KU Advances to Final Four

March 30, 2008

by Chris Durden and The Associated Press

Kansas advances to the Final Four in San Antonio with a win over Davidson. The final score was 59-57.

The Jayhawks will play North Carolina on Saturday, April 5th. UCLA and Memphis will round out the party at the Alamodome.

This is the first time that all four number one seeds have made it to the Final Four.

After Kansas' Sherron Collins missed with 19 seconds left, the 10th-seeded Wildcats got one last chance. Curry was double-teamed, could not get off a shot and forced to pass to Jason Richards, whose 25-footer from the top of the key thudded off the backboard.

Richards dropped to his back at midcourt while the Jayhawks celebrated with a measure of relief.

The win also rids Bill Self of that dreaded "best coach never to make a Final Four" label. Self had fallen short with three different schools, including last year's edition of the Jayhawks. But this year's bunch had too much talent, depth and experience to be denied.

Brandon Rush scored eight of his 12 points in the second half, and Sasha Kaun came up with big baskets down the stretch whenever the Jayhawks needed them as Kansas ended the feel-good story of the tournament. Tiny Davidson, trying to become only the third double-digit to make the Final Four, ran out of gas in the stretch.

Not that the Wildcats didn't put up a valiant fight. Curry looked exhausted much of the second half - with good reason, after leading the Wildcats to upsets of Gonzaga, Georgetown and Wisconsin. But he showed the same moxie he's had all tournament, drilling an NBA-range 3-pointer with 54 seconds left that cut Kansas' lead to 59-57.

Eyewitness Sports will be in San Antonio for all the action. Look for LIVE reports on Eyewitness Newscasts and updates all week long here on kwch.com.

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