Kansas guard Ben McLemore and center Jeff Withey have been named to the John R. Wooden Final Ballot, the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced on ESPN College GameDay Saturday.

Kansas and Indiana are the only schools with two players among the 15 student-athletes on the Wooden Award ballot.

McLemore leads the Big 12 freshman class with a 16.5 scoring average, which is second overall in the conference. A three-time Big 12 Rookie of the Week and one-time Player of the Week honoree, McLemore leads the Big 12 in free throw percentage at 86.8 and also ranks among the league leaders in field goal percentage (eighth, 50.2), rebounding (20th, 5.4), three-point field goal percentage (third, 42.5) and three-pointers made (seventh, 1.9). KU’s leading scorer, McLemore has eight games with 20 points or more this season, including three 30-point efforts: 36 vs. West Virginia (3/2), 33 vs. Iowa State (1/9) and 30 vs. Kansas State (2/11). He is the only freshman in KU history to have three 30-point games in one season. His 36 points against West Virginia (3/2) broke the Kansas freshman record of 35 points set by Danny Manning against Oklahoma State (3/2/1985). McLemore has scored 494 points this season and is two shy of the KU freshman record of 496 set by Manning in 1985.

Withey has emerged as a key player for No. 4/3 Kansas (26-4, 14-3). The San Diego, native has five double-doubles in his last seven games and is second in the Big 12 with 12 double-doubles this season. A three-time Big 12 Player of the Week, Withey has 15 games shooting 60 percent or better and leads the Big 12 with 4.0 blocks per game, which is third nationally. He also ranks among the Big 12 leaders in scoring (ninth, 13.8), rebounding (third, 8.6), field goal percentage (second, 57.7) and FT Pct. (12th, 70.8). Early in the season Withey recorded the second official triple double in school history with 16 points, 12 rebounds and a school and Big 12-record 12 blocked shots vs. San Jose State (11/26). His 12 blocked shots are tied for the NCAA game high in 2012-13 and he has three games with nine or more blocks this season. Withey is KU’s and the Big 12’s career blocked shots record holder with 285 and his 120 blocks in 2012-13 are third on the KU single-season list: 1. Withey, 140 in 2011-12; 2. Cole Aldrich, 125 in 2009-10.

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. The John R. Wooden Award Player of the Year presented by Wendy’s will be announced on ESPN during the Final Four Weekend in Atlanta. The 2013 Wooden Award Gala presented by Wendy’s will take place April 11-13, 2013, at The Los Angeles Athletic Club. The Gala will honor the Men’s and Women’s Wooden Award winners, All Americans and the Legends of Coaching Award winner, Kansas Head Coach Bill Self.

— KU Sports Information —

The last thing Kansas’ four seniors wanted to think about was their senior night.

Determined not to get caught up in the emotion of their final appearance in perpetually amped-up, sold-out Allen Fieldhouse, all four seniors had big games Monday night to lead the fourth-ranked Jayhawks to a 79-42 rout of Texas Tech.

”Today’s been kind of crazy,” said center Jeff Withey, who had 22 points and nine rebounds. ”You try not to think about what’s really going on, playing for the last time in the fieldhouse. For me personally, it hasn’t really hit me. I don’t think it will for a while.”

Kevin Young had 14 points and fellow senior Travis Releford 13 added while point guard Elijah Johnson, the fourth member of the class, had seven points and 12 assists. The Jayhawks (26-4, 14-3 Big 12) took a half-game lead over No. 9 Kansas State in their quest for a ninth straight conference title.

”It’s time to rock out. It’s time to get to business, and I think we all knew that,” said Johnson, who has 22 assists the past two games. ”I honestly think the reason it hasn’t hit all of us as far as this being the last (home) game is cause we’re so focused on what we’ve got to do. So we’re not dwelling on the moment. We know there’s stuff to be done. That’s where our heads are right now.”

Redshirt freshman Ben McLemore, a potential NBA lottery pick who was probably also playing his last game in Allen Fieldhouse, had 13 points.

Fueled by Young and Withey, Kansas unleashed a 19-2 run to take a 45-20 halftime lead over the outmanned Red Raiders (10-18, 3-14). Withey and McLemore combined to score the first 10 points in a 16-3 run to open the second half.

