Stories for March 22, 2007

Oden, Buckeyes hold on

Ohio State senior Ron Lewis knew better than to look at the scoreboard. One look at the Tennessee Volunteers told him all he needed to know. Although the top-seeded Buckeyes trailed by 17 and freshman sensation Greg Oden was in deep foul trouble, Lewis could tell his team had the Vols right where they wanted them. “Their body language was like they already had the game won,” Lewis said.

UCLA never trailed Pitt

Ben Howland set the tone early, crouching into a defensive stance with his arms in the air, yelling out assignments. And he’s only UCLA’s coach. His players paid just as much attention at the defensive end in a style all-too-familiar for Pittsburgh. The style Howland employed in four years at Pitt ended up knocking the Panthers out of the NCAA tournament when the Bruins won the West Regional semifinal 64-55 Thursday night.

‘Late Night’ entertainer passes away

The man known to the world as ‘Bud’ Melman on David Letterman’s late night talk show died this week at the age of 85. Jayhawk fans will remember Melman for a slightly different ‘late night’ performance.

Jayhawks survive ‘Sweet Sixteen’ scare

The Jayhawks survived the tight defense of the Southern Illinois Salukis to advance on to the ‘Elite Eight’ round of the NCAA Tournament.

Jayhawk QB studying hard during Spring Break

While most students are taking a break from the books during Spring Break, KU quarterback Kerry Meier has been studying the team’s new playbook.

KU baseball ready for home portion of Big 12 schedule

The Jayhawk baseball team hosts 14th-ranked Oklahoma State on Friday to kick off the home portion of their Big 12 schedule.

Jayhawk fans unfamiliar with foe

Journal-World Business Editor Mark Fagan caught up with some Jayhawk fans in San Jose and tested their knowledge of KU’s opponent, Southern Illinois.

Close game had many ‘Hawk fans fearing failure

In a packed downtown Lawrence bar, a crowd of anxious KU fans couldn’t help but feel a bit panicked during KU’s tight win over Southern Illinois.

Tigers squak past Aggies

Visualize this: The Memphis Tigers are one win away from the NCAA Final Four. Forget those season-long struggles from the free throw line. The Tigers are making them when it counts, with Antonio Anderson hitting two with 3.1 seconds left Thursday night for a 65-64 victory over Texas A&M in the NCAA South Regional semifinal.

HP Pavillion Panorama

Tour the HP Pavillion as the Kansas Jayhawks practice on Thursday in San Jose.

KU survives first Tourney scare, 61-58

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Jamaal Tatum missed a three from atop the key, and Russell Robinson picked off an errant Randal Falker pass off of the rebound. Julian Wright wound up with the ball and was fouled going up for a dunk with :02.2 left. He missed the first and Bill Self called a timeout before the second was hoisted. Wright missed the second, and a final halfcourt heave for SIU was short, as KU escaped with a 61-58 win. Jamaal Tatum led all scorers with 19 points for SIU, while Brandon Rush was the lone Jayhawk in double figures with 12. KU will get the UCLA-Pitt winner Saturday in the HP Pavilion.

San Jose Panorama

Can’t make it to lush San Jose to watch the Kansas Jayhawks? Take a tour of downtown San Jose, the epicenter of Silicon Valley and this week’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Salukis’ Shaw practices

Southern Illinois junior Matt Shaw practiced Wednesday in HP Pavilion. And that’s a start.

Jayhawk faithful take no chances

Superstitions trump the odds when title on the line

Don’t tell Todd Guerrieri that he’s overconfident. Just because the Kansas University graduate shelled out $1,400 for four tickets to Saturday’s regional final doesn’t mean that he’s taking anything for granted, heading into tonight’s Sweet 16 game against Southern Illinois.

Family with Illinois roots faces hawk-eat-dog competition

The McGuinness household is torn over whom to cheer for tonight during the NCAA Tournament West Regional semifinal.

Trail Blazers’ LaFrentz could play Saturday

Raef LaFrentz will join the Portland Trail Blazers on their four-game road trip today and could begin practicing on Saturday after missing the last six weeks because of a torn muscle in his left calf, Blazers coach Nate McMillan said.

Home runs decisive despite gusts

Jayhawk baseball squad splits doubleheader with Northern Colorado

It seemed as though it would be difficult to get a ball out of Hoglund Ballpark on Wednesday, with the strong winds blowing in from right field during the Kansas University baseball squad’s doubleheader against Northern Colorado.

Heat’s Simien returns to active roster

One quest was put on hold and another dream was revived Wednesday night when the Heat faced the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena.

Carolina’s Terry has strep, will play

North Carolina senior Reyshawn Terry has been diagnosed with strep throat, but was expected to play against Southern California in Friday’s night East Regional semifinal.

Tonight’s capsules

Kansas-SIU notebook

This is the first meeting between the schools.

Texas A&M has come a long way

Some Texas A&M students wore paper bags over their heads during Acie Law’s freshman season, embarrassed to be rooting for a team that didn’t win a conference game.

Keegan: Keegan: Kansas has edge in West

The top four seeds remain in the West region of the NCAA Tournament, so they all are better than George Mason of a year ago, which means they all have a shot to go to Atlanta. Even so, I’ll take Kansas, and you can have the field.

Championship celebration worthy of pricey wine

Brent Pierce makes a living selling collectible wines for as much as $10,000 per bottle.

Players happy for ‘Jank’

This week’s announcement that popular assistant coach Tim Jankovich is headed to Illinois State hasn’t proven to be a distraction to the Jayhawks, freshman Darrell Arthur maintains.

Kansas keeps it loose

Jeremy Case set up 23 feet away from the basket and fired a wide-open three-pointer at the HP Pavilion on Wednesday. He bricked it. Badly.

We’ll see about ‘D’

SIU defense a stale topic for Jayhawks

Enough about Southern Illinois University’s defense, already. “Honestly, I think ours is better,” Kansas University junior guard Russell Robinson said Wednesday in HP Pavilion, site of today’s 6:10 p.m. NCAA West Regional Sweet 16 matchup between top-seeded KU and fourth-seeded SIU.

Buddies Howland, Dixon put strategy talk on hold

The almost daily phone calls haven’t stopped this week, even though Ben Howland and Jamie Dixon will be on opposite sides of the court tonight.

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