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Summary Bobby Knight led his Texas Tech team into Allen Fieldhouse today to try to end his team’s road woes. Against a tough team in a tough environment, they never had a chance as the Kansas Jayhawks rolled to a convincing 108-81 victory. Kirk Hinrich led the Jayhawk charge with a career high 28 points in what might be the best performance of his career. Drew Gooden scored 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Nick Collison added 20 points of his own. Jeff Boschee was the only other Jayhawk in double figures after scoring a very efficient 14 points on 6-8 shooting. The Jayhawks moved to 21-2 on the season and 10-0 in the Big 12 conference. The 10-0 conference record is the best start by a Kansas team since the 1970-71 season when the Hawks finished unbeaten in the Big 8 and went on to reach the final four. This team is starting to look very capable of running the conference table as well, with only two real tests left: Monday night against Texas in Austin and the March 3rd trip to Columbia to play the Tigers. Analysis Kansas looked very, very flat for the first 12 minutes of this game. Turnovers were the story during that stretch (KU finished with 22) with the Jayhawks averaging almost one per minute until they turned it around with a 26-4 run that effectively took Texas Tech out of the game. You’d never know it by the final score, but it took the Jayhawks a long time to get going in this game. Once they did, the Red Raiders had no answer and Kansas cruised to an easy victory. In the end, Kansas easily overcame turnovers with great shooting. The Hawks shot 61% from the floor (including a whopping 64% from the starters) and 54% from behind the 3 point line. Throw in 75% from the foul line and the Jayhawks clearly took advantage of the possessions that they didn’t chuck into the stands. Hinrich was absolutely huge in this game. He and Gooden led the late first-half charge that moved the Jayhawks from lethargic to dominant. Kirk and Drew combined for 31 points in the first half, 16 and 15, respectively. While Gooden tailed off on the offensive end in the 2nd half, Hinrich continued to pour in points. Hinrich is officially penciled in as a first team all-Big 12 selection on my ballot. In fact, I’m starting to grow the opinion that, if the Jayhawks go unbeaten in the conference, Collison could sneak in to join these two, giving the Jayhawks 3 members on that team. Kansas played pretty well against the motion offense of the Raiders. Tech got some easy shots out of it, like they always do, but Kansas made them work to get those shots and forced 18 turnovers (Tech only averages 13). KU’s pressure defense was one of the keys in this game getting up to a Kansas pace (100 points) as opposed to a Tech pace (mid-70s). My favorite Bobby Knight moment from this game would probably have to be the body language he put forth after a Red Raiders offensive interference (goaltending) call. I didn’t think it was a good call either, because the guy that the call went against didn’t even get his hand over the rim. On the replay though, he clearly put his hand into the net. It didn’t affect the shot at all, but made the call technically correct. Many coaches argue correct calls; that’s the nature of the game. Few, however, do it with the chutzpah that Knight exhibits. In my opinion, the best thing to take from this game is that Kansas, as bad as they looked early in the game, won by almost 30. Some of that had to do with playing at home, helping them turn things around, but I think this team really listens when Coach Williams gets on them. I’d prefer that KU never be as flat as they were early in the game, but realistically they will, and it’s important to be able to overcome that. They did that in convincing fashion today. This team is making it very easy to “enjoy the journey.” Their up-tempo brand of basketball makes them tremendously fun to watch. While it’s also fun to look ahead and think about what this team is capable of, I find it easier to take things one game at a time with this team. The next one is against a very good Texas team on their home floor. It should be a great game to watch. I, for one, can’t wait.

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Rock Chalk.... Robert