Jordan Tolbert had 16 points for Texas Tech, which lost 60-46 at home to Kansas earlier this season.

”It’s the most difficult situation probably in college basketball to come to Kansas on senior night, No. (4) in the country, a place with storied tradition and a great coach,” first-year Texas Tech coach Chris Walker said. ”Obviously, we’re still building and it was a little tough for our guys.”

The lopsided victory was the 30th straight for Kansas in its home finale and ensured the Jayhawks of at least 26 wins for the seventh consecutive season.

Coach Bill Self was happy to see the attitude his seniors brought to their final home games. There have been years when over-emotional seniors have struggled.

”Senior nights are pretty nerve-racking to me,” he said. ”We’ve had some senior nights where we won but we didn’t play good cause guys are too geeked-up and everything. Sherron (Collins) didn’t make his first basket until about 10 minutes left on his senior night. But these guys were focused. It was emotional for them but they kept it pretty well in check. Of course, the fans were unbelievable.”

”It really hasn’t hit me, or any of us yet,” Releford said. ”I really don’t know how to express that last moment walking off the court.”

With one regular-season game left and then the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments, the four seniors – Withey, Young, Releford and Johnson – have a combined 463 victories.

Withey had baskets on Kansas’ first two possessions of the second half, then McLemore dropped in two free throws and another basket as the rout got worse and Texas Tech called a timeout in a futile try to stem the tide.

But Perry Ellis scored four quick points and Johnson dunked after Kansas stole the ball and the Jayhawks suddenly had a 61-23 lead.

Kansas scored on seven of its first nine possessions in the first half but then hit a lull and scored on only one of their next six while the Red Raiders – 23-point underdogs – crept within 13-10. Young, the most unheralded of the four seniors, triggered a 19-2 run that let the sellout crowd of 16,300 relax and enjoy one more easy home win by their beloved Jayhawks.

Taking a pass from Johnson, Young got the run going with a behind-the-back dunk, then got a putback on McLemore’s miss and with, another assist from Johnson, slammed home another dunk on the next possession.

Johnson tossed to Withey for another slam, then the 7-footer made in two free throws and a few minutes later brought a thunderous roar from the crowd by pulling up just inches from the line and making a feathery 3-pointer for a 32-12 lead.

To the delight of the crowd, the Red Raiders had three players put up air balls in the first half – Ty Nurse, Josh Gray and Jaye Crockett.

Texas Tech, losing to Kansas for the 24th time in 28 games, finished its conference road schedule 1-8.

”Kansas is a very good team,” Tolbert said. ”It was obviously a little more intense because it was a top five team in the nation.”

— Associated Press —

By shattering Danny Manning’s Kansas freshman record with 36 points on Saturday, Ben McLemore did more than propel the sixth-ranked Jayhawks to a 91-65 romp over West Virginia.

He also took Bill Self back to his own college days.

The Kansas coach was a senior guard at Oklahoma State when Manning lit up the Cowboys for 35 points on March 2, 1985 in an 88-79 Jayhawks victory, a school record which stood exactly 28 years.

”I was in that game,” Self said with a grin. ”I played the back line of a 2-3 zone. I think he got like 20 on me. But not all 35.”

What Manning lacked that day was a teammate like Jeff Withey, who complemented McLemore with 14 points, 10 rebounds and nine blocks, falling one block shy of a triple-double as Kansas (25-4, 13-3 Big 12) took a half-game lead over Kansas State in its quest for a ninth straight Big 12 championship. The 13th-ranked Wildcats played later Saturday at Baylor.

”I was one block away (from a triple-double) and I felt pretty good about that,” said Withey, who pushed his school and conference record to 281 blocks. ”Nine is a lot, and I did a lot of work for that. As long as we get the win, I’m usually happy.”

McLemore, a 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman, went to the bench with a little more than 5 minutes left after hitting 12 of 15 shots from the field, including 5 of 6 from beyond the 3-point arc. He had seven rebounds and four assists.

Elijah Johnson, one game after scoring 39 points at Iowa State, had 12 points and 10 assists for the Jayhawks.

