Fourth Quarter Slump Costs Jayhawks, 70-63
Box Score
Coach Brandon’s Press Conference
Notes/Quotes
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Freshman guard Kylee Kopatich posted her first career double-double, but it was not enough as the Jayhawks could not hold off Oral Roberts, falling 70-63 on Tuesday night, inside Allen Fieldhouse.
Kansas asserted control in the paint all game, recording 48 points inside to Oral Roberts’ 24, but it was not enough to overcome one of the best three-point shooting performances from a visiting team since 2013. The Golden Eagles sank 10 long-range baskets, including two in the fourth quarter that both proved to be momentum-changers for the Golden Eagles.
The Jayhawks (5-6) were led Kopatich, who ended the night with 14 points and 11 boards. The Olathe, Kansas native shot 5-of-12 from the field, 3-of-3 from the free throw line, while logging two assists and two steals.
Junior forward Caelynn Manning-Allen posted a double-digit performance for Kansas with 12 points, along with six rebounds and three blocks. Freshman guard Jayde Christopher made her second-career start and impacted the game with eight points and a team-leading four assists.
Oral Roberts (3-7) saw a season-high performance from sophomore guard Kaylan Mayberry, who put up 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting, including five of ORU’s 10 three-pointers. Sophomore guards Jordan Doyle and Bria Pitts each tallied 14 points and accounted for Oral Roberts’ five other triples. Both Golden Eagles shot 5-of-13 from the field, with Doyle also contributing three assists and Pitts pulling down seven rebounds. ORU’s 10 three-point baskets were the most since TCU hit the same mark on March 5, 2013.
After Kopatich got things going for the Jayhawks with a three-point play on their opening possession, Kansas went on a 10-2 by draining four of its first five shots. Christopher made the most of her second-career start early, finding the bottom of the net on her first three field goal attempts and assisting on a fourth basket, helping the Jayhawks claim a 14-7 lead at the 4:57 mark of the opening quarter.
Freshman G Kylee Kopatich recorded her first career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds
Oral Roberts put together a quick 6-0 run with three minutes remaining in the first period on two-consecutive three-pointers. Junior forward Jada Brown responded with two made layups before the end of the quarter to give Kansas a 22-18 lead after the first 10 minutes of action.
The Golden Eagles began the second quarter on 4-of-6 shooting, with the fourth field goal capping off a 9-4 run that saw Oral Roberts take its first lead of the night, 27-26. Kansas found itself in a back-and-forth battle, as the lead changed on four-consecutive plays in less than one minute of game time.
Kansas managed to re-establish a lead by halftime, going on an 11-0 run over the last four minutes of the period by forcing turnovers and continuing to dominate in the paint. All 15 of the Jayhawks’ two-point field goals were scored from inside the paint, accounting for 30 of Kansas’ 41 first half points. The home team also recorded a perfect 5-of-5 free throw shooting performance in the opening half, and added in two three-point baskets, the second coming just 14 seconds before halftime from redshirt junior guard Timeka O’Neal to give Kansas an eight-point lead at the break.
Oral Roberts emerged from the locker room and proceeded to sink four of its first five shots, including two long-range buckets, to quickly take a two-point lead from the 10-0 run. Kansas regained its lead on a 6-0 run of its own while the Golden Eagles missed the mark on their next six attempts.
After holding the visitors scoreless for nearly four minutes of game time, Pitts connected on her fourth triple of the night, sparking another 6-0 run to shift the momentum back to Oral Roberts. The Jayhawks put together one more six-point scoring streak before the end of the third period to carry a 55-52 lead into the final 10 minutes of action.
The third quarter saw four more lead changes between the two teams, as Kansas continued to battle inside while the Golden Eagles tallied 12 of their 19 points from beyond the arc. The Jayhawks’ 40 points in the paint after three quarters already approached the team’s season-high of 46 against Memphis on Nov. 19.
Sophomore guard Chayla Cheadle got the scoring going in the fourth quarter, with a layup to put every Jayhawk that entered the game into the scoring column. The Golden Eagles then put together a 12-0 run in just over three minutes, shooting 5-of-6 from the field, including the team’s ninth three-pointer of the night. The streak put Oral Roberts ahead by seven points with less than five minutes left in the contest.
The Jayhawks would not reclaim the lead for the remainder of the game, as KU was held scoreless from the four-minute mark until the last minute of play. Layups from Christopher and Brown in the final 30 seconds were not enough to mount a comeback, and the Jayhawks fell by a score of 70-63.
POSTGAME NOTES
SERIES INFORMATION
•With its loss to Oral Roberts Tuesday night, Kansas drops to 12-1 against the Golden Eagles all-time and 8-1 inside of Allen Fieldhouse.
•Kansas is now 0-1 against members of the Summit League this season after its 63-70 loss.
•The Jayhawks now possess a 28-7 all-time record against current members of the Summit League Conference.
