MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6. 2006
KU 59 - OU 58
ory against
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 5B
Oklahoma. The previously no. 18 ranked team lost to the Jayhawks 58-59.
Jared Gab/KANSAN
Key plays:
Freshman forward Julian Wright dunked a miss by freshman guard Brandon Rush with under a minute to play. It was the first KU lead since the first half.
Oklahoma junior guard Michael Neal caught the ball in the corner with one second left and put up a desperation shot for the victory. The attempt was short and gave Kansas a one point victory.
Kansas took the lead for the first time since the first half, Neal responded with a three-point shot from the right corner to put Oklahoma back up one.
Freshman guard Mario Chalmers responded to Neal's three-pointer and drove the length of the court to hit a soft floater. It would be the game winning basket.
Sophomore center CJ Giles fouled Oklahoma senior forward Taj Gray with one second left, but it was not a shooting foul. It took time off the clock and didn't allow Gray to score the potential winning basket.
Quotes:
"For 32 minutes, we played like freshmen and sophomores and they played like juniors and seniors," Kansas coach Bill Self said about Kansas beating a veteran team.
"He had a rough day, but still, good players make plays with the game on the line;" Self said about Chalmers' game-winning shot.
"He had to play, regardless of if he could see or not," Self said, about Rush being poked in the eye.
- Ryan Colaianni
Jared Gab/KANSAN
Sophomore forward Darnell Jackson lunges toward the net during the first half of the game on Sunday at Allen Fieldhouse. Jackson assisted the Jayhawks in a one-point win against Oklahoma.
Cheers and jeers from the stands
Best gear: Guy on the north side of the student section with the shirt made out of the Jayhawks beach ball.
Sherron Collins was in attendance. He couldn't have come for a better game.
Best sign: "We love white Russians." Honorable mention to the students on the south side holding the letters: "Russell with the hustle."
Worst sign: The older guy in the student section every game. He has had the same "Dear Santa..." sign for the last seven games. Christmas was over a long time ago.
Cheers to freshman forward Julian Wright: He had the fanciest pass of the year, an over-the-shoulder, no-look pass to freshman guard Brandon Rush at the end of the first half. He also gave the Jayhawk faithful plenty to cheer about with his three timely, second-half monster dunks.
Cheers to Rush! He sparked the comeback by scoring 10 points in the final nine-and-a-half minutes. Rush's block and defense on Oklahoma guard Terrell Everett in the last minute sealed the game.
Cheers to freshan guard Mario Chalmers: His tear-drop winning shot about brought the roof off the fieldhouse.
Cheers to the fieldhouse crowd: Jajhawk nation must have been conserving energy for the first 10 minutes of the second half, but the comeback might not have happened without the deafening support from the crowd.
Chris Farley said it best of the Kansas comeback on the video board:"That was awesome."
C. J. Moore
Anthony Mattinaiv/KANSAN
Freshman guard Brandon Rush rips down a rebound in Sunday's win over Oklahoma. Rush finished the game with 3 rebounds and 18 points.
KANSAS 59. OKLAHOMA 58
OKLAHOMA (14-5, 5-3 Big 12 Conference)
Taj Gray 6-17 1-2 13
Kevin Bookout 4-12 0-0 8
Terrell Everett 6-19 0-0 14
David Godbold 2-5 2-2 7
Austin Johnson 2-6 0-0 5
Michael Neal 3-7 3-3 11
Nate Carter 0-0 0-0 0
Taylor Griffin 0-0 0-0 0
Totals 23-66 6-7 58
KANSAS (15-6, 6-2 Big 12)
FG FT PTS
Julian Wright 7-12 0-0 14
Sasha Kaun 3-5 1-1 7
Russell Robinson 2-10 2-4 6
Mario Chalmers 4-7 2-2 10
Brandon Rush 8-15 0-1 18
Jeff Hawkins 0-2 0-0 0
Jeremy Case 0-2 0-0 0
Darnell Jackson 1-4 0-0 2
CJ Giles 0-1 2-2 2
Christian Moody 0-1 0-0 0
Totals 25-59 7-10 59