Round three in OKC

Originally published March 9, 2007 at 5:02 p.m., updated March 9, 2007 at 5:02 p.m.

OKLAHOMA CITY – In case twice wasn’t enough, basketball fans in Kansas will get a third dose of the Sunflower Showdown on Saturday.

The Jayhawks beat the Oklahoma Sooners 64-47, and the Wildcats dismantled the Texas Tech Red Raiders 66-45 to advance to the semifinal round, Saturday at 1 p.m.

“We want to play them again,” K-State senior Lance Harris said. “It’s always big to play Kansas, but we’re also playing for the Big 12 Championship.”

The Jayhawks are looking to secure a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, and advanced their cause with a convincing victory against the Sooners.

After a sluggish first half, the Jayhawks pulled away in the second, led by sophomore guard Brandon Rush’s 16 points.

Photo by Amanda Sellers

Russell Robinson, junior guard, throws up a shot past Oklahoma defenders. Robinson was two-for-five field goals and lead the Jayhawks with three steals and four assists.

“I love the way this team is playing right now,” Rush said. “Everything is going perfect right now. We’re playing well on defense and offense, and we’re running up the court like we’re supposed to.”

During the schools’ first meeting, Oklahoma rattled Kansas with pressure defense late in the game. The opposite happened Friday, with Kansas forcing 15 turnovers, eight of them on steals. They also easily shook off Oklahoma’s defense to create easy baskets on the other end of the court.

“We’ve been working on it for the last couple weeks, since we played them,” Rush said. “We got the ball where we wanted to, and every time we got the ball down the court we had an easy two.”

It was also a significant improvement for freshman guard Sherron Collins, who broke out of a recent funk with eight points. He missed on all four attempts from behind the three-point line, but junior guard Russell Robinson said he built up some confidence in other areas of the game.

“He got in and got some assists, some buckets and a rebound,” Robinson said. “I think it was good for him to get back into the rhythm – we definitely need him.”

The game against the Wildcats will be a matchup between two teams who likely did what they need to do on Friday. Kansas probably secured its spot as a No. 1 seed, and K-State likely punched its ticket to the NCAA tournament.

After the game, Kansas State coach Bob Huggins said he was amazed that some people would consider the Wildcats outsiders to keep playing next weekend.

“It’s ludicrous,” he said. “We’ve got two teams in our league that are playing for a No. 1 seed, and Texas is a 3 or 4 seed...I felt like we were in before playing this game.”

View from press row:

—Want to know about the Jayhawks free-throw shooting woes? Don’t ask Bill Self. “We talked about it as a staff on the bench that we weren’t going to talk about free-throw shooting,” the Kansas coach said. “Sometimes the more you talk about missing short putts or free-throw shooting, the more it gets in your head.” Kansas needs to do something, and in a hurry. The Jayhawks made only 50 percent of their freebies on Friday, a number that is unacceptable towards the end of the season.

—Texas Tech fell to K-State, ending the Red Raiders’ tournament run. After the game, Tech coach Bob Knight put on one last show before leaving Oklahoma City. He was asked why the Red Raiders were unable to get anything going offensively. “I don’t know,” Knight said. “We may have eaten the wrong cereal. We may not have had proper lighting in the locker room. Or maybe Kansas State was pretty damn good defensively.”

—Don’t worry about Sherron Collins. He isn’t panicking at all about being unable to convert a three-pointer, and his teammates have his back until he regains his shot.

— Kansan.com has full basketball coverage all weekend long.

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