tyshawn taylor

Radford, Gardner-Webb the First Casualties: Monday's Quick Hitters

Raphielle Johnson — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 22:21:32 -0800

#12 Georgetown had three players finish in double figures while also frustrating #19 Notre Dame on the other end of the floor in a 59-41 win at the Verizon Center.

1. Conference tournament play is underway with High Point and VMI moving on in the Big South.
The Big South got things going with the bottom four teams facing off for the right to take on top seeds UNC Asheville and Coastal Carolina on Wednesday. It was all chalk on Monday night but not without suspense as #7 VMI and #8 High Point both won at home to advance to the quarterfinals. Stan Okoye's steal with 19 seconds remaining led to the senior making a pair of free throws to push VMI's lead over #10 Radford to 54-51, and after Javonte Green missed the front end of a 1-and-1 the Keydets sealed the 55-53 win with a Ron Burks free throw. Okoye led the Keydets with 16 points and nine rebounds and Keith Gabriel added 11, but it's going to take a lot more to knock off two-seed Coastal Carolina on Wednesday afternoon. CCU swept the regular season series, winning 87-78 on December 1st and 81-64 on Saturday at VMI, limiting the Keydets to 26.5% shooting in the second half.

High Point took advantage of the foul line in their 68-58 win over Gardner-Webb, outscoring the Bulldogs 18-7 from the charity stripe with 15 of those points coming in the second half. Neither team shot well from the field in a game that featured 39 offensive and 82 total rebounds, and the Panthers were helped by 17 second-half bench points. Tashan Newsome paced GWU with 21 points but no other Bulldogs reached double figures, compared to Nick Barbour leading three Panthers in double figures with 22. Corey Law was huge off the bench for High Point as he finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes of play. HPU gets the regular season champ UNC Asheville, who swept the season series (86-79 at HPU, 90-70 at UNCA), on Wednesday night.

2. Not sure which All-America team Tyshawn Taylor ends up on but the senior deserves a mention.
Remember when the Kansas point guard was struggling mightily with turnovers earlier this season? Well Taylor's play of late has the New Jersey native looking like an All-America candidate, and his 27 points were a big reason why Bill Self's Jayhawks left Oklahoma State with a 70-58 win. The result locked up the outright regular season crown for Kansas, who won despite nine points combined from Travis Releford and Elijah Johnson. Keiton Page did his best to deliver the win on Senior Night by scoring 29 points but outside of Brian Williams (20 points) the Cowboys didn't have enough firepower with Le'Bryan Nash injured. Taylor shot 10-for-15 from the field, including 4-for-7 from beyond the arc, in his third 20-plus point performance in the last five games. Over the last two games Taylor's shot 60.7% from the field, and while the point totals may not be as high in future games an efficient Taylor means a better Kansas.

3. Savannah State is now just one win away from completing a remarkable season in the MEAC.
With this being the first season for Savannah State as a member of the MEAC there wasn't much expected of Horace Broadnax's Tigers as they were picked to finish 11th. But thanks to a 62-50 win over North Carolina A&T the Tigers are now 13-2 in MEAC play and a win in their regular season finale away from winning the regular season crown. Savannah State took a 42-28 lead into the half thanks to their effort on the defensive end, limiting A&T to 34.5% shooting from the field and 7-for-19 from two. Deric Rudolph scored 15 points and Preston Blackmon added 14 to lead the way for the Tigers, who rode their defense in the second half to survive shooting 27.6% from the field. A win over UMES on Saturday would give Savannah State the most unlikely conference title in the nation this season, and while their goal isn't to go to the NIT this season a postseason berth for a program that was 0-28 seven years ago is a noteworthy achievement.

Quick Hitters

1. With Southern ineligible for the SWAC tournament it's become apparent that Texas Southern is the biggest threat to Mississippi Valley State grabbing the automatic bid. Omar Strong scored 17 points and Madarious Gibbs 14 to go along with five steals in the Tigers' 69-59 win over Alabama A&M to move to 11-5 in league play. How much of a threat Texas Southern (or anyone else for that matter) is remains to be seen however, as the Delta Devils have run through the SWAC (17-0 record).

2. #10 Baylor went on a 25-4 run to close the first half in their 77-48 pasting of an overmatched Texas Tech squad. The win was also the 95th for seniors Quincy Acy, Fred Ellis and Anthony Jones, and they're the winningest class in school history.

3. The most exciting team to watch in the upcoming MEAC tournament may in fact be Delaware State, who fell 73-72 to Morgan State on Monday night (to say the finish was controversial would be accurate). Over the last seven games for the Hornets four have been decided by three points or less and two others have gone to overtime.

4. One reserve to keep an eye on in the WCC tournament this weekend is Gonzaga's Gary Bell Jr. Of course the caliber of the opposition (Longwood) needs to be considered, but Bell Jr. scored 20 points in just 15 minutes of action in the Bulldogs' 92-60 win. If Gonzaga can get solid play from Bell Jr. in Las Vegas a tournament crown is definitely possible.

5. Eastern Illinois announced on Monday that it will not renew the contract of head coach Mike Miller after the season, marking the end of his tenure. Miller is 75-130 in seven seasons at the OVC school, and the Panthers finished the season with a 12-17 record (5-11 OVC).

