**8:32 p.m. (EST) – DETROIT, Mich. -** He walked by and the thought was: ‘Who better to ask about this team getting to the Final Four?’So I stopped **Arron Afflalo**, the silky smooth guard who almost single-handedly punched KU out of the NCAA Tournament a year ago on the Final Four’s doorstep, as he was exiting Ford Field Sunday along with current Detroit Pistons’ teammate **Rip Hamilton**.”I knew their experience would help them in a situation like today, so it’s good for them to get over the hump, and it’s a great accomplishment getting to the Final Four,” said Afflalo, who led UCLA to the national semis in 2006 and 2007. “Same team (as last year), but just a lot more mature. That’s what a year of experience of being in a situation will do for you. So congratulations to coach Self and all the players, they did a great job.”Of course, don’t expect him to feel the same way next weekend when a historic Final Four gets started, one with all No. 1 seeds advancing for the first time out of the field of 64(5).”Oh, UCLA (is going to win it),” he said with a grin. “Of course.”So pardon Afflalo for not being a believer that the Jayhawks could oust his Bruins in a potential National Championship showdown, but KU’s overall showing Sunday at Ford Field was one that left few overly impressed.But it got the job done, and **Larry Brown** even said it when he was in town last month, that you’ve got to win one which comes down literally to the final possession in order to win it all.You’ve got to have some luck on your side.KU got a taste of good fortune in the final seconds, and Bill Self is now a Final Four coach, officially.Of course, there’s no point in describing the scene on the stage or in the locker room, because it’s what you could expect: Lots of hugs, photo-ops and questions about Roy.But they were simply enjoying the moment, instead. Let all the questions about playing another one of college hoops’ darlings **(Tyler Hansbrough)** and facing coach Williams wait for another day (as in Monday or Tuesday).Instead, here’s some final thoughts and numbers…**THOUGHTS**-The MVP of this game down the stretch was Sherron Collins, no question. He checked back into the game with KU still trailing with about 7:30 left to play, hit his only three of the game from straight on to awaken a stagnant offense, forced Stephen Curry into a shot clock violation and was huge defensively on the game’s final play.-Sasha Kaun had 13 points and six rebounds, going a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor, and was without question KU’s most important post player.-Bill Self, while walking off the court, turned to a couple of reporters and said that he told his team that the proverbial 800-pound gorilla felt like a 1,200-pounder. Fair enough.-Roy Williams will be far more emotional Saturday night than Bill Self. That almost feels like a no-brainer.-The All-Midwest Regional Team consisted of: **Mario Chalmers, Stephen Curry, Sasha Kaun, Jason Richards and Brandon Rush**.**NUMBERS**-Curry finished with a game-high 25 points on 9-of-25 shooting. It’s the first time in five career NCAA Tournament games he’s been held under 30 points. He was sloppy in the second half for the most part if you take away a late three-pointer from the left wing. Credit KU’s entire guard set for chipping in there.-Jason Richards scored seven points, had nine assists and four turnovers. He was 0-for-4 from distance, including a potential game-winner.-Brandon Rush struggled offensively, going 4-of-14 from the floor with 12 poitns, but his seven rebounds were a big part of KU winning the board battle over Davidson, 38-30.-Line of the night probably belongs to Darnell Jackson because he was simply the most well-rounded. He had nine points, seven rebounds and three assists.-Davidson was just 5-of-12 from the free throw line.That’s about it for right now from Detroit. Looking forward to one more week of this. Tiring, yes, but history is fun to witness. That’s for sure. Talk to you soon.**7:11 p.m. (EST): DETROIT, Mich.** – It’s a likely tale if you’re a KU fan that free throws play into a game like this. Davidson, a 72.4 percent shooting team at the stripe entering today, is just 5-of-12 as we’re entering the final minute.They’ve got their shot now, though, with :16.8 left. Time to see how good a defensive team KU really is.Win or lose, be back in about an hour with postgame notes and numbers. Godspeed.—————–**6:58 p.m. (EST): DETROIT, Mich.** – Two guys deserving plenty of credit for KU’s jumping back out in front here in the late minutes are Sasha Kaun and Sherron Collins. Collins came back in off the bench with about 7:30 to play, hit a huge three from straight on and just had a _huge_ defensive stand against Stephen Curry, who was trying to draw a foul against Collins with the shot clock fading. Kaun has been KU’s most consistent force down low, and the only one who is consistently taking advantage of a clear size edge inside.—————–**6:53 p.m. (EST): DETROIT, Mich.** – It’s ‘Sweet Caroline’ time again for the Davidson band/fans, and the crowd in red absolutely owns this place right now, not only in numbers but also in noise.—————–**6:38 p.m. (EST): DETROIT, Mich.** – Brandon Rush has officially clocked in. You guys might by now know my theory with Rush and when he screams after big buckets to break droughts. He did so after nailing his first three-pointer of the day following a 2-of-11 start from the floor. Two possessions later, he went off the dribble and hit an awkward two off the glass along with a foul call. Davidson’s going to want to keep an extra eye on him from here on out, I feel.