Dallas – It’s one thing to sign McDonald’s All-Americans; it can be something else to get blue-chippers to play scrappy defense like gym rats.
Kansas, young and relentless, swarmed all over the court Sunday to defeat Texas 80-68 in the championship game of the Big 12 Tournament.
The Jayhawks pick-pocketed dribbles, darted into passing lanes, played physical when necessary and converted 16 turnovers by Texas into 32 points.Texas scored just seven points off nine turnovers by Kansas.
The Jayhawks’ top seven scorers are freshmen or sophomores. They have become many of KU’s best defenders.
“These guys have bought into guarding probably better than I thought they would at this age,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.
No. 17 Kansas (25-7) avenged an ugly 80-55 loss to the Longhorns on Feb. 25 in Austin, Texas. The Jayhawks and the No. 8 Longhorns (27-6) shared the regular-season Big 12 title. Senior guard Kenton Paulino led Texas with 19 points. Mario Chalmers, a freshman guard, topped Kansas’ balanced scoring with 15 points.
“We played great. That’s the best we probably played all year,” Self said. “Down the stretch, I thought we executed and got stops defensively.”
Leading the way was Julian Wright, a 6-foot-8 freshman forward and former McDonald’s All-American from suburban Chicago. Wright can run like a greyhound and would be a good bet to win dunk contests. But he also loves defensive stops.
Wright did everything Sunday. He scored 12 points, grabbed seven rebounds and handed out four assists. But two of his three steals are what turned the game around.
Moments after Kansas had taken a 65-63 lead with 5:55 left on two free throws by Brandon Rush, Wright pick-pocketed the dribble of Texas freshman guard A.J. Abrams in the open court. Wright raced to the other end and threw down a dunk.
Then with four minutes left, Wright stripped the ball from Texas star P.J. Tucker, who tried to navigate through traffic in the lane and didn’t see the long-armed Kansas freshman. Two passes the other way set up sophomore guard Russell Robinson for a 3-pointer from the left corner. That put the Jayhawks in command at 70-63.
“(Wright) came up with two big steals, probably the two biggest plays in the game,” said Tucker, who was limited to 5-for-13 shooting. “I was just trying to make something happen when nothing was there.”
KANSAS (25-7)
Robinson 3-10 6-7 14, Chalmers 4-8 3-4 15, Kaun 4-7 1-3 9, Rush 4-14 2-2 12, Wright 6-11 0-0 12, Hawkins 4-5 1-2 13, Jackson 1-3 1-1 3, Giles 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 27-61 14-19 80.
TEXAS (27-6)
Gibson 3-12 0-0 8, Tucker 5-13 6-8 16, Paulino 6-11 2-2 19, Buckman 5-11 2-4 12, Aldridge 1-5 3-4 5, Abrams 2-3 2-2 7, Winder 0-0 0-0 0, Atchley 0-0 0-0 0, Williams 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 22-55 16-22 68.
Halftime – Texas 38-37. 3-point goals – Kansas 12-24 (Hawkins 4-5, Chalmers 4-7, Robinson 2-5, Rush 2-7); Texas 8-21 (Paulino 5-9, Gibson 2-8, Abrams 1-1, Buckman 0-3). Fouled out – Gibson. Rebounds – Kansas 35 (Wright 7), Texas 40 (Buckman 9). Assists – Kansas 22 (Chalmers 6, Robinson 6); Texas 15 (Gibson 4, Tucker 4). Total fouls – Kansas 18, Texas 22. A – 17,458.
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
