**2:43 p.m.**: If you think KU’s stellar play in the second half, closing out a game on the road the way it closed out the first half rather than slipping up some, was coincidence, think again.Darrell Arthur offered some insight as to how the Jayhawks and coach Bill Self have nipped the problem before it exploded into an eventual loss.KU has been practicing late-game situations in practice, according to Arthur, and the Jayhawks will pretend they’re, say, down by four with four minutes to go. From there, they play.It certainly worked today, as KU is successfully smoothing out rough edges from the 2007 calendar year. Bill Self mentioned free throws and rebounding as a couple of team-wide resolutions as the months changed from December into January. Today, KU flummoxed BC on the boards, 39-24, and was 15-19 from the free throw line.The Jayhawks look like they’ll make it through the non-conference slate a perfect 15-0, with just Loyola (Md.) left at home Tuesday night. That’s quite the accomplishment, considering that so far they’re definitely the toast of the Big 12 in hoops (heck, so far this year, they’re the toast overall).Some final numbers of interest…-Darnell Jackson and Darrell Arthur combined for 47 points and 16 rebounds on a combined 19-of-25 shooting performance. KU outscored the Eagles 54-26 in the paint.-Mario Chalmers and Russell Robinson were again both sticky and giving, combining for 11 assists and six steals.-KU forced 14 turnovers and scored 23 points off of them.-The Jayhawks held yet another opponent under 50 percent from the floor (BC shot 42.3). BC, which allows opponents to shoot at a 41.8 clip on average, let the Jayhawks connect on 53.2 percent of their shots (33-62).That’s it from Boston. It’s been a great week, but I’m ready to get home. Talk to you Tuesday night…possibly sooner.**1:48 p.m.**: This ought to put all road concerns to rest, I’d think, as statistically, this is the best team KU has faced yet in my opinion.Darnell Jackson and Darrell Arthur are easily the story for KU, having combined so far for 45 points on 18-of 27 shooting. Great numbers in what will be a great win.Tyrese Rice has tried his best here late to give his team one last blast, but he simply sat on the bench too long, as he’s ice cold. So far just four points in the second half after a solid 16 in the first.I’ll be back a little bit after this one wraps up, as always, with postgame nuggets.**1:36 p.m.**: What a weird couple of minutes.A near-fracas at midcourt ended with the refs separating the players from both sides before blows came into play. Sherron Collins was visibly pumped, and the Jayhawks again had a reason to go nuts. KU immediately scored six straight points, capped by a Sherron Collins up-and-under layup off a midcourt steal, and whatever wind BC had gained was immediately exhaled out of the Conte Forum.KU has now seemingly done what it need to do so badly – close out a big second half lead in emphatic fashion. Al Skinner may have left Tyrese Rice and his four fouls on the floor a little too long. He was re-inserted with the Jayhawks up 22 rather than when the lead was down to 14 moments earlier.**1:22 p.m.**: BC has sliced KU’s lead to 19 points thanks to a few Jayhawk miscues, but it’s hard to picture the Eagles getting much closer, considering Tyrese Rice is on the bench with four fouls. Not sure anyone else in a gold uni can string together enough shots to do the trick.And I don’t know what it is, but the BC pep band just _loves_ Dr. Dre’s The Chronic: 2001. They’ve already hit off a couple of selections from that delightful disc, and even played Dropkick Murphys’ ‘Shippin’ up to Boston,’ which I mentioned earlier was played over the PA system during warmups. This, folks, is the baddest band in the land.**1:05 p.m.**: Forgot to mention, Jackson’s huge first half came in front of more than a handful of NBA scouts. I overheard one mutter some kind words already. Jackson looked great in the first half in every way possible.**1:01 p.m.**: Chatting with a fellow scribe at halftime, I mentioned that I thought that was KU’s best half of basketball so far this season. The numbers pretty much confirmed it….munch on these…-The Jayhawks turned the ball over just two times. In return, they forced 10 BC giveaways.-Starting forwards Darnell Jackson and Darrell Arthur combined for 25 of KU’s 47 points on – get this – 11-of-14 shooting. Jackson also has six rebounds, two steals and an assist. What a half for the senior.-After misfiring on its first two three-pointers, KU finished by hitting three of its final five longballs. BC’s Tyrese Rice hit four of his first five, but missed his last two.