Update #10: Final, KU wins 92-39
Matt Kleinmann drew a trip to the free throw line and hit both attempts, putting KU over the 80-point barrier, as Nebraska began to unload a couple of walkons from the bench’s end.
Jeremy Case then went to work again, this time picking a pass at midcourt, and laying it in in transition while getting hacked. The free throw conversion gave him six points on the night. Case then nailed his second three of the game to put KU up by 50 points, and gave him a season-high nine points.
Brennan Bechard put KU at the 90-point mark for the third time in four games, scoring his first KU career points on a three from the right corner. Brad Witherspoon then accomplished the same feat, with a layup coming along with the fans cheering his name as KU finished off Nebraska 92-39. The Jayhawks remain tied atop the Big 12 with Texas A&M, who won at Oklahoma. The Jayhawks will play Kansas State Monday night in Manhattan at 8 p.m.
Update #9: 3:32, second half, KU leads 79-35
Kyle Marks hit one of two free throws for Nebraska after the timeout, scoring just the eighth point for Nebraska in more than 12 second half minutes played. Darrell Arthur then hit two free throws of his own on the other end, giving him nine points.
Arthur then got even more aggressive, calling for the ball after a Ryan Anderson three miss, going up for a two-handed dunk and drawing a foul with it. The missed charity was boarded up high by Julian Wright, and turned into a Sherron Collins three-pointer.
KU then just began to play around, as some nifty ballhandling and passing gave Darrell Arthur two easy points inside, pushing his total on the day to 13. Darnell Jackson, who fed Arthur on the previous bucket, followed it with a jumper from the top of the key.
R-Jay Strowbridge drew boos from the crowd with an intentional foul on Julian Wright in the open floor. Wright hit one of his two free throws, and on the ensuing possession, Rodrick Stewart nailed a three from the wing, making it the second straight game he’s hit a trifecta.
The bench clearing then began just before the four-minute mark, and Jeremy Case was the first to benefit, canning a three from straight on, putting KU up by 44 points.
Update #8: 7:53, second half, KU leads 60-29
Brandon Rush cashed a three to give him a team-high 13 points out of the timeout, as KU’s lead continued to surge, now reaching 27 points. To add some spice, Chalmers then swiped a pass at midcourt and flushed it two-handed in the open floor, putting him in double digits with 10 points.
Chalmers then swiped another pass, and this time turned it into an assist, finding a streaking Darnell Jackson cutting under the basket for a two-handed jam of his own, putting KU up by 31 points.
Update #7: 10:41, second half, KU leads 53-29
Sherron Collins passed up a three atop the key and opted for a feed inside to Julian Wright. After Nebraska couldn’t respond offensively, Sasha Kaun followed his own miss to follow things up with a layup inside paired with a foul, putting KU up 51-26 before the free throw. Aleks Maric laid on the floor hurt for awhile, grabbing his side, before heading to the bench for a bit. Kaun missed the free throw.
Richardson Jr. went to the line on Nebraska’s next possession after drawing Sasha Kaun into the air with a head fake and taking a foul on a three-point attempt. Though only one of the three charities was made.
Kyle Marks threw down a lob jam to quiet the crowd momentarily, but Arthur scored again in the paint, giving him seven points on the night and his first bucket of the second half, keeping KU up by 24 points.
Update #6: 13:57, second half, KU leads 47-26
Aleks Maric, just as he did in the first half, scored the second half’s first points, going right inside on Sasha Kaun, back in the game for the first time since picking up two fouls in two minutes to start the game. His second half start included a missed shot and a turnover.
Kaun wasn’t the only cold one to start the half, though, as both Brandon Rush and Julian Wright missed looks they normally hit. Wright then got to the free throw line after another tough go at it inside, hitting one of two.
After Maric missed his second straight look, Brandon Rush hit a three from the corner, making him the first Jayhawk in double figures with 10 points. It was followed by Maric’s third straight miss. After Maric’s third blown shot, Kaun hit his second field goal of the game over Maric inside from straight away, putting KU up 42-24.
Nebraska called another timeout to figure out how to stay in the contest, and out of it, Julian Wright scored yet again, this time on a turnaround bank shot from the right block. Kaun then swatted a Maric shot on the other end, and it resulted in the second three-pointer of the day for Mario Chalmers.
Nebraska was forced into yet another timeout after Chalmers’ trey, and it turned into two points for Charles Richardson Jr., taking the game to its first television timeout of the second half.
Update #5: Halftime, KU leads 36-22
After the final full break of the half, Maric continued to produce inside, scoring another deuce for Nebraska, giving him 12 points on the day. Chalmers, though, responded with his first two-point basket of the game on a knifing layup.
Maric stepped out on Nebraska’s next turn with the ball and tried a three atop the key, but after it missed long and Julian Wright took down the rebound, Sherron Collins was able to draw another foul while throwing his body into the lane. KU then called another timeout with :51.3 showing ont he first half clock.
Collins missed a long three out of the break after Mario Chalmers threw a nifty pass from underneath the basket. After Nebraska couldn’t convert, Julian Wright used a head fake to drive the lane and put one in off the glass as the clock expired. KU took a 14-point lead into the half, with Sherron Collins leading the way for KU with nine points. Brandon Rush has seven for KU, while Nebraska’s Aleks Maric leads all scorers with 12.
