1,900th win lands KU No. 1 seed in OKC

By Ryan Greene     Mar 3, 2007

Update #10: Final, KU wins 90-86

Damion James was the recipient of D.J. Augustin’s 11th assist of the game, slamming home two points to make it a six-point game at the three-minute mark. After Durant forced a Julian Wright turnover in the corner, Texas gave it right back underneath.

Kansas called a timeout after the two teams again traded turnovers to spread the message of milking the clock. On the first play out of it, Mario Chalmers fed Brandon Rush for a two-handed lob dunk, making it an 86-78 game. KU got the ball back and was fouled quickly. Russell Robinson missed the front end of a one-and-one.

After a Texas timeout, a foulfest ensued, as KU was holding a good-sized lead.

But Texas made one last push.

Kevin Durant hit his first three of the second half to close Texas within five points with less then 30 seconds to go. Mario Chalmers was then called for a pushoff on the inbounds pass. Abrams then hit a fading three to make it a two-point game with :22.6 seconds left to go. Julian Wright was fouled immediately and sent to the line. He hit just one of two, leaving Texas down three.

Justin Mason first missed a three, and after D.J. Augustin took the defensive board and tried to draw a foul. His shot was blocked with 11 seconds left by Julian Wright from behind.

Russell Robinson was chased down and fouled in the open court.

Mario Chalmers led KU with 21 points coming off of five three-pointers. Julian Wright finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Russell Robinson chipped in a season-high 17 points. Kevin Durant led all scorers with 32 points, while Augustin had 19 points and 13 assists. It goes down as the 1,900th win all-time for KU, and gives the Jayhawks an outright Big 12 title to go with the top seed in next week’s Big 12 tournament.

Update #9: 3:31, second half, KU leads 84-76

Darnell Jackson missed a pair of free throws after the timeout, and D.J. Augustin continued to draw focus away from Durant by hitting a fading two on the baseline, pulling Texas within seven.

Brandon Rush then took down a rebound off of an A.J. Abrams three miss, and it resulted in him throwing a lob up to Darnell Jackson, pushing KU’s advantage back to nine points. Durant then missed his first shot attempt since re-entering the game. It was followed by D.J. Augustin missing from the free throw line for the first time on the front end of a one-and-one.

Arthur came back down to hit one of two free throws, giving KU a 10-point advantage. Durant answered with two points inside, keeping the Longhorns within range of the Jayhawks.

Update #8: 7:00, second half, KU leads 81-72

Darrell Arthur scored on a two inside in transition to bump KU’s lead to six points, but it came right after Darrell Arthur had to leave the game with a high ankle sprain. He twisted it while driving sideways into the lane. He hobbled to the locker room with 27 points, 25 of which came in the first half.

A.J. Abrams took the scoring upon himself, hitting a baseline jumper while being fouled on Texas’ first possession without Durant. He hit the free throw to make it a three-point game, and Augustin then came back after a Darnell Jackson travel to make it a one-point game again.

Augustin hit a big stepback jumper after Julian Wright hit an 18-foot jumper. Brandon Rush then hit a three from the corner, keeping KU ahead by arm’s length.

Russell Robinson came down to hit a two off the window, giving him 15 points, and putting KU up by six points with just under nine minutes left to play.

Mario Chalmers went for a one-handed dunk in transition after forcing a steal off of Justin Mason but was hacked from behind, getting to the line for the first time. He hit one of two free throws to give KU its biggest lead of the day at seven points.

Darnell Jackson took down a big rebound off of a Connor Atchley three miss, and Durant came back to the bench from the Texas locker room. Moments later, he hit the scorer’s table to check in. First, Sasha Kaun followed a Sherron Collins miss, pushing KU’s lead to nine points.

Update #7: 11:36, second half, KU leads 69-65

Kevin Durant got himself into the scoring column for the first time in the second half, as he backed down Brandon Rush out of the timeout and hit a turnaround from 14 feet. Texas then took the lead back as D.J. Augustin took an errant inbounds pass on the other end and fed Damion James for a huge two-handed dunk in transition.

Darrell Arthur, who struggled in six minutes of play Monday night at Oklahoma, hit his second field goal of the game to put KU back up by one off the glass from eight feet away.

