**10:53 p.m.**: Mario Chalmers said defiantly after KU’s 72-69 loss to Texas Monday night that he still sees KU as the odds-on favorite to win the Big 12 regular season title. KU is 8-2, a half-game behind K-State and a half-game ahead of Texas.He’s the guy on this team who you’d figure would say something like that. Why? He’s the most confident of the bunch. That’s why it was fitting he had the ball in the closing seconds. Something tells me that if the Jayhawks face a similar situation down the road, he’ll have the ball in his hands, too.But given the Jayhawks’ second half numbers, you can see why one of those situations even came about after KU finished the first half on a nice roll.In the second half, KU was outrebounded 23-12. The Jayhawks were 10-of-25 from the floor after halftime. Also, the guards couldn’t find the big men for open looks inside much after the halftime. Darrell Arthur and Darnell Jackson, who combined for 24 points in the first half, scored a total of 11 in the final 20 minutes.The problem Texas presents to teams late in close games, which Bill Self pointed out, is the ability to keep the ball in the hands of D.J. Augustin and A.J. Abrams – both of whom can shoot free throws all day. Augustin was 8-of-10 from the stripe, helping atone for a 1-of-13 showing from the floor. Abrams was 2-of-2 from the line, with those coming in the final minute.What this loss does for KU is it keeps the Jayhawks from truly having a signature win on its resume, in my opinion. Kansas has faced three ranked teams this year, beating just then-No. 22 USC out of that bunch. It only further magnifies the upcoming rematch next month with Kansas State.Here’s some final numbers of note…-Texas won the overall rebounding battle, 36-35.-Texas was 20-of-28 from the line, Kansas 11-of-14.-KU was 4-of-17 from three-point range, making the Jayhawks 4-of-26 the past two games from deep.-Damion James scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half. All 13 of his rebounds were after the break, too. He played all 20 minutes.-Darnell Jackson was just 1-of-2 from the floor after halftime.-Bill Self is 0-3 in Austin as the KU head coach.Thanks for joining tonight, everyone.**10:14 p.m.**: Be back shortly with postgame notes, numbers and other nuggets.**10:07 p.m.**: This could be the time for Mario Chalmers to prove he’s this team’s go-to-guy. Given the body language here, he’s showing he’s the one wants the ball in his hands.**9:49 p.m.**: Notice what a non-factor three-point shooting has been in the second half for KU. The Jayhawks have hit just one, and misses of late by Mario Chalmers and Sherron Collins mean KU is 3-of-22 in its last two games from deep.Someone might have to step up and start hitting them late, since Atchley, James and Abrams are all still in the game despite the heavy amount of foul calls in this one. Any of those guys could go off in an instant.**9:30 p.m.**: Not sure how you guys feel about it, but Darrell Arthur looks like he’s forcing it a bit too much now on offense. First was an ill-advised three after Damion James cashed one, then a double-teamed hook shot which was long. Brandon Rush needs to re-insert himself offensively into the game. He had a very solid stretch in the middle of the first half after a slow start, but again is having a rough go at it. He’s got three fouls, too.Connor Atchley is a much nicer player than I thought he was. He’s like Brian Boddicker used to be for the ‘Horns a few years back…just, uh, better.D.J. Augustin, by the way, still without a field goal converted. He’s 0-for-8.**9:12 p.m.**: Sorry for the delay on the halftime numbers. Went to say hey to Langford. Very friendly. A great man.I’d say Texas needs two things to happen in the second half to combat what KU did to the ‘Horns in the first half. First, Damion James will need to be huge. He scored two points, but had two fouls in just three minutes of play.Also, A.J. Abrams would need to find the touch from the outside. He was just 2-of-5 from three, which is a tribute to KU guards hounding him on the perimeter.Here’s some numbers…-KU outrebounded Texas 23-13. Sasha Kaun had five, while Rush, Arthur and Jackson had three apiece.-Texas was 6-of-13 from three-point range. KU has avoided another 0-fer, going 2-of-7.-Sherron Collins was key in 13 first half minutes with three assists and again pushing the pace, putting a smile on Tom Keegan’s face.-D.J. Augustin scored six points, but they were all from the line. He was 0-for-7 from the field.**8:53 p.m.**: Arthur looks phenomenal on the offensive end tonight and just took a seat for what I would assume is the rest of the first half. He’s six-of-nine from the floor and has 14 points to lead KU. He’s looked completely comfortable tonight, and say what you will about his defense, but he has enough offensive game to impress NBA scouts as much as he needs to right now. He’s also rebounding much harder than normal tonight. We’ll see how he reacts in the second half with Damion James back in the game.**8:39 p.m.**: Darrell Arthur and Darnell Jackson are certainly taking advantage of Damion James’ defensive absence. The KU forward duo is able to do whatever it wants, be it mid-range jumpers (Arthur) or slashes to the rim (Jackson). But Texas’ lead can be attributed to 5-of-10 three-point proficiency so far. The Jayhawks, though, are now doing a better job of containing Atchley and limiting his looks.