**11:44 p.m.**: Brennan Bechard could have taken Kobe Bryant tonight.Hey, not my words. That was what Russell Robinson said in the postgame press conference as a follow-up to him telling the media of Bill Self’s words in practice last week, saying to his players that the Lakers couldn’t beat KU at home on Senior Night.Self, of course, later admitted he was not meaning that to be gospel. But you get the point.And with the way the Jayhawks played Monday, he probably wasn’t that off-base.Soak this in…KU hit 40 of 67 shot attempts. Yes, you read that correctly. At one point, looking left from my seat at Pat Knight, he was reclined, with his legs folded out in front of him, staring into space. It’s tough to be on the back side of a blowout like Monday’s, but you got the feeling any team in the Big 12 would have fared about the same.It’s a great win for KU, which sorely needed the home cookin’ it received and took complete advantage of in the last three days. Don’t forget that the true barometer of whether this teams’ back or not will come Saturday at rowdy Reed Arena in College Station. Here are some final numbers of note…-Six players scored in double figures for KU. Russell Robinson led the way with 15, while Sherron Collins looked to be at full speed for the second straight game. The most impressive double-digit night, though, came from the double-double man himself, Cole Aldrich. The freshman looked winded at times playing 17 minutes, but he had 11 points and 11 rebounds. Jeremy Case was close with nine points, coming off of three deep balls which brought the crowd to its feet each time. Tech was just 18-of-62 from the floor.-The Jayhawks hit 14 three-pointers, dished out 27 assists, blocked seven shots and registered just 12 personal fouls.-15 players scored for KU.-Brandon Rush, the Big 12 co-Player of the Week, played just 10 minutes.That’s it for this edition. The final Green Room Live from Allen Fieldhouse this year. I won’t get sappy on ya, and I’ll just say goodbye and good luck. See you Saturday.**9:52 p.m.**: Brad Witherspoon just cashed two of the most celebrated free throws by a Jayhawk this season. On that note, I’ll be back after senior speeches and postgame interviews with notes, numbers and nuggets.Plus, just to let everyone know, video of the speeches will be on KUSports.com tomorrow. The speeches will be up in their entirety. The seniors are checking back in at the 2:43 mark, FYI.**9:47 p.m.**: Lets just say Pat Knight does not look the least bit amused. His team is down 50-plus. Cole Aldrich has a career-high nine points, Jeremy Case has nine, Rodrick Stewart has six and Brad Witherspoon is in the game at the 6:39 mark.**9:37 p.m.**: One of the creepiest TV timeouts this year in Allen Fieldhouse…It came during the Time Capsule, which presents a series of pop culture events followed by a moment in Jayhawk history, asking fans to guess between three years to when it happened.First, with a Backstreet Boys song playing over it (don’t know the name…probably a good thing), half the students were singing along (it was from 1998). Then, a highlight of Mark McGwire breaking Roger Maris’ home run record was booed.A fun night in Allen Fieldhouse all around, have to say.That was followed by Cole Aldrich swatting one onto press row right in front of your favorite TV personality, Kevin Romary of 6Sports. Jeremy Case then made the Fieldhouse explode, hitting a three after one before that went halfway down and rimmed out.**9:32 p.m.**: Sherron Collins and the Jayhawks look like Michael J. Fox and the Beavers in 1985 right about now, as the entire team is feeding off Collins’ energy (Anyone name that movie? Not too tough).Collins, in his third energetic performance in a row against a healing bone bruise in his right knee, dictated the game for much of the first eight minutes in the second half. The flowing energy even resulted in a Rodrick Stewart three-pointer from the right corner. It was a nice moment for the senior, hitting his first deep ball since non-conference play (Dec. 5 against Eastern Washington).Expect to see the likes of Tyrel Reed, Jeremy Case and Cole Aldrich get extended run in the next several minutes.**9:15 p.m.**: Some first half numbers to munch on…-KU was 19-of-34 from the field. A rushed Texas Tech squad, visibly disrupted by some zone here and there, was just 9-of-32.-Darrell Arthur and Darnell Jackson each had five rebounds. Both may be on their way to double-doubles. Jackson scored six points, Arthur five.