Basketball @ MindSay

Brandon Rush, Darrell Arthur and Mario Chalmers have all entered their names into the NBA draft. Rush has signed with an agent which makes him eneligible to return to school. Arthur and Chalmers have have not yet signed with agents.

The Utah Jazz defeated the L.A. Lakers 104-99 last night. The Lakers still lead the series 2-1 with game 4 to come on Sunday. Carlos Boozer was huge for the Jazz. He racked up 27 points and 20 rebounds.

 

The Spurs and the Hornets had a day off. They will resume their series on Sunday with the Hornets leading it 2-1.

 

The Boston Celtics hold a 2-0 edge over the Cleveland Cavs. Game 3 is today. LeBron James needs to improve his play if the Cavs have any hope of getting a home victory.

 

Game 4 of the Detroit/Orlando series is today. Orlando will have the home court advantage in this one as they are hoping to tie the series up at 2 games apiece. 

From April 7th:

 

Kansas Wins National Championship in Dramatic Fashion

 

The Kansas Jayhawks trailed the Memphis Tigers 60-51 with 2:12 left in the game. They had the Tigers right where they wanted them.

 

KU had taken a 33-28 lead into the locker room at halftime. However, some clutch shooting by freshman star Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts gave Memphis the lead and momentum in the closing minutes of the game. 

 

Robert Dozier hit two free throws with 2:12 left in the game to give Memphis a 9-point lead. That's when KU put on a display of basketball brilliance that will live on for years.

 

Darrell Arthur got the comeback started by knocking down a long two. KU immediately called a timeout with 1:54 remaining. Sherron Collins then got into the act. He started by stealing the inbounds pass after the timeout. He knocked down a clutch three-pointer just seconds later. The Memphis lead was cut to 60-56 with 1:46 still left on the clock.

 

Memphis pushed the lead back to 6 with two FT's. Mario Chalmers cut it back to 4 with two FT's of his own. Douglas-Roberts missed the front end of a one-and-one on the other end and Darrell Arthur came down and scored two more for KU. Arthur's bucket cut the Memphis lead to 62-60 with 1:01 left to play.

 

Then the pace picked up even more. Douglas-Roberts missed again setting up an opportunity to tie for KU. Sherron Collins got the rebound and raced down the court. He drove it all the way to the hoop before having the ball stolen.

 

Douglas-Roberts was fouled by Arthur with just :16 left on the clock. He went to the line for two. He missed the first one. He also missed the second one but Memphis caught a break as the ball was rebounded by Robert Dozier for the Tigers.   

 

The ball wound up in the hands of Derrick Rose who was quickly fouled by Brandon rush with only :10 seconds left. Rose had a chance to put the game away for Memphis. He could have pushed the lead to 4 which would have all but ended KU's hope for a comeback. However, he missed the first FT.

 

Rose found his composure and knocked down the second FT giving Memphis a 63-60 lead with :10 seconds on the clock. KU had one last chance. They would need a three-pointer to at least send the game into overtime.

 

The Jayhawks inbounded the ball to the speedy Sherron Collins who took the ball across midcourt. He made it to about the three-point line before he began to stumble. He clumsily got the ball into the hands of Mario Chalmers. The junior guard from Alaska then proceeded to hit the biggest shot of his life. Chalmers hit a three-pointer from the top of the key while fading away with a man in his face.

 

Chalmers tied the game and sent it into overtime. KU had captured all of the momentum.

 

Memphis grabbed the tip to begin overtime but the ball was stolen away by Collins moments later. Brandon Rush scored off a Collins' assist to give KU a 65-63 lead. Memphis missed a shot on the other end and KU made them pay. Chalmers found Arthur cutting to the hoop for an alleyoop. The score was 67-63 in KU's favor. Memphis then missed yet again. KU came down and put the dagger in the heart of their opponent. Arthur found Darnell Jackson for a driving layup just as the shot clock was expiring to give the Jayhawks the last points they would need.

 

That made the score 69-63 with 2:38 left in OT. KU finished the game with poise and won it 75-68 to capture their first National Championship since 1988. It was the third NCAA Championship for the Jayhawks.

 

Mario Chalmers finished with 18 points, 4 steals, 3 assists and 3 rebounds. He was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Darrell Arthur led KU in scoring with 20. He also grabbed 10 boards. Brandon Rush added 12 points and 6 boards. Sherron Collins contributed 11 points, 6 assists and 3 steals off the bench.

 

Chalmers, Rush and Arthur were named to the Final Four All-Tournament Team. The team finished with 37 wins on the season which is a school record.

 

Congrats to Head Coach Bill Self and all of the players.         

From April 5th:

 

KU Knocks Out North Carolina

 

The Kansas Jayhawks were unkind to an old friend on Saturday night. Facing their former coach, KU used a fisrt half blitz of 31-6 to grab an 84-66 victory in the second game of the Final Four.

 

It was the first time the Jayhawks had to face off against Roy Williams since the coach left the school to take his dream job at North Carolina.

 

KU came out smoking while building a 40-12 lead with a little over 6 minutes left in the first half. However, UNC made a 15-4 run to close out the half. Still KU went into the locker room feeling pretty good about themselves. They held a 44-27 lead.

 

North Carolina continued their comeback in the second half. UNC used a 13-0 run in the second half to trim the KU lead to just four points with the score 54-50. The KU faithful in the stands were in shock. However, the Jayhawks regained their composure. With KU holding a slim 67-61 lead, the Jayhawks began to put the game away. Brandon Rush scored a bucket and then found Darnell Jackson for an alleyoop to push the lead to 10.

 

The Jayhawks never lost control again. They finished the game with a 17-5 run. The win gave Kansas a school record 36 wins on the season. Kansas will be making its 8th appearance in the National Championship. They will be facing the Memphis Tigers who have only lost one game this season.

 

Brandon Rush had 25 points and 7 rebounds. Darnell Jackson scored 12 points. Mario Chalmers had 11 points, 3 assists and 3 steals. Sherron Collins came off the bench to score 11. Darrell Arthur had only 6 points, but had 9 rebounds and 4 blocks. Cole Aldrich contributed off the bench with 8 points, 7 boards and 4 blocks.  

From March 30th:

 

KU Advances to the Final Four

 

The #1 seed Kansas Jayhawks survived a scare from the #10 seed Davidson Wildcats to advance to their first Final Four since 2003. Davidson misses a long three-point try as time expired giving KU a tough 59-57 victory in the Midwest Regional Final.

 

The Final Four will consist of all four #1 seeds for the first time in the history of the tournament. UCLA will face Memphis in the first semifinal followed by Kansas versus North Carolina.

 

Both teams had a hard time hitting their shots in this game. The score was 4-2 in favor of KU after the first 6 minutes. KU was never able to shake the underdogs from Davidson as their largest lead was 6 which happened midway through the second half.

 

The Jayhawks were led by Mario Chalmers who notched 13 points, 3 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. He was 3-3 from three-point range. Sasha Kaun had 13 points, 6 rebounds and a blocked shot. Brandon Rush added 12 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and a blocked shot.

 

Kansas improved to 35-3 on the season. The 35 wins is a tie for the most in school history. The 1986 and 1998 teams also reached the 35 win mark. Kansas will be making its 13th trip to the Final Four.