Texas (16-11, 4-9 in Big 12) at Kansas (15-11, 4-9 in Big 12)
Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008 · 7 p.m. Central
Allen Fieldhouse (capacity 16,300) · Lawrence, Kan.
GAME COVERAGE
TV: Sunflower Network (local broadcast) in Lawrence, Kan., only
RADIO: KVET 1300 AM (Central Texas): Craig Way, play-by-play; Chad Hastings, color analyst; Jayhawk Radio Network (Kansas)
GAME DAY INFORMATION
In the National Rankings: Neither team is ranked or receiving votes in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll; last week, Texas was in the "also receiving votes" in the USA Today/ESPN poll - this week's USA Today/ESPN poll will be released on Tuesday evening, Feb. 26
Texas Head Coach Gail Goestenkors (Saginaw Valley State '85): 16th year overall: 522 games: 412-110 (.789); first year at Texas: 16-11 (.593) ... Big 12 Record: 4-9 (.308)
Kansas Head Coach Bonnie Hendrickson (St. Cloud State '86): 11th year overall at Division I:
335 games: 213-122 (.636); 4th year at KU: 115 games: 55-60 (.478)
SERIES INFO
All-Time Series Record: 18th meeting: Texas leads, 10-7
Texas' Home/Away/Neutral Record vs. Kansas: 4-3 at home; 3-4 away; 3-0 at neutral sites
Series Win Streak: +2, Kansas
Last Year: Kansas 50, Texas 49 (Feb. 10, 2007, in Austin, Texas)
Texas Head Coach Goestenkors vs. Kansas: 0-0
The Teams- Separation Week
Texas enters tonight's contest with a 16-11 overall record and a 4-9 Big 12 mark, while Kansas stands 15-11 and also is 4-9 in the league... The Longhorns and Jayhawks currently are in a four-way tie for eighth in the league, yet just three games separates them from fifth-place Texas A&M (8-5) ... Both teams last played on Sunday, with Texas losing its third in a row with a 65-50 setback to No. 21/19 Texas A&M in Austin, and Kansas losing at Missouri, 62-59 ...Texas and Kansas are squaring off for the 18th time... Texas leads series action, 10-7, although the Jayhawks have won the last two meetings... Last year, KU won on a dramatic less-than-half-a-second left shot, as senior guard Shaquina Mosley banked in a 10-foot floater with just 0.2 seconds on the clock as she streaked down the lane to give Kansas the win.
Playing `Em Close - 11 Games Decided By 10 or Less Points to Date; 10 Games by 5 Points or Less Last Year, Too
This year, Texas has played in 11 games which have been decided by 10 points or less - including seven of its last 12 contests (all Big 12 games)... Texas is 6-5 in these games -- 4-1 in games decided by 6-10 points (2-1 in Big 12 play), and 2-4 in games decided by five points or less (including a 1-3 mark in Big 12 action) ... Of those close games, five were on the road...UT had a three-point, 86-83 setback to Virginia (Nov. 23); a one-point win over San Diego (81-79, Dec. 30); a five-point loss in overtime (79-74) to Kansas State (Jan. 13); a three-point win over Iowa State (59-56, Jan. 16); a seven-point win over No. 13 Oklahoma State (Jan. 23); a one-point loss to No. 6 Baylor, 61-60 (Jan. 30); a nine-point loss at No. 21/20 Texas A&M (Feb. 3); a 10-point victory over No. 8 Baylor (61-51, Feb. 13); and Wednesday's 71-66 loss at No. 16/15 Oklahoma State.
Despite finishing 18-14 a year ago and just missing a berth in the 2007 NCAA Championship, UT came very close to registering more than those 18 victories ... Ten of the 32 games were decided by five points or less (Texas went 5-5); UT went 3-4 in Big 12 game decided by five points or less).
Big Ash on a Roll
Texas 6-4 junior post Ashley Lindsey, arguably the most improved player in the Big 12 this season, is on a tear, scoring in double-figures in nine of the last 10 games - the longest such streak of her career ... Lindsey had scored in double-digits over a month's period (Jan. 20-Feb. 20) before netting eight against Texas A&M on Sunday ... In this nine-game span, Lindsey had 121 points (a 13.4 ppg average), 60 rebounds (6.7) and 24 blocks (2.7 bpg) while shooting 51 percent (57-112) .... On the season, Lindsey is second in overall UT scoring (11.6), is first in rebounding (6.9) and ranks No. 11 nationally with her team-high blocks per game average (75, 2.8)... Lindsey also has logged a team-high five double-doubles, including an 18 point/10 rebound effort Wednesday against OSU... Last year, Lindsey had 3.3 ppg and 2.2 rpg while playing 10 minutes per contest.
Brutal Stretch - Hitting the Road Extensively and Still Looking For First League Road Win
Texas plays on the road twice in its final three regular season games, counting this evening... Texas next plays at No. 10 Oklahoma (Sun., March 2) before playing its regular season finale against Texas Tech (March 5) in Austin... Texas has been on a tough final regular season stretch, with six of its final 10 Big 12 games on the road.
If this heavy away game slate wasn't bad enough, it is coupled with the fact that the Longhorns have had serious road woes... UT is still looking for its first Big 12 road win, standing 0-6 to date ... Texas has enjoyed good success at its own Frank Erwin Center (10-3) but away from Austin, the Horns are 6-8 -- 3-7 in away games and 3-1 at neutral sites ... The Longhorns have a 10-game Big 12 away game losing streak (six games this season, the last four games of last year)...