”I just want to thank my teammates, especially Elijah, for creating things for me and helping me get my shots open,” said McLemore, who got the record with his fifth 3-pointer. ”Elijah is a great player because he can see when I get on a roll and he wants to keep feeding me.”

”Ben was remarkable tonight,” Self said. ”Elijah was good. Jeff was great. Everybody else was solid. That’s about as efficient offensively as we’ve been all year.”

The Jayhawks shot 57 percent for the game.

While being so active on both ends of the court, Withey did not pick up his first foul until a little more than 5 minutes remained in the game.

”He is the best shot-blocker in the country,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said.

Terry Henderson had 20 points for the Mountaineers (13-16, 6-10), including 6 of 9 from 3-point range. Dominique Rutledge had 14 of his 17 points in the second half in West Virginia’s first visit to venerable Allen Field House, where Self now stands 162-8 with one home to go in his 10th season as Kansas head coach.

”We’re not good enough to get down 10 or 12 or 14 to a team as good as they are and be able to come back,” Huggins said. ”We have to keep the game within reach and it’s hard to do that when we commit unforced errors.”

McLemore scored 19 points in a back-and-forth first half which Naadir Tharp brought to an end with a long 3-pointer just seconds ahead of the buzzer for a 45-31 Kansas lead.

”We could have guarded him a little better. We didn’t guard him very well,” Huggins said.

The Mountaineers had a hot hand early and led by as many as six points while Kansas was groping to find its shot.

As soon as they located it, the Jayhawks quickly seized control with an 18-5 run, fueled by McLemore’s two 3-pointers and three blocks by the 7-foot Withey, who had a 3-inch height advantage over West Virginia’s Deniz Kilicli.

Withey had a triple-double earlier this season against San Jose State with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 12 blocks.

The Jayhawks host Texas Tech on Monday night then finish the regular season at Baylor.

”We know we have to win the rest of our games to win the conference (championship). And in order to get into our groove in the tournament,” Withey said.

— Associated Press —

Kansas’ Ben McLemore and Jeff Withey have been named to the list of top 30 candidates for the 2013 Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year award presented by AT&T, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Tuesday.

Duke (Seth Curry, Mason Plumlee) and Indiana (Victor Oladipo, Cody Zeller) join Kansas with two candidates each on the top 30 list.

McLemore leads No. 6/5 Kansas (24-4) in scoring at 15.9 points per game, which tops all Big 12 freshmen in scoring and ranks third overall in the conference. The Jan. 14 Big 12 Player of the Week and two-time conference Rookie of the Week, McLemore leads the league in free throw percentage (88.0) and is third in the Big 12 in three-point field goal percentage (42.3). The St. Louis, Mo., redshirt freshman guard is listed on the USBWA Wayman Tisdale National Freshman of the Year Award Midseason list and has a team-high 52 three-pointers made.

A senior center from San Diego, Calif., on Monday Withey was named the Big 12 Player of the Week for the second straight week and third time in 2012-13. He leads Kansas in rebounding (8.5 rpg) and has 11 double-doubles this season, including four in his last five games. Withey is tops in the league in blocked shots at 3.8 per game, which ranks third nationally. Withey, who averages 13.5 points per outing, is Kansas’ and the Big 12’s all-time blocked shots leader with 272.

The top 30 candidates were selected by the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Board of Selectors, which based its criteria on player performances to this point in the 2013 men’s college basketball season. In late March, the Naismith Trophy voting academy will narrow down the list to four finalists. The Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year presented by AT&T will be awarded on April 7, 2013 in Atlanta.

— KU Sports Information —

Elijah Johnson scored a career-high 39 points – 12 in overtime – and No. 6 Kansas rallied to beat Iowa State 108-96 on Monday night for coach Bill Self’s 500th career win.

Travis Releford added 19 points for the Jayhawks (24-4, 12-3 Big 12), who snapped Iowa State’s 22-game home winning streak and kept pace with No. 13 Kansas State atop the Big 12.

Johnson made two free throws with 4.9 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 90-all. He and Releford buried 3s to put Kansas ahead 100-92 with 2:03 left, and Johnson drilled a 30-footer with 54 seconds left.

Korie Lucious scored 23 points and Tyrus McGee had 22 for the Cyclones (19-9, 9-6), who dropped their third overtime game in Big 12 play – and their second straight at the hands of the Jayhawks.