Update #4: 2:19, first half, KU leads 32-20
Sherron Collins hit one of his two free throws after the timeout, giving KU a slim five-point lead, and Nebraska’s Sek Henry was forced into calling a timeout on the sideline under pressure from Russell Robinson.
After the break, Marcus Perry missed a three with a hand in his face, and Sherron Collins kept up with his torrid start, hitting his second three of the game from the left side atop the key. After another failed Nebraska possession, Darrell Arthur this time drew a foul in the paint, and hit one of two free throws, giving KU some more breathing room with a nine-point edge.
Mario Chalmers then hit a three from the corner, pushing KU’s run to 10-0. The possession was started by a Jeremy Case defensive rebound, as he’s played a spirited few minutes off the bench late in the half.
Nebraska had to call for another hiatus, but out of it had a failed possession, and Brandon Rush came down to hit an 18-foot jumper. Nebraska finally responded, with Maric dropping in a tough two between Arthur and Rush inside.
Update #3: 5:39, first half, KU leads 22-18
The offensive inconsistency continued, as Russell Robinson was short on an open three from the right corner. KU forced a turnover on the other end, though, as Chris Balham lost the ball off of his knee under pressure form Arthur. Sherron Collins then hit KU’s first three of the game, putting the Jayhawks up 16-13.
Robinson then extended the lead off of an assist from Brandon Rush inside. But the real thanks went to Sherron Collins for his hustle play to save a missed shot on the offensive glass and keep the ball in KU’s possession.
Nebraska’s Paul Velander hit a three to respond somewhat for Nebraska, but Darnell Jackson came down and hit a spinning shot off the glass, and then blocked a shot on the defensive end. Julian Wright lost the ball, though, just past midcourt, as the crowd hissed for a kicking call. It turned into a follow-up dunk for Maric on the other end, as he leads all scorers with eight points.
Velander then had a three-pointer partially blocked, and it turned into a transition layup for Collins, putting KU up by four. The Jayhawks forced another Nebraska turnover, and Sherron Collins was fouled, bringing the frenzied contest to a brief halt.
Update #2: 11:18, first half, game tied 13-13
Brandon Rush completed his traditional three-point play after the timeout, creating the largest margin yet on the scoreboard between the two teams. Rush then came back down after a Sek Henry three miss and scored his second field goal of the game, putting the Jayhawks up 11-6.
Ryan Anderson hit a corner three in response after a Cornhusker timeout, pulling Nebraska within two points. Maric had a chance to tie the game but misfired again. He then grabbed a defensive rebound off of a Sherron Collins three miss. Maric got another shot from down close on the offensive end, but this time was long off the iron.
Mario Chalmers missed a three, making the Jayhawks 0-for-5 from long range to start the game, and the Jayhawks had another empty offensive possession. Chalmers then missed his second three attempt of the game, and this time, Maric made KU pay, tying the contest, 11-11.
Maric was exposed a bit defensively on the defensive end as Arthur poured in his second basket of the game, but Nebraska’s Marcus Perry put in another Cornhusker response, tying it up, 13-13.
Update #1: 15:58, first half, KU leads 8-6
Julian Wright, just like at the start of Wednesday’s game, went for an up-and-under acrobatic layin right off the bat. This time, though, he missed, and it was followed with a quick whistle against Sasha Kaun against the defensive board.
Nebraska’s Aleks Maric answered with a baseline hook shot, registering the game’s first points. Kaun was able to come back with a similar score inside after Maric aired his second attempt.
Kaun, though, was called for his second foul at the 18:01 mark, and it earned him a seat on the bench in favor of Darrell Arthur. To go with the whistle, Maric hit a pair of free throws to put Nebraska back on top. Arthur followed Kaun’s lead, though, hitting a free throw line jumper to tie the contest, 4-4.
Julian Wright put KU on top for the first time with a mid-range jumper on the left side after Brandon Rush hustled down a long offensive rebound. Nebraska freshman Ryan Anderson responded with a two of his own. He scored 19 points, hitting six threes, in the first meeting between the two teams.
Brandon Rush continued the back-and-forth start, hitting a runner along the left baseline while getting fouled, sending the game into its first full break.
Pregame
Today’s atmosphere at Allen Fieldhouse will have a championship feel to it. KU will honor the 1952 Jayhawk team which won the NCAA National Championship for the 55th anniversary of that accomplishment.
The ceremony will be done in quick fashion during the game’s first television timeout, and after that it will be nothing but focus on taking home a fourth straight solid victory for the No. 9 Jayhawks (22-4 overall, 9-2 Big 12).
Since losing 69-66 at home to Texas A&M on Feb. 3, KU has made helpless victims out of Kansas State, Missouri and, most recently, Colorado. Before playing A&M, the Jayhawks did the same to Nebraska (15-9, 4-6) up in Lincoln, Neb.
KU rolled to a 20-point win, and at one point led the Huskers 43-8 in the first half, but Nebraska enters today’s 3 p.m. tip as confident as ever, dumping K-State 74-63 on Tuesday, inlcuding a 41-point outing from junior big man Aleks Maric. Maric struggled considerably in the first meeting between KU and Nebraska, but enters as Doc Sadler’s leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 17.7 points and 7.7 boards per game.
KU today looks to maintain a tie with Texas A&M atop the conference standings. The Aggies play at Oklahoma this afternoon.
