Kansas junior Thomas Robinson has been named to the 2011-12 Naismith Trophy preseason watch list the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Monday evening.

Robinson has been listed on numerous preseason All-America teams entering the 2011-12 season. The Washington, D.C., native averaged 14.6 minutes in 33 games with two starts last season and was the Jayhawks’ most productive player off the bench, averaging 7.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Robinson notched four double-doubles in 2010-11 and his 60.1 shooting percentage ranked second highest on the team.

Kansas’ Danny Manning, a current assistant on the Jayhawk staff, won the 1988 Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year Trophy.

The watch list was compiled by the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Board of Selectors, which based its criteria on player performances from the previous year and expectations for the 2011-12 college basketball season. The Naismith Trophy presented by AT&T will be awarded at the 2012 NCAA Men’s Final Four in New Orleans.

In February, during CBS’ coverage of college basketball, the “AT&T at the Half” segment will feature a Naismith Trophy update highlighting the players in contention for the award.
In late February, the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Board of Selectors will compile a mid-season team of the top 30 players in the nation. The Naismith Trophy voting academy will then vote to narrow the list to four finalists in March.

The Naismith Trophy is the most prestigious national award presented annually to college basketball’s player of the year. For more information, visit www.naismithawards.com<http://www.naismithawards.com>.

2011-12 Naismith Trophy Preseason Watch List
Tim Abromaitis, Notre Dame
Harrison Barnes, North Carolina
Will Barton, Memphis
Bradley Beal, Florida
William Buford, Ohio State
Aaron Craft, Ohio State
Anthony Davis, Kentucky
Marcus Denmon, Missouri
Andre Drummond, Connecticut
Festus Ezeli, Vanderbilt
Ashton Gibbs, Pittsburgh
Michael Glover, Iona
Drew Gordon, New Mexico
Draymond Green, Michigan State
JaMychal Green, Alabama
Tim Hardaway Jr., Michigan
Elias Harris, Gonzaga
John Henson, North Carolina
Tu Holloway, Xavier
Robbie Hummel, Purdue
Joe Jackson, Memphis
John Jenkins, Vanderbilt
Orlando Johnson, UC Santa Barbara
Darius Johnson-Odom, Marquette
Perry Jones III, Baylor
Terrence Jones, Kentucky
Kevin Jones, West Virginia
Kris Joseph, Syracuse
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky
Jeremy Lamb, Connecticut
Kendall Marshall, North Carolina
Ray McCallum, Detroit
Doug McDermott, Creighton
Khris Middleton, Texas A&M
Quincy Miller, Baylor
Reeves Nelson, UCLA
Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
Alex Oriakhi, Syracuse
Austin Rivers, Duke
Thomas Robinson, Kansas
Terrence Ross, Washinton
John Shurna, Northwestern
Peyton Siva, Louisville
Joshua Smith, UCLA
Jared Sullinger, Ohio State
Jordan Taylor, Wisconsin
Jeffery Taylor, Vanderbilt
Marques Teague, Kentucky
Patric Young, Florida
Tyler Zeller, North Carolina

— KU Sports Information —

Kansas’ football game at Texas A&M on Saturday, Nov. 19 will be televised by Fox Sports Net and feature an 11 a.m. kick off, it was announced Monday. This will mark KU’s eighth television appearance of the season and fourth on FSN.

The Jayhawks will be making their first trek to College Station, Texas since the 2007 season. Texas A&M leads the all-time series with KU, 8-2, including 4-1 at Kyle Field.

KU will host Baylor at 1 p.m. this Saturday as the team celebrates Senior Day at Memorial Stadium. The Jayhawks will recognize their 15-member senior class with a ceremony prior to the game.

— KU Sports Information —

Zach Guyer kicked a 42-yard field goal with 4:30 left to give Iowa State the lead, and backup running back Jeff Woody helped the Cyclones run out the clock in a 13-10 victory over Kansas on Saturday.

Iowa State looked nothing like the team that rolled over Texas Tech 41-7 a week before and struggled to finish drives against the Big 12’s worst defense.

But freshman quarterback Jared Barnett finally got the Cyclones (5-4, 2-4 Big 12) close enough for Guyer to kick his game-winner, leading a march from his own 13 to the Kansas 24. With the wind at his back, Guyer’s kick sailed through the uprights, his second field goal of the day.

Kansas (2-7, 0-5) showed some spark after managing only 46 yards in a 43-0 loss to Texas, but missed two field goals and lost a fumble deep in Iowa State territory in suffering its seventh straight loss. The Jayhawks haven’t won a conference game since beating Colorado, which no longer is in the Big 12, on Nov. 6, 2010.

Barnett, now 2-0 as a starter, ran for 125 yards on 22 carries and threw for another 175 yards, completing 16 of 30 passes with one interception.