ALLEN FIELDHOUSE
Attendance: 2,176
TEAM NOTES
•For the first time in 2015-16, Kansas head coach Brandon Schneider sent the starting five of sophomore G Lauren Aldridge, junior F Jada Brown, freshman G Jayde Christopher, junior F
Caelynn Manning-Allen and freshman G Kylee Kopatich onto the floor together. As a starting lineup this season, those five are 0-1.
•Kansas led by four points, 22-18, after the first quarter of play. It was only the fourth time this season the Jayhawks have led in a game after the first 10 minutes of action.
•At halftime, 30 of KU’s 41 points were scored in the paint. The Jayhawks’ other 11 points of the first 20 minutes of action came off of two three-pointers and five free throws.
•Kansas scored 48 points in the paint for the game, besting the team’s previous season high of 46 points in the paint against Memphis.
•It was also the team’s most points scored in the lane since registering 54 down low against K-State on March 17, 2014.
•Oral Roberts went on a 7-0 run to begin the second half of play, diminishing the Jayhawks’ eight-point halftime lead to just one, 41-40, with 8:10 left to play in the third quarter and forcing KU
head coach Brandon Schneider to call a timeout.
•Each of the nine Jayhawks donning the Crimson and Blue recorded points on the stat sheet tonight, from Chayla Cheadle’s two points to Kopatich’s team-high 14 points. It is just the second
time this season that all Jayhawks who saw game action scored.
•The Jayhawks drew three charges in the contest, setting a new season high (previous was two, on six different occasions). Kopatich (1), Aldridge (1) and Timeka O’Neal (1) all hit the deck on
defense for KU.
•KU’s eight fourth quarter points were the second-fewest the Jayhawks have put on the board in any quarter this season. The Jayhawks scored two points in the opening portion against UMKC
on Dec. 10.
•The Jayhawks made 17-of-31 shots in the first half (54.8 percent), marking the second-best percentage Kansas has shot in any half this season. KU made 56 percent of its shots (14-of-25) in
the second half against St. John’s on Dec. 6.
•Kansas out-rebounded Oral Roberts, 41-35, but still came up short on the scoreboard. It was the fourth time this season KU has snatched more boards than its opponent and lost the contest.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
•Freshman G Jayde Christopher earned her second start of the season in the Crimson and Blue. She responded by scoring six points in the first quarter alone and eight points overall, her
second-best output of the season, grabbing two rebounds and dishing out four assists.
•Christopher has now handed out three or more assists on six different occasions this season.
•Fellow freshman G Kylee Kopatich got the game started on the right foot for the Jayhawks with a traditional three-point play just 12 seconds into the game.
•Kopatich scored 11 points in the first half alone, nearly equaling her season/career high of 15 points. She finished the game with a team-high 14 points; going 5-of-12 from the field, 1-for-4
from behind the three-point arc and a perfect 3-of-3 from the charity stripe.
•Kopatich led the team with 11 rebounds, a new season best mark for the freshman guard from Olathe. Ten of her 11 rebounds were on the defensive end.
•Kopatich also registered the first double-double of her career.
•Junior F Caelynn Manning-Allen scored in double-figures for the eighth time this season, notching 12 points. She also pulled down six rebounds and blocked three shots on the night.
•Manning-Allen’s three rejected shots marked the second-straight game she was swatted three shot attempts.
•In her seventh start of the season, junior F Jada Brown scored eight points and pulled down four rebounds. It is Brown’s sixth game with eight or more points on the season (five games with
eight points, one game of 10 points).
POSTGAME QUOTES
Kansas Head Coach Brandon Schneider
Opening Statement:
“We gave up nine threes to two players that are scouting report focused on. Our entire scouting report was to take away the three-point shot. In our terminology, that’s not reading an assignment correctly. We didn’t force a turnover in the second half. We shot 32 percent in the second half after shooting 55 percent in the opening half.”
On seeing the team struggle after a hot start:
“I thought we got off to a great start. We went to our bench and the level of play dropped significantly. We can’t have that. I thought Oral Roberts played a lot harder defensively in that stretch to get back in the game. In the Division I level, much less the Big 12 level, you can’t make offensive execution mistakes in the amount we do and you can’t miss defensive assignments in the multitude that we do. We had a chance to win the Washington State game and we did the same thing. We don’t guard a couple of high-ball screens in the manner in which we prepared and they made us pay for it. You just can’t do that because it amounts to beating ourselves. Not taking anything away from our opponents, but from a coaching staff, it is difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of a coaching plan when the plan is never executed.”
On what the focus was for this game after Sunday’s game:
“Patience offensively and being assignment-correct defensively. We scored 30 points in the paint in the first half and we got away from that in the second half. We committed some turnovers in the post when we held it too long. They deflected the ball a few times when Caelynn (Manning-Allen) was double teamed. You have to be able to make a pass out of the double team. To shoot 55 percent in the first half and end the game with nine assists is a pretty telling story in our inability to consistently play together. There are moments that we do, even late in the game. I assume this is a byproduct of youth, but we make mistakes that are new mistakes. It’s one thing to see mistakes that happened in practice, but we discover new ways to make mistakes, forget sets, or not do your job.”
