Kansas first-year safety Isaiah Johnson led Kansas with five interceptions and was second on the team with 73 tackles and for those efforts was named the Big 12 Conference Defensive Newcomer of the Year Wednesday. Johnson was one of eight Jayhawks, including All-Big 12 Second Team selections Ben Heeney and James Sims, honored by the league’s coaches.

Johnson, a sophomore junior college transfer from Cary, N.C., was one of seven Jayhawks to receive honorable mention honors in 10 different categories and was KU’s first Defensive Newcomer of the Year since Chris Harris was tabbed with the title by the Associated Press in 2007. Heeney and Sims, who were both honored by the Associated Press Monday, earned All-Big 12 Second Team honors for the second consecutive season.

Kansas players who earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention were Ngalu Fusimalohi (OL), Johnson (DB), Dexter McDonald (DB), Jimmay Mundine (TE), Trevor Pardula (P, ST PoY), JaCorey Shepherd (KR/PR, DB), and Sims (Off. PoY).

A wide receiver when he first entered college, Johnson was successful not only as a newcomer to the Jayhawks, but as a newcomer to the defensive backfield. The former Iowa Western Community College defensive back finished the 2013 campaign with the most interceptions by a Jayhawk since 2008, when Darrell Stuckey also picked off five passes. One of Johnson’s best games came on the road at Texas, when he recorded five tackles and intercepted two passes.

Heeney, a junior from Hutchinson, Kan., missed a pair of games in the middle of the conference slate but still finished with a team-best 88 total stops, including 11.5 tackles for loss and the first three interceptions of his career. Heeney, also selected as an All-Big 12 Second Team selection by the Associated Press Monday, was fourth in the conference with 8.7 tackles per game and ranked fifth in tackles-for-loss per game with 1.15. Heeney reached double figures in tackles in six of his 10 games played, including four Big 12 contests.

Sims, who was picked as an All-Big 12 First Team selection on Monday by a panel of media, was the Big 12’s leading rusher in conference games with 92.1 yards per contest and finished the 2013 campaign with a league-best 1,110 yards overall. That mark made Sims the first player in Kansas history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons. Sims rushed for at least 70 yards in nine of 12 games this season, including a career-best 211 and three touchdowns in KU’s win over West Virginia.

A senior from Irving, Texas, Sims closed his Kansas career among the leaders in several categories. Sims’ 3,592 rushing yards rank third on KU’s all-time charts, his 34 career rushing touchdowns is second, and his breakout performance against the Mountaineers was the 15th-best single-game rushing total by a Kansas player.

Sims and junior punter Trevor Pardula each earned honorable mention for specialty awards, with Sims receiving votes for offensive player of the year and Pardula votes for special teams player of the year. Pardula earned honorable mention honors at punter after booting 24 punts of more than 50 yards, including a career-best 78 yard punt, for an average of 43.7 yards per kick. Pardula also placed 25 punts inside the 20.

Fusimalohi, a junior offensive lineman from Daly City, Calif., started every game of his first season at Kansas on the interior of the line and earned honorable mention honors for helping open holes for Sims and the Kansas rushing attack.

McDonald, a junior from Kansas City, Mo., and Shepherd, a junior from Mesquite, Texas, proved to be a formidable duo at corner in their first seasons as full-time starters and earned honorable mention after logging two interceptions each and combining for 23 pass break-ups. Shepherd was also received honorable mention for his return ability after returning 24 kicks for an average of 22.8 yards per return, including a season-best 69-yard kickoff return against Oklahoma State.

Mundine was also tabbed as honorable mention after he finished the year as KU’s leader in receiving touchdowns (5), was second in receiving yards (229) and tied for third in total receptions (20). Mundine caught a pass in each of the first eight games of the season, including four straight with touchdown catches. Four of Mundine’s five touchdowns came against Big 12 opponents.

Kansas finished the 2013 season with a 3-9 overall record, including the team’s first win over a Big 12 Conference opponent since 2010.

