KU gets TKO over K-State, 67-61

By Ryan Greene     Mar 10, 2007

Update #10: Final, KU wins 67-61

OKLAHOMA STATE – Darnell Jackson went to the line for a one-and-one trip out of the timeout, rolling in the first one. He swished the second attempt, making it a six-point game with 3:57 to play.

David Hoskins turned the ball over for K-State, but Brandon Rush couldn’t capitalize, as he missed a three from the corner. Cartier Martin missed a trey look on the other end, and Julian Wright threw a wizard-like pass to Darrell Arthur for two points which put KU back up by eight with 2:30 to go.

Hoskins dusted two in off the glass while knifing across the lane, taking a pass from Clent Stewart to do so. Chalmers then tried to ice it with a three, but the ball went out of bounds, back to K-State, trailing by six with 1:53 left.

Julian Wright put the game on ice with a minute left as he hit a tear-drop jumper in the lane to put KU up by eight, it gave him 12 points and his second huge play of the final minutes.

A free throw-fest finished up the game, as Mario Chalmers led KU with 16 points. Julian Wright had 12, including a late bucket in the lane and a nifty dish to Darrell Arthur, both of which helped KU ice K-State for the third time this season. Sherron Collins was the third Jayhawk in double figures, scoring 10, including two three-pointers.

Cartier Martin led all scorers with 17 points, while Lance Harris had 16 and Akeem Wright had 12 for K-State.

KU will take on the winner of Texas and Oklahoma State tomorrow at 2 p.m. in the Ford Center.

Update #9: 3:57, second half, KU leads 56-52

OKLAHOMA CITY – Akeem Wright hit one of two free throws after the media timeout, making it an 11-point KU lead. Wright then scored off of a KU turnover with two points in the lane, giving him 11 for the day and making it a single-digit game.

Lance Harris took the ball deep in the lane after KU lost it on a tie-up for another layup, making it a seven-point game with 4:59 left.

KU called a 30-second timeout, and out of it, Mario Chalmers missed a three from the wing. Lance Harris then missed a three from the corner, but K-State hunted down the offensive board, and Cartier Martin cashed his first three of the second half, to make it a four-point game at the four-minute mark.

Update #8: 6:54, second half, KU leads 56-44

OKLAHOMA CITY – Julian Wright cashed two points inside for KU, giving him eight points on the day, as KU’s lead continued to float around the 10-point mark, leading 51-40.

Akeem Wright picked up a pair of free throws after Sasha Kaun was whistled for a pair of fouls within a couple seconds, but Julian Wright came back again to score inisde, getting a shooter’s roll off the front of the iron.

Lance Harris was the next Wildcat to take advantage of the bonus, hitting a pair, and it was followed by a Brandon Rush three look from the corner rimming out. Cartier Martin tried to hit a three of his own, but still was cold from deep. Sherron Collins then hit his second three of the game, putting KU back up by 12 points with just over seven minutes to play.

Update #7: 10:56, second half, KU leads 48-40

OKLAHOMA CITY – Brandon Rush hit one of two free throws resulting from a trip while getting fouled going up for a dunk in transition. It came following a sloppy sequence in which the ball changed hands a couple times, and Sasha Kaun headed to the bench after getting whacked in the face. Rush came back then to stroke a three from the left corner, putting KU up by 14 points.

Cartier Martin hit a short two on the baseline after K-State took a 30-second timeout, but KU came back with two points inside for Darrell Arthur, who slipped a pair of points off the glass underneath. Clent Stewart’s response was his first three of the game, coming from the top of the key.

After a KU turnover, the Jayhawks’ lead slipped to single digits as David Hoskins scored his second field goal of the game inside. He then took down a defensive board off of a Darrell Arthur miss.

Update #6: 15:38, second half, KU leads 43-33

OKLAHOMA CITY – Clent Stewart started the half by getting to the free throw line after Julian Wright was long on a mid-range jumper. He hit one of two, and after hunting down an offenisve rebound, couldn’t convert.

After Brandon Rush missed a three, Akeem Wright took down his fourth rebound of the game, but David Hoskins had his shot obstructed on the other end.

Mario Chalmers scored KU’s first points of the half with a floater charging hard down the lane, putting KU up by eight. After Lance Harris missed another three-point attempt, Akeem Wright forced a turnover in the backcourt, going in for a layup while being fouled by Brandon Rush. The free throw missed.

Chalmers came back down to can a three-pointer from the top of the key after Julian Wright rebounded his own miss, putting KU up by nine. Chalmers’ second three made it a 12-point game, sticking K-State into a deep hole with 16:21 left to play. Chalmers has scored all eight of KU’s points in the second half.

K-State called a timeout to regroup, and Luis Colon scored his first points of the game on an inside stick-back of a Lance Harris three miss. That was followed by a bad miss from Sasha Kaun.

Update #5: Halftime, KU leads 35-28

OKLAHOMA CITY – Cartier Martin missed his second straight three attempt out of the timeout, and in transition for KU, Sherron Collins got to the free throw line, where he hit a pair of attempts to put KU up eight.

Lance Harris then had one miss from deep, as K-State’s bread and butter has turned against them a bit. Darnell Jackson was unable to convert, being called for a charge on the offensive end.

