ET TU, DUKE?: The Blue Devils became the second No. 2 ousted. 6A
SPORTS
Vol.154/No.77 26 pages
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LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD O LJWorld.com/sports O Saturday, March 17, 2012
75 CENTS
KU 65, DETROIT 50
NO MERCY
Kansas avoids upset
Tom Keegan tkeegan@ljworld.com
Defense carries Jayhawks
By Gary Bedore gbedore@ljworld.com
OMAHA, NEB. — Tyshawn Taylor was lounging in his Embassy Suites hotel room Friday afternoon when he decided to check his infamous Twitter account. “Somebody wrote on there that we should call today ‘Upset Friday,’’’ Taylor, Kansas University’s senior point guard, said after the Jayhawks’ 65-50 Midwest Regional-opening victory over Detroit Mercy in CenturyLink Center. “I was like, ‘Dang, it doesn’t have to be that,’’’ Taylor added after scoring 10 points while playing just 23 minutes because of a nasty case of the cramps that kept him from playing all but five minutes the second UP NEXT half. The Jayhawks on Who: No. Friday were 10 Purdue the only one (22-12) vs. of three No. No. 2 Kansas 2 seeds to (28-6) survive No. When: 7:40 15 seeds on p.m. Sunday an upset-ridWhere: dled day. M i s s o u r i Omaha, Neb. fell to Nor- TV: TNT (cafolk State, ble channels and Duke 45, 245) was downed by Lehigh. “Good thing we had the last game of the day. It opened our eyes. Thanks to them for losing. It helped us (get focused),” Taylor said. “Actually, we don’t need to be reminded too much. We’ve had some things happen to us in the past as well.” Taylor headed to the locker room for good with 13 minutes left in the game. By that point, KU had used a 25-5 run to open a 52-28 lead and pretty much assure itself a spot in Sunday’s 7:40 p.m. game against Purdue (30 minutes after a 5:10 p.m. contest between Florida and Norfolk State). Taylor suffered cramps in both legs after being called for a charge on a Thomas Robinson dunk with 16:48 left.
Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo
KANSAS FORWARD THOMAS ROBINSON DELIVERS A JAM in front of Detroit center LaMarcus Lowe during the Please see KANSAS, page 4A first half. Robinson had 16 points and 13 rebounds in the Jayhawks’ 65-50 victory on Friday in Omaha, Neb.
OMAHA, NEB. — The Kansas University basketball players were back in the team hotel when Norfolk State knocked Missouri out of the NCAA Tournament. They were listening to their coach, Bill Self, give his pregame speech when Lehigh had Duke on the ropes. Self tried to time his speech right, but with the Purdue-Saint Mary’s game taking a little longer to wrap up than he anticipated, Self had an opportunity to fill time with another reminder. “The Duke game, there were five seconds left or 20 seconds left when I finished with my pregame talk,” Self said. “I told them, ‘Hey, Duke’s getting ready to get beat.’ So that’s a 15 beating a 2, a 15 beating a 2, a 13 beating a 4, an 11 beating a 6, all today. I didn’t make a point because sometimes when you make a point, it adds pressure because you’re almost saying it’s possible.” With inspired play from Dunkin’ Doug Anderson, the most spectacular dunker in college basketball, Detroit Mercy was trying to show it was possible, but it didn’t last, and Kansas moved on with a 65-50 victory. Anderson’s reverse jam put Detroit up 21-19, but from there Kansas went on a 34-7 run that featured terrific defensive pressure on the perimeter. They make automobiles in Detroit, not bicycle baskets. Not baskets of any kind, evidently. Anderson is a remarkable dunker, as advertised, and Eli Holman a physical force. But if you can’t shoot the ball, you can’t score, and if you can’t score, you can’t win. A laser-focused Kansas defense made sure it was Please see KEEGAN, page 5A
Norfolk State (!) sends Tigers packing, 86-84 By Tom Keegan tkeegan@ljworld.com
OMAHA, NEB. — The ink hadn’t even dried on the boxscore, and already T-shirts were on sale on the official Norfolk State website: “This Was No Upset.” The rest of the country begs to differ. Norfolk State became the first No. 15 seed in 11 years to defeat a No. 2 seed, knocking Missouri out of the NCAA Tournament, 86-84, and all the way into the SEC. “We messed up some brackets,” NSU senior center Kyle O’Quinn told the Associated Press after Friday’s stunner. “We messed up some brackets. We even messed up my bracket.”
The Spartans, champions of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, held on for the victory when Missouri sophomore guard Phil Pressey’s offbalance three-pointer from the left wing with one second left glanced off the right side of the rim. Missouri had been a popular pick to emerge from the Midwest Region and advance to the Final Four in New Orleans. O’Quinn didn’t let that happen. O’Quinn led his team statistically, with 26 points and 14 rebounds, and he led the Spartans emotionally. He was grabbing teammates and firing words into their souls and once took charge of the huddle during a timeout and barked, “At some point, we just have to take it.”
Coming out of one late timeout, he talked trash at Missouri reserve center Steven Moore. Afterward, Moore answered every question about O’Quinn with the same words: “He’s a good player.” O’Quinn, a native of Jamaica (Queens), N.Y., was asked about what the tournament exposure meant for his future. “What my future is? Winning on Sunday,” O’Quinn said. “How about that? Let’s take small steps.” Florida fans who remained in the CenturyLink Center after watching the Gators advance cheered passionately for the Spartans. So did
Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo
NORFOLK STATE PLAYERS CELEBRATE AT MID-COURT following their 86-84 Please see MIZZOU, page 6A upset victory over No. 2 seed Missouri on Friday in Omaha, Neb.