Chalmers then hit a three after KU’s defense forced A.J. Abrams into an awkward three attempt with the shot-clock winding down. Chalmers leads KU with 19 points on 5-of-5 three-point shooting.

Update #6: 14:49, second half, KU leads 64-61

Sasha Kaun scored inside after a Julian Wright acrobatic miss, cutting the lead to ten immediately. Wright came down after a Texas turnover and scored his first points of the half to slice it to eight, as the Fieldhouse has again begun to come alive.

Damion James helped Texas push back a little bit with a pair of free throws, but Kaun camed back down to take a rifle feed from Wright and complete a three-point play. Another Texas turnover turned into two points for Russell Robinson in transition, as KU made it a 9-2 run to open the half.

Texas took a full timeout, and afterwards, Kevin Durant had his first three-point miss of the day. Russell Robinson came back down to hit three of his own, giving him 13 points so far and pulling Texas back within two points.

James again hit two free throws, as Texas is 7-of-7 from the free throw line. The two teams swapped turnovers, and Mario Chalmers hit a pull-up three to close KU within one point, as Kansas is 6-of-7 from the field to start the second half and has outscored Texas 15-4 to start the half.

Wright put KU back ahead, 59-58, as Julian Wright tipped in a Sasha Kaun miss. It lasted for just seconds, as A.J. Abroms hit his fourth three of the game. Brandon Rush hit a trio of his own to put KU on top again, 62-61.

Wright extended KU’s lead to three points at 64-61 as Brandon Rush missed another three attempt, and the Fieldhouse has been brought to a frenzied level.

Update #5: Halftime, Texas leads 54-42

Kevin Durant scored his first points in quite some time on a lob out of the timeout, finishing over Sherron Collins to give him 22 points in the game. KU missed a baseline jumper afterwards, but following Durant’s third miss of the game, Brandon Rush hit a pair of free throws to again make it a 14-point game.

After Sasha Kaun got in front of Damion James and allowed Mario Chalmers to jar it loose, Chalmers hit a three from the opposite wing. Yet again, Durant answered with an NBA-range three, giving himself 25 points with just over a minute to go.

Mario Chalmers scored on an up-and-under layup after A.J. Abrams missed a three out of Texas’ timeout. Durant came back to miss a baseline jumper, giving KU a chance to hold for the game’s last shot. Nothing came of it, as Texas took a 54-42 lead into the half. Kevin Durant leads all scorers with 25 points, while Julian Wright and Mario Chalmers each have eight for KU.

Update #4: 2:59, first half, Texas leads 49-35

KU tried to answer back with threes out of a timeout, and Russell Robinson missed from the corner. D.J. Augustin came down to make it a 12-point game, twisting around the rim.

Brandon Rush brought the crowd back for the moment, hitting a deep three with the shot clock running down against a zone defense. Augustin got himself into double figures, hitting a three moments later, and Chalmers then mitched it by rolling one in off the front iron. Matt Hill came down to score two inside for Texas, and Russell Robinson hit KU’s third striaght three to make it an eight-point game.

It really didn’t matter, as Texas continues to hit at will, with Abrams hitting the team’s ninth three of the game from the corner, again putting them up by 11. It extended to 13 points when Damion James got in on the act inside. KU was able to counter with another two, but Abrams made it 10 threes, putting the Longhorns up 14 and leaving Bill Self wondering what to do.

Update #3: 7:24, first half, Texas leads 34-24

Kansas went on its 7-0 run with Kevin Durant resting on the bench, but out of the timeout, the game’s leading scorer returned. He first watched D.J. Augustin hit a pair of free throws to put Texas back up by five.

Texas got a chance to extend the lead after a KU missed three, but Durant, now guarded by Darrell Arthur, missed his second straight shot. It turned into a driving two-handed dunk by Wright inside after selling Damion James on a head fake.

Durant came back to hit his third three of the game, giving him 15 points so far. Mario Chalmers answered with his first points of the game. His three from the left corner pulled KU within three. He then scurried away from the defensive end with a rebound. He hit Brandon Rush in transition for an open three look. That missed, and so did Russell Robinson’s driving layup after a Julian Wright offensive board. Robinson got to the line, though, drawing the first foul of the game on Durant. He hit both, making it a one-point game nearing the nine-minute mark.