After the game a handful of those in the student section hurled small plastic megaphones at the Jayhawks as they ran back to their locker room.

For all the talk concerning Self’s quest for win No. 500, this game seemed destined to hinge upon whether Iowa State, one of the nation’s best offenses, could score enough on the stingy Jayhawks, the nation’s leader in field goal percentage defense entering play.

As it turned out, both teams had little trouble making shots until overtime.

That’s when the Cyclones lost their touch.

Freshman Georges Niang beat the shot clock with a 3, Iowa State’s 17th of the game, to give the Cyclones an 87-82 lead with 44.5 seconds left. But Johnson answered, and the Jayhawks went 6 of 7 from the field in overtime while Iowa State went 1 of 9.

For Iowa State, this loss was painfully similar to the one in Lawrence on Jan. 9.

Ben McLemore banked in a late 3 to force overtime of a game the Cyclones had controlled throughout. The Jayhawks prevailed, and though the Cyclones bounced back they certainly didn’t forget their lost night in Lawrence.

But with March just around the corner, Iowa State and the rest of the league is chasing the Jayhawks – again.

Though Kansas and K-State are tied for first, the Jayhawks hold the tiebreaker because they beat the rival Wildcats twice. Kansas’ remaining regular season schedule; Texas Tech and West Virginia at home, struggling Baylor on the road, doesn’t appear to be all that daunting as the Jayhawks go for at least a share of its ninth straight Big 12 title.

Self, who began his head coaching career at Oral Roberts, is 293-57 at Kansas. He tied former Temple legend John Chaney by reaching 500 victories in his first 662 games.

His milestone night got off to an interesting start, though

Self was called for a rare technical foul for arguing a call less than 3 minutes into the game – much to the delight of a raucous, sellout crowd decked out in bright gold.

— Associated Press —

For the second straight week, Kansas senior Jeff Withey has been named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week in a vote of a media panel which covers the league, the conference office announced Monday.  Withey is receiving the accolade for the third time this year and fourth time in his career.

Withey averaged 17.5 points and 10.0 rebounds in two Jayhawk victories last week.  The San Diego, center opened with his third straight double-double, tallying 17 points and a season-high 14 boards in the 68-67 double-overtime win at No. 14 Oklahoma State. He then contributed 18 points and six rebounds in Kansas’ 74-48 victory against TCU. For the week, Withey shot 52.6 percent (10-of-19) and connected on 83.3 percent (15-of-18) of his attempts from the free throw line. Withey also had seven blocked shots last week, increasing his Kansas and Big 12 career records total to 272.

Withey is the first player this season to win back-to-back Big 12 Player of the Week honors. His four times receiving the honor for his career joins him with former Kansas greats Kirk Hinrich, Drew Gooden, Raef LaFrentz and his former teammate Thomas Robinson and only trails five-time Big 12 Player of The Week Jayhawks selections Wayne Simien and Nick Collison. All of the aforementioned were named to All-America first teams their final seasons at Kansas.

Kansas (23-4, 11-3) will play at Iowa State (19-8, 9-5) tonight on ESPN Big Monday at 8 p.m. (Central). KU has won four straight games, while ISU is undefeated in Hilton Coliseum this season and has a 22-game home-court winning streak.

— KU Sports Information —

Bill Self didn’t show Kansas any extra video from its previous game against TCU.

His guys could probably recall every play anyway.

It was just over two weeks ago that the mighty Jayhawks, eight-time defending Big 12 champs, were waylaid on the road by a team that hasn’t won another conference game all season.

So it made sense that the ninth-ranked Jayhawks would bring a bit of feistiness to the return game Saturday, and they didn’t disappoint: They rolled to a 74-48 victory at Allen Fieldhouse.

”We just showed them their plays, how they run things and guard, and how we were inept doing both things against them,” Self said of that 62-55 loss on Feb. 6.

”Hopefully it won’t be discussed much moving forward. We need to think positive thoughts.”

The Jayhawks (23-4, 11-3 Big 12) are certainly moving in a positive direction. They have won three straight since an uncharacteristic three-game skid, and assured themselves of no worse than a tie for first place in the league race heading to Iowa State on Monday night.

