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MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
KANSAS 70
Kansas 21 | 49 - 70 North Carolina 30 | 28 - 58
JAYHAWK STAT LEADERS
Points
RELEFORD 22
Rebounds
WITHEY 16
Assists
JOHNSON
OHNSO 4
KANSAS
Player Pts FG-FGA Rebs A TO's
Kevin Young 10 4-7 9 1 5
Jeff Withey 16 6-11 16 2 6
Travis Releford 22 9-13 8 0 2
Elijah Johnson 5 1-6 4 4 2
Ben McLemore 2 0-9 5 2 2
Niko Roberts 0 0-0 0 0 0
Naadir Tharpe 12 3-6 2 2 4
Perry Ellis 3 1-3 2 0 0
Totals 70 24-55 47 11 23
NORTH CAROLINA
Player Pts FG-FGA Rebs A TO's
James McAdoo 11 5-19 6 1 2
Dexter Strickland 9 3-9 3 4 1
Reggie Bullock 5 1-7 6 1 3
P.J. Hairston 15 6-17 9 1 0
Marcus Paige 9 3-10 1 2 4
Leslie McDonald 3 1-3 2 1 0
Desmond Hubert 0 0-0 0 0 0
Jackson Simmons 2 1-1 1 0 0
Totals 58 22-73 30 10 11
GAME TO REMEMBER
Travis Releford, Senior
Travis Releford scored 22 points 38 minutes. The senior put on an impressive display on both offense and defense, grabbing eight rebounds and coming up with three steals.
Releford
GAME TO FORGET
Ben McLemore, Freshman
Ben McLemore scored two points in 24 minutes against North Carolina. The freshman shot 0-for-9 from the field and his only two points came on free throw attempts.
McLemore
UNSUNG HERO
Naasir Tharpe, Freshman
Naidir Tharpe scored 12 points in his 27 minutes of play against North Carolina. The sophomore shot made 3-of-4 3-pointers while also collecting three rebounds and two assists.
QUOTE OF THE GAME
Tharpe
"You look for benchmarks and there are no bench marks. He is the bench mark."
— Dr. Sheahon Zenger on Bill Self's season as head coach of Kansas.
Zenger
KEY STATS
26
The two teams combined to shoot 18-70 in the first half for a patty 26 percent.
5
After hitting zero 3-pointers in the first three halves of the NCAA Tournament, Kansas made five of its eight attempts in the second half.
22
At 22 points, Releford had almost as many points on Sunday as he did against Saint Louis in November, which was also at the Sprint Center.
MEN'S BASKET
Kansas cheer team waves the flag before the match against.the North Carolina Tar Heels last night at the Sprint Center for the third round of the NCAA Tournament Championship. Kansas defeated the No. 8-seed Tar Heels 70-58.
TRAVIS YOUNG/KANSAN
Seniors lead Kansas to Sweet Sixteen
RYAN MCCARTHY
rmccarthy@kansan.com
Kansas City, Mo. — History tends to repeat itself.
Not all the time, but with the Kansas' coaching staff it's a good bet.
More than anything, Kansas coach Bill Self relies on his four seniors, and that's exactly what the team needed at the Sprint Center on Sunday.
Still it took a bau first half of basketball and a halftime pep talk for Self to get his players in the right direction.
"I don't think we demonstrated experience much during the first half" Self said. "
Carolina 70-58 for the third time in five years.
After struggling to find his place early the first half, Withey was right at home in the Sprint Center blocking shots and slamming buckets.
But Withey said his six turnovers in the first half were his one flaw in the game.
Second half, seemed like we communicated more, more energy. We came in the game ready to blaw."
"A lot of that was just throwing it right to the defender," Withey said. "But second half, we kind of got
One of the players that came to play was senior center Jeff Withey, who was a dominating force throughout the game Sunday with 16 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks as Kansas punished North
"My confidence is there, but I just got to get back in the gym and shoot more and get ready."
BEN MCLEMORE freshman guard
More than anything right now Withey feels comfortable in his element. He's seizing the moment just
like so many of his teammates.
Senior forward Kevin Young die not have his best night, but his 10 points and nine rebounds helped propel Kansas to victory.
Young said his and Withey's teamwork contributed more to the win than anything.
"Most of the time we know where
each other are on the court and we know what we do." Young said. "Our adjustments show between me and Jeff because he gets easy buckets when I touch the ball. I love passing it to him. We always argue who gets more assists."
The other star of the night was senior forward Travis Releford, who put on a show for a hometown crowd. His 22 points made Sunday's game his third 20-plus point game at the Sprint Center this season.
Sophomore guard Naadir Tharpe stepped up and hit some pivotal 3-pointers in the second half to propel the Jayhawks to their 30th Sweet Sixteen in program history and sixth under Bill Self.
What helped more than anything was Young's passing ability to find Tharpe during open looks.
"He's so steady and he's a rock," Self said. "The other thing I think that's nice about Travis, he doesn't get tired. He can play all day. I thought that was a big key for us late."
really started playing together."
Ben McLemore struggled through Sunday's game and spent most of the second half on the bench because he wasn't clicking with the flow of the offense. McLemore finished the game 0-for-9 with two points, both free throws.
"My confidence is there, but I just got to get back in the gym and shoot more and get ready." McLemore said.
Despite their highly touted play er not living up to expectations, the Jayhawks did not need him.
They have four seniors leading this team, and it starts with the lethal combination that Self and Withey will bring to the table in Dallas.
The team will not have the advantage of playing so close to home, but Self and the team used it this week to move onto the next level in the bracket.
As Self said, "The big advantage we had was that we were playing in Kansas City."
Edited by Brian Sisk
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