—————–**6:04 p.m. (EST): DETROIT, Mich.** – First half numbers you may be interested in…-With two fouls apiece for KU are: Sasha Kaun, Brandon Rush, Russell Robinson, Darrell Arthur…-Stephen Curry is 5-of-12 from the floor, is getting the looks he wants and leads all scorers with 15 points…-Jason Richards, who had 13 points and no turnovers against Wisconsin has six points and six dimes so far tonight with two turnovers…-KU is outrebounding Davidson 22-13. Davidson, though, has 14 points in the paint compared to 20 for Kansas…-KU is 13-of-28 from the floor, Davidson is 11-of-30…-The Jayhawks have turned it over nine times. The Wildcats have given it away just thrice…-KU is 3-of-6 from three-point range and has passed up a couple of open looks. Davidson is getting the looks it wants from deep and is 3-of-11 from long range…-Russell Robinson, who had 15 points for KU Friday, has not scored and is just 0-for-1 from the floor…-Brandon Rush is 2-of-9 from the field, 0-for-3 from deep…-Mario Chalmers is the Jayhawks’ only consistent offensive threat from outside, going 4-of-5 and 2-of-3 from distance…-Inside, Darnell Jackson and Darrell Arthur are a combined 5-of-8 from the floor, but just 1-of-4 from the stripe…-No KU guard has shot a free throw to this point…**I’d say Stephen Curry is not yet done**, but the key for KU in the second half could be Sherron Collins. In my opinion, he showed a bit too much of a pass first, shoot second mentality. Yeah, I know he’s a point guard, but he’ll need to score for KU to maintain its role as the aggressor. He’s 0-for-3 from the floor.Anyone wanting to alter their predictions?—————–**5:54 p.m. (EST): DETROIT, Mich.** – Well, Tom Keegan has said it for two years now that Jeremy Case would get his chance in a big game when his team needs him the most. The final minute of this first half could be it, as he just came in for a struggling Brandon Rush who has two fouls.—————–**5:39 p.m. (EST): DETROIT, Mich.** – Mario Chalmers here in the opening is looking a lot like Brandon Rush did a year ago in the Elite Eight against UCLA. With teammates passing up some open looks, he’s taking the initiative.He has nine points so far and has looked completely unfazed by the magnitude. Could be a bigger offensive day than the one he enjoyed against Texas two Sundays ago.—————–**5:30 p.m. (EST): DETROIT, Mich.** – Yeah, I’m on the Curry bandwagon…—————–**5:23 p.m. (EST): DETROIT, Mich.** – Not sure how you all feel, but from my perspective, KU looks a bit more nervous in these opening eight-plus minutes than Davidson. The Wildcats fully believe they belong here and are playing like it.Stephen Curry is scoreless, but is finding open looks. He did the same thing against Wisconsin two nights ago, starting cold, but never looking out of the flow of the game.Jason Richards is as advertised, and according to Ryan Wood’s statistical synopsis, he has a hand in all four Davidson buckets so far.KU’s guards are passing up some open shots it looks like. Brandon Rush made a super-aggressive move to hit his second basket of the night, then passed up a wide open three look from up top. The start of this game completely goes against the way the Jayhawks started their first three games of this NCAA Tournament.—————–**4:52 p.m. (EST): DETROIT, Mich.** – How could I forget? Pregame words from our friend **Beau White** in the KU media relations department…”Everyone wants to make it to the Final Four, and that’s no different for these two teams,” he said. “If I were a betting man, I’d bet on the winner of this game to go to the Final Four.”A true tour de force…as always…—————–**4:48 p.m. (EST): DETROIT, Mich.** – Well, so much for my bracket making me a genius. Texas is done, and now I’m just watching for the pure joy of sport, I guess, as opposed to the bragging rights that were on the line.We’re about 12 minutes from tip-off here in Detroit, and there are even more Davidson fans here now than there were Friday. That’s to be expected, but it’s even more impressive because the Wildcat faithful by far owned Ford Field Friday night.I meandered up to the student section and ran across Bradenton, Fla., native Emily Dibert, a Davidson freshman who was among the 300 students who bussed up Friday morning, departing North Carolina at 4 a.m.She said five more buses filled with students are here for this one.I asked her to dispel any of the rumors she’s heard recently regarding the school she loves so much, and she talked about what a tight community it truly is. She said that everyone blends in, even the basketball players, despite the newfound fame.”Stephen Curry could be a jackass if he wants,” she said laughing. “But he’s just like any other person there.”The other thing I wanted to find out about the Davidson crowd was where the red Nike ‘Witness’ T-shirts that say ‘Wildcats’ on the back came from.Ed Willingham, a Raleigh native who is down here and was donning one of the shirts, said Nike just randomly dropped 500 of them off at the team hotel Friday afternoon. Coincidentally, **LeBron James**, who was in attendance Friday, was the original piece around the ‘Witness’ campaign. I love it.**The teams are on the floor warming up right now** and I’d say Sherron Collins looks to be in much better spirits than he was the other night. I’d bank on him having a big day. He looks fired up. Just came up in front of us to shake hands with **John Thompson**, the former Georgetown coach who is here in Detroit on the radio call.