”They came out and kind of hit us in the mouth over there, and today, we came out with a lot of energy,” said Jeff Withey, who had 18 points to lead the Jayhawks.

”We kind of had a quick start and kept rolling from there.”

Kansas built a 38-9 lead by halftime and never looked back, giving Self career win No. 499.

Ben McLemore finished with 14 points, and Perry Ellis and Travis Releford had 12 each as Kansas put on a show for about 200 former players, coaches and staff – among them former coach Ted Owens – who were on hand to celebrate the program’s 115th anniversary.

”Obviously they were upset. I don’t know for what,” joked TCU coach Trent Johnson.

The nine points scored in the first half by TCU were the fewest in any half in the last 15 years of Big 12 games – the fewest the Jayhawks had ever allowed in a Big 12 game. And they were the fewest allowed in a half by Kansas since Cornell scored nine on Jan. 2, 1996.

Devonta Abron had 18 points to lead the Horned Frogs, who have lost five straight by an average of nearly 22 since their victory over the Jayhawks. They have also lost 13 of 14 overall, their most recent win against anybody else coming Dec. 30 against Mississippi Valley State.

”We started out kind of rough all we could have done was keep our heads up and play through it,” Abron said. ”We had open shots. We just weren’t making them.”

Wearing throwback uniforms to honor its 1988 national championship team, Kansas rolled off the first 11 points and built an 18-5 lead with just over 10 minutes left in the half.

The Jayhawks mostly did it with defense, forcing the Horned Frogs into dribbling and passing around the perimeter for most of the shot clock before forcing up off-balanced shot. TCU wound up shooting 4 of 27 from the field and was 0 for 7 from beyond the arc in the first half.

”We played as a team today,” McLemore said. ”We got a lot of stops.”

The Horned Frogs didn’t fare well when Johnson called timeouts, either. Twice they committed turnovers on the ensuing inbounds play, keeping the Jayhawks’ momentum going.

Self did far better with his timeouts.

After the Horned Frogs scored consecutive baskets, he called a quick one to get his team back on track. Kevin Young responded with a basket underneath, Elijah Johnson hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key and the Jayhawks ripped off an 18-0 run to end the half.

Trent Johnson left the court shaking his head at halftime, and it was hard to tell why: His team trailing 38-9 against a team it recently beat, or the soaring dunk along the base line that McLemore threw down in the closing seconds to punctuate the Jayhawks’ big first half.

McLemore had 10 points at the break – one more than TCU had as a team.

The Horned Frogs’ starters were shut out in the first half, combining to shoot 0 for 14 from the field. They committed eight turnovers and missed both of their free throws.

”I’ve never seen that before,” Self said. ”But they also missed some open looks, too. It’s not all defense. They helped us by missing shots.”

Things didn’t go much better in the second half for the Horned Frogs, who couldn’t string together enough baskets to make much of a dent in the Jayhawks’ lead.

By the time the closing minutes wound down, the only question was whether Kansas would miss a foul shot. The Jayhawks didn’t attempt one in the first half, but made their first 17 tries in the second. Andrew White III finally missed one with 2:26 left in the game.

Naturally, he made his second attempt.

It was that kind of day for Kansas.

— Associated Press —

Naadir Tharpe connected on a short jumper in the lane with 16.5 seconds left in the second overtime, lifting No. 9 Kansas to a 68-67 win over No. 14 Oklahoma State on Wednesday night.

Travis Releford scored 18 points and Jeff Withey had three double-overtime free throws among his 17 points for the Jayhawks (22-4, 10-4 Big 12), who are tied with No. 13 Kansas State for the conference lead with five games to go. Kansas has had at least a share of the Big 12 regular-season title for each of the past eight years, but that streak was in jeopardy against the surging Cowboys.

Markel Brown scored 20 points to lead Oklahoma State (19-6, 9-4), which had won seven straight – including snapping the Jayhawks’ 33-game home winning streak at Allen Fieldhouse earlier this month.

Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State’s star freshman, had 16 points but fouled out midway through the second extra period when he slammed into Releford after going airborne on a drive to the basket.

