1/28/2012

By PAT SANGIMINO

The Hutchinson News

The Kansas Jayhawks have a two-game lead in the Big 12 Conference title chase but are approaching that make-or-break point in the season.

It begins today when the No. 5 Jayhawks (17-5, 7-0 in Big 12 play) travel to Ames for a 1 p.m. game with Iowa State (Cable Channel 4).

Hilton Coliseum has never been an easy place to play for opponents. The locals refer to it as Hilton Magic and the Jayhawks have never been immune from it. Kansas has had its share of struggles there over the years, and this one figures to be a battle, too, said coach Bill Self.

Add to the mix upcoming games Missouri, Baylor, Oklahoma State and Kansas State, and Self knows the Jayhawks will be challenged several times in the coming weeks.

"I don't think there's any question that this is the toughest stretch of our season starting out right now," Self said. "You've got Iowa State, Missouri, Baylor, K-State as our next four road games and, statistically, those are the four teams that are the best in the league. As a matter of fact, I think they are the only four teams in the league with winning records, if I'm not mistaken."

He's not mistaken.

The first three weeks of the Big 12 season has been a grind. Besides Kansas, only Missouri, Baylor, Kansas State and Iowa State have posted more wins than losses in league play.

There's some comfort in having a two-game lead -- but this is no time to relax, said senior guard Tyshawn Taylor, who has been Kansas' leading scorer over the past two weeks.

"Our toughest part of the conference schedule is about to come up," he said. "We haven't played our toughest part yet so it's good to be up, but it doesn't really matter right now. We just have to keep taking care of business and keep working hard and getting better."

The goal for today is to make sure the hocus pocus involved with the Hilton Magic doesn't make Kansas' perfect conference record disappear.

"Every year that I've been there, it just seems like no matter how many fans are in the stands, it gets exciting," guard Connor Teahan said. "I think we've had a couple games where we pulled away, but just a couple buckets or one run can really put the fans back in the game.

"You have to be able to limit that."

Kansas beat the Cyclones, 82-73, two weeks ago, but the game was much closer than the score would indicate. Taylor scored 22 of his 28 points in the second period helping the Jayhawks overcome a 12-point deficit.

Thomas Robinson and Jeff Withey each recorded a double-double with Robinson's 11 points and 14 rebounds and Withey's 13 points, 11 rebounds to go along with seven blocked shots.

Royce White led Iowa State with 18 points and 17 rebounds as Iowa State (14-6, 4-3) controlled the tempo for most of the contest.

White is averaging 13.4 points and 9.6 rebounds and presents a huge matchup problem for the Jayhawks because of his ability to play on the perimeter. Self used a combination of Withey, Justin Wesley and Robinson to try to contain White. All of them had varying degrees of success.

"I don't know if he (Withey) totally figured it out because (White) got 18 and 17 on us," Self said. "I don't think we figured him out by any stretch, and Jeff didn't guard him all the time. ... Jeff's length hopefully can bother him, but White's ball skills and his quickness are things they are going to say can bother Jeff a lot."

Withey had eight blocks in Kansas' 64-54 victory over Texas A M on Monday.

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