Kansas freshman Andrew Wiggins has been named to the John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 List, the Los Angles Athletic Club announced Wednesday.

Wiggins is one of three Big 12 Conference student-athletes listed –  and one of only five freshmen.  The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the official voting ballot, which will consist of approximately 20 top players who have proven to their universities that they are making progress toward graduation and maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA. However, players not chosen to the midseason list are still eligible for the ballot. The Wooden Award All American Team, consisting of the nation’s top 10 players, will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament.

Wiggins leads Kansas with a 15.2 scoring average, which also leads the Big 12 freshman class and is 10th overall in the conference. The 6-8 Vaughan, Ontario, Canada, guard has five games of 20-plus points and pulled down a season-high 19 rebounds at then No. 8 Iowa State (1/13). Wiggins is 50-of-59 (84.7 percent) from the free throw line in his last 10 games after hitting 10-of-12 charity shots during his 17-point effort in the win versus No. 23 Baylor on ESPN Big Monday. He has made 20 threes this season, leads KU with 17 steals and his 6.1 rebound average is third on the team.

Last season, Kansas’ Ben McLemore and Jeff Withey were named to the John R. Wooden Award Midseason and final ballot lists. McLemore went on to be named Wooden Award All-American.

No. 8/11 Kansas is 14-4 overall and the only undefeated team in the 2014 Big 12 Conference race at 5-0 heading into its Saturday, Jan. 25 game at TCU. The Jayhawks have defeated four nationally-ranked teams in each of its last four outings, a feat last accomplished by North Carolina in 1996-97.

— KU Sports Information —

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Andrew Wiggins scored 17 points, most of them coming at the free throw line, and No. 8 Kansas pulled away in the second half to beat No. 24 Baylor 78-68 on Monday night.

Wiggins was 10 of 12 from the free throw line, and the Jayhawks (14-4, 5-0 Big 12) were 27 of 29 as a team, allowing them to put away Baylor for their fifth straight win – the last four over Top 25 opponents. They are the first team to accomplish that feat since North Carolina in 1997.

Perry Ellis added 19 points and Joel Embiid had 12 for Kansas, which led 37-35 at halftime but used a 14-2 surge fueled by defense and hustle in the second half to draw away.

Brady Heslip hit six 3-pointers and scored 19 points for the Bears (13-5, 1-4), who have lost three straight and four of five. Cory Jefferson and Isaiah Austin added 16 points apiece.

The teams combined for 16 turnovers in a disjointed first half that included 12 lead changes but virtually no rhythm. The Jayhawks managed to squeeze out the two-point halftime lead, but they had to shoot 60 percent from the field to do it.

That’s because Baylor was scorching from beyond the arc.

Heslip hit all four of his 3-point tries and the 7-foot Austin added two – he was 0 for 4 from inside the arc. Along with the two 3-pointers that Jefferson hit, the Bears knocked down 8 of 10 beyond the perimeter in the first half. They were 4 of 18 everywhere else.

The game remained close until Ellis scored inside with 12:48 remaining to start the Jayhawks on their game-defining run, and then came the two biggest highlights of the game.

The first came when Ellis stepped in front of a pass and took off toward the other end of the court, dunking the ball home while getting fouled. Naturally, he made the free throw.

The second highlight came moments later, when Kansas lost control of the ball under the Baylor basket. Freshman guard Wayne Selden tracked it down and saved it to Embiid as he crashed over a fan seated at a courtside table and wound up in the laps of two more fans wearing Bears clothing.

Everybody’s eyes immediately turned to Embiid – including the officials – and the 7-foot freshman converted the basket. The only people who seemed to notice that Selden’s foot was out of bounds were the folks who were able to catch the replay on television.

Bears coach Scott Drew burned a timeout as the game was starting to get away from them, but the Jayhawks kept on charging. Naadir Tharpe’s 3-pointer made it 60-46 with 8:16 remaining.

From there, it was a matter of Kansas maintaining its lead.

Austin hit a 3-pointer to get Baylor within 61-51 with just over 6 minutes left, but Wiggins made four straight from the free throw line. Heslip hit another 3-pointer with 3:45 to go, but Wiggins scored on a scooping layup to keep the cushion comfortable.

Just about the only thing that went wrong toward the end of the game for Kansas happened when reserve forward Tarik Black hurt his lower leg. He appeared to get rolled into by the Bears’ Rico Gathers, and Black needed considerable help to make it off the court.