K-State called a timeout to regroup, and David Hoskins got himself to the free throw line out of it, hitting both to make it a six-point game. Brandon Rush missed an inside layup coming back, and Darnell Jackson’s putback came with a foul, getting him to the free throw line. Jackson hit one of two.

Russell Robinson scored on a stick-back of a Darnell Jackson miss with less than a minute left to give KU its biggest lead of the game at 35-26. The Jayhawks then forced a turnover with 30 seconds to go to hold for the last shot. KU sent it back, and Akeem Wright got an open court dunk going into the half.

Lance Harris leads all scorers with 12 points for the ‘Cats, while Cartier Martin has eight. Mario Chalmers had eight to lead KU, followed by six from Mario Chalmers.

Update #4: 3:45, first half, KU leads 30-24

OKLAHOMA CITY – Russell Robinson came back out of a full timeout to throw a high lob for Julian Wright, who flushed it down and let out a forceful breath on his way down. It put KU ahead 24-19 and made it a 15-3 Jayhawk run.

Lance Harris put a small halt on KU’s surge, hitting his third trey of the game. Julian Wright came back to tip in a Mario Chalmers missed layup. K-State again tried to counter with a three, but Cartier Martin missed from deep for the first time. It again was responded to by a Julian Wright nifty bucket inside. This time, he froze a K-State defender to the left, went back right and laid it in easily off the window.

K-State called a quick timeout, and out of it Akeem Wright stuck back his own miss inside off the glass, keeping the Wildcats within four. Then, after a Sasha Kaun miss, the Wildcats took the ball back upcourt. The Wildcats failed to score on back-to-back trips, and Darrell Arthur took a feed from Brandon Rush to score his second bucket with a two-handed flush. K-State followed it up with a turnover.

Update #3: 7:59, first half, KU leads 22-19

OKLAHOMA CITY – Jason Bennett forced a Russell Robinson turnover on the defensive end, but was tied up going up for a short shot on offense. Darnell Jackson then tied the game with two inside.

Lance Harris came back to hit K-State’s fifth three-pointer of the first half, pushing K-State back ahead by three. Sherron Collins tried to match it on the other end, but it rimmed out. A K-State turnover, though, send Mario Chalmers flying in the open court with the ball and ultimately put him at the free throw line.

Chalmers hit both of his charities, keeping KU within one point. Akeem Wright missed a hesitated three try, and Darnell Jackson tore down the rebound. Mario Chalmers again weaved his way in towards the basket, and again got himself to the stripe. Chalmers again made both. He then glided down the right side of the K-State defense after another missed shot for a floater, giving KU a three-point edge.

Update #2: 11:51, first half, K-State leads 16-14

Cartier Martin continued to shine early on, canning a three from the corner to put K-State up by four. David Hoskins then took a KU pass at midcourt and flushed it home in transition in front of Darrell Arthur. Arthur answered back with a mid-range jumper, but back again came K-State with a three, this time courtesy of Lance Harris, putting K-State up seven.

Sherron Collins answered on a lengthy possession with his first three of the week. Collins then fed Brandon Rush for a fast break hoop after Hoskins was forced into an ill-advised pass by Darnell Jackson, pulling KU back within two.

Update #1: 15:27, first half, K-State leads 8-7

OKLAHOMA CITY – KU turned the ball over right off the bat on a pass into the low post, Julian Wright looking for Sasha Kaun. Cartier Martin came down to drain a casual three from atop the key.

Kaun got the ball on KU’s next trip up court and muscled through Akeem Wright for an easy two inside. Kaun tried to make it two trips in a row, but was blocked from behind on KU’s next trip up the floor. Following that was a player control foul whistled on Julian Wright. Lance Harris came down to stroke a three for K-State.

KU went to Kaun for a fourth straight possession, and this time he drew a trip to the free throw line. He made one of two, pulling KU within three.

Julian Wright swatted away an Akeem Wright offering as K-State brought the ball back up the floor, and it turned into two points in transition for Mario Chalmers. Following that was a David Hoskins traveling call. Brandon Rush put KU back ahead with a floater from his right hand in close range.

Martin stroked a baseline two over Brandon Rush, tilting the scoreboard favor back in K-State’s direction, and two failed three-point looks sent the ball back K-State’s way. A blocking call on Julian Wright brought the game to a break.

Pregame

OKLAHOMA CITY – For Kansas University, a win today in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals would boost the team’s case for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament even more, that is if it’s even needed.

You can say the same for Kansas State – KU’s foe in today’s 1 p.m. tip in the Ford Center – could use the win to further its case simply just to get into the Big Dance. The Wildcats might already be in, and they might not, but it’s not like these two teams need NCAA implications to boost the importance of a third matchup in one season.

KU whacked Oklahoma 64-47 in yesterday’s quarterfinals, thanks in large part to a dominant second half. K-State dominated Texas Tech pretty much right from go, trouncing the Red Raiders by 21.

The Jayhawks are 2-0 in the season series, with a 97-70 win in Lawrence on Feb. 7 and a 71-62 triumph in a much tighter contest in Manhattan 12 days later.

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