Though Kansas and Texas have played some great games in the past decade, I think this is probably the most memorable KU win of the bunch.
March 3, 2007. Also known as “The Kevin Durant game.”
The highlights of KU’s 90-86 victory are below:
Some thoughts:
• Ever watch a game that you feel like one team has dominated, yet the other team is winning? I couldn’t help but feel like that watching this one.
Durant was so good in the first half — and Texas was making so many shots — that KU was actually lucky to have been only down by 12 at the half. In fact, as I remember it, KU had to play pretty well in the first half to keep it that close.
Even when KU made its comeback and took the lead in the second half, it still didn’t feel like KU was winning (The Jayhawks actually took a 59-58 lead with 16 minutes left in the game). That makes this one of the most impressive KU comebacks I can remember, as KU had to play pretty well to stay close, then had to play extremely well to come back, take the lead, and then hold that lead.
• Could anyone — college or pro — have kept Durant from getting 25 points in the first half of that game? Those stepback shots are just sick, especially the three over Julian Wright at the 20-second mark.
• I think some people forget how ridiculously talented that Texas team was without even including Kevin Durant.
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Add on D.J. Augustin (shown above) and A.J. Abrams, and that’s three extremely gifted college players all playing on the same team.
We also shouldn’t forget Damion James and Dexter Pittman were both freshmen being mixed into that rotation as well.
• I feel like the highlights of this game encapsulate the entire college career of Julian Wright perfectly.
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He has a horrible turnover early, dribbling the ball off his foot while trying to do too much offensively. The bad play leads to two easy points and a thunder jam by Durant on the other end.
But then, a few seconds later, we see the good Julian, the one that makes the play you’ve never seen before. Dribbling to his right, he zips a pass over and around a defender with one arm to give Sasha Kaun a layup. It’s a pass I’m not sure any other Jayhawk in the past decade could have made, and it’s the kind of play that surely made every NBA scout in attendance start to dream about what could be with Julian Wright.
It’s just interesting to me that we see both ends of the Julian Wright conundrum wrapped neatly in one game’s highlights.
• A lot of folks remember this game as the one where Texas dominated until Durant got hurt.
As you can see from the video, that’s not how it actually played out.
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Durant rolls his ankle at the 11:20 mark of the second half. Obviously, that did have an impact on the game.
But KU had already made its comeback. At the time, the Jayhawks were leading, 69-65.
So, for the record, KU completed its comeback from 16 points down with the Longhorns still at full strength.
• How hot was Texas in the first half? The Longhorns made 11 of their 14 three-point shots before halftime (78.6 percent).
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“I don’t know if I ever coached a game where a team shot it better than they did the first half,” KU coach Bill Self said after the game. “I don’t think we’ve ever had anyone play that good offensively against us. They were unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable.”
• KU, though, made 11 of its 18 threes in the game (61.1 percent).
• Here’s Durant’s first-half line: 25 points, 10-for-14 shooting, 5-for-5 from three.
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Has there ever been a better individual half in Allen Fieldhouse?
• Here was what KU sophomore Brandon Rush said about Durant’s first-half performance.
“It was frustrating,” Rush said. “When’s he gonna miss? Is he ever gonna miss? Is he Michael Jordan?”
• Also worth noting: When Durant returned from the locker room in the second half after injuring his ankle, he received a standing ovation by the Fieldhouse crowd.
• Both of KU’s starting guards set career-highs for three-pointers made in a game. Mario Chalmers went 5-for-5, while Russell Robinson was 3-for-4.
• The two teams each had four players in double figures.
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For KU, it was Chalmers (21), Wright (17), Robinson (17) and Rush (15).
UT was led by Durant (32), Augustin (19), Abrams (18) and James (12).
• It’s always interesting to see which recruits were visiting during these particular games.
On this day, it was future Oklahoma guard Willie Warren and future Missouri forward Steve Moore.
• The game was significant for more than just the comeback.
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Not only did it clinch the regular-season conference title outright for KU (the Jayhawks’ 50th league title), it also was the program’s 1,900th win.