April 1, 2012 (NEW ORLEANS) -- The tightrope walk rocks on for the Jayhawks. Kansas, the underrated, undervalued team that's been teetering on the edge of the tournament since before it even began, is now one of the last two left.
Tyshawn Taylor made two big free throws late, and All-American Thomas Robinson finished with 19 points and eight rebounds Saturday night to lift the Jayhawks to a come-from-behind 64-62 win over Ohio State in the Final Four -- a game Kansas led for a grand total of 3 minutes, 48 seconds.
After scoring the game's first bucket, Kansas didn't lead again until Travis Releford made two free throws with 2:48 left. That lasted for 11 seconds, but the Jayhawks (32-6), who trailed by as many as 13, overcame another deficit and finally held on against the Buckeyes (31-8).
"It's just been our thing all year, coming back," Robinson said. "I don't like doing it, but for some reason my team is pretty good when we're down."
More than pretty good. Kansas is one more magic act from bringing its second title in five years back to Allen Fieldhouse. It might take exactly that. The opponent is Kentucky, the big-time favorite to win it all, and a 69-61 winner over Louisville in the evening's first semifinal. The Wildcats are an early 6.5-point favorite.
"It's a dream to play the best team in the country, up `til now, hands down, the most consistent," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "It's a thrill. And I think it's even more of a thrill for us, because I don't think anybody thought we could get here."
Taylor's two free throws with 8.3 seconds left gave Kansas a 64-61 lead, matching its biggest of the game. The Jayhawks intentionally fouled Aaron Craft with 2.9 seconds left. Craft made the first, then quickly clanked the second one off the front of the rim but was called for a lane violation.
Kansas dribbled out the clock and celebrated a win that played out sort of the way the whole season has in Lawrence.
With most of the experienced players from last year gone, Self at times wondered if this team was even tournament material. The Jayhawks still won the Big 12 title -- for the eighth straight time -- but came into the tournament as what some felt was an underrated No. 2 seed.
They played down to their billing in their second game, against Purdue, barely escaping with a 63-60 win that looked a lot like this game in the Superdome.
"It was two different games," Self said of the latest escape act. "They dominated us the first half. We were playing in quicksand it looked like. And the light came on. We were able to play through our bigs; we were able to get out and run, but the biggest thing is we got stops."
Kansas' next test will feature a coaching rematch between Self and John Calipari, who was with Memphis in 2008 when the Tigers missed four free throws down the stretch and blew a nine-point lead in an overtime loss to Mario Chalmers and the Jayhawks.
A big comeback. Sound familiar? This year's Jayhawks also overcame a 19-point deficit to win their final regular-season meeting against Missouri -- their long-time, SEC-bound archrival.
"It's a 40-minute game," Self said. "There's no 13-point plays. You have to grind it and get one stop at a time."
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Sunday, April 1, 2012
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Robinson leads Kansas to 60-57 win over NC State
By DAVE SKRETTA, AP Sports Writer
Mar 24, 2:00 am EDT
ST. LOUIS (AP)—Thomas Robinson kept missing easy buckets. Tyshawn Taylor had a shooting performance he’d rather soon forget. Kansas made just two shots from outside 5 feet, and seemed to be in constant trouble against North Carolina State.
Yet a smile kept creeping across Robinson’s face. Taylor spent most of the second half Friday night trying to calm down coach Bill Self, who was stomping along the Jayhawks’ sideline.
“We haven’t been a picture-perfect team all season,” Self said later, “but that’s one thing that’s exciting. The guys take pride in not being perfect. They take pride in winning ugly.”
They certainly won a muddy brawl against the Wolfpack.
Robinson had 18 points and 15 rebounds, Jeff Withey blocked 10 shots to finish one shy of the NCAA tournament record, and the second-seeded Jayhawks held on for a 60-57 victory. They advanced to play top-seeded North Carolina, led by former coach Roy Williams, which escaped with a 73-65 overtime victory over No. 13 seed Ohio earlier in the night.
All the upstarts have headed home.
It’s the bluest of the bluebloods in a Sunday showdown for the Final Four.
“They’re a great team, great coach, great program,” Robinson said. “It’s two great programs and when we do meet, I’m pretty sure it’s going to go down as a big one.”
It figures to be a little more sexy than their game against the Wolfpack.
Both teams struggled to make shots, run offense and get into a flow. Kansas (30-6) even squandered an eight-point lead in the final few minutes, failing to wrap up the win until Richard Howell’s off-balance heave at the buzzer came up well short.
“The guys are tough. They’re tough,” Self said. “They find a way.”
C.J. Leslie had 18 points to lead N.C. State (24-13), despite sitting much of the second half with four fouls. Scott Wood finished with 12 points on 2-for-10 shooting, though his biggest error wasn’t a missed shot but the shot he never even got to attempt.
N.C. State had pulled within 58-57 on a transition layup by C.J. Williams with just over a minute remaining. The teams swapped possessions before Kansas managed to get a layup from Elijah Johnson off an inbound pass from Taylor with 13.5 seconds left.
The Wolfpack crossed midcourt and called a timeout to set up a play, which was designed to get the ball to Wood off a baseline pass. Instead, a skip pass went high and the sharpshooter stepped out of bounds trying to pull it in, giving the ball back to Kansas with 5 seconds to go.
Robinson was fouled and missed the free throw at the other end, but a pass down court and Howell’s tightly guarded shot at the buzzer came up nowhere close, allowing Kansas to escape.
“We did not execute very well. The end of the day, that’s my responsibility,” Gottfried said.
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