We neglect this blog for a few weeks and suddenly the 'Hawks are 7-0 in conference, back in the Top 25 and battling for a good seed in March.Last night's road win over Baylor was the biggest of the year so far -- bigger than Tennessee given its conference significance. Now we're in excellent position to contend for 2nd; I don't see OU faltering -- they could go 16-0 -- but Texas and Mizzou already have 2 losses each and everyone else, oddly enough, has a losing record.
What a great 2nd half performance that was -- not only were the 'Hawks executing, but they were making all the hustle plays. The highlight was a seemingly endless scrum for the ball under Baylor's basket that finally culminated with a lay-in by Mario Little -- and the KU bench just exploded (see photo above, and the highlight reel).
Just as Cole's production has declined a bit (probably has to do with that ridiculous HazMat facemask), others have stepped it up. Sherron played one of his best games ever last night: His shot was spotty, but he didn't force it this time, kept his teammates involved, and stymied Jerrells on the defensive end -- not to mention breaking Simien's KU record for consecutive free throws.
Morningstar and Reed have, out of nowhere, become the glue guys, seemingly never missing a defensive assignment or an open 3. Morningstar played all 40 minutes yesterday, and Reed, as has become his custom, hit a huge clutch jumper.
Taylor, Little and the Twins remain inconsistent, but are all becoming increasingly confident and increasingly dangerous to any opponent who overlooks them. (Scott Drew seemed stunned that the Twins had this kind of performance in them).
The toughest games are yet to come, but the future looks bright, my friends.
Per LJW, Self agrees with me about "the scrum play" -- calls it "the best play of the year."
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