KU flounders in second half

By Ryan Greene     Dec 2, 2006

Not even a homecoming of sorts could throw Julian Wright off today when the Jayhawks tip off against DePaul at 1 p.m. in Rosemont, Ill.

Both Wright, a sophomore forward, and freshman guard Sherron Collins will be playing their first collegiate games back where their hoop dreams all began. Wright, a Homewood-Flossmoor product, and Collins, a three-sport star at Crane, are without doubt excited for the challenge from a Big East foe.

But just like last weekend in Las Vegas, business comes first.

KU is riding high on momentum at this time, supplementing its 82-80 win over previously top-ranked Florida last weekend in Sin City with an 83-32 pasting of lowly Dartmouth Tuesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.

Today’s game looks to be a little more of a challenge. Even though DePaul’s only two wins came over Eastern Illinois and Chaminade, Bill Self doesn’t want his team fooled, as the lengthy duo of senior guard Sammy Mejia and sophomore forward Wilson Chandler will give KU a true test.

FIRST HALF

Sammy Mejia opened the game for DePaul by canning a three-pointer from the top of the key. DePaul threw a defensive wrinkle at KU by starting the game applying full-court pressure.

Julian Wright scored the first hoop for KU, but DePaul’s Will Walker was quick to answer by driving the lane after crossing over Mario Chalmers, putting DePaul up 5-2.

After a DePaul offensive foul, Brandon Rush was authoritative in pulling up right up top and drilling a three-pointer to tie the game for KU.

Wilson Chandler, a player Bill Self pointed out as a potential problem for KU’s defense all week, then hit a three-pointer from the left wing, and it was followed by a traveling call on KU.

KU will have the ball coming out of the first television timeout, trailing 8-5.

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KU worked the ball to the low post out of the break, and Darrell Arthur scored his first points of the game on a baby hook from the left side of the hoop.

Both teams continued to struggle offensively for a series of possessions, but Julian Wright‘s defensive presence kept KU with some momentum, including a huge swat of DePaul’s Wesley Green.

Will Walker finally broke the dry stretch with a three-pointer on the left side to give DePaul an 11-7 advantage.

KU’s answer was again sparked by solid defense. First, Russell Robinson picked a ball clean in the Blue Demon backcourt and drew a foul on the fast break. He hit one of two free throws. After that came a Sasha Kaun open court slam on a feed from Brandon Rush, and then a Mario Chalmers three off of another Julian Wright blocked shot, putting KU ahead 13-11 with 11:15 to play in the first half.

Sammy Mejia scored a deuce for DePaul, making it a 13-13 game headed into another full timeout.

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Sherron Collins scored out of the timeout after twisting around the arc, taking Walker with him the whole way, and exploding for an inside layin. Karron Clarke hit a fadeaway two for DePaul, though, after a Mario Chalmers turnover on the baseline.

Sasha Kaun followed his own miss to put KU up 17-15, but DePaul showed on its next possession that it is game for the challenge in the paint, as a five-second-long scrum for a loose ball led to another full timeout, with KU nursing a two-point lead.

******

KU awoke from the game’s doldrums with just over five minutes to play, going back up 19-17 on a Russell Robinson to Darrell Arthur powerful alley-oop slam. It sparked some nice defensive pressure, and as KU brought the ball back up, Wright earned a trip to the line, hitting one of two to put KU up by three.

KU forced another turnover to head into the half’s final television timeout leading 20-17 with 3:45 until the break.

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Julian Wright drew a foul to put KU in the bonus, and he hit one of two attempts. After another defensive stand, Arthur scored again down low for KU on a turnaround 10-foot jumper along the right baseline.

DePaul then began hurting itself, this time with a Karron Clarke offensive foul. Chalmers responded with a three-pointer, to continue a 9-0 run for KU, and it sent KU into the half leading 26-17.

Mario Chalmers leads all scorers with eight points, and Darrell Arthur has chipped in six. Will Walker and Sammy Mejia each have five for DePaul, while Wilson Chandler has been held to just three points on 1-of-6 shooting.

SECOND HALF

Whereas KU ended the first half on a 9-0 run, DePaul did the scoring to start the second half via the free throw line. Sammy Mejia hit two of four attempts to start the half, but KU’s defensive tenacity did not disappear with the break.

Julian Wright scored the first hoop of the half for KU, but it was answered by a Mejia second-chance two. Mario Chalmers quickly fired back with his third three-pointer of the game, putting KU up 31-21.

Russell Robinson then drove the paint with a tad of hesitation in the middle to score again, coming on the heels of a DePaul offensive foul.