-KU was an über-efficient 5-of-8 from three-point range. Mario Chalmers was 2-for-3.-KU had 11 assists to just four turnovers.**8:52 p.m.**: A solid stretch of run for Cole Aldrich, who is a big reason KU leads by 23 points right now. His dunk in traffic while drawing contact was something else, and he even showed a little confidence, creating his own shot two possessions later in impromptu fashion off a Brandon Rush feed down low. Conditioning-wise, he could still use some work it looks like. He was huffin’ and puffin’ hard while Sasha Kaun waited to check in. But that’s to be expected, since his playing time has been up and down all during league play.Good to see Brad Witherspoon getting some love on Senior Night, too. A sign with his picture and #40 on it reading “Spoon Spoon Spoon” is up top in the student section behind the bench. He’s hard not to respect, even though he never plays. Remember, he truly earned his way onto this team. He won’t be giving a speech afterwards.**8:43 p.m.**: I told myself I needed to see Sherron Collins do it for three straight games before I was convinced he’s truly ‘back.’ And now I’m sold. He’s got the bounce, he’s scoring inside and out and, most importantly, has the swagger. I’d say he’s pretty deserving of a healthy stretch given the labor of love (and leg woes) that has been his sophomore year to this point.Those two finger rolls in traffic brought back memories of what he not only did late in the Big 12 season a year ago, but also in the first two games of this year before the stress fracture surgery.Also, Rod Stewart has paid tribute to his brother, whose funeral he attended last week, with the inscription ‘R.I.P. Allen Stewart’ on the outer heel of his shoes. Thought that was worth mentioning.**8:30 p.m.**: Well, the points didn’t flow as smoothly as expected with that lineup on the floor, including two air-mails from Brandon Rush and one while falling backwards from Darrell Arthur.Though a slow start from the regular five who run the show off the tip could be expected. Energy off the bench is hard to bring, especially when you don’t normally start the night there, I’d imagine.Also, Governor Sebelius is in the house and was introduced during the last timeout. Where does she find all this time to come to Lawrence so often?**8:18 p.m.**: As four of the seniors checked out, it brought upon a lineup we don’t normally see this early in the game: Chalmers-Collins-Jackson-Arthur-Rush.You could argue this is the Jayhawks’ most explosive five-man combination possible, and it was strung together as Martin Zeno hit a pair of free throws to tie things up, 6-6. Should be interesting to see where the score’s at at the next TV timeout under the 12-minute mark.And as I typed that, Kaun checked back in for Jackson. Still equally explosive for the most part, so the experiment is still on.**8:08 p.m.**: Mario Chalmers was the answer to the earlier question, in case you were wondering.The Fieldhouse got pretty darn loud during the introductions of the seniors at center court with their parents, with Russell Robinson and Darnell Jackson without question drawing the loudest ovations.That was followed by a video before tip-off introduced by Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich, along with highlights from the season to some kind of techno jam. A good start to the night if you’re a KU fan, as it’s close to as loud as it was Saturday night, believe it or not. Time for tip.**7:56 p.m.**: The most pressing question with Jeremy Case starting tonight…Who assumes the role as designated jumping-chest-bump guy during introductions?Also, NBA teams in the house scouting: Denver, Houston, Charlotte, Portland, Miami, Milwaukee, New Orleans.FYI.**7:04 p.m.**: Hello from Senior Night. It’s pretty apparent that’s the theme tonight as soon as you enter the arena. The walls in front of the student sections in each end zone are covered with eight large pieces of paper, each.The five on the outsides have the names, numbers and signatures of [the KU scholarship seniors][1]. The three in the middle read ‘Thank,’ ‘You,’ and ‘Seniors.’As far as the game tonight, Texas Tech is playing some confident ball, no question about that. Truth is, though, the post presence just isn’t there to completely slow the likes of Darrell Arthur and Darnell Jackson (and Sasha Kaun on Senior Night).If you have an office pool going on whose Senior Night speech will go the longest, despite the 3-to-5-minute rule placed by Bill