**I was on a mission today** to spot **Curtis Granderson**, the Detroit Tigers’ centerfielder who is by some means a huge Jayhawk fan, despite not really having ties to the school. He’s up in a suite, however. Word is he invited the Jayhawks to participate in batting practice across the street at Comerica Park earlier today. Due to scheduling conflicts (i.e. getting ready for an Elite Eight game), that didn’t happen. Had it gone down, who do you think on this roster would have the best chance of ripping the gaps? These are the things I think about. This thing needs to get started.—————–**12:19 p.m. (EST): DETROIT, Mich.** – Well, you’re going to get what you’ve wanted all along Kansas fans.Roy Williams. On a silver platter. Toting a Coca-Cola (carefully poured into a blue cup, of course).We watched the game last night at our new favorite Detroit hangout – [Hockeytown Cafe][1] – where I can admit I was openly rooting for North Carolina. No shame in that. I want to see KU and Carolina face off. Not because of the whole Roy thing, because, well, I like Roy. It’s because KU and Carolina are two of the hottest teams in the Tournament right now (along with Texas). There’s no question there.It’d be a great game to watch. The week of über-hype leading up to it will be a bit much. While the underlying theme would be in the coaches’ faces all week, remember that none of the current KU players suited up for Roy. Just a reminder.Should the matchup happen, one would have to think Self’s got more on the line than Roy, right? Self is constantly measured against Williams, which for the most part is unfair given how solid Self has run the program for five years. But not only would the first Final Four berth of his career be overshadowed by the upcoming national semifinal, but losing to Williams might be too much for some to handle (again, unfair). Though, if Self beats Roy, he’s hailed as royalty forever in Lawrence and maybe the few people still clinging to the past will have their closure five years after the break-up. Pardon the Psych 101…**But, hey, what am I thinking? There’s still a game today** before Roy-Fest can officially commence. I was grossly off in thinking that Wisconsin could thump Davidson Friday night. And the thing is that Davidson didn’t need to play way over its head to get the job done against the Badgers. In short, they hustled a _ton_, hit threes and limited turnovers.But I’m picking KU today. The Jayhawk big men are simply more athletic than those of Wisconsin. As long as Darnell Jackson has a better showing on the boards today than he did against Villanova, the hustling second-chance points will be limited on Davidson’s end. Then factor in Mario Chalmers’ ability to jump passing lanes off of Russell Robinson’s pressure, and I think there’s no way Jason Richards records another 13-assist, 0-turnover day. If he does, I shall tip thy cap.As for Stephen Curry. My scoring prediction on him is about 29. One player doesn’t beat this team, and that showed on March 1 in the second K-State game better than ever. **Prediction: KU 88, Davidson 74****We’ll play the ‘Guess the score’ game again, too. Enter your prediction below. Friday’s winners were ‘bradam’ and ‘thetagger’. You must enter a score prediction and a point total for Curry as a tie-breaker.**I’ll be back a bit later once the Texas game gets going, which unfortunately we won’t have time to watch at Hockeytown. Could be a huge day for the Big 12 (and my bracket. How’s everyone doing in that department, too?)**Boy, I feel boring this morning.** Wish there were some more nuggets to throw out there for the next couple of hours. Instead. How about re-hashing an old tradition and dipping into the YouTube vault?Everyone OK with that?No objections?Then it’s on…**-This first one** stems from some dinner/beer convo a night ago at Hockeytown, discussing one of the truly great movies of the 90s (if you’re a 20-something) – **Can’t Hardly Wait**. Believe it or not, the entire movie is on YouTube, broken into 10 parts. I selected [this one][2], mostly because of three lines: 1) ‘Trip McNeeley’ 2) ‘Aman-DUUUH!’ and 3) ‘T-Shirts’ with the kid playing with the plastic stegosaurus. **(Warning: Clip includes a tad of adult language)****-I applaud Ryan Wood for** yesterday discussing classic **Saved By The Bell** moments in [Sawin’ Wood][3]. So how about some video to accompany it? [Here’s a glimpse][4] into the train wreck that was the late 80s/early 90s in terms of television quality.**-Hey, remember [this guy?][5]** Here he is [doing what he does a bit better.][6] Actually having a decent year now that he’s getting some more minutes. Good for him. Still made the right decision.**-Finally, I despise just about all reality TV**, but there’s two things I now can’t live without in that realm. First, there’s [these brave souls.][7] Then, there’s **The Moment of Truth**, which I watched for the first time Thursday night. Just insanity on a stick. [Here’s a solid example][8] of what some people will do for a little scratch…OK, a lot bit. But still…Be back later with some more.[NCAA Home Page][9] [1]: http://www.hockeytowncafe.com/ [2]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlkZaejstMk [3]: http://www2.kusports.com/blogs/sawin_wood/2008/mar/29/sawinwood032908/ [4]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSF1brtyHdA [5]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mICtSo1rgI [6]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8g6zJEu9c8&feature=related [7]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwDYZ8L24nQ [8]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzZWqYWhdQw [9]: http://www.ncaasports.com
