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03-12-2007, 09:10 AM | #586 | |
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Kansas deflects Durant, Texas for second straight title By Kevin Haskin The Capital-Journal Published Monday, March 12, 2007 OKLAHOMA CITY — The Big 12 Tournament could have been billed as the one, and only, time to marvel at Texas freshman sensation Kevin Durant play in a postseason conference tournament. So Kansas chose to do just that through the first 15 minutes Sunday in the championship game at the Ford Center. Durant canned shots from virtually everywhere. Bombs, fadeaways, stickbacks ... it didn't matter. The 6-foot-9 superstar was simply on top of his extensive game, scoring 22 points by the 5:44 mark of the first half while staking the Longhorns to a 22-point lead. "He came out on fire against us, just like last time,'' said KU sophomore forward Julian Wright, recalling the 16-point lead Texas forged in Allen Fieldhouse before losing 90-86 on March 3. "They must like playing the first four minutes, but we stayed calm. ... Once you start looking at the scoreboard, you're in trouble.'' CBS executives thought the same thing heading into their selection show. It took an overtime for Kansas to nip Texas 88-84 and claim the Big 12 tournament crown for the second straight season and fifth time since the inception of the league in 1996-97. The Jayhawks barely got the last strand of the net clipped before they were announced as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and destined to open Friday in Chicago between the winner of a play-in game Tuesday between Florida A&M and Niagara. Once the brackets were released, the classic final Kansas (30-4) waged against Texas (24-9) was anti-climatic. But far from forgettable. "What a fun game to play and coach in, because everything's been decided where you're going to be (in the NCAAs),'' said KU coach Bill Self. "All you're doing is playing for pride to win the conference tournament, against a great team in a great atmosphere. There were some guys making some great plays out there.'' Especially when the Jayhawks lugged another trophy home and used enough key plays as a team to offset Durant and extend their winning streak to 11 in a row. The comeback from 22 points down marked the greatest deficit KU has ever overcome, topping a 19-point rally to beat UCLA in 1995. "We like to be part of history,'' said junior guard Russell Robinson. "That's always amazing and it shows how tough we are.'' Just how bleak did it get for the Jayhawks? At the 8:08 mark of the first half, Texas owned its largest margin, 32-10. Fifty seconds later, Durant connected again to make him 8-for-10. Then, he turned human. Durant waited 161/2 minutes before making another field goal while being chased by the Jayhawks' Brandon Rush. Durant finished with 37 points, but missed 16 of his last 20 attempts, including eight straight. "I tried to pressure him, make him use his right hand a lot more,'' said the 6-6 Rush. "My team helped me out a lot.'' "They didn't do anything different. I missed easy shots,'' Durant said. "They did a great job pushing me out of the lane and helped on defense. I credit them.'' Credit to KU should extend across the board. Backup guard Sherron Collins looked more like the clutch freshman who took over several conference games. He led the Jayhawks with 20 points, several off daredevil drives. Rush and Wright chipped in 19 apiece, and Mario Chalmers added 17. It was Chalmers' 3-pointer with 15 seconds left in regulation that forced the overtime. "I came off the pick and I was wide-open, so I thought I'd take it,'' Chalmers said. "They were focused on Brandon and Sherron, and forgot about me at the top of key.'' In overtime, Rush and Darnell Jackson blocked attempts by the Longhorns' D.J. Augustin on back-to-back possessions, and KU made five of its last six free throws to cap its second four-point win over Texas in eight days. "I'm no hometown hero,'' said Jackson, who was playing before family and friends in his native OKC. "I just told myself to go get it.'' Jackson followed his block by sinking two free throws with 13.2 seconds left to give KU an 86-81 lead. Then, after UT sophomore A.J. Abrams netted the last of his 19 points with a 3-pointer, Robinson made two more foul shots at the :5.3 mark. "We have got some big cajones,'' Jackson added. "We pulled it out. There wasn't anybody giving up.''
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03-12-2007, 09:40 AM | #587 | |
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03-12-2007, 09:54 AM | #588 | |
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03-12-2007, 09:57 AM | #589 | |
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03-12-2007, 12:43 PM | #590 | |
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