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TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 2012
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
ROAD TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP
Marching to the big dance in New Orleans
MATT GALLOWAY mgalloway@kansan.com
On the heels of a Big 12 Tournament semifinal loss to Baylor on March 10, the Jayhawks (27-6, 16-2) entered the 68-team NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 seed in the Midwest region on March 11, also known as "Selection Sunday." Their first match was scheduled for that Friday against No. 15 seed Detroit (22-13, 11-7) of the Horizon League in Omaha, Neb. Senior point guard Tyshawn Taylor felt the Jayhawks got a raw deal. "Should be a No. 1 seed, but we're cool with that No. 2 seed," Taylor said.
BORDER WAR RIVAL OUSTED IN FIRST GAME
When conference rival and Big 12 Tournament champion Mizzou lost in their first game against No. 15 seed Norfolk State, 86-84, Kansas coach Bill Self used it as a teachable moment. "It gives everybody a slap in the face that this thing can happen," Kansas coach Bill Self said. No. 2 seed Duke also fell to a No. 15 seed, Lehigh, 75-70.
NO. 2 KANSAS 60, NO. 11 NORTH CAROLINA STATE 57 OLD COACH VS. NEW COACH
NO. 2 KANSAS 65, NO. 15 DETROIT 50
In a sign of things to come for the rest of the tournament, the Jayhawks advanced to the round of 32 with stifling defense. The Titans had an early 23-21 edge, but the Jayhawks would use a 34-7 run to advance to the next round. "It was kill or be killed," said junior guard Elijah Johnson. Johnson finished 6-for-8 with 15 points.
For the second consecutive game, the lajhawks trailed at the half, this time 33-32. And for the second consecutive game, the team escaped with a three-point win. The Kansas defense shined again, holding the Wolfpack to 28.4 percent shooting, but it was never easy for the lajhawks. Taylor was only 2-for-14 from the field and 0-for-6 from three-point range. It took a double-double from Robinson and a career-high 10 blocks from junior center Jeff Withey to advance. "If he didn't block it, he altered it seemed like every one of them. I thought he stepped up and played extremely well."
Purdue seemed to disrupt the Jayhawks by double-, triple- and even quadruple-teaming junior forward Thomas Robinson at times. It hampered the Kansas offense, who shot only 33.9 percent from the field. "If people want to double him, which naturally they could, then you've got to be good enough behind that to make plays," Self said of the double teaming. The Jayhawks advanced, though, going from Omaha to St. Louis, Mo., for the second weekend and a matchup with the surprising North Carolina State Wolfpack.
NO. 2 KANSAS 63, NO. 10 PURDUE 60
In a sign of things to come for the rest of the tournament, the Jayhawks advanced to the round of 32 with stifling defense. The Titans had an early 23-21 edge, but the Jayhawks would use a 34-7 run to advance to the next round. "It was kill or be killed," said junior guard Elijah Johnson. Johnson finished 6-for-8 with 15 points.
The Jayhawks exercised demons and bitter feelings in 2008 when they tipped former coach Roy Williams and his North Carolina Tar Heels in the Final Four, but the awkward matchup would reappear in this team's 2012 run. But the players were more focused on their on-court assignments than the off-court drama. "We've got to be a tough defensive team and we've got to stop other guys from scoring," Taylor said. "I think thats won us the last two games that we've played because we haven't shot the ball too good."
NO. 2 KANSAS 80, NO. 1 NORTH CAROLINA 67
Kansas advanced to the Final Four in what would become known as the triangle-and-two game. The defensive scheme was deployed by Self for the last 10 minutes of the game, and the Tar Heels made only one field goal in the game's final eight minutes. Williams seemed to indicate after the game that he thought the Jayhawks only played the triangle-and-two for one or two possessions." We were able to keep the ball out of their bigs hands and take away their two shooters," Self said. "And the thing about it is, you got to rebound out of it. And you know, they're a great rebounding team, but I thought we rebounded the ball as well as we have in a long time." The Jayhawks advanced to their 14th Final Four.
Only hours after bouncing the Tar Heels from the tournament in St. Louis, the Jayhawks returned to Lawrence and Allen Fieldhouse to celebrate their Final Four appearance. After nearly a two-hour wait inside Allen Fieldhouse, the moment the Jayhawk faithful had been waiting for finally arrived. At 12:45 a.m., the men's basketball team arrived and took its place on James Naismith Court in front of more than 8,000 screaming fans. "It's been a long season, but we're not done yet," Taylor said. "We're going to go try to get some more wins for y'all. We're going to try to have an even bigger celebration on Tuesday after we come back from New Orleans."
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