— KU Sports Information —

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — As Scottie Wilbekin jogged off the court, students chanted his name.

It was a feel-good moment for a senior who was suspended to start the season and struggled in last week’s loss at No. 9 Connecticut.

Wilbekin scored a career-high 18 points, Dorian Finney-Smith added 15 and No. 19 Florida held on to beat No. 13 Kansas 67-61 on Tuesday night.

The Gators bounced back from a buzzer-beater loss against the Huskies and extended their home winning streak to 21 games. The latest victory came in the Big 12-SEC Challenge and surely will be meaningful when the NCAA tournament seeds are settled in March.

”It just feels like we’re coming together as a whole,” Wilbekin said.

Wilbekin, who injured his right ankle against UConn eight days ago, made 7 of 12 shots and added six assists. It was a much better performance than his last game, when he had more turnovers (3) than assists (2).

Some of his best work Tuesday came in the second half as Kansas kept slicing into Florida’s lead. Wilbekin had a teardrop runner, a driving layup and a three-point play.

”We were teetering there a little bit,” Gators coach Billy Donovan said. ”He made some plays that really helped our team.”

Freshman Andrew Wiggins led the Jayhawks (6-3) with 26 points and 11 rebounds – his first double-double and both career highs. Kansas has lost two straight, both on the road.

This one wasn’t nearly as heart-breaking as Saturday’s loss at Colorado, which hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to win 75-72.

The Gators (7-2) went on a 21-0 run and led by as many as 18 points in the first half.

”I think we should have had an electrical shortage and canceled the game after (leading 10-3),” Kansas coach Bill Self said. ”We made a couple of shots and played pretty well the first four or five minutes. But we were awful after that. … That was not a good team playing there at all, and when things started to go bad, we didn’t do anything to stop it. That was frustrating.”

Self called several timeouts, but couldn’t do anything to stop Florida’s momentum.

Surely Florida’s four senior starters and playing at home were factors, especially when pitted against Kansas’ young and inexperienced lineup.

”I’m not sure young guys have ever faced a situation like that,” Gators center Patric Young said. ”We’ve been blown out before. We’ve blown people out before. We know both sides of the spectrum. … We did a great job turning them over.”

The Jayhawks committed 16 turnovers in the first 20 minutes – as many as they had in any game this season.

”We’ve got to get everyone playing together,” Self said. ”I can’t blame it all on youth. … A lot of it may be youth, but I think we can still play better individually.”

Kansas clawed its way out of the huge hole and made it 60-55 on Wiggins’ 3-pointer with 55.8 seconds remaining. It was his second 3 in the final 1:20.

Florida closed it out from the free-throw line – barely.

The Gators made 20 of 34 free throws, including nine of their final 11.

Kansas got it as close as 65-61 with 10.9 seconds left. Florida’s Kasey Hill ended any chance of a comeback by draining two free throws.

Aside from Wiggins, who made 7 of 15 shots, Kansas had no one else score in double figures.

The biggest issue for the Jayhawks was 24 turnovers. Many of those came in the decisive early run.

The Gators, who missed six of their first seven shots in the game, got hot from the field. Hill, returning to the rotation after missing the last four games with a high-ankle sprain, got the spurt going with a driving layup.

Wilbekin had a 3-pointer, a floater in the lane and a driving bank shot in the huge run.

Finney-Smith and Young came up big, too. Finney-Smith, the former Virginia Tech starter who is finding his niche in Gainesville, hit two 3-pointers. And Young was a beast in the paint and on the boards.

Young’s three-point play gave Florida a 32-14 lead with 4:14 remaining in the first half.

But for everything the Gators did on the offensive end of the court, they were even better on defense.

Donovan had his team playing a 1-3-1 zone for much of the game, with big men on the wings and the team’s best defender (Wilbekin) running the baseline. It forced poor shots and mistakes.

”I think anything that could go wrong went wrong,” Self said. ”It’s just sad that you have to get down like that before you come out and play with reckless abandonment.”

— Associated Press —