Longwood University

Longwood University opened its 2010-11 men’s basketball season Friday night at the University of Kansas of the Big 12 Conference, falling 113-75 to the nationally-ranked #7 Jayhawks at the historic Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas.  Junior Marcus Morris led Kansas (1-0) with 18 points, while his twin brother Markieff Morris had a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 15 rebounds as KU won its 60th-straight home game to extend the longest current streak in the nation.  The Lancers (0-1) were led by junior Antwan Carter|St. Petersburg, Fla. (St. Petersburg) with a game-high 22 points and eight rebounds.  Longwood remains on the road while returning to action on Monday night, Nov. 15, at Stephen F. Austin University of the Southland Conference in Nacogdoches, Texas beginning at 8 p.m. ET.

Kansas jumped ahead to an early 13-2 advantage at 16:22 behind five quick points from Tyrel Reed, but Longwood battled back to within 19-14 at 12:05 with a 12-6 run that included two three-point field goals by junior Jan van der Kooij|Tiendeveen, The Netherlands (Roelof van Echten).  The Lancers trailed just 24-18 with 9:27 left in the first half following two free throws from freshman David Robinson|Chesterfield (Cosby).  The host Jayhawks, however, took full advantage of their dominant size against the smaller visitors with an 11-0 run to lead 35-18 at 7:05 as Markieff Morris scored six points and Tyshawn Taylor added five points.  Carter scored inside to make it 37-23 with 5:30 on the clock before KU scored 13 unanswered points to lead 50-23 en route to a commanding 54-27 lead at the intermission.

Longwood opened the second half with a three-pointer from redshirt-junior Durann Neil|Pleasantville, N.J. (Leap Academy), but Kansas used an 11-0 run to lead 65-30 at 15:27.  The Jayhawks took their largest lead at 71-33 with 14:00 on the clock after a three-point play from Thomas Robinson.  The Lancers did make eight three-pointers in the second half, and reduced the deficit to 100-71 with 2:10 left on a three-point play by Carter, but KU’s reserves closed the contest on a 13-4 run to provide for the final margin.

Carter led Longwood with his game-high 22 points, adding eight rebounds and three assists.  Junior transfer Jeremiah Bowman|Washington, D.C. (Harcum JC) added 13 points, five assists, and three steals for the Lancers, while senior Aaron Mitchell|Matoaca (Manatee CC) and junior Martiz Washington|Hopewell (Christchurch) each contributed nine points.  LU shot 45.2% (28-62) from the field, including 36.7% (11-30) on three-pointers, and 61.5% (8-13) at the free throw line.

Marcus Morris led Kansas with his 18 points, while Markieff Morris added his double-double of 14 points and a game-high 15 rebounds along with five assists, four steals, and two blocks.  Taylor contributed a double-double of 17 points and 10 assists for the Jayhawks, while Robinson had 16 points and seven rebounds off the bench, and Reed finished with 11 points.  KU shot an impressive 62.3% (43-69) from the field, including 42.1% (8-19) on three-pointers, and 70.4% (19-27) at the line.

It was the first-ever meeting between the two schools in the sport of men’s basketball.  The nationally-prominent Kansas program has won five national championships while advancing to the Final Four 13 times and now has over 2,000 wins (2,004) during its 113-year history.  Additionally, Allen Fieldhouse was recently named the loudest arena in the country by ESPN The Magazine, and lived up to its billing against Longwood as the capacity crowd of 16,300 was pleased with the Jayhawks’ effort throughout that included eight dunks during the contest.

Longwood University