THE UNIVERSITY DIARY KANSAN
MONDAY, MARCH 31, 2008
KANSAS 59,DAVIDSON 57
5B
Curry's 25 not enough for Davidson
Jon Goering/KANSAN
No. 1 seed to advance to the Final Four, making this the first year all four top-seeded teams advanced to
the HIGH low
A special edition of the High/Low from a weekend in Detroit
HIGHS
HIGHS
Cheers for one of the best sports broadcasters in the business.
An interesting moment occurred at halftime when they played a classic montage of famous plays in NCAA tournament history on the Ford Center scoreboard. They replayed the ending of the Ohio State vs. Xavier game from last season — a game that featured a classic call from CBS
Halftime lead dissipates for Kansas; Hawks narrowly escape another early exit from NCAA tournament
broadcaster Gus Johnson. Remember his call, "And we're going to overtime... THIS IS MARCH MADNESS." Well, Johnson, who was calling the games in Detroit, just happened to be looking up at the scoreboard at the very same time.
BY RUSTIN DODD
dodd@kansan.com
"We're Not Gonna Take It"
Sitting inside the Ford Center, listening to Kansas' band play this classic Twisted Sister song during the media time-out of the game, you finally got the sense that Kansas was about to smash Cinderella's glass slip-
DETROIT - Kansas can breathe a sigh of relief. North Carolina, stocked with All-Americans, awaits Kansas in the Final Four. The Tar Heels have
skills, athleticsmis and experience. But at least they don't have Davidson's Stephen Curry.
Davidson's baby-face shooting guard scored 25 points against Kansas on Sunday add-
had to pass the ball off to pome guard Jason Richards. Richards shot was off target and the clock finally struck midnight for the Wildcats.
ing to his length NCAA tournament legend.
RUSSELL ROBINSON Kansas Guard
"Every time he hit a shot, it was like Michael Jordan was hitting a shot."
Kansas coach Bill Self was just glad Curry didn't take the last shot. "If I don't make it, I'm out."
Curry made his usual amount of step-back three-pointers and acrobatic circus drives to the hoop. But it was the shot that Curry didn't take that will have people talking. With Davidson trailing 59-57 with seconds remaining, Curry drove to his right, ran out of space and
"If he would have shot it from half
court, I would have said it was pitiful defense, because I figured he would have made it," Self said about Curry.
Rustin Dodd
Kansas said it knew that Curry would be a challenge
- the team had sat in the locker room before its victory against Villanova and watched Curry knife through Wisconsin on Friday - but the Jayhawks still had trouble stopping Curry in the first half.
Scorelear for more than 10 minutes to start the game, Curry made a three-pointer with 9:43 to go in the first half, and proceeded to score 15
per. It was as if the music was telling what Kansas was probably thinking.
All right Davidson, you had a nice run,
but we're not gonna take it anymore.
Shower for Self
The players gave Bill Self a Gatorade shower in the locker room after the game. "I think they thought we won the Orange Bowl," Self joked.
LOWS
Ford Field
On the Ball Defense
It's been talked about a lot, but this building should not have been the site of a basketball game — at least not in its current configuration. Putting the floor in the middle of where the football field would be, totally took the fans out of the equation.
Self wasn't pleased with Kansas' on-the-ball defense in the first half, and Davidson's Jason Richards and Stephen Curry controlled the tempo for most of the game. When Kansas' guard committed another foul with 14 minutes left in the first half, Self had seen enough. "We can't guard the ball!" Self said on the sideline.
of the Wildcat's last 21 points in the first half.
"Every time he hit a shot, it was like Michael Jordan was hitting a shot," Russell Robinson said.
Self finally switched Kansas to a box-and-one defense with four minutes left in the first half, tabbing Robinson to shadow Curry and placing the rest of the Jayhawks in a zone.
The Jayhawks went back to the defense in the opening minutes of the second half, with a combination of Rush, Robinson and Rush chasing Curry step-for-step.
"He got a little frustrated, and he forced a couple shots," Collins said. "That was what we wanted."
Curry made just 4-of-13 from the field in the second half and just 2-of-10 from behind the three-line.
Curry played all 40 minutes against Kansas.
"I really just think he was little tired," Robinson said.
"With a player like him, he does so much, you just got to try and slow him down," Sophomore guard Sherron Collins said. "You're not going to stop him."
Edited by Daniel Reyes
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Jon Goering/KANSAN
Sophomore guard Sherron Collins gets up after forcing Davidson guard Stephen Curry to force up a tough three-pointer during the second half of the game. Curry scored 25 points in the name, but hit just 9-of-16 shots, including 4-of-16 on threes.
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Junior guard Mario Chalmers battles for the ball early in the first half of the game. Chalmers scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half, hitting 4-of-5 of his shots including 3-of-3 from behind
last-second shot attempt leaves the hands of Davidson guard Jason Rishards and floats towards the basket as the clock runs out. Davidson trailed 57-59, when the three-point attempt went up. The ball missed wide left and the clock ran out, ending Davidson's tournament run.