— Associated Press —

Kansas teammates Naadir Tharpe and Joel Embiid have been named the Big 12 Player and Newcomer of the Week after Jayhawk victories against two top-10 opponents last week the conference office announced Monday. The duo was selected by a media panel which covers the league.

Tharpe was the catalyst as Kansas recorded victories at No. 8 Iowa State (77-70) and versus No. 9 Oklahoma State (80-78). The Worcester, Mass., junior guard averaged 22.0 points, 5.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds while making 82.4 percent (14-of-17) of his shots from the field. He started the week with a career-high 23 points at ISU on 7-of-9 shooting before adding 21 points against the Cowboys, making 7-of-8 shots from the floor in that game. Tharpe was 6-of-8 (.750) from three-point range during the week and connected on 9-of-10 (.900) from the free throw line.

Embiid made his presence felt in the two Jayhawk wins by averaging a double-double (14.5 ppg, 10.0 rpg) while adding 13 blocked shots. The Yaounde, Cameroon, center had 16 points, nine rebounds and five rejections at Iowa State before adding 13 points, 11 rebounds and eight blocks versus Oklahoma State. Against the Cowboys, he became the first freshman in Big 12 history to have 10 or more points, 10 or more rebounds and eight blocked shots in a game. The eight rejections broke his own KU freshman single-game record, tied the Big 12 freshman record for all contests and broke the mark for a conference game. Embiid has 49 blocks this season, third on the Kansas single-season freshman list.

It is the first weekly accolade for Tharpe, while Embiid is the top rookie for the second time.

— KU Sports Information —

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Bill Self was riding Naadir Tharpe so hard in practice earlier this season that the junior point guard began to wonder whether the Kansas coach even liked him anymore.

Not just as a player – personally.

Slowly but surely, though, Self began to build Tharpe back up. His confidence began to grow, and it showed on Saturday. He scored 21 points, including a key 3-pointer in the final minute, to help the No. 15 Jayhawks hold on for an 80-78 victory over No. 9 Oklahoma State.

”Sometimes you scratch your head with some of the decisions he makes,” Self said, ”but he played extremely well, and of course he made some big shots.”

Joel Embiid added 13 points, 11 rebounds and eight blocks for the Jayhawks (13-4, 4-0 Big 12), who blew most of a 47-30 halftime lead before holding on at the finish.

Phil Forte hit seven 3-pointers and had 21 points for Oklahoma State (15-3, 3-2). Marcus Smart added 16 points, but he was just 3 of 14 from the field and 0 for 6 from the 3-point arc.

Still, it was Smart who nearly helped the Cowboys steal a win. His layup with 24 seconds remaining got them within 79-75, and after Frank Mason missed a free throw, Forte hit a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game with 5.7 seconds remaining.

Mason was fouled and made the first of two free throws, and the Cowboys raced up court with the rebound on the miss. L’Bryan Nash tried to get off a shot from the arc as time expired, but Mason was there to pop the ball loose and preserve the victory.

”We had the ball in our hands with a chance to win it,” Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford said. ”If he missed the free throw, I knew we’d get a shot off. We knew what to do.”

Markel Brown finished with 15 points for Oklahoma State, but he also earned two of the six technical fouls that were handed out. The second of them fouled him out.

”We lost our cool a couple times in key moments of the game,” Smart said.

The animosity between the teams really started to simmer last season, when the Cowboys came into Allen Fieldhouse and ended the Jayhawks’ 33-game home win streak. Smart celebrated by doing a backflip, a stunt captured on film that Kansas coach Bill Self showed his team this week.

It reached a rolling boil shortly before the season, when Smart declared that Kansas’ Andrew Wiggins had yet to warrant the considerable hype that the star freshman had been receiving.

Naturally, most figured Smart and Wiggins would be the stars when their teams met. Instead, they were relegated to supporting roles – Wiggins scored just three points.

Tarik Black took the spotlight first, fueling a 13-0 run for Kansas midway through the first half. The backup forward’s basket for a 29-15 lead left a sellout crowd that included Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers roaring its approval.

In fact, the noise was so deafening that Brown didn’t hear Ford call a timeout. He instead raced up court and found himself in the midst of the Kansas huddle, triggering a benches-clearing fracas that the officials had to separate.

Brown and the Jayhawks’ Jamari Traylor were each hit with technical fouls.

Things didn’t cool off, either. Later in the half, Smart was hammered by Wayne Selden on his way to the rim. Selden was shoved by the Cowboys’ Stevie Clark, drawing another technical.