He started the winning drive with a 17-yard completion to Aaron Horne, then sprinted 11 yards for another first down. Barnett later hit Albert Gary for gains of 11 and 6 yards before the drive stalled and coach Paul Rhoads called on Guyer, whose 32-yarder had given Iowa State an early 3-0 lead.

Iowa State’s Stephen Ruempolhamer sacked Jordan Webb three plays later to force a punt, and the Cyclones, taking over with 2:37 left, kept the ball the rest of the way as Woody ripped off runs of 6, 8, 6 and 25 yards.

The Cyclones finished with 426 yards of total offense against a team that had been allowing an average of 559 a game in league play. Iowa State now is within one win of bowl eligibility, but the Cyclones have a tough road the rest of the way, finishing against Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Kansas State.

Both teams wasted good scoring opportunities, and that was especially costly for Kansas.

After taking a 7-3 lead when D.J. Beshears scored on a 22-yard reverse late in the first quarter, Kansas drove to the Iowa State 32, 19, 23 and 2 on consecutive possessions and came away with only three points.

Alex Mueller had a 49-yard field goal attempt blocked by A.J. Klein, then was wide right on a 36-yard attempt, and James Sims lost a fumble before Ron Doherty kicked a 19-yard field goal to tie the score at 10 in the third quarter. The Cyclones stiffened on that drive after Kansas had first-and-goal at the 4.

Iowa State had taken a 10-7 lead on wide receiver Aaron Horne’s 18-yard touchdown run on a reverse. Horne came around from the right side, turned the corner, squirted through a group of tacklers at the 10 and raced to the end zone to finish an 11-play, 80-yard drive.

The Cyclones seemed on the verge of taking a 17-10 lead early in the fourth quarter when Barnett and Woody missed a connection on a handoff on second-and-1 at the KU 9. The ball came loose, and Patrick Dorsey recovered for the Jayhawks. Punter Kirby Van Der Kamp had kept that drive going with a 17-yard run on a fake.

After the fumble, Iowa State forced the Jayhawks to go three-and-out on their next two possessions — the first time that had happened all day — and Barnett directed the drive to Guyer’s go-ahead field goal.

Kansas showed an effective running game after being held to minus-2 yards on the ground by Texas. The Jayhawks rushed for 174 yards, but had only 4 yards on the ground and 15 total yards in the fourth quarter.

Webb finished 13 for 21 for 127 yards and no interceptions.

— Associated Press —

Led by Angel Goodrich’s 16-points, the Jayhawks kicked off their 2011-12 season with a 83-61 exhibition win over Emporia State, Wednesday night at Allen Fieldhouse. The junior guard added four assists and two steals to go along with her game-high point total.

The Jayhawks got out to an early lead over the Hornets as Goodrich scored eight of KU’s first nine points. Kansas would then extend its lead, going on a 16-2 run during a five-minute stretch midway through the first half, which was capped off by a Cece Harper lay-up to put KU up 33-13, just under eight minutes to play in the half.

In the starting lineup for Bonnie Henrickson’s squad was freshman Natalie Knight, who finished the contest with five assists, two rebounds and a steal in her 23 minutes of play. Freshmen Bunny Williams, Donielle Breaux, Asia Boyd and Chelsea Gardner also saw their first minutes in a Crimson and Blue uniform Wednesday night. Going into the half, KU maintained a commanding 43-24 lead, while holding ESU shooters to just 30 percent from the field.

Kansas added to its 19-point halftime lead in the second as four Jayhawks reached double-digits. Junior Carolyn Davis was the second-highest scorer for KU, with her 6-for-7 performance from the field en route to 14 points on the evening. Henrickson’s five freshmen combined for a total of 22 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists and seven steals in their first game. The highest scorer of the group was Williams who had eight. Breaux was not far off her teammate’s pace with seven.

Kansas held Emporia State to a little less than 40 percent from the field on Wednesday night and capitalized on 27 Hornet turnovers, scoring exactly 27 points, while only committing eight themselves.

This was the second-straight season that Kansas scored 83 points in an exhibition opener, as last year’s team defeated Fort Hays State, 83-62.

With their first game under their belt, the Jayhawks will now shift their attention to the Pittsburg State Gorillas, whom they will host Sunday at Allen Fieldhouse. Tip-off for KU’s final exhibition game of the pre-season is slated for 2 p.m.

— KU Sports Information —

Five three-pointers from senior Conner Teahan and a triple-double from junior Jeff Withey ignited No. 13 Kansas to a win against Pittsburgh State in the 2011-2012 season exhibition opener, Tuesday night, 84-55.

A sold-out Allen Fieldhouse crowd played witness to the Jayhawks’ 38th-straight exhibition game victory, dating back to the 1995 season. Head coach Bill Self moved to 24-0 in exhibition games at Kansas as the Jayhawks kept their unblemished 9-0 record versus Pittsburg State.