On an 11-0 stretch that led to a Kansas 11-point half time lead:
“We did a better job of keeping the ball in front of us. Our ball-screen defense was better and we finished possessions better. We didn’t give up many offensive rebounds in the first half and then we gave up four in the third quarter. It is maintaining a consistent level of play which begins with having a consistent level of focus which sometimes escapes our guys.”
On how tough this loss is with having a short preparation:
“Every loss is tough. Media members and fan evaluate them differently, but it doesn’t matter to me. A loss is a loss, and how we play is what bothers me. There are going to be games in which we have chances to win, but if we consistently beat ourselves, we will eliminate our chances to win.”
On Kansas’ point guard situation going forward:
“Going forward, we need to re-evaluate many of our original plans based off of how we played this first semester. We would like to play Lauren (Aldridge) off of the ball because she is one of our best shooters, especially from different spots on the floor. Timeka (O’Neal) has shot the ball well too. With some of the stuff we do, there will be games that Lauren will have difficulties getting by some of the defenders that she will face. Jayde (Christopher) is up-and-down in her aggressiveness and that is something that we are really working with her on. She will come down, attack a gap, take one dribble, and pick it up. That is a problem. That is nothing that we work on, that is something that strays from our offense.”
On what he expects after the Christmas break with Big 12 play coming up:
“I think the first thing is that players have a tough time with self-evaluation in a realistic way. That is something we have to help them about. They are not thinking about this, but the coaches are. It is tough for us. The problem with the mentality of our team right now is that they are done thinking about it because they accept it, way too easily. Maybe that is a cultural thing that we need to change through coaching and recruiting.”
Kansas freshman guard Kylee Kopatich
On the team’s struggle to score in the second half:
“I think we need to execute some offensive plays a little bit better. We had some careless turnovers that can be easily fixed in the next game.”
On how the team can improve in the fourth quarter:
“We need to know the scouting report. We played down on some players who can obviously shoot and that was three, six and nine points that shouldn’t have been there.
Kansas freshman guard Jayde Christopher:
On what the team needs to improve on before Big 12 Conference play:
“I would say playing as a team more. We need to try to build more chemistry to get more wins.”
On how the team can improve in the fourth quarter:
“We just need to stay together.”
On her starting the game hot with six points:
“I was able to attack them early. The coaches always preach get into the Big 12 logo and if you don’t have a shot get it to the shooters. That was my strategy.”
Kansas freshman guard Kylee Kopatich
On the team’s struggle to score in the second half:
“I think we need to execute some offensive plays a little bit better. We had some careless turnovers that can be easily fixed in the next game.”
On how the team can improve in the fourth quarter:
“We need to know the scouting report. We played down on some players who can obviously shoot and that was three, six and nine points that shouldn’t have been there.
Kansas freshman guard Jayde Christopher:
On what the team needs to improve on before Big 12 Conference play:
“I would say playing as a team more. We need to try to build more chemistry to get more wins.”
On how the team can improve in the fourth quarter:
“We just need to stay together.”
On her starting the game hot with six points:
“I was able to attack them early. The coaches always preach get into the Big 12 logo and if you don’t have a shot get it to the shooters. That was my strategy.”
Oral Roberts head coach Misti Cussen
Opening statement:
“We’re glad to come to an end to this non-conference schedule because it has been such a difficult schedule that we have played. I was talking to coach Brandon before the game and this is the closest team that is very similar in age to we are this year. Eight of the nine kids on the team are freshman and sophomores and we have kind of gone through the season very young with a difficult schedule and working hard to grow up, to forge our identity a little bit, and that began to paid dividends for us tonight. I’m just proud of the way that our nine kids pulled together and I thought it was a well-played game. I thought it was hard fought by both teams. Both teams are still trying to form their identities right now here in a difficult non-conference schedule. It was an important game for both teams tonight, but I think Coach Brandon is the right man for the job here, he is going to do a fantastic job here with the women’s basketball program. I knew him for two years playing against him in the Southland Conference in our two years when ORU went there and I’m excited for your future, you have a lot of youth on your team as well and we do to. I actually think we are coming back to see this team next year, so it will be fun to see the growth that happens in both programs between now and then. I am just proud of our players tonight and happy with our execution this evening.”
On her playing career at Kansas:
“Oh no, that wouldn’t be very newsworthy. I was here when we were still in the Big 8 Conference, so nobody talks about that anymore. But I loved it, I had two great years here and had a lot of wonderful teammates and coaches that I was here with. I will always have great memories here. I remember when coach (Roy) Williams would stop in on practices and check in on us so I have lots of fun memories as far as my two years here.”
NEXT UP
The Jayhawks begin their Big 12 schedule when they travel to Norman, Oklahoma for a road matchup with the Sooners on Wednesday, Dec. 30. Fans can follow the action on the Jayhawk Radio Network.
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