Volume 125 Issue 90
Monday, March 25, 2013
COMMENTARY Withey fulfills his promise
Something felt strangely right about Jeff Withey's performance against North Carolina.
This is the Withey that promised Kansas coach Bill Self that he wouldn't be a failure upon arriving in Lawrence.
This is the comfortable Withe, the natural Withe, and perhaps the easiest to spot, the hungry Withe.
This Withey is an offensive monster that's every bit as graceful as his defensive counterpart.
And the Tar Heels were the latest to discover him as that monster who produced 16 points with an equal amount of rebounds to go with six blocks, while UNC hit just 22 of its 73 (30.1 percent).
kansan.com
But don't be mistaken: This is not merely a phenomenal performance from Withey. This is the new normal.
"Withey does a great job protecting the rim," said North Carolina's Marcus Paige. "Our shooters never had a chance to get into rhythm."
Maybe it is the hunger.
That pain to achieve what the jayhawks missed out on a year ago. But when Withey puts everything together this Kansas team clicks — it just took him a while to work up an appetite for ram.
"The first half we made some bonehead plays." Withey said. "Especially me. I had six turn-overs myself."
Fortunately, Withey's play thereafter would make up for it
When Kansas was just starting to mount its comeback from a 10-point deficit, it was Withey's four defensive rebounds that saved possessions for the Jayhawks. And when Kansas took its first lead midway through the first, it was Withey scoring the layup.
"We kind of got a better feel for them," Withey said. "We knew they were trying to gamble and trying to steal the ball every time. So we just played to that."
That feeling was different for Kansas fans. Once Withey had the ball, there was more of a sense of safety.
In Kansas' five games since the start of the Big 12 tournament, Withey has scored 14.6 points per game — shooting 66 percent — while maintaining his season average of 8.3 rebounds. Not to mention his 17 blocks in that span of time.
Sometimes that makes it hard to remember that Withey was once a seven-foot scrub that couldn't find playing time. That Withey was a gawky freshman who was afraid of the ball, the kid who was repeatedly questioned about how much he actually liked playing this sport.
You didn't think Withey could be described as a safety net then, or even two years ago.
Which goes back to that feeling. The one that felt strangely right when Withey and the Jayhawks started playing at their best. When Withey attacked the rim with as much ferocity as when he defends it.
It feels like a promise fulfilled.
— Edited by Brian Sisk
KANSAS 70, NORTH CAROLINA 58
TAR HEELS PAY HEED
Kansas steamrolls North Carolina in second half to advance to Sweet Sixteen
GEOFFREY CALVERT
gcalvert@kansan.com
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There were no rousing halftime speeches. No venom spewed from his mouth, nor did he express disbelief at his team's miserable 25 percent shooting in the first half.
Instead, Bill Self told his team to talk among themselves at halftime and walked out of the locker room.
When he was gone, the one senior from Kansas City, Travis Releford, took over. He told the team if they didn't play better, they had 20 minutes left in their season. And Releford had no intention of losing his final collegiate game in his hometown, which currently stood at 30-21 in favor of North Carolina.
"Definitely was personal for me," Releford said. "We can go out there and leave it all on the court or we can let them roll over us like they did the first half."
Kansas didn't roll over. Releford and the three other jayhawk seniors made sure their second half performance bought them another 40 minutes, dispatching North Carolina 70-58 to advance to the Sweet Sixteen in Dallas, where the Jayhawks will face No. 4-seed Michigan.
First, senior center Jeff Withey blocked a layup 20 seconds into the half. He scored on the ensuing offensive possession after Kansas grabbed two offensive rebounds. The next trip down the court, Releford made the team's first 3-pointer of the NCAA Tournament, whittling North Carolina's lead to four points. Withey followed with one一hand dunk from the middle of the lane after his defender moved out of the way. Later, senior guard Elijah Johnson buried a 3-pointer, tying the
game at 35. Except, really it wasn't.
Not even five minutes had elapsed in the half and already Kansas had deflated the Tor Heels.
"You could tell with our fans giving us that confidence and we keep on feeding off of it, you can tell that they started to kind of fall back on their heels more," sophomore guard Naadir Tharp said.
He drove into the lane, but instead of challenging his defender, he slipped a behind-the-back pass to Releford who dropped it in for a 47-38 lead and drew the foul. As the horn sounded to signal a television timeout, Johnson ran over to a section of Kansas fans near the corner of the floor, failed his arm and screamed "Let's go!"
Kansas spent the first 11 minutes of the second half on an extended 33-10 run behind 22 points from Withey and Releford, so it's hard to pick out the best moment during that stretch. But one of the prime candidates came midway through the first half after Tharpe procured a steal.
The Jayhawks are going. Go to Dallas and going to the Sweet 16. Really, it will be the Jayhawks' first neutral site game of the postseason. After spending both the Big 12 Tournament and the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament at the Sprint Center, the Kansas City arena started to feel like an extension of Allen Fieldhouse.
"We got the crowd into it so it was like a home game for us," Releford said. "It sounded just like Allen Fieldhouse almost, minus the student section. It was loud."
It was really the first time the Kansas faithful had a strong reason to cheer all weekend.
Kansas shot 5-8 from 3-point range in the second half after not
making a single 3-pointer in the first three halves of the tournament. Tharpe went 3-4 from 3-point range and four jayhaws scored in double figures led by Releford's 22 points on 9-13 shooting.
"When Naadir came in we were a better team," Self said. "It allowed Elijah to bump off and guard. They play two point guards a lot. We are able to play them with two point guards as opposed to a 3-man and a point."
After combining to commit seven first-half turnovers, center Jeff Withey and forward Kevin Young committed just four in the second half, allowing them to be more productive in the low post on offense.
The Tar Heels, however, struggled to score throughout the game. Their only big man, James Michael McAdoo, kept having his shots swatted by Withey, who finished with 16 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks.
Outside shooting didn't go much better, either, as Kansas kept Carolina to 3-10 shooting beyond the arc in the second half. Withey even rejected a Reggie Bullock 3-point attempt. His presence helped free the entire Kansas defense.
"It's a lot easier because we can pressure up because now we know if we get beat we've got Jeff behind us to block the shot or alternate the shot," Releford said. "With North Carolina, if they're not making shots, we saw this throughout the season, it's tough for them to win because they play small. If we just rebound and control the possession on offense then we got a great chance to win."
Edited by Brian Sisk
TRAVIS YOUNG/KANSAN
Senior center Jeff Withey blocks during the second half of the match against the No. 8-seed North Carolina Tar Heels last night at the Sprint Center for the third round of the NCAA Tournament Championship. Withey had five blocks with 16 points and 16 rebounds contributing to the 70-58 defeat against the Tar Heels.
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