Kansas City, Mo ? A local boy made good very good on Saturday at Kemper Arena.
Kelley Newton, a former Kansas City Wyandotte High shooting guard who was not recruited by his beloved Kansas University, swished a pair of threes in the final six minutes, sparking Oklahoma to a 62-57 Big 12 tournament semifinal victory over Kansas.
| Oklahoma | 24 | 38 | 62 |
| Kansas | 30 | 27 | 57 |
Attendance: 19,100
Newton his deep three gave OU a 50-48 lead with 5:42 left busted a 54-54 tie with a bomb from the corner at 1:47.
His threes were daggers to the Jayhawks, who held OU to 8-of-28 three-point shooting overall an anemic 28.6 percent.
“It’s ironic Kelley Newton, a youngster who said he grew up with the Jayhawks his favorite team, sure shot ’em down today,” KU coach Roy Williams said. “Those were the two biggest plays of the game.”
Williams didn’t recruit Newton, but he wasn’t alone.
Just Tulsa and Oklahoma showed much interest following Newton’s two years at Neosho County CC.
“It was real sweet,” said Newton, who finished with 17 points on 5-of-12 three-point marksmanship.
“Sweet” for the Sooners (25-6), who outscored the Jayhawks (24-6), 38-27, in an ugly second half and advanced to today’s 2 p.m. final against Texas.
But not so sweet for the Jayhawks, who had just eight baskets in 23 attempts (34.8) the second half. Despite a massive height advantage, KU big men Drew Gooden and Eric Chenowith had no buckets the second half, while Nick Collison had just a pair of field goals.
“We didn’t make many good decisions offensively today,” Williams said of the Jayhawks who had just 13 turnovers, but hit 37.7 percent of their shots including five of 15 threes. “Their (Sooners) effectiveness on defense caused it.”
Point guard Kirk Hinrich he misfired on two threes that could have tied the score in the final moments was more harsh in his assessment.
“Offensively we were horrible,” Hinrich said. “We weren’t really doing anything.”
“We let that little matchup zone get in our heads,” said Gooden. He hit two of nine shots, misfiring on his only three attempts the final 20 minutes. “We were not moving to our proper spots. We were not screening for each other.”
Defensively, the Jayhawks held OU to miserable 32.7 percent overall shooting. But one big problem for KU was failure to grab rebounds off Sooner misses.
OU had just two more offensive rebounds than KU (13 to 11), but twice the Sooners had three shots at the goal on single possessions. OU’s scrappiness on the boards appeared to energize the team as it rallied from an early 15-5 deficit.
“A miss actually was good for them because it bounced right out to the person who took the shot,” Gooden said.
The Jayhawks were outrebounded by the smaller Sooners, 37-35.
“Our defensive rebounding was pretty terrible at times,” said Jeff Boschee, who hit three three-pointers the first half in helping KU build a 30-24 lead. He didn’t attempt a three the second half and scored just two points the final 20 minutes.
“They ran down some long rebounds which is our guards’ fault,” Hinrich noted. “We have to run down long rebounds and we weren’t able to do it.”
Hinrich had an off day shooting, missing eight of 11 shots.
He showed perfect form on a deep three straight-on with about 12 seconds left.
“I thought it was going in for sure,” he said of the shot, which missed.
KU corralled the rebound, Hinrich missing a final three from the corner with about eight ticks left.
“The second one didn’t feel too good,” Hinrich said.
The ball kicked out of bounds. Oklahoma called time out at :06.3, with the Sooners up, 60-57.
KU fouled Hollis Price, who swished two free throws at :05.5, icing the victory. Overall, OU hit 20 of 24 free throws including 13 of its last 14.
“I thought both (of Hinrich’s shots) were going in,” said junior guard Brett Ballard, who hit a driving layup at 1:19, cutting OU’s lead to 57-56. He was subbing for Kenny Gregory, who fouled out with 5:05 left, KU down by four. “Every time Kirk shoots it, I think it’s going in.”
“We didn’t do a very good job getting a good three. They did a good job running out on them,” Williams said. “One from Kirk at the top and one from the corner … those are almost prayers today. That prayer wasn’t answered.”
KU had chances before the Hinrich threes. Ballard, Boschee and Gooden forced a steal, the Jayhawks (down 57-56) calling a timeout at :44.1.
KU lost the ball in the corner and fouled Daryan Selvy, who hit one of two free throws at :31.6 to make it 58-56.
Hinrich dished to Gooden, who was hacked at :23.3, a possible three-point play going awry when the ball rolled out.
Gooden missed the first free throw and made the second, cutting the gap to 58-57.
KU fouled Nolan Johnson on the inbounds pass. He hit two charities at :20.9, giving OU a 60-57 lead down the stretch.
“We got the shot we wanted needless to say to Drew inside,” Williams said. “It would have been fun if it went in and he had a chance to make a three-point play. He missed the first and made the second and at that point we had to foul.”
The Jayhawks will learn their NCAA Tournament fate today. The CBS Selection Show begins at 5:30 p.m. on channels 5 and 13.
Three-point goals: 8-28 (Newton 5-12, Selvy 1-2, Heskett 1-4, Johnson 1-5, Price 0-5). Assists: 7 (Price 5, Heskett 2). Turnovers: 13 (Price 4, Selvy 4, McGhee 3, Heywood 2). Blocked shots: 0. Steals: 6 (Price 3, Newton 2, Heywood). |
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Three-point goals: 5-15 (Boschee 3-5, Hinrich 2-7, Gooden 0-1, Gregory 0-1, Ballard 0-1). Assists: 12 (Hinrich 6, Collison 3, Gooden 2, Gregory). Turnovers: 13 (Gooden 4, Gregory 3, Collison 3, Hinrich 2, Boschee). Blocked shots: 3 (Chenowith 2, Gooden). Steals: 8 (Gregory 2, Hinrich 2, Boschee 2, Gooden, Collison). |
