Jayhawks

In his first Big 12 Conference start this season, senior Brady Morningstar responded with a season-high 19 points, with the help of a season-high five three-point baskets, en route to No. 2 Kansas basketball’s 86-66 win at Nebraska Saturday afternoon. The win, which spoiled NU’s undefeated 14-0 home record this season, improved the Jayhawks to 22-1 overall, including 7-1 in league play, and marked KU’s 17th-straight win versus the Huskers. Nebraska dropped to 15-7 on the season and 3-5 in the Big 12. Morningstar, who also led the team with six assists, had five three-point baskets as part of 13 total three’s by the Jayhawks, which marked a season high and the most since the team hit 14 treys versus Tennessee Tech on Nov. 27, 2009.

Kansas center Jeff Withey scored a career-high 17 points in the first half alone as the 7th ranked Jayhawks (19-5, 9-2) won a big conference battle on the road at 6th ranked Baylor (21-3, 8-3) Wednesday night.  The win by Kansas breaks up a 3-way tie for first between Baylor, Kansas and Missouri in the Big 12 conference. Withey would finish with 25 points in the 68 to 54 win on the road against the Bears.  Kansas was in an early hole, down 22-13 to the Bears in the first half.  That's when the Jayhawks ripped off a 33-7 run that spilled over into the second half, eventually putting them on top 47-32.

Former Kansas head coach Larry Brown is now officially the new head coach at Southern Methodist University, the coach himself confirmed on Thursday to the Dallas Morning News.  The hiring, however, was first reported two days ago by Jason King of ESPN. Brown's stint at SMU will be his 14th head coaching job since he started in 1972.  Brown coached the Jayhawks for 5 seasons, including the 1988 national championship season.  Brown has not been a head coach since his three seasons with the Charlotte Bobcats of the NBA that ended in 2010.  It has been heavily rumored that Illinois State head coach Tim Jankovich would be hired as an assistant and a 'coach-in-waiting' for SMU but the school's release did not address that topic.  However, the Dallas paper reports that the school is willing to pay about $800,000 to Jankovich to accept that role.

The last time Kansas won a national title in 2008, the university cancelled classes so students, faculty and staff could celebrate. That won't happen this time around. Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little says win or lose, it will be business as usual on the Lawrence campus on Tuesday. “Provost Jeff Vitter and I believe that our first mission as a university is to foster academic success and that is accomplished in part by setting high expectations for our students,” Gray-Little is quoted as saying by the Lawrence Journal World.

Kansas University remains winless in the Big 12, falling to Oklahoma 52-7. Landry Jones threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and No. 10 Oklahoma scored on a kickoff return and a punt return in the same game for the first time in school history while clobbering Kansas 52-7 on Saturday night.     Justin Brown made up for a lost fumble on his previous punt return by running his next chance back 90 yards and diving at the pylon for the score. Roy Finch then opened the second half with a 100-yard runback to stretch the lead to 45-0.

The Jayhawks say they're ready for their spotlight on the stage of the Superdome.  Three players and coach Bill Self answered questions from the media Friday. Thursday night, the team was fitted for their rings.  Elijah Johnson says he didn't know you get a ring for going to the Final Four.  He says after being fitted, it started to sink in at how far they've come. Tyshawn Taylor says while he thinks they earned this trip to New Orleans, they're making sure to enjoy the moment.  He says the team only has a few days left together so they want to have fun and take advantage of this opportunity.  He says they're lucky to have a chance to experience the Final Four together.

It's been four years since KU fans could cheer on their Jayhawks in the NCAA Final Four. And many have headed back to Lawrence for what they hope to be a victorious weekend.  Not everyone could make it to Lawrence but that's not stopping them from following the game every step of the way. KU alumni checked in with their alma mater via Twitter from as far away as Scotland, Brazil and Germany.

The Kansas Jayhawks beat South Dakota State 31-17 on Saturday night; that's the Jayhawks first win in almost a year. Tony Pierson and Taylor Cox led the Jayhawks running game with over 100 yards rushing each.  Pierson scored two touchdowns while Cox added another. Starting quarterback Dayne Crist was 17 of 36 passing for 169 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Kansas hosts Rice next weekend.

by Chris Durden & The Associated Press With a key player nursing a painfully bruised knee, Kansas coach Bill Self is glad to be on a Friday-Sunday schedule this week in the Midwest Regional.       Self says by the time the top-seeded Jayhawks meet Number 12 seed Villanova on Friday night, sophomore guard Sherron Collins should be back to one-hundred percent. After not practicing at all on Friday, Collins managed to score 10 points in the 75-to-56 victory on Saturday over UNLV, which propelled the Jayhawks into the round of 16.       Collins, a spark plug off the bench and a fearless playmaker who loves to drive to the basket in traffic, is one of the Jayhawks' best players when he's 100 percent.

ST. LOUIS (AP) - It's been nine years since Roy Williams left Kansas, and he knows the Jayhawks and their fans have gotten over him. No matter how much time passes, he'll never be able to say the same. Williams would rather top-seeded North Carolina (32-5) face almost anyone but his "second-favorite" team Sunday, a trip to the Final Four on the line. None of the players who played for him are still at Kansas, no one on the Jayhawks staff has ties to Williams and coach Bill Self is building his own legacy in Lawrence.