Kansas, who shot for nearly 50 percent in the opening half while holding the visiting PSU to just 29 percent accuracy, fought off a closely contested first half instead before outscoring the Gorillas 52-28 in the final 20 minutes. As a team, Kansas also outdid its first-half effort, shooting for a 65-percent mark in the second frame. Defensively, Withey helped the Jayhawks to a lopsided blocking margin as KU rejected 15 shots to Pitt State’s single block.

Without the use of starters Tyshawn Taylor, Elijah Johnson and Thomas Robinson, Kansas head coach Bill Self worked all of his available roster into the Tuesday night’s contest. Teahan’s 21 points led all scorers, while Withey’s 18 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocks turned in the only triple-double of the evening – and of his career – had the game been a regular season contest.

Junior guard Travis Releford and freshman guard Naadir Tharpe churned out 14 and 12 points, respectively, to put four Jayhawks in double figures. All of the above would also have registered as career highs if Tuesday night’s matchup not been exhibition.

Teahan nailed a three just seconds after the Jayhawks won the opening tip, setting the tone for what looked to be an offensive outpouring from the Kansas lineup. The redshirt senior knocked down his first three shots from three-point land and finished the evening 5-of-8 from behind the three-point arc and an efficient 8-for-11 from the floor.

Powered by four returning starters from its 2010-11 squad, Pitt State was led by senior guard Drake Green and junior Nolen Marky’s nine points apiece and junior forward JaVon McGee’s 12 rebounds.

Just under the 15-minute mark, sophomore forward Justin Wesley was whistled for his second foul. The call sent Wesley to the bench for the majority of the opening half, but it was Pitt State that suffered from foul trouble. The Gorillas sent KU into the bonus with 12 minutes to play, a benefit the Jayhawks were not able to capitalize on, hitting just 3-of-8 from the line in the first frame and 19-for-37 on the night.

A three from junior Courtney Ingram and put-back layup off the hands of McGee shortened the Kansas lead, 19-15, bringing the Gorillas as close as they had been all evening to the Jayhawks. Another bucket from Ingram would cut the Kansas lead to two, seconds before the final media timeout. Tharpe responded with a pair of threes out of the timeout to help push the Jayhawks out to a 32-27 lead at the break.

Releford converted a three-point play to spark the Jayhawks in the early minutes of the second half. The starting point guard added to his eight first-half points with six more in the second, on a 55-percent shooting night.

A quick strike to the basket resulted in a Tharpe layup, backing up Teahan’s fourth three-pointer of the game. The back-to-back effort handed Kansas the 46-35 advantage at the 13:35 mark – the Jayhawks’ first double-digit lead since jumping out to a 15-5 advantage in the game’s early minutes.

With a sizable lead in tow, Kansas took off. Consecutive dunks from Releford and Wesley brought the full house to its feet and stretched the lead, 62-46.

The Jayhawks would increase its lead to 15, then 20 and finally 25 for the remainder of the game. When Teahan connected for his fifth three ball of the night, Kansas was well-beyond reach nearing the final media timeout on its way to the comfortable 84-55 victory.

— KU Sports Information —

Kansas guards Tyshawn Taylor and Elijah Johnson have been suspended for violating team rules and will miss both of the No. 13 Jayhawks’ exhibition games.

Coach Bill Self declined to discuss the specific violations Sunday, but he did say they occurred during the offseason and that both players “have been terrific since school began.”

They’ll miss exhibition games Tuesday night against Pittsburg State and Nov. 8 against Fort Hays State.

Taylor is the Jayhawks’ leading returning scorer after averaging 9.4 points and 4.6 assists last season. Johnson started six games a year ago and is their best returning outside shooter.

Kansas opens its regular season Nov. 11 against Towson.

— Associated Press —

For the first time in a long time, Texas players gathered in the end zone of Royal-Memorial Stadium and sang “The Eyes of Texas” with smiles on their faces after beating a Big 12 team at home.

The losing streak is finally over.

Freshmen tailbacks Malcolm Brown and Joe Bergeron racked up 255 yards rushing and four touchdowns as Texas ended a five-game home losing streak in the Big 12 with a 43-0 romp over Kansas on Saturday night.

“We got back on track … It’s been a while since we were singing in the locker room,” Texas senior safety Blake Gideon said. “That was huge. There’s a certain amount of pride in that, in protecting your home stadium.”

Texas rushed for 441 yards as a team against the worst defense in the country. Brown reached the 100-yard mark by halftime and his 635 yards this season already are the most by a Texas player since 2007.

Freshman quarterback David Ash got his second consecutive start for Texas (5-2, 2-2 Big 12), which ended a two-game losing skid and got its first home Big 12 win since beating Kansas on Nov. 21, 2009.

