OMAHA, Neb. — Bill Self was the first to admit it: There was little coaching involved. He simply gave the ball to Sherron Collins.

A scrappy UNLV squad had Kansas holding on to a 44-37 lead with 13 minutes left in the second half. With seven seconds left on the shot clock, Collins dipped into the lane, slipped past one defender and laid the ball in with his left hand.

“That’s not coaching, that’s just giving the ball to a guy and getting out of his way,” Self said.

Collins, Kansas’ diminutive combo-guard, scored 10 points – all in the second half – against UNLV and helped Kansas into the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive year.

“He’s a different element to our team,” Self said. “He can go make a basket that you don’t have to run offense for.”

Photo Gallery

Kansas Basketball vs. UNLV

Photo gallery of the second round game against The University of Nevada, Las Vegas in the NCAA men's basketball tournament Saturday afternoon at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb.

Collins’ patented drives were missing from Kansas’ March run last season. With Kansas’ season melting away against UCLA in the Elite Eight, Collins was on the bench, rendered useless by a painful case of knee tendonitis. Collins played just 15 minutes against the Bruins and went scoreless.

“It left a bitter taste in our mouths,” Collins said of last year’s Elite Eight experience.

When Collins showed up for Thursday’s game against Portland State wearing a knee brace, many feared the worst. Collins collided with teammate Rodrick Stewart in practice last week and bruised his knee. Self said Collins couldn’t move at the Jayhawks’ practice on Friday.

But Collins alleviated some of those initial fears with his second-half performance against UNLV. With UNLV’s defense collapsing on Kansas’ front court, Collins excited the Qwest Center crowd with a flurry of second-half finishes.

“I take pride in getting the ball and making something happen, and being a spark plug off the bench,” Collins said.

Kansas needed that spark on Saturday. UNLV guards Wink Adams and Curtis Terry had controlled the tempo in the first half. Kansas went to the locker room having scored just 34 first-half points. Collins said Self told his guards they had to go make plays.

With Kansas leading 48-41 with 11 minutes left, Self called on his guards again. If UNLV was going to play a slow, grinding style, Self was going to speed things up. The Jayhawks went to a four-guard line-up featuring Collins, Russell Robinson, Mario Chalmers and Brandon Rush.

“We went small, and we knew there was mismatch out there somewhere,” Collins said. “It was just a matter of finding it.”

Collins found the mismatch and ignited a KU run by scoring six of Kansas’ next 12 points. The 12-3 run extended the Kansas lead to 60-44.

“We take pride in games like this where the guards have to step up and make plays, that was the whole game plan,” Collins said.

Sweaty and exhausted, Collins rested against his locker inside the Qwest Center after Kansas’ second tournament victory. His padded knee brace was still wrapped around his left knee.

“It’s feeling good. It’s a little sore,” Collins said. “It’s nothing I can’t deal with.”

Injuries ruined Collins’ first NCAA tournament. Collins – and the rest of the Jayhawks – are looking for a different result this time.

“We’re going to try to do this thing right,” Collins said.

— Edited by Matt Hirschfeld

No granny here

A reporter asked Sasha Kaun on Friday if he’d ever considered shooting his free throws underhanded, adding that Wilt Chamberlain did it to correct his poor stroke. Kaun wasn’t exactly interested.

“No,” he said. “Definitely not.”

Sicko

Rodrick Stewart couldn’t even leave the hotel room on Saturday. He came down with tonsillitis, and Self said he wanted to keep him quarantined away from the rest of the team. Stewart also had to return to Lawrence on a separate bus.

Feeling for Frank

Self didn’t rejoice at seeing one of his team’s rivals, Kansas State, exit the tournament on Saturday. He talked to coach Frank Martin and players Michael Beasley, Clent Stewart and Blake Young before the game.

“Frank did a great job with that team. They won a big game in the tournament. They should be glad of what they accomplished this year. Our fans hate K-State, and K-State fans hate KU. Coaches don’t hate each other. At least we don’t yet. I’m sure Frank wished us the best.”

­—Mark Dent

A special high/low from a weekend in Omaha, Neb.

Highs

Silver Sweet 16

The Jayhawks’ victory against UNLV clinched the 25th Sweet 16 in Kansas history.

