On College Basketball: Kansas not threatened by Temple

A freight train came through town last night, right up North Broad Street, accompanied by maybe the loudest rendition of "Rock Chalk, Jayhawk" ever heard in Philly.

The Kansas Jayhawks showed up at the sold-out Liacouras Center undefeated but with the slightest question attached to their No. 1 ranking. This game provided an exclamation point. The Kansas chant got going with time still remaining in the 84-52 demolition of the 18th-ranked Owls.

"Today, for the first time, it really didn't matter who was out there," Kansas coach Bill Self said about his own team.

For this one night, Temple might have been better off not being nationally ranked. Those whispered questions about Kansas were about its level of competition. In their first dozen victories, the Jayhawks had played just one true road game, and none against a currently ranked team. Jayhawks players talked about doing a poor job of rebounding in their last game - against Belmont.

"We hadn't really been away from home and felt nervous going into a game," said Self, affirming that this game at least had provided that.

A little more than 12 minutes in, Kansas had a 19-17 lead - the one moment when Owls fans at least had faint hopes. Somebody along press row pointed out, "This score definitely favors Temple." He meant the pace of the game. Kansas hadn't been able to get a run going.

The guy barely got the words out of his mouth when Owls forward Lavoy Allen missed a top-of-the-key three that would have given Temple the lead. The Jayhawks took off and scored on seven consecutive possessions. Jayhawks point guard Sherron Collins scored inside and then jumped into a passing lane for a steal and fed a teammate for a three-pointer. Owls coach Fran Dunphy had to burn two time-outs in 100 seconds.

Owls players have watched national championship games. Collins had played 34 minutes in one, when the Jayhawks won it all in 2008. Collins took over this game early. The first basket was his after he stole a sloppy Owls exchange and went the other way. Collins scored again by weaving through Temple's half-court defense, probing until he found a lane for a layup. Then he hit a catch-and-shoot three-pointer.

"His quickness and strength, in one person, is definitely an asset," Temple's Ryan Brooks said of the barrel-chested under-6-footer. "That strength is the key factor, to get to the basket and get in and play well in traffic."

Much of that traffic is taken up by Kansas big men. Allen, the Owls' top inside player, smiled when asked about fans who yelled for him to shoot more.

"I don't think they know how tough it was down there playing Cole Aldrich," Allen said after explaining that Aldrich is "unique. He's 6-11 and he has a very long wingspan. I haven't played many guys like that. It's very hard to simulate that in practice."

As the Owls worried about maybe the best big man in college hoops, twin power forwards Marcus and Markieff Morris, back in their hometown, also proved impossible to keep a body on.

"Seems like they bought into everything Coach Self has asked them to do," Dunphy said. "That's the biggest compliment I can give them."

"The good thing is we have a lot of unselfish guys," said Marcus Morris, opting for a family reunion in the stands rather than the postgame news conference after scoring 13 high-energy points.

"This may be one of the best things to happen to us - to play that quality a team," Dunphy said. "Tomorrow, we'll watch . . . every . . . single . . . play . . . of . . . the . . . game."

So Owls players can count on the only thing worse than getting crushed by Kansas: reliving the experience.

"I don't think we watch a lot of film of our wins," Dunphy said.

All his counterpart could find to complain about was Temple's ability to take 29 three-pointers. Never mind that the Owls, unable to get inside, forced their share of them and made only five. "We probably didn't get out and pressure them enough," Self said.

Self also mentioned that one of his assistants told him at halftime that the Jayhawks had scored on 70 percent of their possessions when their big man got a touch.

The Kansas coach didn't mention that they probably scored on 65 percent when their big man didn't get a touch.

Dunphy used the right adjective when he called the Jayhawks "relentless" and said he didn't see any weaknesses. Asked whether that was the best team he'd ever faced, the Owls coach said: "Right up there. It wasn't something I was sitting in my office thinking about before I came in here."