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6B KANSAS84,NORTH CAROLINA 66
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY,APRIL 7,2008
MEN'S BASKETBALL WRAP-UP
Aldrich proves to be key for Kansas victory
BY RUSTIN DODD
dodd@kansan.com
SAN ANTONIO — Once upon a time, Cole Aldrich was an afterthought, the fourth big man off the bench, just another big body at Kansas coach Bill Self's disposal.
On Saturday night against North Carolina, Aldrich etched his name onto the list of greatest relief performances in Kansas basketball history.
Kansas' freshman center scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds off the bench in Kansas' 84-66 victory against North Carolina, including one board that Aldrich snatched from the clutches of North Carolina All-American Tyler Hansbrough.
"I wasn't gonna let go." Aldrich said.
Aldrich's supporting performance may go down in Kansas lore if the Jayhawks follow up their Saturday night victory with a national title tonight against Memphis.
And oddly enough, Self saw it coming.
Earlier this week Self corrected a reporter who had asked how important Darnell Jackson, Sasha Kaun and Darrell Arthur would be in Kansas' attempt to contain
Hansbrough.
Don't forget
about Cole, Self
reminded.
Self's prophec v came true.
"He may have won the game for us tonight as much as anybody," Self said.
No sweat. Aldrich responded with 13 first-half minutes played, six points during Kansas' fun n-gun first half, and one rebound that Aldrich couldn't help but smile about.
of the Year.
With 10 minutes left in the first
"He may have won the game for us tonight as much as anybody."
BILL SELF Kansas men's basketball coach
Jackson both committing two early fouls, Self faced a coaching calamity. Send Aldrich, who averaged 8.1 minutes per game during the regular season, onto the floor to guard Hansbrough, the Tar Heels' leading scorer and the AP National Player
half and Kansas leading 31-10, Aldrich sprang from the floor and ripped the ball away from a bewildered Hansbrough.
Aldrich, along with help from Kaun, Jackson and Arthur, held Hansbrough to 17 points and nine rebounds, a shade below his usual averages of 23.7 points and 11.5 rebounds per game.
"Ttyler usually outworks someone, but tonight, he got outworked," Rush said.
"I don't think he was quite used.
to going against four guys that can hold their own," Aldrich said. "We just tried to come out and put pressure on him."
The Kansas frontcount also controlled the glass,shouldering a 42-33 rebound advantage against their frontcount comrades from North Carolina.
"We knew we had to keep them off the glass to win the game," Aldrich said.
Aldrich's 6-foot-10 frame stood tall in Kansas' victorious locker room, searching for words to describe his nation-wide coming out party.
"It was a blast," Aldrich said. "This game meant a lot to a lot of people."
Kansas junior walk-on Matt Kleinmann, sitting 35 feet to Aldrich's left, had his own take on Aldrich's bench performance du jour.
"He played like a man tonight," Kleinmann said.
— Edited by Matt Hirschfeld
Senior forward Darnell Jackson fights North Carolina forward Deon Thompson for a rebound. Jackson scored 12 points and grabbed four boards in the game. Kansas as a team outrebounded North Carolina 42-33.
Jon Gaering/KANSAN
Mindy Ricketts/KANSAN
PRIME plays
FIRST HALF
18:25- Russell Robinson makes a three-pointer to give Kansas a 7-2 lead. Maybe the Jayhawks have a pretty good chance after all, huh?
9:35- Kansas is cruising. Cole Aldrich rips a rebound away from Tyler Hansbrough then gets fouled. His free throws extend the KU lead to 33-10.
7:32- Brandon Rush hits a three-pointer. He didn't make many open shots, but he still scored 25. This one gave Kansas a 38-12 lead.
0:00- Sherron Collins twists into the lane to make a layup at the buzzer. This had to settle the stomach of a few fans who started getting queasy after Carolina whittled the lead down to 15.
SECOND HALF
11:15-Yikes. Wayne Ellington makes a layup to bring North Carolina to within four at 54-50. He gets a huge block on Mario Chalmers seven seconds later.
5:25- It's over now. With Carolina down five, Collins breaks their hearts by hitting a three from the top of the key. Kansas now leads 67-59.
3:40-Three defenders swarm Hansbrough, who travels. Kansas' defense was much better than Carolina's all night.
North Carolina forward Tyler Hansbrough answers questions in the locker room after his team's loss to Kansas. Hansbrough was 6 for 13, with 17 total points.
0:00- Can you say, 'Monday?
Junior guard Mario Chalmers goes up for a shot against North Carolina's Wayne Ellington during the second half of the game. Chalmers finished with 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting. He also recorded three steals and three assists in the game.
Jon Goering/KANSAN
—Mark Dent
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Members of the KU band cheer in the final minutes of the game. Kansas led the whole game, but North Carolina came within four points of tying the game with 11:15 to go in the game.
KANSAS
Player FG-FGA 3FG-3FGA FT-FTA Rebounds Assists Points
Darrell Arthur 3-9 0-0 0-0 9 2 6
Darnell Jackson 5-6 0-0 2-2 4 2 12
Russell Robinson 2-5 1-4 2-2 4 4 7
Mario Chalmers 5-10 1-3 0-2 4 3 11
Brandon Rush 11-17 2-7 1-2 7 2 25
Conner Teahan 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Sherron Collins 4-9 1-1 2-2 4 4 11
Jeremy Case 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Tyrel Reed 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Sasha Kaun 2-4 0-0 0-0 0 0 4
Cole Aldrich 2-4 0-0 4-4 7 0 8
Matt Kleinmann 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Kansas 84, North Carolina 66
NORTH CAROLINA
NORTH CAROLINA
Player FG-FGA 3FG-3FGA FT-FTA Rebounds Assists Points
Deon Thompson 2-4 0-0 3-4 4 0 7
Tyler Hansbrough 6-13 0-1 5-6 9 1 17
Marcus Ginyard 0-3 0-2 0-0 3 2 0
Ty Lawson 2-8 1-2 4-4 3 2 9
Wayne Ellington 8-21 1-9 1-1 6 0 18
Marc Campbell 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Quentin Thomas 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 2 0
Will Graves 0-2 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
Danny Green 6-13 3-9 0-0 5 0 15
J.B. Tanner 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Surry Wood 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Jack Wooten 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Alex Stepheson 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Mike Copeland 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
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