“It’s probably as physical as we’ve been around here in a long time,” Texas coach Mack Brown said.

Kansas (2-6, 0-5) has lost six in a row, putting more pressure on second-year coach Turner Gill, who is 5-15 with the Jayhawks, who had just three first downs and 46 total yards.

Kansas quarterback Jordan Webb was 7 of 16 passing for 48 yards and one interception.

“Tough ball game all the way around,” Gill said. “Tough on our offense. I wasn’t expecting us to be totally shut down as far as moving the ball.”

The Texas defense turned in one of its most dominant performances in years, getting its first shutout since 2005 and holding Kansas to minus-2 yards rushing. Kansas averaged just 1.3 yards per play.

Brown and Bergeron ran wild over the beleagued Kansas defense that came in giving up an average of 50 points per game. It was the first time in Texas history two freshman have rushed for 100 yards in a game.

“Our plan was to wear them down,” said senior tailback Fozzy Whittaker, who added 68 yards. “As you saw at the end, the holes were just getting bigger and bigger.”

Ash was an efficient 14 of 18 for 145 yards with one interception. He clearly has ended the pretense that Texas is open to reverting back to the rotation of Ash and Case McCoy that the Longhorns used earlier this season.

McCoy was 2-1 as a starter but Ash started and played the entire game in a loss to No. 3 Oklahoma State. After that game, Texas coach Mack Brown said last week the position was still up for grabs and suggested the rotation could return.

However, Ash took every snap while leading Texas to a 33-0 lead before McCoy took over late in the third quarter.

The Longhorns desperately needed the home win. Texas was just 2-5 in Royal-Memorial Stadium in last season’s 5-7 finish as the Longhorns were routinely punched around their own field.

Texas’ last home Big 12 win had come in former quarterback Colt McCoy’s final game in a season the Longhorns played for the national championship. Few things had gone right for Texas at home since.

Behind Malcom Brown, Texas had little trouble pushing around the woeful Kansas defense.

The Longhorns marched 65 yards to their first touchdown, a 6-yard run by Brown where he lost a shoe breaking a tackle at the 1. They went 90 yards for the second score when Ash capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run off a scramble.

Ash and Brown had Texas cruising to another score before Kansas stuffed a quarterback sneak on fourth down at the goal line. Kansas could not capitalize and was penalized for a personal foul in the end zone on the next play, costing the Jayhawks two points on a safety.

Ash finally made a mistake on Texas’ next drive, throwing into triple coverage for an easy interception in the end zone. Ash has six turnovers in Texas’ last three games.

Brown’s second touchdown, a 1-yard run, made it 23-0 before Texas’ Justin Tucker ended the half with a career-long 52-yard field goal. Kansas ran only 13 offensive plays in the half to 58 for Texas.

“We were worried about substituting some of our guys at halftime because they were so tired,” Mack Brown said.

Conditions did not improve for Kansas. On the first play of the third quarter, quarterback Jordan Webb was sacked for an eight-yard loss, nearly wiping out the Jayhawks’ entire offensive production to that point.

“We played complete defense tonight,” Texas linebacker Keenan Robinson said. “We were just physical and aggressive and that’s how you win games.”

— Associated Press —

Kansas junior forward Thomas Robinson hyperextended his left knee during Thursday’s practice according to KU head coach Bill Self.

“The results from the MRI were positive for Thomas,” Self said. “He will take a couple of days off to let it calm down, but hopefully will not miss any significant time.”

Self also said that Anthony West, a 6-6 forward, has joined the team as a practice player. West is a sophomore out of Shawnee Mission East High School and was a member of the KU women’s practice squad last year.

“Anthony went through walk-on tryouts (Oct. 25) and impressed us,” Self said. “He will be part of our practice squad and we will evaluate him as we go forward.”

— KU Sports Information —

Kansas’ football game at Iowa State scheduled for Nov. 5 has been picked up by Fox College Sports, it was announced Monday. Kick off has been set for 11:30 a.m., at Jack Trice Stadium.

The Jayhawks appeared on Fox College Sports in their win over Northern Illinois in September and were on the network twice during the 2010 season, both home games versus North Dakota State and New Mexico State.

The Jayhawks lead the all-time series versus the Cyclones 49-35-6, including a 22-20-3 ledger in games played in Ames. ISU took last year’s meeting, 28-16, in Ames, but prior to that KU had won five-straight in the series, including back-to-back wins at Jack Trice Stadium in 2006 and 2008.

Kansas has appeared on television in five of its seven games in the 2011 season to date and will be appearing on the Jayhawk TV Network/Longhorn Network in this weekend’s game at Texas. The Jayhawks and Longhorns will hit the field at 6 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 29.

— KU Sports Information —