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Durant steals the show

The Texas star put out a professional quality performance despite his team’s loss.

By Mark Dent

Monday, March 5, 2007

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KU vs. Texas

Danny Manning was right.

He and Texas star Kevin Durant are not even comparable. Durant’s display from Saturday left Kansas coach Bill Self thinking of some of the NBA’s all-time greats.

As Durant dropped three-pointers, stole the ball from guards and pulled up for mid-range jumpers, he looked like a former Celtic great.

“He’s a different type of athlete than Larry,” Self said, “but Bird may be the guy.”

A different type of athlete in that he can run the floor in a way Bird could never dream of. Durant’s athletic ability is far greater than Bird’s. What Durant did in the first half on Saturday — 25 points on 10-for-14 shooting, including 5-for-5 from three-point range — was reminiscent of someone even more special.

“Michael doesn’t get on rolls like he got on there,” Self said.

Durant was Michael Jordan good. The Texas freshman scored 32 points in his team’s 90-86 loss on Saturday.

His 25 first half points were the most he’s made in a single half this season. The big half sparked his team to a 54-42 advantage.

Kansas forward Julian Wright and guard Brandon Rush were the poor souls charged with defending Durant. No matter what the sophomores did, Durant found a way to score. He started the game by making a three-pointer, and followed it with a jumper to give his team an early 8-4 lead. Then, he stole the ball and dunked it. On the next possession, he shot a turnaround over Wright. By the 14:14 mark, Durant had 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting.

“I didn’t think he was going to miss at all,” Rush said.

Durant did finally miss, but he also made shots that he had no business making. Rush and Wright guarded him tightly and put their hands in his face on nearly every one of his shots.

“When you’re on fire, all you can do is contest,” Wright said. “That’s all you can do. He was on fire the first half.”

The second half quickly turned sour for Durant. The Jayhawks scored 22 points in the first five minutes to take a 64-61 lead. In that time, Durant only attempted one shot and missed it. Self emphasized at halftime that they needed to limit his touches.

It only got worse when Durant awkwardly stepped on freshman forward Darrell Arthur’s foot with about 11 minutes left and fell to the ground grabbing his left ankle. Durant went to the locker room. He had hurt the ankle during Friday’s practice and stepping on Arthur re-aggravated the injury. But an ankle was not enough to stop him. Durant returned four minutes later.

“Coach already knows I stay in anyways,” Durant said. “I just wanted to suck it up for my teammates. They did a great job while I was out. I just wanted to play for them.”

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Although he couldn’t finish the game with a tying shot, Durant had a memorable, courageous performance in his first and likely last game at Allen Fieldhouse.

A chance for the Big 12 Conference title also motivated him. Texas came into Saturday on a six-game win streak that included a double-overtime victory against Texas A&M. If the Longhorns would have won, they would have clinched a three-way tie for first place in the Big 12 and would have owned the top seed in next week’s Big 12 Tournament.

Durant did all he could the rest of the game to give his team the chance to earn that No. 1 seed. With Texas trailing 88-80 and only 26 seconds left, Durant hit a three-pointer. Longhorn guard A.J. Abrams made one after that to pull the Longhorns within two. But with a chance to tie in the closing seconds, his teammates couldn’t find him.

Although he couldn’t finish the game with a tying shot, Durant had a memorable, courageous performance in his first and likely last game at Allen Fieldhouse.

“He’s done a lot of good things this year,” Texas coach Rick Barnes said. “What makes it impressive is what was at stake. I think he showed what he was about this game.”

Durant certainly showed enough to impress Self.

“He’s one of the best players to ever play on that court,” Self said. “He’s on a different level.”

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

— Edited by Carissa Pedigo

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