On to Motown

There are two ways to look at it as Kansas heads to Detroit for the Midwest Regional. Detroit was the site of Kansas’ victory against K-State in the 1988 regional final. But Detroit was also the site of Kansas’ first-round loss to Bradley two years ago. We’ll say it’s time for the Detroit karma to work in the Hawks favor.

Super Mario

The junior guard is averaging 21 points in Kansas’ last three games. Anybody else looking forward to Chalmers’ matchup with Villanova’s electric guard Scottie Reynolds? Look for Chalmers and Reynolds to light up Ford Field in Detroit.

Badger nation

If you’re thinking that Kansas’ trip to the Final Four will include a matchup with second-seeded Georgetown in the Elite Eight, don’t forget about Wisconsin. The Badgers ended Michael Beasley’s season — and probably career — with an impressive display of ball-control offense and fundamental defense. Remember this name: Joe Krabbenhoft. Kansas gushed when a reporter mentioned Krabbenhoft — Wisconsin’s 6-foot-7 glue guy — after Kansas’ victory against UNLV. If Kansas beats Villanova, expect a gritty battle with Wisconsin in the regional final.

Lows

Overbearing zebras

All you can really ask for in March is a group of officials who’ll let the players play.

Not a crew of zebras who blow their whistles at every instance of contact. Players are the show, not officials. The officials in Omaha called it close all weekend, and Kansas and UNLV combined for 46 fouls and 53 free throws. Let’s let the athletes play in a game that doesn’t stop every few seconds.

Where da students at?

It’s to bad the NCAA doesn’t do more to give students a chance to experience March Madness in person. Sure, the NCAA rations some tickets for student use. But we’re talking college students here. How about slashing the prices even more, so students can afford to get to the game without breaking their bank.

—Rustin Dodd

First Half

16:44 — UNLV gets whistled for its fifth foul. The referees set the tone early for a game that would be bogged down by fouls.

14:34 — Darrell Arthur steals the ball at mid court and hurries down the court for a flush, one of the few baskets the post players scored all day.

9:11 — Give credit to Wink Adams for continually going into the lane. He took a lot of hits but not on this play. Adams drives to the basket to square the game at 15.

6:13 — Here’s Russell Robinson’s first big play. He drives to the hoop and sinks a layup while getting fouled. Robinson makes the free throw to give Kansas a 22-21 lead.

Second Half

10:55 — Kansas goes small. Bill Self makes his best decision of the day by using Robinson, Brandon Rush, Sherron Collins and Mario Chalmers together.

10:03 — Robinson hits a three-pointer to extend Kansas’ lead to 53-42.

7:46 — So, that knee can’t be hurting too bad. Collins uses a sick crossover on a play specifically called for him to take the ball to the rack and score.

0:46 — Chalmers makes a three-pointer to give Kansas a 75-56 lead. He hit it after hitting the deck just a minute earlier and getting the wind knocked out of him.

— Mark Dent

Box Score

UNLV

Player FG-FGA 3FG-3FGA Rebounds Points

Corey Bailey 0-1 0-0 1 1

Joe Darger 3-7 2-6 2 8

Wink Adams 5-13 0-3 3 25

Rene Rougeau 1-4 0-0 8 4

Curtis Terry 3-10 3-8 3 12

Mareceo Rutledge 0-2 0-0 2 0

Kendall Wallace 0-2 0-1 2 0

Scott Hoffman 0-0 0-0 0 0

Troy Cage 0-0 0-0 0 0

Matt Shaw 0-6 0-4 3 6

KANSAS

Player FG-FGA 3FG-3FGA Rebounds Points

Darrell Arthur 4-8 0-0 5 9

Darnell Jackson 2-4 0-0 9 8

Russell Robinson 4-5 1-2 3 13

Mario Chalmers 6-11 2-7 4 17

Brandon Rush 5-10 2-3 6 12

Conner Teahan 0-0 0-0 0 0

Sherron Collins 5-8 0-1 2 10

Jeremy Case 0-0 0-0 0 0

Tyrel Reed 0-0 0-0 0 0

Sasha Kaun 2-3 0-0 2 4

Cole Aldrich 1-1 0-0 0 2

Matt Kleinmann 0-0 0-0 0 0