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Summary The Kansas Jayhawks took the floor against the Illinois Fighting Illini tonight in a rematch of last year’s Sweet 16 game that ended the Jayhawks’ season. It was fitting that the players that weren’t even on the Kansas team last year made the difference in the game as Kansas squeaked out a narrow victory, 73-69. Keith Langford led the way with 15 points off the bench and filled in for Kirk Hinrich, who scored just 3 points in 17 minutes as he battled foul trouble. Drew Gooden also tossed in 15 points to go with 13 rebounds, while erratic-shooting freshman point guard Aaron Miles scored 13 points, grabbed 7 boards, and handed out 5 assists. Nick Collison was the only other Jayhawk in double figures with 11, to go with 9 rebounds, after going scoreless in the first half and struggling with his own foul trouble for much of the night. Next up for the Jayhawks, a regional final match-up against the Oregon Ducks on Sunday. The winner of that game punches their ticket for Atlanta and the Final Four. Analysis You cannot overstate how well the freshmen played in this game, especially Miles and Langford. Some things show up in the box score: they scored 13 and 15 points respectively on a solid combined 10-18 from the floor. Other things don’t show up there. Miles took his man off the dribble several times in this game and flashed some T.J. Ford-like qualities that he’s rarely displayed this season. Miles also played a terrific defensive game, holding Illinois’ leading scorer Frank Williams to 15 points on 6-18 shooting, while helping force him into 6 turnovers. Wayne Simien provided the muscle that was missing from last year’s team in the Illinois game, standing toe-to-toe with the Illini’s seasoned interior players. Simien finished with 7 points and 6 rebounds but his contributions were much more important than the numbers say. On a night when KU definitely didn’t play their best game, the freshmen lifted them up on their backs and carried them to the next round. I’m certainly not ready to have the upperclassmen pass the baton, but Kansas fans saw a nice glimpse of the next few years tonight. The future looks bright. All was not lost on the upperclassmen, and they certainly didn’t make the freshmen do EVERYTHING. Collison battled through foul trouble to toss in 11 points in the second half, and he (along with Gooden) controlled the boards as Kansas out-rebounded Illinois 41-34. Gooden struggled a little bit shooting (5-14) but worked hard on defense and rebounded well. Drew didn’t try to do too much tonight and, for the most part, recognized that the defense was double-teaming him on virtually every touch. He kicked out once early for a Jeff Boschee 3 and another for a free throw line jumper from Simien. Illinois did a good job defending Gooden and really tried make someone else beat them. “Someone else” did. Make no mistake, Kansas won this game on the defensive end. Their effort was sensational, and they consistently made Illinois initiate their offense from further out than they were comfortable with. The Illini shot reasonably well from behind the 3 point line (38%) but were no better from closer in (38% from the floor overall). Kansas took away a couple of the staples of the Illinois offense. I only remember once when the Illini successfully ran the back cut off the high post (commonly called the 1-4) for a lay-up. There will be nights when the Jayhawks shoot the basketball better than they did tonight (sometimes is just doesn’t go in…sometimes teams defend you well), but you can have the defensive effort EVERY night. The kids are really buying into that now. KU’s opponents in the NCAA tournament have shot 33%, 37%, and 38%, specifically because of the Hawks’ defensive effort. This team is very close to reaching another goal. A trip to the final four would be a great complement to the 16-0 conference season. That trip is just one game away now, and these kids look tough enough to get it done.

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Rock Chalk.... Robert