight, as needed, for the good of the team. Jeff Boschee had been fairly quiet in the past couple of games and came up with 19 points tonight. Kenny Gregory has been averaging around 21 points a game. Drew Gooden has been around 17 points a game. This may be the most balanced scoring team Roy Williams has had at KU (and for those stat wizards out there who will want to prove me wrong, go for it. You get my point). The way this team spreads out the scoring is one of the things that makes them so exciting to watch. You never know who is going to have a big game and, on many occasions, anywhere from 5-8 players will have solid games. What a luxury it is to have so many offensive options. (Stop for short prayer: "Please, dear God, keep this team healthy the rest of the season.") Another nice night for Three Amigos: Nick Collison had 14 points and 3 blocks. Kirk Hinrich notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists. Drew Gooden had 10 points and 8 rebounds. The bad news? The trio combined for 10 of the team’s 17 turnovers. LUUUUUUUKE! I was a big fan of Luke at the beginning of the season, when he showed all of us that he was more than just a 3-point threat. He was sidelined with an injury the last couple of weeks, but who could tell by the way he has played since returning? It wasn’t an "all around" type of game for Luke tonight, but 11 points (3 of 5 from 3-point land) in 18 minutes is a solid contribution. Luke is playing with a lot of confidence and I look forward to seeing more of his offensive repertoire as the season progresses. Numbers of note: he Jayhawks again dominated the "points in the paint" tonight, outscoring MTSU 36-18. KU led this category 24-6 at half-time. A huge rebounding differential also played a major role in the outcome: KU 49, MTSU 27. MTSU started strong from the 3-point land, going 4 for 8 early. They ended up 8 for 24 for the game. When they cooled off, the game got out of reach. 12 KU turnovers in the first half, with 5 coming in the first 7 minutes. Turnovers have been a problem with this team so far this season. The teams KU has been playing the last few games haven’t really taken advantage of this weakness. That won’t always be the case and KU needs to focus more on taking care of the ball. The good news is that they had a better showing in the 2nd half, committing only 5 turnovers. Better free throw shooting tonight (14 for 20). I guess that extra practice time Coach Williams talked about after the Washburn game helped the team focus a bit more from the line. KU has shot over 50% in every game so far this season, though they just squeaked by tonight, shooting 50.7%. Regardless, these kinds of numbers show that the team has been making good decisions on the court and are taking high percentage shots. Maybe it was me, but it still appeared that the Jayhawks continued to allow their opponent open looks from 3-point land. It is important to note, however, that MTSU was somewhat forced to shoot from the outside because of KU’s dominance down low. This has been the case in many of these "easier" games. The good news is that MTSU went ice-cold from downtown in the 2nd half. I’m not overly concerned at this point, but how this team plays perimeter defense during the season will be a deciding factor in how successful they can be. We have seen glimpses of solid perimeter defense and there have also been lapses. Hopefully this will continue to be a point of emphasis during upcoming practices and games. The Jayhawks switched to a zone briefly in the second half and it took MTSU about 5 seconds to hit a 3-pointer. Coach Williams has really tried to sneak the zone into these early games and he clearly wants to have an alternative option to man-to-man, if needed. My guess is this will be another one of those "points of emphasis" in upcoming practices and games. Mario Kinsey: I believe I saw him wearing a regular shirt and jeans tonight. Nothing compared to the "Baby Jay" blue suit he sported for the Washburn game. He either: (A) Read my last article; (B) The "Baby Jay" blue suit was at the cleaners; or (C) Didn’t have another slick suit to wear. We love ya, Mario, whatever you’re wearing!

Email Mic

Keep Rockin’ and Chalkin’... MJ