University of Kansas

KU notebook | Wiggins visits on senior night

Updated: 2013-03-05T15:08:02Z

By RUSTIN DODD

The Kansas City Star

LAWRENCE — Andrew Wiggins, a 6-foot-7 senior swingman from Huntington Prep (W.Va.), sat behind KU’s bench on Monday while taking his official visit to Kansas. Wiggins, the No. 1 overall player in the class of 2013, is still deciding between Florida State, Kentucky, North Carolina and Kansas.

Wiggins’ father, Mitchell, sat next to former KU All-American Wayne Simien during Monday’s game, and the KU student section chanted “We want Wiggins” on multiple occasions. Kansas’ other top target, power forward Julius Randle, is expected to make his college announcement in a ceremony on March 20, according to USA Today. He’s picking between KU, Texas, Kentucky, Florida and North Carolina State.

•  Kansas coach Bill Self had predicted that none of his four seniors would go over the allotted five minutes while giving the traditional senior speeches after Monday’s victory. Self was right.

All four players thanked their families, the KU coaches and staff and the fans in a quick and tidy ceremony that lasted around 15 minutes.

•  Kansas senior Elijah Johnson was selected Big 12 player of the week on Monday, while freshman Ben McLemore took home Big 12 freshman-of-the-week honors. Johnson had a career-high 39 points — the most by any Jayhawk in the Bill Self era — in a victory against Iowa State, while McLemore followed with 36 points against West Virginia on Saturday.

First half

•  Key play: Senior guard Elijah Johnson found Jeff Withey for a transition three-pointer that gave Kansas a 32-12 lead with more than five minutes left in the first half.

•  Key stat: Johnson had nine assists in the first half.

Second half

• Key play: Withey finished a thunderous jam, two of his game-high 22 points.

• Key play: The 37-point margin of victory was the largest in a home finale since a 109-51 win over Texas Tech in 2008.

Rustin Dodd, rdodd@kcstar.com

 

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