Kansas begins national championship defense against UMKC
Sports Network | November 16, 2008
Lawrence, KS (Sports Network) - The defending national champion Kansas Jayhawks are ranked 24th to start the 2008-09 season, and they kick things off against the UMKC Kangaroos on Sunday night as part of the O'Reilly CBE Classic.
UMKC opened the season on Friday at home against North Dakota, and the result of that tilt was a 61-56 defeat. The Kangaroos finished with an 11-21 overall record and a 6-12 mark in Summit League play last season. UMKC has a total of 10 underclassmen on its 2008-09 roster, which includes five freshmen and five sophomores.
As for Kansas, it returns eight letterwinners from last season's 37-3 team, yet less than 20 percent of almost every statistical category. In 2007-08, Kansas won its third national championship and first since 1988 with a victory over Memphis in a game for the ages. Head coach Bill Self elected to stay in Lawrence after being tempted by is alma mater, Oklahoma State. Self also guided the Jayhawks to their third straight Big 12 Tournament title last season, but with no starters back from that club, things figure to be a lot tougher this time around.
Kansas owns a 4-0 series lead over UMKC, including an 85-62 romp over the Kangaroos last season.
The player to watch for UMKC is Dane Brumagin, a 6-4 senior guard who racked up 17.1 ppg last season. Against North Dakota in the opener, Brumagin struggled a bit with his shot, connecting on only 5-of-13 field goal attempts en route to 11 points in 37 minutes of action. Reggie Hamilton paced the Kangaroos with 22 points off the bench, as he nailed 4-of-7 three-pointers and 6-of-6 free throws. The only negative for Hamilton was that he committed five of the team's 15 turnovers. Spencer Johnson pitched in 15 points for UMKC, which shot 27.9 percent from the floor, including a 6-of-26 effort from three- point range. As for the opposition, North Dakota was able to connect on an even 50 percent of its field goal attempts, including a 9-of-18 showing from behind the arc.
Guard Sherron Collins was a significant contributor in last year's national title run for Kansas, and he will be counted on to produce at an even higher level in 2008-09. The 5-11 Collins averaged 9.3 ppg and 3.1 apg in a supporting role and the former McDonald's All-American could be ready to become a marquee player and the leader of this team. A pair of heralded recruits in Tyshawn Taylor and Mario Little are expected to not only join Collins in the backcourt, but also produce immediately. In the low post, the Jayhawks will turn to Cole Aldrich, who showed great potential as a freshman last season. The 6-11 center produced just 2.8 ppg and 3.0 rpg due to the Jayhawks' loaded frontcourt, but now in a featured role he should emerge as a big-time player.