The Cowboys tried to mount a comeback on the second half. Forte got hot from behind the arc, and Brown hit four 3-pointers in the span of a few minutes to make it 59-56 with 11:02 left.

Kansas stoically answered the challenge.

Mason’s 3-pointer triggered seven straight points by the Jayhawks, and when Smart finally hit his first field goal with 5:53 left, Embiid answered with a thunderous jam.

As the Jayhawks slowly rebuilt their lead, Oklahoma State began to lose its poise. Brown was whistled for a foul on Embiid, and voiced his frustration within earshot of official John Higgins, earning his second technical of the game and a seat on the bench.

The Cowboys got within 77-73 on a basket by Smart with 1:29 left, but Tharpe answered again with a 3-pointer from the top of the key. The Jayhawks then held on in the closing seconds to put some distance on one of its biggest threats in the Big 12 race.

”Definitely, I feel like we’re sending a message,” Tharpe said. ”Even though we have a lot of young guys on the team, we’re here to play. We’re here to defend our title. I feel like we have a great chance of doing it.”

— Associated Press —

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Naadir Tharpe scored a career-high 23 points, freshman Andrew Wiggins had 17 points and 19 rebounds and No. 15 Kansas beat No. 8 Iowa State 77-70 on Monday night for its third straight win to open Big 12 play.

The Jayhawks (12-4, 3-0) handed the Cyclones their second consecutive loss after a 14-0 start.

Kansas opened the second half with a 16-5 run and led the rest of the way.

Joel Embiid finished with 16 points and five blocks for the Jayhawks, who outrebounded Iowa State 53-36 in perhaps their most impressive win of the season.

DeAndre Kane, who sprained an ankle in the loss to Oklahoma on Saturday, had 21 points for Iowa State (14-2, 2-2), which lost for the 17th time in 18 games against Kansas.

— Associated Press —

After averaging 22 points in his first two conference games, Kansas freshman Wayne Selden, Jr., has been named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Newcomer of the Week in a vote of a media panel who covers the league, the conference announced Monday.

Selden helped the Jayhawks start 2-0 in conference play as KU won at Oklahoma (90-83) and defeated Kansas State (86-60). The Roxbury, Mass., guard opened the week with a career-best 24 points, including five 3-pointers, in the win in Norman. The five 3-pointers were the most in a game by a Jayhawk this season. Selden then added 20 points and four boards versus the Wildcats, connecting on 7-of-10 shots from the field. For the week, Selden shot 59.3 percent (16-of-27) and 53.3 percent (8-of-15) from beyond the arc. He totaled six rebounds, four assists and two steals.

This is the first time Selden has been named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week and he is the fourth different Jayhawk to win a rookie award this season. Selden joins teammates Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid and Tarik Black who have also earned the honor in 2013-14. The KU foresome surpasses its previous high of three different Big 12 Newcomer of the Week selections established in 2005-06 (Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers and Julian Wright). Historically, Iowa State in 2011-12 was the last school to have four different student-athletes named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week.

Earlier this season sophomore Perry Ellis was named the co-Big 12 Player of the Week on Nov. 18, the same week Wiggins was named newcomer.

— KU Sports Information —

Kansas running back James Sims has accepted an invitation to play in the 2014 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl on Saturday, Jan. 18. The game will kick off at 5 p.m. (CT), from the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.

Sims, who will suit up for the National team at the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, was the Big 12’s leading rusher in conference games with 92.1 yards per contest and finished the 2013 campaign ranked second in the league with 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 two-time All-Big 12 performer and a native of 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.

The NFLPA Collegiate Bowl will be televised live on ESPN2. ESPNU will also air live broadcasts from practices on Wednesday, January 15 (9 a.m.-11 a.m.; 12-2 p.m. CT) and Thursday, January 16 (9 a.m.-11 a.m.; 12:30-2:30 p.m. CT).

Participants in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl have the unique opportunity to network with and learn from current and former NFL players. Under the guidance of National Team Head Coach Dick Vermeil and American Team Head Coach Denny Green, pro-football players and coaching legends will work with the game’s future stars, giving them first-hand insight on what it takes to win on and off of the field.

Five Jayhawks participated in the 2013 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl as Dayne Crist, Trevor Marrongelli, Toben Opurum, Josh Williams and Duane Zlatnik made the trip out to California for the week’s activities. Crist earned MVP honors after leading his National team to a 34-0 win in the game.

— KU Sports Information —

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — During Kansas’ shoot around on Wednesday before the Jayhawks faced Oklahoma, coach Bill Self told Wayne Selden Jr. that the freshman needed to be more aggressive on offense.