**8:28 p.m.**: Connor Atchley’s certainly going nuts in the early minutes, 3-of-3 from long range. One thing in KU’s favor as far as the Texas bigs are concerned is Damion James already sitting on the bench with a pair of fouls against him.The Jayhawks obviously had trouble penetrating the perimeter early, but offensive boards have been huge for the Jayhawks, getting three of them so far on seven attempts.Darrell Arthur’s going to have to stay in Atchley’s face much better than he is if the Jayhawks want to limit him.Gary Johnson suddenly turns into a key guy for the Longhorns, as the freshman is playing in James’ place. He’s got four points so far, including a pair of free throws – not his forte.Note: Keith Langford just sat down before the buzzer behind the KU bench. As you may remember, he plays for the Austin Toros of the NBDL. He’s averaging 24.5 points per game this year and will play in the NBDL All-Star game next weekend.**8:09 p.m.**: Full house, not that loud, though. Welmer is one of the officials, can’t identify the other two. Talk to you after tip. About to get started.**7:49 p.m.**: Vince Young just sat down three rows behind us. Worth pointing out. The guy is a god down here, and with this fan base, I’d imagine winning a football title would make you that for the rest of your natural life…probably beyond that, too.**7:35 p.m.**: One more interesting pregame site…KU walk-on Chase Buford, whose [adopted brother is Texas’ Austin Wangmene][1], just left the floor from warmups as his mother, Beth, and sister, C.C. entered the arena. The two are wearing half-Buford, half-Wangmene jerseys put together. It’s an interesting look.**7:26 p.m.**: My favorite Jayhawk fan – Darrell’s tyke brother Juicy – just entered the house. He deserves a shoutout. Seems to be a favorite among the players, too.The bass in this place is ridiculous. It rivals any suped-up Civic. Huey’s ‘Pop, Lock it, Drop it’ made my seat vibrate. Literally. Then the man at the switch of the sound board had some mercy.**7:08 p.m.**: We got here much earlier than usual, so once I got set up, I went on a little walk around campus and snapped some photos from Darrell K. Royal Stadium and inside the Erwin Center. [Here’s the link][2].Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a shot at the front of [Godzillatron][3].Too bad we have to get back to brutally cold weather tomorrow…**As far as pregame atmospheres go**, Texas doesn’t come close to rivaling Kansas State.First of all, it’s too friendly. The players from each team greeted each other for a bit. That certainly didn’t take place in Bramlage.The other factor is the student presence. Only a small smattering of the students come in two hours before the game. We were told it’s based on how much money you pay for the tickets and how many organizations you’re a part of. Only about 1,000 students were in here for the first 45 minutes. Then the rest of the commonfolk enter. Could you imagine if that was instituted at AFH?Also, it’s a lot like a nightclub, with predominately house music playing over the loudspeakers.So, can anyone tell me yet what KU’s signature win is to this point? Tully Corcoran of the Capital-Journal was the closest so far, naming Baylor. That could be the only NCAA Tournament team KU has played yet outside of K-State.**5:41 p.m.**: Just sat down at the Erwin Center, in the corner just off the floor to set up for the game. I had completely forgot, the best part of Austin? Beautiful women with beautiful accents. It made asking for directions to the media entrance of this place much less frustrating than normal (we did a full lap-and-a-half, by the way).Students are already lined up outside, taking down tents from what looks like was an overnight camping adventure to make sure to get prime seating for this game.I was also informed that the floor here in the Erwin Center is in excellent condition, having been added in December. It’s still got the massive Longhorn and map of Texas in the middle. Pretty neat.Just an odd note I forgot to add on the first installment earlier…-I just noticed last night that [Julian Wright][4], currently playing in his first season for the New Orleans Hornets, was [not included on the rookie roster][5] for the 2008 T-Mobile Rookie Challenge, set to take place Friday night in the Big Easy, helping kick off NBA All-Star weekend.Usually, a rookie from the hometown team is added to the roster despite productivity, as the rookies take on NBA second-year players in the game. Wright’s absence from the roster means he’s more likely to be attending Saturday’s KU basketball reunion in Allen Fieldhouse.Of the nine players on the rookie roster, five were lottery picks (first 14 selections) like Wright. Again showing that the whole thing is an inexact science, even this soon after the fact.**3:56 p.m.