Thad Allender/Journal-World PhotoKansas City, Mo ? At practice, in team meetings and while hanging out in the hotel room, Aaron Miles noticed a big difference in his roommate the past couple of days.
“Mike has been hyped. He’s been excited. He knows it’s time to ball right now,” Miles, Kansas University’s starting point guard, said of his best friend, Michael Lee, who scored nine straight points to bust open a close game and propel the fourth-seeded Jayhawks to a 78-63, second-round NCAA Tournament victory over 12th-seeded Pacific on Sunday afternoon at Kemper Arena.
“He stepped up big and brought a lot of energy to our team,” Miles added after Lee’s outburst highlighted a 15-4 run that turned a 51-all tie into a 66-55 KU lead with 6:51 left.
KU continued its onslaught, outscoring Pacific 27-9 en route to a commanding 78-60 lead and spot in Friday’s Sweet 16, where the Jayhawks will meet ninth-seeded Alabama-Birmingham, a surprising 76-75 winner over top-seeded Kentucky.
That game will tip off at 6:10 p.m. at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.
Scott McClurg/Journal-World PhotoThere’s a reason for Lee’s boost in energy — and it’s not just because of March Madness.
It’s all about confidence, and he has the father of Oklahoma State’s John Lucas to thank for rediscovering his.
“I think a lot of times, when I haven’t been playing my best this year, it’s because my confidence is down,” said Lee, like Miles a junior from Portland, Ore. “The other day in the hotel I just happened to run into John Lucas Sr. He stopped, pulled me aside and said, ‘You look a little jittery out there. Play with confidence.’
“I told him I was going to write that on my shoes. It’s just a reminder. Any time I’m tired and I’m looking down … confidence — it picks me back up and gets me going.”
His play got the Jayhawks going Sunday.
Lee followed a Keith Langford bucket with two free throws, a three-pointer and four more free throws, personally outscoring Pacific 9-4 to give KU a 62-55 lead.
“He’s a bad man,” Langford exclaimed of Lee. “You always see highlights of that blocked shot. I’m sure it’s got him fired up. He has a special pride about himself. He was an important part of our run last year, and now he’s doing it again this year.”
Langford was referring to repeated TV highlights of Hakim Warrick’s block of Lee’s possible game-tying three-pointer in last year’s national-championship game against Syracuse.
Lee, who says he has put that rejection behind him — “I’m focused on this year” — is not sure where his nine-point outburst against Pacific came from.
“I don’t think I’ve ever scored nine straight in a game,” the shooting guard said. “That was a pretty good stretch. I hit an open shot and a lot of free throws.
“It wasn’t just me, everybody played well.”
Fellow bench player David Padgett scored seven points, including a deep jumper that busted a 47-all tie and a stickback of a Jeff Graves miss that busted a 49-all deadlock, keeping KU afloat after Pacific had used a 9-1 run to tie the game at 47.
“I give Mike two thumbs-up. He’s clutch,” freshman J.R. Giddens said of the man who replaced him in the lineup during that key second-half stretch. “Before the game, I went up to Mike and said, ‘Let’s go, baby. Let’s rock and roll.’ He came through in the clutch. I guess he took those words to heart.”
So did Giddens, scoring 10 straight points for the Jayhawks, including five to close the first half and five to open the second.
Giddens hit a long jumper to erase a 32-31 deficit and followed with a three to give KU a 36-32 halftime lead immediately after coach Bill Self screamed at Giddens during a time out, shouting, “Can you guard anybody?”’
Giddens had failed effectively to guard Tom Cockle, who buried a three with 3:03 left in the first half, cutting what at one point was a 11-point KU lead all the way down to one at 31-30.
“Coach was real mad. I kicked myself in the head and started playing after that,” Giddens said.
His bucket to open the second half was a long three, and he followed that with a deep two. Giddens finished with 13 points, one of four Jayhawks in double figures.
Wayne Simien scored 18 points with 12 boards, while Langford had 16, Giddens 13 and Jeff Graves 12 off 6-of-11 shooting.
“I thought we played terrific,” Self said. “We were tough, we rebounded and we defended well. We certainly played a team well deserving to be in this round of the NCAA Tournament. I thought maybe the pressure was on us because they weren’t expected to win.”
KU came through with team effort.
“This is the best we’ve been all year,” said Simien, who said his strained groin felt fine. “If we continue to have that contribution off the bench, if Jeff keeps coming up big for us in big games like he’s known to do, I think down the line we’ll be tough to stop.”
“It’s a team thing,” Lee added. “We never let each other down. Today if a bad play happened, we bonded together and said, “Don’t worry about it. Go on to the next play.’ It was key tonight.”
KU stems Pacific tide
6Sports video: Kansas storms into Sweet 16
Hear Bill: KU-Pacific postgame comments
See the photos: KU-Pacific photo gallery