Valparaiso, a member of the Horizon League, opened its flavour on Fridayagainst IU Northwest, and the effect of that plot was a 111-64 blowout victoryas expected.
Coach Homer Drew has one of his deepest teams in recent memoryand that is fortunate, because the Crusaders are stressful to bound back from a17-loss campaign.
As for Kansas, it open its flavour on Friday against Longwood and cruised toa 113-75 triumph. The Jayhawks are the most decorated team in the Big 12,having won or shared 10 regular-season titles and captured the leaguetournament seven times. Kansas won its sixth consecutive Big 12 crown lastseason, but a quick exit in the NCAA Tournament ruined a tremendous seasonthat included 33 wins against just three losses. As has ever been the caseunder head coach Bill Self, the Jayhawks have enough of talent on the roster,though they must replace three star players from a year ago.
Kansas has won both previous meetings with Valparaiso, the most recent ofwhich took place during the 2001-02 campaign.
Brandon Wood was enormous for Valparaiso last season, pouring in 17.7 ppg.Although he surely did all he could to assist the team win, Wood often didn`tget enough help from his supporting cast. That wasn`t the subject in Friday`sopener against IU Northwest, as Wood paced four double-digit scorers with 20points. Ryan Brokehoff contributed 18 points, while Cory Johnson and HowardLittle added 17 points apiece. The Crusaders connected on 58.1 percent oftheir field goal attempts and racked up 29 assists against only 11 turnovers.They played tremendous defense as well, limiting their overmatched opponent to31.8 percent shooting from the floor. Obviously, a 47-35 rebounding advantageand 20 forced turnovers helped the case as well.
On Friday, Kansas played its first meaningful game without standouts SherronCollins, Xavier Henry and Cole Aldrich, all of whom have touched on. Theaddition of highly touted freshman Josh Selby was expected to help fill thosevoids, but he was constrained to sit out against Longwood because of eligibilityissues. Still, the Jayhawks had five players score in double figures in thatgame and cruised to victory, shooting 62.3 percent from the story along theway. Marcus Morris led the balanced attacked with 18 points, while TyshawnTaylor posted 17 points and 10 assists. Thomas Robinson tallied 16 points offthe bench, and Markieff Morris contributed with 14 points and 15 rebounds togo with five assists, four steals and two blocks. Tyrel Reed scored 11 pointsfor Kansas, which earned a 39-29 rebounding advantage and a 19-8 edge inpoints from the wicked line.
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