**: Hello from balmy Austin, Texas. Our photographer, Nick Krug, and I were just flipping through the channels, killing time this afternoon, and came to find thanks to the Weather Channel that we’re in the only small pocket of the nation right now where temperatures appear to be normal for this time of year. Too bad that has to end tomorrow after flying back. Oh well.One other sidenote after some surfing on the tube: There is nothing more entertaining to watch in the middle afternoon than The Maury Povich Show, no question. Where else can you find an hour’s worth of [these moments][6] every afternoon? I’d love to be in the audience just one time to watch that show, if any family members reading this are looking for early birthday ideas…**As for the game…**[This guy][7] can give you some background as far as Texas’ recent showings (he still doesn’t hold a candle to [this kid][8], though).Two guys hold the key tonight for Texas, in my opinion. They are Damion James and A.J. Abrams.Looking at Texas, I see D.J. Augustin almost like Michael Beasley a couple of weeks ago – he’s probably going hit his averages (19.7 ppg, 5.8 apg). Abrams, on the other hand, is a guy who can easily go off for 30-plus on any given night. The reason is two-fold: his three-point proficiency and the ability to get the three off whenever and wherever he wants.Abrams is 72-of-188 from three-point range this season, including hitting seven of them in Saturday’s overtime win at Iowa State. Of all the Longhorns back from last year’s team (basically every major contributor sans Durant), Abrams was the only one two score big in both matchups with KU (18.5 a game).Call me crazy, but something tells me starting Brandon Rush on Abrams defensively wouldn’t be the worst idea. Rush held Baylor’s Aaron Bruce scoreless through the first half Saturday in a 100-90 KU win, and before that held Mizzou’s Matt Lawrence completely ineffective, with the Tiger sharpshooter going 0-for-6 from deep. On the flipside, Rush early in the game Saturday was easily able to post up and back Bruce down for an easy bucket. Given his size advantage over Abrams, that could be put to work again tonight. That would leave Russell Robinson on Augustin and Mario Chalmers on Justin Mason.As for James, he’s flown under the radar a bit behind the guard set, but is as improved as they come in the league this year. The sophomore forward is averaging 12.7 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. He’s also shown the ability to step outside a bit, going 17-of-37 from distance. He averaged just 7.6 points and 7.2 boards a game as a freshman, hitting just one three in 11 attempts.Add him together with Connor Atchley at the other forward spot, and Texas’ big men are a matchup nightmare. Atchley leads the team in three-point percentage (49.1, 28-of-57) and blocked shots (42).Put that all in a pot and stir it up, and you’ll see that the real defensive test tonight might fall on the big men rather than the guards, going against a unique pair of inside-outside guys.Those matchups aside, there’s one major intangible that looms: KU needs this game more than Texas does.Hear me out, here.The Longhorns have without question one of the toughest schedules in the nation. Outside of a strong league slate, Texas had a non-con schedule including UCLA, Wisconsin, Tennessee and Michigan State. The ‘Horns took down the Vols and Bruins, and at this point with four losses, given the win-loss records of the nation’s top teams, Texas is far from in contention for a No. 1 seed in my opinion. At this point, some 2- and 3-loss teams might have better cases based on scheduling.On the other hand, what would you right now consider KU’s signature win? Non-con wins over Boston College, USC and Georgia Tech don’t really stand up at this point, since none of those three it looks right now are locks for tourney bids. The same goes for Arizona after yesterday’s embarrassment at the hands of ASU. Southern Cal remains the only ranked team the Jayhawks have taken down. Not that KU needs a signature win right now to justify it’s tournament case, but as far as a No. 1 seed case? It’s needed badly. Consider these other No. 1 hopefuls…-Duke has beaten Wisconsin, North Carolina and Marquette.-Memphis has Georgetown and Gonzaga on its hit list.-North Carolina has…well…as many signature wins as KU right now, honestly. Kentucky might look better if the ‘Cats keep up their recent SEC tear. Ohio State is weak.-UCLA has Michigan State, Washington State (twice) and Stanford. The Pac-10 right now, too, is looking like the nation’s strongest league.Even though the matchups make it look like Texas, given its history at home against Kansas and tonight’s Erwin Center crowd advantage, could be a slight favorite, I’m going with instincts. Instincts told me to pick KU to take down Baylor by eight Saturday, and that was awfully close. Therefore…**Prediction…** : KU 83, Texas 76. Darnell Jackson has 22 and 12.Talk to you from the UT campus here in about 90 minutes. [1]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2008/feb/10/buford_brother_reunite_monday/?mens_basketball [2]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7424845@N07/sets/72157603891143046/ [3]: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5b/Godzillatron_Closeup.jpg/800px-Godzillatron_Closeup.jpg [4]: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/4291 [5]: http://www.nba.com/allstar2008/rookie_challenge/index.html#rookiegame [6]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt2i0ts-uck [7]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ7Skx-qufc [8]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPXGSiamsXk
