30'
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
WWW.KANSAN.COM
MONDAY, MARCH 13, 2006
MEN'S BASKETBALL: 80-68
Undisputed
PAGE 1B
Matt Slocum/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kansas' Mario Chalmers celebrates the Jayhawks 80-68 win against Texas in the Big 12 Men's Championship basketball game, Sunday in Dallas. Chalmers was named MVP of the game.
Jayhawks capture title for first time since'99
BY RVAN COLAINNI
rcolainii@kansan.com
KANSAN SENIOR SPORTSWITHER
DALLAS - Russell Robinson started moving up the stairs leading to the basketball net and got a little scared. He was afraid of falling. The sophomore guard didn't fall and was able to cut down a piece of the net, an action symbolizing his team capturing the Big 12 title after a 80-68 victory against the Texas Longhorns Sunday at American Airlines Center.
The victory was a fitting end to Kansas' conference season. A team that started three freshmen and two sophomores beat a more experienced Texas team
and responded by dancing on the floor and chanting "Big 12 Champs."
SEE TITLE ON PAGE 6B
"We knew not a lot of people expected us to come out and win today." Robinson said. "We had nothing to lose and everything to gain. We just came out and tried to be aggressive.
"Down the stretch, I just thought we executed and got stops defensively and, of course, rebounded the ball a lot better that we did the first time we played them." Self said.
Freshman guard Mario Chalmers was named the Big 12 tournament MVP, much to
Kansas coach Bill Self described the game as the best his team had played all season.
Freshman forward Julian Wright dazzled the crowd with his no-look passes that ended up as easy buckets for Kansas. He had what Self called the play of the tournament when he stole the ball near midcourt, drove to the basket, jumped from the near the foul line and tomahawked it home for an emphatic dunk.
the delight of his father Ronnie, who pumped his fist when his son accepted a plaque on the floor after the game. Chalmers made 15 points Sunday, most of which came though his accurate three-point shooting. Chalmers made four of his seven three-point attempts.
Hawkins' three-pointers contribute to victory
BY DANIEL BERK
dberk@kansan.com
KANSAN SENIOR SPORTWRITER
"When I forgot my ankle braces, I turned to our best
Senior guard Jeff Hawkins knew exactly whom to thank after his performance in Kansas' 80-68 victory against Texas in the Big 12 Championship game.
Hawkins' weekend was capped when he scored 13 points on 4-5 shooting from three-point distance.
It was teammate Jeremy Case, sophomore guard. Hawkins forgot to bring his ankle braces to Dallas for the tournament and borrowed Case's braces throughout the entire weekend.
three-point shooter and asked to borrow his," Hawkins said. "He said yes. I think I might be to wear them in the NCAA tournament."
Hawkins' first three-point shot came in the first half with Kansas trailing by three points. Freshman guard Mario Chalmers had just connected on a three-point shot and Hawkins made one the next trip down to tie the ball game at 21.
In the second half, Hawkins made three three-point shots. The first came after Texas had gone on an 8-0 run to bring the score to 51-47 in its favor. Hawkins made a three-point shot to cut the lead to one.
SEE HAWKINS ON PAGE 7B
LIFE OF BRIAN
Tough tests help earn real respect
BRIAN WACKER
bwacker@kansan.com
DALLAS - I'll admit it. I was wrong.
As fellow KJHK sports staffer Jason Hwang and I watched the Texas-Texas A&M game at Hooters in Dallas, I suggested that it would be better to face the Aggies, as opposed to the Texas Longhorns, on Sunday. My rationale was based on the idea that a potential loss to the Longhorns could be devastating to the young Jayhawks' morale because it would mean they'd lost twice to the only real national title contender they had faced this season.
Jason disagreed and voiced it in a way that only Jason can. After cleaning up the language, it can be boiled down to this: The stronger the team Kansas plays, the more it will benefit. Win or lose.
Sunday's triumph against Texas certainly validates that. In a game that sharply contrasted the last game between the two teams, the Jayhawks showed the Longhorns – and every other team in the NCAA tournament - how they can beat you with stout defense and an efficient offense.
There was senior guard Jeff Hawkins coming off the bench with smothering defense and 4-for-5 shooting from the land of three. There was freshman forward Julian Wright, who took the time in between highlight-reel dunks to throw Texas' Brad Buckman and LaMarcus Aldridge off their games. Aldridge had only five points, shot 1-for-5 from the field on Sunday and was in foul trouble throughout the game. In the 80-55 Texas victory earlier in the season, Aldridge had 18 points and was 9-for-10 from the field.
And who can look past freshman guard and tournament MVP Mario Chalmers? His 16 points and more than five assists per game in the Big 12 Tournament led a balanced offensive attack.
After finishing the season a winner of 16 out of 17 games, a Big 12 Conference regular season co-champion and Big 12 Tournament champion, it's tough to say what the NCAA selection committee was thinking when it gave Kansas a four seed, two seeds lower than the Texas team they just beat.
A tough draw with a possible second-round matchup against Pittsburgh now looms. That's not as daunting a game if Kansas plays like it did against Texas.
Watching the Jayhawks cut down the nets after the game on Sunday, you'd have thought it was the final week of April. But alas, their work isn't done.
Here's hoping they were just practicing their scissor-work for later.
Wacker is a Chesterfield, Mo., senior in journalism. He is Kansan.com editor.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Kansas not planning on first-round freebie
BY RYAN COLIAIANNI
colaiarni@kansan.com
KANSAN SENIOR SPORTSWRIETER
DALLAS — The most excited Jeff Hawkins got yesterday was probably when he saw himself on television — but not during the KU 80-68 victory against Texas.
It was likely after the game, when CBS announced that Kansas would be playing in Auburn Hills., Mich., against Bradley in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Friday.
Hawkins, senior guard, said that he was excited to go to Auburn Hills, where he had won his first AAU National Championship.
If winning in Auburn Hills worked for Hawkins, he hopes it will rub off on his teammates when they face Bradley, of the Missouri Valley Conference, as the No.4 seed.
"The Valley is a good conference," Hawkins said. "That is about all I can say right now. We didn't know who we were playing, so we really don't have that much information on them. I am sure our coaching staff is going to do a really good job of breaking down how they play."
Hawkins said that he didn't know much about Friday's opponent, but said that his teammates would not look past Bradley.
Kansas coach Bill Self said that
he expected his team to know Bradley inside and out when it takes the floor on Friday.
Self said Kansas could have been seeded higher. He said he thought the tournament selection committee made up its mind on his team's seed before the Jayhawks defeated Texas on Sunday.
The KU victory against Texas
ended less than an hour before the committee released the tournament brackets.
"We don't worry about seeds, right now, we just worry about what we need to do to win," Hawkins said. "We take it day by day."
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