Selden Jr. did what Self told him, scoring a career-high 24 points and going 5 of 10 from 3-point range, and No. 18 Kansas started Big 12 Conference play with a 90-83 win over Oklahoma.

Kansas (10-4, 1-0) won its conference opener for the 23rd straight year, a streak that began with the 1991-92 season. Oklahoma, in January 1991, was the last team to beat the Jayhawks in a conference opener.

”It was the confidence my teammates and coaches have in me,” Selden Jr. said of his successful game. ”I was out there just playing and not thinking.

”That’s just Kansas basketball. We’re trying to start off Big 12 play on the right foot, so we feel like we’ve got to go after all loose balls and we’ve got to pick up our defensive intensity. … I know it’s tradition-rich and I just want to put forth my best effort and the team wants to put forth its best effort to keep it going.”

Perry Ellis had 22 points on 6-for-8 shooting and 11 rebounds, helping Kansas shoot 54.7 percent from the field.

After a 5-0 start, the Jayhawks lost four of its next eight and were coming off a 61-57 loss to San Diego State on Sunday that ended their’ 68-game home winning streak against nonconference foes.

Kansas has won 11 of the last 12 matchups with Oklahoma. The Jayhawks’ latest win in the series could be especially important, considering the difficult stretch they face to start the Big 12 campaign. After Oklahoma, Kansas will host No. 25 Kansas State, visit No. 9 Iowa State, then host No. 11 Oklahoma State and No. 7 Baylor, all in succession.

”It’s going to be a monster,” Self said. ”Our league is great. When you think about OU and they go down and they win at Texas, and Texas wins at North Carolina. K-State is playing as well as anybody right now. Iowa State is obviously terrific, and Baylor. We’ve probably been, nonconference-wise, one of the bigger disappointments in the league, based on our preseason expectations. I think it’s going to be a fabulous league.”

Cameron Clark had a career high-tying 32 points for Oklahoma (12-3, 1-1), which lost for the second time in three games. In losses to Louisiana Tech and Kansas, the Sooners gave up 102 and 90 points, respectively.

”It is very frustrating,” Clark said. ”We just have to go back to the drawing board. It all starts on defense. We just have to come together as a group and figured out what it is we are not doing and get better at it.”

The annual visit to Lloyd Noble Center by the Jayhawks – who have won or shared nine straight Big 12 titles – drew fans including country music star Toby Keith, Oklahoma City Thunder chairman Clay Bennett, and Thunder general manager Sam Presti.

Before the game, Oklahoma football player Sterling Shepard – who scored two touchdowns in the Sooners’ win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl – appeared in a video in which he said, ”OK, basketball, we got our big win. Now it’s time to get yours.”

But the Sooners never really slowed Kansas and struggled to deal with the Jayhawks’ size advantage inside. Kansas had a 36-22 edge in rebounding and didn’t seem bothered by a subpar game by Andrew Wiggins. The star freshman went 2 of 9 from the field and scored only nine points, only the second time this season he failed to reach double digits.

”Kansas is awfully good and did a good job dictating a lot of it, for a majority of the minutes,” Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said. ”I thought our guys battled hard. There were maybe a couple of stretches in there when we didn’t quite compete like we have to against a club like that to have a chance that we’d like to have.”

Kansas led 50-44 at halftime and two free throws by Joel Embild made it 74-62 with 10:39 left.

Oklahoma stayed within striking distance and pulled within four points four times, the last time at 87-83 after a turnover by Wiggins and steal by Ryan Spangler led to a dunk by Buddy Hield with 39.9 seconds left.

Naadir Tharpe made two free throws moments later to push Kansas’ lead to six points and, after Clark missed a 3 at the other end, Ellis made the back end of a two-shot free-throw opportunity to make it 90-83 with 29.2 seconds left. Wiggins blocked another 3-point attempt, by Frank Booker, and the Jayhawks eventually were able to run out the clock.

Tharpe scored 17 points for Kansas on 5-for-7 shooting. Hield had 18 points and eight rebounds for the Sooners, while Tyler Neal and Jordan Woodard had 10 points each. Woodard got all his scoring at the free-throw line, going 10 for 10 as Oklahoma made 29 of 36. Kansas went 24 for 30 from the line.

Kansas shot 64.3 percent from the field in the first half, led by Selden Jr., who matched his previous career scoring high of 15 a little more than 8 minutes into the game.

