Big second half helps KU blast OU, 64-47

By Ryan Greene     Mar 9, 2007

Update #10: Final, KU wins 64-47

OKLAHOMA CITY – Sherron Collins, who went scoreless the first time KU and OU played, scored his seventh and eighth points on an open-court layup, and the KU bench clearing ensued after that.

Brandon Rush led all scorers with 16 points, with 13 of those coming in the second half. KU mangled OU in the game’s final 20 minutes, as the Sooners converted just four field goals after halftime. Darrell Arthur added 10 for KU, just days after coming down with a flu bug.

The Jayhawks will take on the winner of this afternoon’s Texas Tech/Kansas State game at 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon in the Ford Center.

Update #9: 3:46, second half, KU leads 59-38

OKLAHOMA CITY – Brandon Rush scored off of a Julian Wright miss after Tony Crocker missed another three for the Sooners, who still have just one field goal in the second half with just over five minutes to go in the game.

Julian Wright was obstructed going up to finish a lob, and it was the fifth foul of the game on OU’s Taylor Griffn. He hit one of two free throws, and it was followed with an Austin Johnson running two for Oklahoma, snapping a 10-minute fiefld goal drought for the Sooners.

Update #8: 6:59, second half, KU leads 56-35

OKLAHOMA CITY – Brandon Rush, after a pair of Michael Neal free throws, continued to surge in the second half, bumping his point total to 14 with a swooping right-handed lay-in from the left block.

Nate Carter swished two free throws for Oklahoma, but KU was far from ready to slow down after that. Rush took charge again, this time feeding Darrell Arthur, who finished a close-range shot while getting fouled. His free throw put KU ahead by 18 and gave the freshman nine points on the day.

Tony Crocker continued to make OU’s only means of offensive production come from the free throw line, hitting two more. The Sooners have one second half field goal so far, and have gone roughly five minutes without one.

Sherron Collins followed a poor OU offensive effort with two tough, leaning points in transition, and he scored yet again off of an OU air ball, putting KU up by a cool 20 points with just under nine minutes left.

Darrell Arthur swished home one more free throw to give him 10 points before taking a well-earned seat on the bench with over eight minutes to go.

Update #7: 11:27, second half, KU leads 46-29

OKLAHOMA CITY – After the timeout, Mario Chalmers picked up KU’s sixth team foul with less than five minutes expired in the second half. Longar Longar turned it into two points with a hook in the lane. Sasha Kaun came back to trickle one in off the back iron.

KU quickly got the ball back, and Kaun this time got to the free throw line, hitting one of two, putting KU up by eight points with just under 14 minutes left in the game. Oklahoma followed it with an offensive foul, and Julian Wright, now back in the game for KU, took the ball inbounds following. Brandon Rush kept KU’s solid second half rolling with his second three-pointer of the game, this one on the left wing.

Tony Crocker was the first to benefit from OU getting into the bonus, but he missed the front end of his one-and-one trip. Brandon Rush then got KU into the one-and-one on the other end, casually swishing both, giving him a team-high 10 points. OU turned the ball right back over on the attempted inbounds pass, and after Sherron Collins scooped it up, he put it up high for Julian Wright, who flipped it down with two hands. KU then forced another OU turnover at midcourt, this time ending with a Brandon Rush one-handed stuff. It catapulted KU to a 46-29 lead.

Update #6: 15:28, second half, KU leads 34-27

OKLAHOMA CITY – Nate Carter and Brandon Rush traded missed shots to start the second half, and on OU’s second possession, Taylor Griffin bullied himself inside and earned a trip to the free throw line. He hit one of two, keeping KU ahead by a point.

Brandon Rush hit an up-and-under layup with a foul to go with it. He missed the free throw, and KU had a chance to extend the lead with another possession. Taylor Griffin though emphatically threw back a Darnell Jackson shot from close range, keeping KU’s lead at three.

Tony Crocker was short on a three look, and Sasha Kaun pulled down his fourth rebound of the game. OU was whistled this time as Darrell Arthur was shoved in the back while going up to throw down a lob from Russell Robinson. He missed a jumper off the inbounds pass. After a Bobby Maze air ball, Russell Robinson took an outlet pass deep and went up for a layup in transition. He hit it and was fouled, but missed the charity, making KU 4-of-9 so far from the line.

After another OU ugly miss, Mario Chalmers cut the lane and scored flopping over a defender, giving KU its biggest lead of the game at 34-27.

Darrell Arthur was called for his second foul of the game heading into a media timeout. Julain Wright has yet to play in the second half after playing just seven first half minutes.

Update #5: Halftime, KU leads 28-26

OKLAHOMA CITY – Sherron Collins saw his three-pointer out of the timeout clank away, but Oklahoma turned the ball right back over, and Mario Chalmers took advantage of it by getting to the free throw line for bonus charities. He hit both, putting KU on top once again.

Sasha Kaun this time made the big play defensively, wiping away a Longar Longar attempt underneath on a second chance.

KU was called for a foul underneath the OU basket, and it put the Sooners in the bonus territory as well. Michael Neal hit one of two, tying the game, 24-24.

Bill Self whistled for a quick 30-second timeout, and KU regained the lead momentarily out of it. Sasha Kaun’s shot was pinned against the backboard off of an Arthur miss, but Longar Longar was called for goaltending. After a Michael Neal two on the baseline, Arthur scored his third bucket so far to change the lead yet again.

OU then whistled for a 30-second break. And after OU turned the ball over, the Jayhawks handed it right back in a mid-court pinball fest. Nothing came of OU’s final possession, and KU took a 28-26 lead into the locker room. Michael Neal leads all scorers with eight points, while Mario Chalmers is KU’s high-producer with seven. Darrell Arthur, coming off of a flu bug, has six.

