No. 1 seed in sight after big KU victory

Monday, February 26, 2007

A quick flash of the scoreboard and Allen Fieldhouse erupted.

The fans weren’t watching a replay of a Sherron Collins pass or a Brandon Rush dunk.

All they saw was a score. Not the score to the blowout they were witnessing. No, they saw the final score of Florida’s 66-56 loss to Louisiana State.

Significant? Just a little bit.

Kansas dismantled Iowa State 89-52 on Saturday, but Florida’s loss may have been the bigger victory. That loss, combined with two Wisconsin losses, gives the Jayhawks a better chance to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

“I hadn’t really thought much about that,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “Florida getting beat, to me, is still a No. 1 seed if it doesn’t get beat the rest of the way.”

Self might have given the Gators credit, but he didn’t dispel the notion of his team getting the highest seed for the NCAA Tournament.

“All we need to do is go play well Monday,” he said. “Then, I think a lot of things will happen in the next two weeks. Only one team wins each tournament, so there’s going to be some losses.”

Regardless of what happened to other teams, Kansas played like a No. 1 seed in its quick, methodical drubbing of Iowa State.

The Jayhawks forced six turnovers to race out to an insurmountable 20-4 lead at the 9:39 mark. Their pesky defense bothered the Cyclones throughout the entire game. Kansas led Iowa State 41-15 at half, held it to under 33 percent shooting and stole the ball 14 times during the game. It was an improvement from the first time the two teams met. The Jayhawks needed overtime to bury the Cyclones that game and only had two steals.

“We didn’t want that to happen again,” freshman forward Darrell Arthur said. “We just came out hungry and played together.”

Offensively, Kansas put together another balanced performance. Sophomore guard Mario Chalmers led six players in double digits with 18 points. By causing turnovers and running after defensive rebounds, the Jayhawks forced a quick tempo.

Earlier in the season, Self might have been reluctant to allow so much offensive freedom. Now, he is more content to sit back and let his players freewheel it on the offensive end.

“I trust our guys,” he said. “I think they feel more confident with what we’re trying to do and can make their own adjustments on the fly. Our confidence level is pretty good right now.”

That’s obvious when looking at how dominant Kansas has been since a Feb. 3 loss to Texas A&M. In the six games since then, the Jayhawks are bludgeoning opponents by an average of more than 27 points per game. Their last four opponents have shot less than 33 percent, and three of those scored less than 50 points.

While blowing out other teams is never a bad thing, it could prove detrimental when Kansas is in the NCAA Tournament. The Jayhawks will be playing more competitive teams, and games will likely be decided in the game’s last five minutes, rather than the first five.

“From a coach’s perspective, you’d like to have a nice balance,” Self said. “In a perfect world, we’d play more close games. But the reality of it is we’re playing pretty well right now. If we keep playing well like this, we’ll play well down the stretch.”

The Jayhawks might get the opportunity to play a close game down the stretch against the Oklahoma Sooners tonight and again against the Texas Longhorns on Saturday. Winning those two games will continue to increase the Jayhawks’ chances of earning a No. 1 seed. For now, Self said his team was focused on each individual game, not about what was going on around the country.

Sophomore forward Julian Wright said if the team did that, the best was yet to come.

“I hope we’re not at the top,” sophomore Julian Wright said. “We’re getting much better and playing more loose. We like the way we’re playing.”

Kansan sportswriter Mark Dent can be contacted at mdent@kansan.com.

— Edited by Darla Slipke

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