On the winning play, Tharpe isolated against Phil Forte and wiggled his way into the lane before popping in a jumper from the right side. Brown missed a jumper from the left wing with about 7 seconds left, and Releford dove along the sideline in front of Oklahoma State’s bench to prevent the rebound from going out of bounds and instead let the final seconds tick off the clock.

Neither team led by more than six during the classic with championship implications, and both had their chances to win it at the end of regulation and each overtime.

Defense ruled the day, with the Jayhawks escaping on their only field goal in either overtime period. Kansas missed its other seven attempts from the field, but used the nation’s best defense to limit Oklahoma State to a season-low 32.8 percent.

With so many misses, naturally, each team’s star freshman had his share.

Ben McLemore, on pace to replace Danny Manning as the highest-scoring freshman in Kansas history, misfired on his first eight shots before making three in a row in the second half. He had a season-low seven points.

Smart started out 0 for 9 before finally hitting a fallaway jumper along the right side of the lane to cut Oklahoma State’s deficit to 53-51 with 3:20 left in regulation. Forte tied it soon after, making a pair of free throws after coming up with a steal.

Smart came out of the game once after hurting his right shoulder and again after tweaking his right ankle in the first half. He then got socked in the face by Withey early in the second half. But it wasn’t until he got his fifth foul that he finally couldn’t return.

Elijah Johnson missed a pair of free throws with the chance to put Kansas up by five in the first overtime, only to have Brown return the favor on the Cowboys’ end. But Johnson fouled out in the scramble for the rebound, and Brown then made both his attempts to draw Oklahoma State within 61-60 with 2:35 remaining.

After two free throws by Releford, Oklahoma State’s Forte drilled a 3-pointer from the left corner with 56.4 seconds left to tie it at 63. The game went to a second overtime after McLemore air-balled a 3-pointer, Smart came up empty on a drive and Releford missed a driving attempt for Kansas. Smart’s desperation shot from three-quarters court grazed the front of the rim.

The Jayhawks weren’t able to close it out in regulation after Releford banked in a tricky scoop shot underneath for a 57-53 lead with 1:49 to play. Smart made one of two free throws at the opposite end and, after Withey missed inside for Kansas, he got out in transition for a 3-pointer to tie it with 1:11 to play.

Johnson crossed over Smart on a drive, getting him to fall down in the lane, but Michael Cobbins came over to the rescue and swatted Johnson’s shot into the hands of coach Bill Self on the Jayhawks’ bench. Brian Williams knocked the ball away from Tharpe to give OSU a chance at the win, but Smart missed a wild, off-balance jumper from the right wing and time ran out with the game tied at 57.

— Associated Press —

Kansas senior Jeff Withey became the conference’s all-time blocked shots leader Saturday and has been named Phillip 66 co-Big 12 Player of the Week, earning the honor for games Feb. 11-17, in a vote of a media panel which covers the league, the conference office announced Monday.

Withey, who shares this week’s honor with Kansas State’s Angel Rodriguez, posted 16.0 points and 10.5 rebounds per game as the Jayhawks recorded wins over then-No. 10 K-State and Texas. The San Diego, Calif., center shot 47.6 percent from the field and made 80 percent of his free throws while blocking seven shots and grabbing three steals. He had double-doubles in both games, finishing with 17 points and 10 boards versus the Wildcats and following that performance up with 15 points and 10 rebounds against UT. Withey’s two double-doubles were his eighth and nine of the year.

In the Texas game, Withey became the Big 12 career leader in blocked shots with his 265th rejection, passing Chris Mihm of Texas who had 264 blocks from 1998-2000. In the Kansas State contest, Withey became Kansas’ all-time blocked shots leader, passing Greg Ostertag who had 258 from 1992-95.

Withey is the first Jayhawk to be named Big 12 Player of the Week for the second time this season and has received the honor three times in his career. Other KU players who have received the accolade in 2012-13 are Travis Releford and Ben McLemore.

Kansas (21-4, 9-3) will play at Oklahoma State (19-5, 9-3) in a battle for first place in the Big 12 race on Wednesday, Feb. 20, at 8 p.m. (Central) on ESPN2. KU and OSU are tied with Kansas State (20-5, 9-3) atop the league standings.

— KU Sports Information —