Halftime Primer: How to Watch, First Half Update and Key Players for Kansas at Arizona
The Kansas Jayhawks head out on the road for their second road trip and second true road game as they head to Tucson, AZ to take on a ranked and undefeated Arizona Wildcats squad.
Kansas is on a streak of dominant victories, with their last five wins coming by at least 20 points. That includes a dominant pair of victories in the Saint Mary's Thanksgiving Classic, and then two big wins at home over the Texas A&M Aggies and Southeast Missouri State. But today's opponent will be much tougher.
Overview
The Jayhawks look to prove their undefeated record is no fluke with a win against a ranked team on the road. But Arizona has had huge success on offense this season, and they will look to continue that and score consistently.
The Kansas Jayhawks are still receiving votes in the AP Top 25, being the first team out of the poll. They just started to get votes in the Coaches poll this week.
The Jayhawks and Wildcats have met six times in their history, with the series tied at 3 wins each. Kansas is 0-2 in Tucson, but the last meeting was a Dec 17, 2016 win for Kansas in Lawrence.
Here are the essentials:
The Numbers
Kansas: 7-0 (Massey - 27th overall, 38th offense, 64 defense)
Arizona: 7-0 (Massey - 12th overall 29th offense, 10th defense)
Line: ARIZ -8.5
O/U: 135.5
How to Watch
Thursday, December 8th, 7:00 p.m. CST
Tucson, AZ: McKale Center
TV: PAC 12 Network
- Cindy Brunson (Play-by-Play), Mary Murphy (Analyst)
Radio: IMG Jayhawk Radio Network
- Steven Davis (Play-by-Play)
Webcast: Kansas Online Radio
Game Coverage
Taiyanna Jackson turning heads
Follow along during the game for live updates from the Blue Wings Rising Twitter account.
Come join the conversation in the Blue Wings Rising Discord Server.
First Half Summary
The game started out just like we thought it was going to, with a breakneck pace that saw Arizona get a 12-7 lead just three minutes into the first quarter. A Zakiyah Franklin turnover on a bad pass with just over 4 minutes left in the quarter sent us to the first media timeout, after which the game completely flipped on its head.
Ioanna Chatzileonti scored the only points for either team for the rest of the quarter, and the two teams combined for 11 missed shots from the field and two missed free throws. The teams went into the second quarter with Arizona up just 17-14.
The Kansas defense clamped down in the second quarter, holding Arizona to just 2 field goals on 15 shots. They only scored 5 points in the quarter. Taiyanna Jackson got four big rebounds in the period, and Kansas had five players score as they tallied 14 points in the quarter. The hero of the quarter was Mia Vuksic, who subbed in for Kersgieter to give her a quick break. Vuksic immediately hit two big threes to give Kansas the lead and then push that lead all the way to 28-22.
Arizona shot just 26.5% from the field in the first half, but they had 9 offensive rebounds. Kansas didn't fair that much better, shooting just 34.3%. Kansas outrebounded Arizona 29-18 in the first half.
Halftime Heroes
Mia Vuksic
It didn't take long for Vuksic to make a big impact, leading the Jayhawks in scoring in the entire half with just two minutes off the bench. Her back-to-back threes gave Kansas the offensive spark they needed.
Taiyanna Jackson
Her presence has clearly affected the post play for Arizona, as they have only gone inside a few times in non-fast break situations. Her 4 points and 9 rebounds have been huge.
Zakiyah Franklin
She only has 4 points, but she has 6 rebounds and 4 assists. And here defense has been solid.
We'll be back after the second half!
Join the discussion! Come talk about this or any of our articles on the Blue Wing Rising Discord Server.
Follow Blue Wings Rising on Twitter.
Listen to the official podcast of Blue Wings Rising: The Rock Chalk Podcast.