Self, I’d say the safe money is on Darnell Jackson. But, lets be honest, he deserves as much time as he wants. Also, like I predicted at Oklahoma State, he’s going to be my pick to click tonight since he plays well when emotions run high. He did in Stillwater even though the game was lost, and tonight he’s a sure thing, I think, to go out with a bang. Lets say 19 points and 14 rebounds. Sherron Collins, too. He’s sizzlin’ in front of me right now in warmups. **Final score: KU 92, Texas Tech 67**.Though Tech deserves props on one thing…those Indiana Hoosiers-like warm-up pants. The black and red doesn’t quite work as well as the red and white, but solid nonetheless.Back to the Senior Night theme…In my opinion, those three middle sheets might as well have the names, numbers and signatures of Darrell Arthur, Brandon Rush and Mario Chalmers. Don’t get mad, just my opinion, as it’s a very real possibility that it could be the final Fieldhouse game appearance for those three, too. I leave Sherron Collins out of that discussion since I can’t ideally see him bolting after such an up-and-down sophomore season…then again, if he has a zeus-like postseason, who knows.So what better a time to talk about the potential of that happening than the final home game of 2007-08?A quick look…**-In the case of Arthur**, no, he hasn’t done quite enough this year to make you think he could step on an NBA floor and contribute right away. But is he ready to make a lot of money for his services? Sure. Last Wednesday at Iowa State showed a little bit of everything he offers. He scored inside in tough fashion at times, hit turnaround jumpers off the glass and even showed off some range at 18 feet. His numbers (13.6 ppg, 5.9 rpg), but [Brandan Wright][2] at North Carolina (a guy of a similar build/skill set) last year averaged 14.1 and 6.2 and was the eighth pick in the draft. Was he ready to contribute immediately? Apparently not. Wright’s only made 22 appearances for Golden State this year, averaging just over nine minutes per effort, toting 4.0 ppg and 3.0 rpg averages.**-As for Rush**, I’d say this is a given, and fans shouldn’t have a problem with that, given that when he originally signed with KU, Rush was looked at as a more-than-likely one-and-done. This is also a guy who I’m convinced would have been the 15th pick overall last year by the Detroit Pistons They scouted him on several occasions, with GM Joe Dumars even making a Fieldhouse appearance, then went ahead and took Eastern Washington’s [Rodney Stuckey][3] in that slot after Rush’s injury. Stuckey is in the same mold as Rush (6-5, 205).The comparison I used last year was that Rush could very well have a career similar to that of San Antonio’s [Bruce Bowen][4] in the NBA. Bowen, who has won two rings with the Spurs, is a rangy, lockdown defender who is a career 39-percent three-point shooter. That career spans nearly 800 games, too.Bowen was not drafted out of Cal State-Fullerton, and bounced around with three teams over five years before finding a steady home in Texas. But with a guy like that, all you have to do is get into the NBA – where you’re drafted doesn’t matter. That said, Rush can get there after this year, no question. He’s recovered well from said knee injury and it’s his time. No doubt.**-Chalmers is the least likely of these three to bolt**, but brace yourself, KU fans, because I’d guess it’s a near certainty he’ll at least test the waters (that term annoys the heck out of me), attend the draft camps and opt not to sign with an agent right away. He has no reason not to. His numbers this year alone (12.0 ppg, 4.7 apg, 3.0 rpg, 2.4 spg, 45.5 three-point shooting) confirm what everyone knows – he can play the combo guard role to perfection. If he proves he can play the point to executives, I would think he’ll be one heckuva pro. Remember, you can ‘test the waters’ and come back one time. He hasn’t done it yet and, coincidentally, has just one year of eligibility left.OK, I’m NBA’d out. Talk to you around tip time….Actually, wait, one more thing. Bought NBA 2K8 for XBox 360 yesterday. Not only is the game amazing (and addictive…just ask my thumbs), Tracy McGrady is filthy. OK, that’s it for now. [1]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2008/mar/03/hello_goodbyes/?mens_basketball [2]: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/4286 [3]: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/4293 [4]: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3167