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Wilson Chandler threw down an aggressive lob pass from Jabari Currie out of the timeout, but Chalmers was again quick to shoot back by driving the lane and hitting a short floater. After a pair of bad DePaul misses, KU bumped its lead up to 37-23 on an inside two-handed slam from Julian Wright on a sweet dish from Brandon Rush.

Chandler though continued to come out of his shell on the offensive end by hitting a three-pointer on the wing, and it was followed by a Julian Wright offensive foul. Currie continued DePaul’s surge with a tough inside two.

After a Brandon Rush missed three, Kansas missed a pair of point blank looks, first from Sherron Collins and then a follow attempt by Arthur. Draelon Burns hit a three-pointer to put DePaul within six points at 37-31 with 11:51 to play.

Out of a short timeout, Chalmers continued to be KU’s offensive backbone, pump-faking inside and getting another easy two points. But DePaul’s Draelon Burns scored again on an inside pair of his own, drawing a foul in the process. The Jayhawks lead 39-31 with just over 11 minutes to play.

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Burns missed the free throw, and on the offensive end, Sherron Collins swished a three-pointer on the left side in front of the Jayhawk bench. Russell Robinson then answered a pair of Burns free throws with another three – a trade the Jayhawks would gladly take continuously – to put KU up 45-35.

Mejia hit a pair of free throws, but the same was done on the other end by Mejia. In fact, Mejia scored four more straight points for the Blue Demons, and almost made it six when Russell Robinson smacked his shot away in the open court.

Wilson Chandler then hit another pair of Blue Demon free throws, and another KU turnover got the DePaul crowd into it even more. Wright was then whistled for yet another foul, putting DePaul back at the line, trailing 47-43 with less than eight minutes to play.

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KU got a window of opportunity when Jabari Currie missed two free throws out of the timeout, and on the rebound attempt, DePaul was whistled for a foul. It didn’t calculate into offense for KU, though, as Rush missed an inside look which rolled slowly off the rim.

Currie then hit Marcus Heard inside to make it a 47-45 game just past the seven-minute mark.

Wright then missed a three, but Robinson rushed to the corner for the offensive board. He fed it back to a streaking Wright for a two-handed slam to get the Jayhawks awake one more time.

Rush then came in and threw another lob for Arthur after a DePaul traveling call to bring the thousands of KU fans on hand into the forefront of the atmosphere. It also pushed KU’s lead back up a little bit at 51-45 with 5:20 to play.

Robinson helped KU get into the bonus, and hit two free throws to make it a 53-45 game, but then he fouled Karron Clarke at the other end while shooting a three-pointer, drawing the ire of the KU bench.

Clarke hit all three free throws to make it a 53-48 contest with 4:15 to go.

Collins missed a three on the offensive side, and Wilson Chandler took the long rebound all the way for two points, pulling DePaul back within three points at 53-50.

Arthur missed a two-pointer with the shot clock dripping towards zero out of a 20-second timeout, and Mejia’s three-pointer made it a 53-53 game with less than three minutes to go.

Rush was fouled right before the game headed to its final television timeout with 2:38 to go.

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Rush clanked the first free throw off of the front iron. The answer was another Mejia three to put DePaul up for the first time since leading 11-10 in the first half. A Wright miss on the other end was rebounded by Chandler with less than two minutes to play.

Mejia then pulled another magical spin move ont he right side to hit a turnaround mid-range jumper, putting DePaul up 58-53 with 1:18 to play. Mejia has scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half.

Robinson was fouled on the other end, and just like Rush missed the front end of a one-and-one, again giving the ball back to DePaul.

Marcus Heard hit one of two free throws on the other end to make it a 59-53 game. Chalmers drove the lane on the offensive side for KU but was hacked on the way up. He hit both free throws to pull KU within four points with 48.3 seconds to play.

KU fouled the wrong guy in the half-court set, sending Karron Clarke back to the free throw line. The same guy who drilled three straight off of a Robinson foul earlier sunk one of two to make it a five-point game at 60-55. Robinson missed a three on the other end, Chandler ripped the rebound and DePaul worked off nearly 12 seconds from the clock, until Heard was ultimately sent to the line with 18.3 seconds left.

Heard hit both free throws and that all but sealed KU’s fate, down 62-55 with not much time to go. A Chalmers three missed badly, Arthur followed with two, but was left scrambling going into a timeout with 9.5 seconds remaining.

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Burns hit two free throws after being fouled on the inbounds pass, Chalmers missed a deep three, and KU lost 64-57, marking DePaul’s first win over a top-five team in seven years.

Mejia led all scorers with 23 points. Chalmers led KU with 17, while a big sore spot on the KU box score was Brandon Rush scoring just three points on 1-of-8 shooting. The 6-2 Jayhawks take on USC Monday at 8 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse.

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