6. Connecticut head coach Jim Calhoun underwent a successful procedure in New York on Monday to treat the spinal stenosis that has kept him away from the team for the Huskies' last seven games. According to the Associated Press, Calhoun hopes to rejoin the team in time for their regular season finale against Pittsburgh on Saturday.

Kansas Wins Eighth Straight Big 12 Title

Raphielle Johnson — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 00:01:10 -0800

The line's been written many times over the years by many writers: death, taxes and Kansas winning the Big 12. All three seem to essentially be guarantees, but many (myself included) felt that this would be the season in which that would change given the Jayhawks' personnel losses from last year's Elite 8 team. No Morrii, Brady Morningstar of Tyrel Reed meant that this was supposed to be a rebuilding year of sorts for Bill Self and his staff...or so many thought.

It was fitting that the Big 12 title came down to a matchup of two bitter rivals in Kansas and Missouri, as they staged a thriller in Columbia earlier this month. And sure enough round two provided a great deal of suspense, with a pair of Tyshawn Taylor free throws with 8.3 seconds remaining in overtime giving the Jayhawks the 87-86 win and (at least) a share of their eighth straight Big 12 crown. Adding to the good feelings in Lawrence is the fact that Missouri is headed to the SEC after this season, marking the end of a chapter in this storied rivalry (they'll play again, so let's all calm down).

"I can't even put it into words," remarked Thomas Robinson when asked about what the win meant. "We're never going to be a part of something as big as this game was tonight. Just when I thought we couldn't get to another level, we stuck together and got better tonight."

Robinson and Taylor led the way for the Jayhawks, with Robinson accounting for 28 points and 12 rebounds and Taylor adding 24, five assists, four rebounds and just one turnover. But it takes more than just two players to come back from a 19-points deficit, tying a school record for the largest Kansas comeback at Allen Fieldhouse. Jeff Withey was ineffective, just as he was in the first meeting, due to both the style of play and a first half ankle injury, but the seldom-used Kevin Young stepped up with eight rebounds and a team-high four blocked shots.

And Connor Teahan came off the bench to knock down four three-pointers and score 12 points, helping to make up for Travis Releford's 1-for-7 afternoon from the field. Taylor's play in the final seconds of overtime may have decided the outcome but those three-point and foul line splits, areas which were in favor of the Tigers in Columbia, were vital aspects of the comeback. Kansas was outscored by just six points from beyond the arc (33-27) on Saturday compared to 12 (30-18), and they outscored Missouri 22-15 (14-5 Mizzou in Columbia) from the foul line.

Marcus Denmon led the Tigers with 28 points and simply put the Tigers were rolling during a eight-plus minute stretch spanning the two halves, going from tied at 31 with 5:35 remaining in the first half to up 19 (55-36) with 17:03 left in regulation. In that 24-5 run the Tigers knocked down four three-pointers, and Missouri would continue to lead by double figures until the 8:58 mark in the second half. Kansas would make their charge at that point, holding Missouri without a field goal for just over five minutes and eventually tying the score at 75 on Robinson's three-point play with 16.1 seconds remaining.

That wouldn't be the end of regulation however as Missouri had one last shot at the win, but Robinson made sure the game required extra time with an emphatic block of Phil Pressey's shot attempt with two seconds to go. Pressey finished with eight points and 12 assists and Ricardo Ratliffe added 22 points and 12 rebounds, but Pressey fouling out of the game played a role in the Tigers not getting a shot at the end of overtime. Following Taylor's free throws Michael Dixon Jr. had the ball but took too long to get things going, and by the time Denmon got the ball time had expired.

"We didn't execute what we talked about," said Denmon. "We ended up not being able to get a shot up when there was eight seconds left coming out of the free throw situation."

Will there be a round three in Kansas City? There's always the possibility of that happening but teams such as Baylor, Iowa State and Kansas State have the ability to preventing it. On the line in Kansas City could be a one-seed in the NCAA tournament, and at the very least the opportunity to have the road to New Orleans make a stop in St. Louis. And that's something few expected to be a possibility for either of these teams back in October. Yet here they are, and once again there's Kansas on top of the Big 12. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Five Notable Performances

1. F Chris Gaston (Fordham)
35 points, 16 rebounds and four blocked shots in the Rams' 67-62 win over La Salle.

2. F Anthony Davis (Kentucky)
28 points, 11 rebounds and six blocked shots in the Wildcats' 83-74 win over Vanderbilt.

3. G/F Kent Bazemore (Old Dominion)
37 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals in the Monarchs' 73-72 loss to Drexel.

4. G Jamaal Franklin (San Diego State)
31 points, 16 rebounds and two blocks in the Aztecs' 74-66 win over Colorado State.

5. F Trey McCorkle (IPFW)
28 points (13-14 FG), seven rebounds, three blocks and two assists in the Mastodons' 76-73 win over UMKC.

Anthony Davis takes over and the rest of Saturday's Quick Hitters

Poll: Who Is The Country's Top Senior?

Shawn Siegel — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 10:07:28 -0800