-KU has eight steals and 12 assists on 19 field goals.-The Jayhawks outrebounded BC 20-9 in the first halfAll of those numbers are good and all, but like I said, they’re meaningless unless it’s a different second half group of Jayhawks than the ones that showed up after the half in Los Angeles in Atlanta.Also…Boston College’s band is the first I’ve ever heard which fancies itself by playing Dr. Dre. Kudos to them for that. But as far as the crowd go, I’d say it’s 65-35 in favor of BC, which is pretty good for KU considering how far this is from home.**12:36 p.m.**: Well, Boston College’s worst nightmare given the nature of the first half has occurred, as the Jayhawks have found a touch from the outside.BC was able to hang around for most of the first half because they were essentially trading KU inside buckets for Tyrese Rice threes. The Jayhawks have since locked down on Rice and haven’t found another solid offensive option. The junior guard is 5-8 from the floor while his teammates are 4-10.The nightmare, though, is that KU has added its outside stroke to the offensive flow now. Mario Chalmers has a pair of threes which have cushioned the Jayhawks lead. It looks like the Jayhawks will take a sizable lead into the half, setting themselves up with another opportunity to close out a road game casually after leading big in the second half.**12:20 p.m.**: With the game tied 15-15 midway through the first half, one thing is for sure, and that’s that the BC defense is denying the Jayhawks open looks from the outside. KU has only attempted one three-pointer to this point.But as is the case between two strong defensive teams, the big men come into play early and often. Darnell Jackson and Darrell Arthur are responsible for 13 of KU’s 15 points so far. The difference could come down to who is better between KU’s transition offense and Tyrese Rice’s outside shooting. The Jayhawks have scored four on the break, while Rice is 3-of-4 from long range.**11:41 a.m.**: I figured the pregame warmups for Boston College would include ‘Shippin’ up to Boston’ by the Dropkick Murphys (also known as my favorite song so far of the 21st Century, featured heavily in The Departed). That, by default, makes this the greatest college arena in the nation.The Jayhawks, by the way, are back in the road blue uniforms today, while BC is in gold unis with maroon trim.**11:23 a.m.**: You’ve got to love Boston accents.In the elevator on up to my seat on press row, I learned that Dahtmuth and Hahvahd play in hoops today (Dartmouth and Harvard, if you had trouble sounding that out.Absolutely _love_ that accent. If I could speak in one tongue other than my own, that would be it. Unfortunately, I’m horrible at impersonating it. Anyways, on to today’s game…The Jayhawks have done so little wrong to this point in the 2007-08 season, but one thing that lingers in back of many minds are the slipping of double-digit second half leads at both Southern Cal and Georgia Tech this season. While seemingly the rest of the athletic department was in South Beach for the past week, KU has been getting to work on its new year’s resolutions, which Bill Self said as a team include rebounding better and shooting a better free throw percentage. Both of those have tied in in some way to second half semi-collapses on the road (I say ‘semi’ because, remember, KU still won both contests).One headache KU won’t have to combat in this go-around against BC is [Sean Williams][1]. The Jayhawks man-handled the Eagles a year ago in Lawrence, 84-66, but Williams still got his, finishing with 19 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocked shots. Williams, oddly enough, was dismissed from the program by Al Skinner a few weeks later. That didn’t stop him from becoming a first round pick of the New Jersey Nets, for whom he’s now averaging seven points and 5.3 boards per game in just 20 minutes of play a night.In that blocks department, the two teams today are about the same, with KU having swatted 83 shots in 13 games and BC with 82 in 12.The one area the two are similar is in points allowed per game, with KU giving up 58.4 to BC’s 65.9. Both hold their opponents to right around a 40 percent field goal mark. A.K.A., this could get ugly. Pretty fitting in an arena that doubles as a home for the BC hockey team.As for the crowd, the Jayhawks were welcomed to the floor for initial warmups with more cheers than boos, as there’s plenty of blue in the crowd (surprisingly, I’d think).Talk to you after the tip. [1]: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/4295