Yet, playing tonight at Allen Fieldhouse might bode well for Texas, as the last time the Longhorns won in Big 12 play on the road was over a year ago in the state of Kansas ... On Feb. 3, 2007, Texas defeated Kansas State, 61-34, in Manhattan, Kansas.
Longhorn Stat Leaders
Versatile 6-0 sophomore guard Brittainey Raven tops the team in scoring (15.1 ppg), is tied for the lead in steals (52), is second in assists (82, 3.1 apg) and third in rebounding (4.7 rpg) ... Junior 6-4 post Ashley Lindsey (11.6 rpg) is first in rebounding (6.9) and blocked shots (75, 2.8 bpg)... Lindsey ranks No. 11 nationally in blocked shots ... Two games ago, she had her fifth double-double of the year as she led UT against Oklahoma State with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Second-year point guard Carla Cortijo (9.6) is third in scoring and tops the team in assists, dishing out 128 for a 4.74 assist average ... Freshman guard Kat Nash (8.3 ppg) follows in scoring and is second in rebounding (6.7 rpg)... The 6-2 Nash leads UT in 3-pointers made (33) and in free throw percentage (.833, 50-60)... Following in the stat columns are 6-1 sophomore redshirt forward Earnesia Williams (8.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg) and 5-9 senior guard Erneisha Bailey (6.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg).
Texas and Kansas and the NCAA Numbers
In the recent NCAA Division I statistics (as of Feb. 26), Texas is No. 19 in blocks average (5.0), 41st in field goal percentage defense (opponents shoot 37.1 percent) and 47th in scoring margin (+10.0, 70.4 ppg to opponents' 60.4 ppg) ... Junior post Ashley Lindsey as mentioned previously is No. 11 in the country in blocks per game average (2.8 bpg) ... Lindsey also is 51st nationally in field goal percentage (.525).
Kansas' best NCAA stat numbers are: 50th in field goal percentage (shooting 43.4 percent) and 76th in rebound margin (+3.2 rpg).
Strength in (Schedule) Numbers
The Big 12 Conference is rated as the nation's toughest conference in the RPI ratings of College Basketball News, collegrpi.com and Jeff Sagarin ratings...Nine Big 12 teams are in the top 31 in strength of schedule, including Texas at 24th.
Brutal Stretch for UT Against Top 25 Foes, Take Two
The Longhorns are 4-6 against Top 25 opponents so far this season, and are in the midst of a nine-game stretch where seven opponents are Top 25 ranked squads ... UT has faced six of the seven ranked teams in this span so far, with No. 10 Oklahoma lurking next on the schedule this Sunday .... Texas is 1-5 against the Top 25 - all league opponents - in this string.
Texas-Kansas Series
This is the 18th meeting between these two schools, with Texas leading the play, 10-7 ... Texas had a six-game win streak in the series before KU posted wins in the last two games - winning Jan. 3, 2006 over the No. 19/23 Longhorns, 70-61 in Lawrence as the Jayhawks snapped a 36-game losing streak against ranked opponents... Last year in Austin, UT lost in heart-breaking fashion on a shot with 0.2 seconds to play, 50-48....In all-time games at Allen Fieldhouse against the Jayhawks, the Longhorns are 3-4.
LAST YEAR: Senior guard Shaquina Mosley banked in a 10-foot floater with just 0.2 seconds on the clock as she streaked down the lane to lead Kansas to a dramatic 50-49 victory over Texas in Austin (Feb. 10).... There was only one score in the final 1:06 by either team -- that being the Mosley dramatic bank as the shot clock expired...It appeared as if Texas would prevail by a 49-48 score after sophomore Ashley Lindsey blocked a short mid-range 12-foot jumper by Mosley from behind with one second left and UT ahead by one... Yet, the ball went out of bounds on the block, and the game officials conferred for approximately five minutes, looking at the TV monitor before deciding to put 0.4 seconds back on the game clock.
After a Texas timeout, Kansas' Ivana Catic inbounded the ball from the left baseline area, and with time running out, found a streaking Mosley down the middle of the key who grabbed the pass and banked the ball in...The game officials met again, looking at the monitor, before determining that the ball left Mosley's hand before time expired which gave Kansas the one-point win.
In the last 1:06, Texas took just one shot -- a missed jumper by Carla Cortijo with 15 seconds to go -- while KU was one-for-three from the field...Texas was led by 14 points and nine rebounds from senior forward Tiffany Jackson, while freshman Brittainey Raven and junior guard Erneisha Bailey had 11 points apiece... Lindsey finished with four points and a game-high six blocks, which also tied her then-career high for rejections ... Mosley finished with a game-high 17 points and added three steals, while freshman forward Danielle McCray had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Jayhawks.
Texas was hurt by a 27.3% shooting effort in the second half (nine of 33) and finished the game shooting 34.4 percent while KU shot 35.6 percent from the floor... Texas out-rebounded the Jayhawks, 43-37. Kansas finished the game six-for-14 from 3-point range, while UT went one-for-eight from 3-point territory.
A Look at the Jayhawks
Kansas is led by sophomore G/F Danielle McCray (14.8 ppg, team-high 7.3 rpg) and sophomore guard Sade Morris (10.4 ppg), while 6-5 freshman post Krysten Boogaard chips in with 9.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game ... Freshman forward Nicollette Smith (6.6 ppg) has a team-high 39 3-pointers made, going 39-113 from long range (.345) ... McCray is 33 of 103 (.320) from 3-point range and also leads the team in steals with 43... KU is just out-scoring its opponents by +0.5 points (61.0 to 60.6 ppg) and holds a +3.2 edge on the boards (36.6 rpg to opponents' 33.5 rpg).
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