Kansas tries to put upset loss behind them

Associated Press

Kansas forward Nick Collison grabs a rebound against Houston in the Maui Invitational earlier this month in Maui, Hawaii. Collison, along with Drew Gooden, is part of one of the top frontcourts in the country.

Coming into a season with high expectations, the Kansas basketball team received a rude awakening in its first game of the season. The No.8 Jayhawks were upended by underdog Ball State in the Maui Invitational, starting a flurry of questions as to just how good the team was going to be.

The Jayhawks (2-1) were impressive in their next two games, blowing out Houston and Seton Hall by playing how many prognosticators expected them to from the beginning of the year - pounding the ball down low and spreading the court for outside shots.

How well they'll be able to do that against Arizona, however, will likely be the key to KU's game against the Wildcats Saturday in McKale Center. UA head coach Lute Olson, for one, said he expects the Jayhawks to come into McKale Center with all cylinders firing.

"Kansas is going to create tremendous problems," Olson said. "They do a great job with offensive execution."

Topping the Wildcats' list of concerns will be the inside duo of forwards Nick Collison and Drew Gooden, both of whom are known equally for their scoring and rebounding.

Gooden - an All-American candidate - is averaging 22 points and 10 rebounds so far this season, while Collison has logged 19.7 points and nine rebounds per game.

"(Gooden and Collison) are as good a pair as there is in the country," Olson said. "They can score facing up, they are very good in the post. The match-ups there will be very key for us. A lot of the time there will be freshmen guarding them"

The two are familiar to Arizona juniors Ricky Anderson, Jason Gardner and Luke Walton, who played against the Kansas duo in Nike summer camps.

"We played with Collison and Gooden," Walton said. "They are two of the best players I have ever played against. They are both really strong. Gooden can go inside or outside."

Associated Press

Kansas' Drew Gooden dunks against Pittsburgh State last night at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan. Gooden leads the Jayhawks in scoring and rebounding.

On the outside, Kansas will use a three-guard set of Kirk Hinrich, Aaron Miles and Jeff Boschee. Olson said the Wildcats will have to be wary of the perimeter capabilities of the three, especially Boschee, who is hitting a team-high 46 percent of his three-point attempts.

"They create problems on the perimeter because all three guards are capable of hitting threes and putting the ball on the floor," Olson said.

On the other side of the ball, Kansas employs high-pressure defensive schemes designed to wear down its opponents. In the first three games, the Jayhawks have tallied 33 steals, allowing just 62 points in their last game against Seton Hall. Olson said the onus will be on the Arizona guards to minimize turnovers.

"Defensively, they create most of their problems in this stage of the season because they can hit you will full-court pressure, half-court traps, double-teams," Olson said. "Those are the kind of things that later in the season you are more capable of dealing with. The key thing is they hit you with so much (that) taking care of the ball will be huge in the outcome of the game. The second thing that will be huge is the boards."

Though conference lines separate the teams, the Wildcats and Jayhawks have a history of epic battles both on and off the court. KU and Arizona often compete for the same high-school players.

"Anytime you're an elite program in the elite status, you will draw attention to the top recruits," Olson said. "Most of (the recruits) went to Kansas. (KU head coach) Roy Williams is a good friend, though. He does things the right way."

Among the recruits that chose Jayhawk crimson and blue, as opposed to Wildcat red and blue, are former All-Americans Raef Lafrentz, Scott Pollard and Jacques Vaughn, and current players Nick Collison and freshman guard Aaron Miles.

One Kansas player who did not pick Lawrence over Tucson was UA freshman Dennis Latimore.

"We would never have gotten him if he hadn't been out here (for high school in Phoenix) his sophomore year and realized that he didn't have to freeze his tail off everyday in the winter," Olson said.

Latimore said he is excited to battle a team from his former state.

"It feels good," Latimore said. "This is what it's all about, playing the best teams in the nation. We have to play scrappy and show that we want to win the game more than they do."