Collins goes ‘ballin’

By Gary Bedore     Jan 16, 2007

Sherron Collins tilted his head to unveil a zig-zag pattern shaved into the side of his noggin.

“It doesn’t signify anything. I do it all the time back home. It’s my graphic design,” Kansas University’s freshman guard from Chicago said with a smile.

Looking physically as he did at Crane High School after an afternoon trip to the barbershop with Julian Wright and Rodrick Stewart, who opted for similar cuts, Collins on Monday night resembled the dominant McDonald’s All-American he was on the prep level.

The 5-foot-11 jitterbug erupted for a career-high 23 points – including seven of KU’s last nine points – in a thrilling 80-77 victory over Missouri in Allen Fieldhouse.

“That’s the point guard that coach (Kurtis) Townsend and I saw just about every time he played in high school and in AAU games – in attack mode and aggressive,” KU coach Bill Self said. “Tonight there was no thinking. He was just out there ballin’. I thought he was fabulous.

“We’ve had some unbelievable wins here where guys have taken games over. I don’t know if I remember where one individual took over a game more in a big game like he did today. For a young kid, that’s pretty strong.”

Here’s what Collins did to propel fifth-ranked KU (16-2 overall, 3-0 Big 12 Conference) past a gritty Missouri team (11-6, 0-4) that wiped out separate deficits of nine and eight points in the contest:

¢ He hit a one-hander in the paint and followed that with a three-pointer off a pass from Russell Robinson, turning a 72-71 deficit into a 76-72 lead at 1:41.

¢ Then, with KU up just 78-77, he cashed a running, driving layup with :32.4 left, losing a shoe in the process and playing defense the next possession with just one piece of footwear.

“Sherron was the man tonight. He’s had a great attitude,” Self said.

“Sherron was the MVP,” noted sophomore Brandon Rush, who might have been runner-up for his defense on the last play of the game, an off-balance desperation three by Matt Lawrence as time ran out.

Collins accepted the title reluctantly.

“I didn’t envision myself carrying the team. I know I’m capable of doing it, though,” said Collins, who said he was unaware of the importance of the KU-MU rivalry until “coach got on us at halftime. My teammates did a good job giving me the ball the second half. I took it in my hands the last few minutes.”

Another freshman, Darrell Arthur, also was big in crunch time, scoring six points in the last five minutes, including a bucket off a feed from Robinson that gave the Jayhawks a 78-75 lead with 58 seconds left.

“Julian, Russell and Sherron did a great job finding me slipping to the goal,” said Arthur, who along with Collins scored 17 of KU’s final 19 points. “I thought Sherron really stepped up big. He made a lot of open threes tonight.”

In fact, he made four of seven threes on a night KU hit eight of 17 to MU’s seven of 30.

“I don’t think I’ll stop feeling like a freshman. I wish I wasn’t a freshman,” Collins said with a grin.

“He’ll screw up tomorrow just like everybody else. I’m proud of him, though,” Self said.

One mess-up didn’t cost the Jayhawks late in the game. Robinson grabbed a miss by Stefhon Hannah (15 points, 6-of-16 shooting) with 13 seconds left and KU up, 80-77.

He fired a pass downcourt to a wide-open Rush, but the pass sailed out of bounds, giving the Tigers one final possession.

“Gosh, he had a bad turnover late. We had the game won, and he threw the ball out of bounds,” Self said. “(But) I thought Russell (seven assists, two three pointers made in three tries) stepped up today, and Brandon (16 points, seven boards) had a good game.

“Julian (Wright) : I didn’t feel it was his best game, and he gets 10 rebounds and five assists. We had guys step up and make plays, and of course tonight everybody knows who that was.”

Collins, of course.

Of the halftime talk (with KU up 40-39), that educated Collins to the rivalry, Self shrugged.

“I didn’t say anything great,” Self said. “We told them before the game Missouri would play better than their 0-3 record. We emphasized, ‘You’ve got to want it more.”‘

Self stressed the Jayhawks beat a team that also wanted it badly. Mizzou erased deficits of 32-23 and 58-50 and actually led 65-60 with nine minutes left following a 15-2 second-half run.

Those were two pretty good teams out there tonight,” Self said. “That was more a Missouri team we’ve come to know. They took their act on the road and played very well. They played great. I knew it’d be a nip-and-tuck game.”

KU will meet Texas Tech at 3 p.m. Saturday in Lubbock, Texas.

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