The Texas lead quickly ballooned again, as Durant backed down Brandon Rush to score his 16th and 17th points, and after a Sasha Kaun miss, A.J. Abrams cashed his first three of the game. After another KU miss, Durant hit the 20-point mark with his fourth three of the game, putting Texas up 31-22.

After KU called a 30-second break, Julian Wright scored again, but Texas continued to answer with three-pointers. This time it was D.J. Augustin hitting his first of the game, as Texas is 7-of-9 from three-point range.

Update #2: 11:14, first half, Texas leads 18-15

After drawing a moving screen on Texas out of the timeout, Julian Wright took an ill-advised three, turning into the eighth and ninth points of the day for Kevin Durant. Darrell Arthur came back down to miss a mid-range jumper, and Brandon Rush’s tip-back was left short off the rim.

Arthur scored his first points of the game on a nifty feed from Julian Wright, but Texas came back with a pair of threes – one from Durant and one from Justin Mason – putting the Longhorns up 18-8 with 13:35 left to play.

Bill Self whistled a quick timeout, and out of it Arthur got to the free throw line for the first time. After missing both, Sherron Collins chased down the offensive board. He found Russell Robinson open from three-point range, and the hit pulled Kansas back within seven, and it started a snowball for the Jayhawks. First a big blocked shot led to an open Darnell Jackson dunk in transition. Arthur then rejected a D.J. Augustin offering underneath, and on the other end Brandon Rush scored his first points of the game on a two-handed flush.

Update #1: 15:56, first half, Texas leads 10-6

The opening tip flew out of bounds off of Brandon Rush’s hands, sending the ball Texas’ way. Damion James tried to go to the rack on the first possession for Texas, but the ball was pinned off the backboard. Julian Wright came back down to hit a fadeaway turnaround jumper from close range over James.

D.J. Augustin tried to even it up by slashing to the rim down the left side of the lame, but was unsuccessful, as Rush pulled down the board. Wright came back down to score again for KU after his first attempt was wiped away by Kevin Durant.

James missed his second field goal attempt, and Wright took down his first rebound of the game, but the Texas freshman forward responded by drawing a charge against Russell Robinson. Augustin came back down for a layup while being draped by Sasha Kaun. The three-point play pulled Texas within one, and the Longhornds then took the lead on a deep three from Durant. The Longhorn run was extended with a Durant jumper in transition following a huge Damion James blocked shot.

Sasha Kaun ended the bleeding for KU by driving hard and getting to the free throw line. He hit both, but Durant responded with two of his own on an emphatic one-handed throwdown following a Julian Wright turnover.

Pregame

Do they share or don’t they? That’s the one question left to be answered as far as the Big 12 regular season is concerned. On its final day, Kansas University is just one win away from its first outright conference title in the Bill Self era.

The final hurdle might as well be set three feet higher than the other 15, though, as KU takes on No. 15 Texas (22-7 overall, 12-3 overall), who enters Allen Fieldhouse as one of the nation’s hottest teams. Two names in particular are responsible for the Longhorns’ surge – D.J. Augustin and Kevin Durant. The freshman duo has been responsible for carrying Rick Barnes’ youth-loaded roster since day one, and they are finally hitting their stride. Durant is vying for the National Player of the Year honor, averaging 24.9 point and 11.5 rebounds per game this season. Augustin averages 14.8 points and 6.6 assists an outing. Those numbers are even more inflated during conference play. The team might be at its peak coming into this game, having just ousted Texas A&M 98-96 in double overtime Wednesday night.

The No. 3 Jayhawks (26-4, 13-2) haven’t played since slipping by Oklahoma on the road Monday, 67-65. If the Jayhawks win today, it will give them not only a celebration on the floor, but also the top seed in next week’s Big 12 Tournament. A loss puts the Jayhawks, Longhorns and Aggies in a three-way tie atop the heap, and will seed Kansas No. 3 in Oklahoma City.

PREV POST

Rude shirts a disservice to KU spirit, group says

NEXT POST

237631,900th win lands KU No. 1 seed in OKC