Update #4: 3:48, first half, OU leads 23-22

OKLAHOMA CITY – Robinson split his second free throw pair of the day, tying the game 14-14 after the timeout.

Longar Longar again was a beneficiary of what looked to be an air-ball on the right side. This time, David Godbold was throwing up the shot leaning against Sasha Kaun. Longar punched it in off the glass and drew a foul. His free throw put OU up three.

Brandon Rush tied it with his first points of the day coming on a three from the left wing. Oklahoma was called for a travel moments later.

Darrell Arthur couldn’t put in two down low, and Longar continued his solid first half with a strong defensive rebound. It turned into the first three-pointer of the day for Tony Crocker.

Mario Chalmers came right back to casually stroke a trey of his own, tying the game yet again, 20-20. Once OU’s Chris Walker was whistled for an offensive foul, Darrell Arthur scored his second field goal of the day with a long jumper just inside the arc up top.

Arthur then blocked Nate Carter underneath, but the possession on the other end came up empty as Sherron Collins stepped out of bounds on the baseline for the second time in the game.

Michael Neal hit his first three of the game with mario Chalmers’ hand in his face, putting OU up again in a game turning into a chess match.

Update #3: 7:45, first half, OU leads 14-13

OKLAHOMA CITY – Austin Johnson tore down a rebound off of a Julian Wright miss from mid-range. On the other end, OU’s offense continued to struggle. Tony Crocker got an open look from the top of the key for three. But after Longar Longar tracked down a defensive rebound, he finished the possession with a beauty of a lob to Crocker, throwing it down for two.

KU was unsuccessful in response, and Longar came down for a dunk of his own, giving the Sooners their first lead of the game at 12-11 with less than 10 minutes to go until halftime.

The Jayhawks were able to come back with theatrics of their own. After snagging an offensive rebound, Russell Robinson found Sasha Kaun for a two-handed lob throwdown, giving KU the edge once again.

Longar was up to the task, this time finishing what looked like an air-ball of a floater by Austin Johnson with a two-handed flush. KU’s Darnell Jackson was whistled for walking on the other end, giving OU a chance to extend a one-point advantage.

Longar was called for steps as well, and Russell Robinson got to the free throw line just before another media hiatus.

Update #2: 11:38, first half, KU leads 11-8

OKLAHOMA CITY – The two teams swapped empty possession out of a media timeout, and Darrell Arthur came in for his first action of the day. KU’s solid defense to start the afternoon continued, as Mario Chalmers blocked a Tony Crocker three-point effort from behind. The possession ended, though, with a long Nate Carter two.

Oklahoma turned up the defensive intensity to match KU’s output, forcing Sherron Collins into an air-balled deep three-pointer after Michael Neal put swelling pressure on Rush and Robinson on the other wing.

Collins came back after travel call on Longar Longar to maneuver inside for two off the glass. It was answered by a Michael Neal jumper from the free throw line.

The Oklahoma faithful went crazy on KU’s next trip up the floor, as Darrell Arthur drew a blocking call while driving to the basket for two off the glass. He missed the accompanying free throw, keeping KU up 11-8.

Update #1: 15:50, first half, KU leads 7-4

OKLAHOMA CITY – KU took the ‘feel-it-out’ approach on its opening possession, swinging the ball around and nearly turning it over in a mess underneath the hoop. Ultimately, Russell Robinson had a shot tipped away as the shot clock was expiring.

KU forced a turnover on the other end thanks to a trap by Sasha Kaun and Robinson. Mario Chalmers missed a three – the game’s first shot – on the other end.

Julian Wright scored inside after Taylor Griffin missed OU’s first attempt from the field, putting KU up 2-0 just over two minutes in. Nate Carter evened things up on a second-chance bucket inside, but it was matched by a slashing two from Chalmers.

Robinson and Kaun again forced a turnover by way of a trap on Bobby Maze up top, sending the ball back the other way. This time Wright dripped one in off hte iron.

Taylor Griffin went strong inside and off the glass to slice KU’s early advantage in half, but Robinson made the same move on the next trip down for KU, getting to the free throw line instead.

Darnell Jackson and Sherron Collins checked in for KU. Jackson took Darrell Arthur’s spot in the rotation, as Arthur is playing fewer minutes today due to a flu bug earlier in the week. Robinson hit one of the two free throws, putting KU up by three.

Pregame

OKLAHOMA CITY – All the one-seed talk in the world to this point has been nothing but talk. Today is when KU begins to prove it can live up to a one-seed billing as, well, a one-seed.

The Jayhawks, who are the top-seeded team in this weekend’s Big 12 Tournament, begin their postseason journey today at 11:30 a.m., going up against the Oklahoma Sooners, who took down Iowa State, 68-63, in Thursday’s opening round in the Ford Center.

KU and OU met once, and it was just two weeks ago, when the Jayhawks squandered a 17-point lead down in Norman, Okla., on Feb. 26. It was a miserable second half for KU, who did just enough to get by, as freshmen Darrell Arthur and Sherron Collins both went scoreless and the Jayhawks were woeful from the free throw line in the second half.

Arthur, who had a stomach virus earlier in the week, is expected to go at full speed today, but his minutes might be spliced a tad. On OU’s side, senior guard Michael Neal did not play yesterday due to a similar ailment, but is expected to go today.

In their win yesterday, the Sooner starters scored all of the team’s points in a seven-man rotation. Sophomore Austin Johnson and senior Longar Longar were scoreless off the bench, while senior forward Nate Carter had 22 points and nine rebounds.

PREV POST

Jawhawk fans at the Big 12 tournament: 15 seconds of . . .

NEXT POST

23861Big second half helps KU blast OU, 64-47