LOUISVILLE VS. KENTUCKY 5:09 TONIGHT
KANSAS VS. OHIO STATE 7:49 TONIGHT
SPORTS
Vol.154/No.92 26 pages
A
LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD O LJWorld.com/sports O Saturday, March 31, 2012
$1.50
FINALLY! FINAL FOUR
Nick Krug/Journal-World Photos
IN PHOTO ABOVE, KANSAS GUARD TYSHAWN TAYLOR SCANS THE SUPERDOME as the Jayhawks take the court for practice on Friday in New Orleans. Tonight, the Jayhawks will face Ohio State in the second game of the Final Four. IN TOP PHOTO, A FAN HOLDS A SOUVENIR BASKETBALL while waiting for autographs.
KU, Ohio State healthy, ready for rematch By Gary Bedore gbedore@ljworld.com
NEW ORLEANS — Tyshawn Taylor had trouble concentrating fully on basketball back on Dec. 10 — the afternoon of the Kansas-Ohio State game in Allen Fieldhouse. Taylor, KU’s 6-foot-3 senior point guard, scored just nine points with 13 assists and seven turnovers in a 7867 victory over the previously undefeated Buckeyes. He had a date with the knee surgeon scheduled just 15 hours after tipoff.
MORE ONLINE Q For oodles more from New Orleans, including blogs, video, audio and a photo gallery, go to KUSports. com
“I’m not using my knee as an excuse, but I know I am not going to be in a brace tomorrow,” said Taylor, 100 percent healthy heading into a Final Four semifinal contest between KU (31-6) and the Buckeyes (31-7) at 7:49 p.m. today in the Superdome. “I won’t be worrying about my knee, worrying about making certain cuts or plants or landing on it, getting hit. I won’t be worrying about any of that, what I was worrying about in that game. That’s out the window. “Everybody’s talking
about Jared (Sullinger, OSU’s All-American who missed the first meeting with back spasms), but we also didn’t have a Jeff Withey playing like he is now,” Taylor added. Seven-foot KU center Withey had just two points, two boards and two blocks in 21 minutes that game. “We didn’t have Thomas Robinson (21 points off 7-of-9 shooting and seven rebounds) having the same game as he has now. There’s a lot of things so different with both teams because it
was so long ago. We’ve come a long way — their players and ours,” Taylor said. The fact Taylor was playing at less than full strength — he had successful rightknee arthroscopic surgery at 6 a.m., Sunday, Dec. 11, and didn’t miss a game, by the way — has not received as much attention as Sullinger’s not playing. “I don’t know if I was 75 percent or 80 percent,” Taylor said. “I was able to play 32, 33 minutes (35), and that’s all that matters.” Taylor’s 13 assists versus
the Buckeyes rank as his career high. His point-guard opponent today — 6-2 sophomore Aaron Craft — had 11 points off 4-of-11 shooting, with six assists, three turnovers and five rebounds in 38 minutes. “I mean, as many questions as I’ve answered about how good he is on defense, he must be,” Taylor said with a smile, referring to Craft. “He’ll make the game challenging, but I won’t change the things I do.” Please see KANSAS, page 4A
FINAL FOUR Who: Louisville (30-9) vs. Kentucky (36-2); Kansas (31-6) vs. Ohio State (31-7) When: Game One: 5:09 p.m. today; Game Two at 7:49 p.m. TV: CBS (Knology cable channels 5, 13, 205, 213)
Buckeye crafty, but Taylor has soulmate NEW ORLEANS — One of the smallest key players in the Final Four also happens to be one of the biggest pests. That’s so often how it works, isn’t it? His name is Aaron Craft, and teammates talk tall about him. How tall? The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Craft steals more than just the basketball, ac-
cording to backcourt-mate Lenzelle Smith Jr. “I’ve seen him steal so many souls out there on the court,” Smith said. Wow. Strong words. Couldn’t wait to bounce them off the man Craft will guard, Kansas point guard Tyshawn Taylor, a good soul. So, Tyshawn, have you
ever had your soul stolen on a basketball court? “Never,” Taylor said slowly and with wide eyes. “And I don’t plan on that changing, either. I think Aaron Craft is a terrific guard, and I think he’s a great on-ball defender, but I’m too confident in my abilities and my team’s abilities to give him that much credit.”
Smith explained what he meant. “Whenever you can guard someone who’s considered one of the top guards in the country and make them pick up the ball and panic in pressure and turn the ball over, that’s the toughest thing Please see KEEGAN, page 5A
Tom Keegan tkeegan@ljworld.com