”We were a team that lacked confidence coming in, so it was nice to see a freshman step up and basically give us confidence early on, because that’s about as well as we’ve executed half-court offense, probably, all year, in the first half,” Self said.

Kansas jumped to a 20-11 lead, but Oklahoma hung close thanks to 19-of-22 on free throws. With the score tied at 39 with 3:04 left before halftime, Wiggins was called for his second foul and Self protested, earning himself a technical foul. Oklahoma made all four subsequent free throws to go ahead.

Foul trouble forced Self to dig deep into his bench and freshman Conner Frankamp hit a 3-pointer and a 2 in the final 1:13 to give Kansas the six-point halftime lead.

— Associated Press —

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — It was so loud inside Allen Fieldhouse that San Diego State’s players could barely hear what coach Steve Fisher was saying, yet they knew what the message would be as the timeout ended.

No matter the situation, it’s always the same.

”He just tells you to think something positive, whether it’s basketball, family, whatever. Think something positive,” Xavier Thames said. ”I think that really helps.”

It sure seemed to settle down the Aztecs.

Thames scored 16 points, and calmly made four straight free throws in the closing seconds Sunday, helping No. 21 San Diego State knock off No. 16 Kansas 61-57, ending the Jayhawks’ 68-game non-conference winning streak at their venerable on-campus arena.

Skylar Spencer added 13 points and Josh Davis had 10 for the Aztecs (12-1), who have won 11 straight since losing to No. 1 Arizona on Nov. 14. That streak is tied for the second-best in school history, trailing only the 20-0 start of the 2010-11 team.

”Our coach never gets rattled,” San Diego State forward Winston Shepard said. ”He’s always even keeled, whether we’re up 20 or it’s a close game in here. After every timeout, he tell us to take a good thought out there.”

Think happy thoughts? Why didn’t those other 68 teams try that at the Phog?

Kansas (9-4) still had a chance to tie the game when Perry Ellis went to the free throw line with 11.9 seconds left. He made his first free throw but, after San Diego State called a timeout to ice him, Ellis missed the second and the Jayhawks were forced to foul.

Thames made both free throws to give San Diego State a three-point lead, and the Aztecs fouled rather than allow Kansas to attempt a tying 3. Frank Mason missed the first and made the second, and Thames made two more free throws with 4.6 seconds left to seal the win.

”This is a great win for us,” Thames said. ”A lot of teams don’t come in here and get victories. I’m just blessed to be a part of this one.”

Andrew Wiggins and Mason scored 14 points apiece for the Jayhawks, who had won 112 of their last 114 games at Allen Fieldhouse. Joel Embiid finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

The Jayhawks struggled against the long, lanky Aztecs right from the start, missing eight of their first nine shots and allowing San Diego State to dictate the tempo.

After a 3-pointer by Naadir Tharpe gave Kansas a 9-8 lead, the Jayhawks had just one more field goal over the next 8-plus minutes. Thames and Davis had no such trouble for San Diego State, hitting a series of jumpers and contested layups as the Aztecs built a 29-23 halftime lead.

Kansas wound up shooting 20.7 percent (6 of 29) in the first half.

”I think everybody, we all missed shots we usually make,” Wiggins said, ”and that’s going to happen from time to time with a young team.”

The Aztecs kept up the intensity in the second half, forcing the Jayhawks to misfire on eight of their first 10 shots with their in-your-face, man-to-man defense. The lead slowly grew to 44-33 when JJ O’Brien converted after two misses, once more silencing a packed house.

The Jayhawks finally started to build some momentum midway through the second half, closing within 58-56 on a basket by Wiggins and 50-48 on Tharpe’s scooping layup.

It seemed as if every time Kansas went on a run, though, the Aztecs had an answer.

Spencer scored after Tharpe’s basket, and Thames curled in a 3-pointer to give San Diego State a 55-48 lead with 3 minutes to play. Kansas made one more salvo, getting within 57-55 on a 3-pointer by Mason and seemingly getting the ball back after O’Brien missed a free throw.

During a stoppage in play, the officials determined that the ball went off Kansas with 44.8 seconds left. And even though the Jayhawks got a stop, it cost them precious time.

Kansas coach Bill Self called a timeout with 20 seconds left and decided to go with Ellis, the sure-handed sophomore. He drove to the basket and was fouled, but the 72 percent free throw shooter could only make the first of his two attempts, and San Diego State eventually held on to win.

”Every play we made, it seemed like they came down, they got something positive out of the next possession,” Mason said. ”Whether it was free throws or a made basket, we just couldn’t get the stops we needed.”

— Associated Press —