7:52 2nd Half - MEMPHIS 49, KANSAS 47
Text-book from Chalmers, who gets his defender backpedalling, stops and pops a 15-footer from the elbow. 45-42 KU.
Rose attacks again and drives for another bucket. If he's starting wake up, that's trouble for Kansas. Chalmers misses a three long and Dorsey hauls in the board (just two of them now, but it's a start).
Chalmers forces a steal, Rush controls and shakes Dorsey with a cross-over dribble gaining some space for a lay-up. 47-44.
Dozier goes inside, gets Kaun to leave his feet and hits a bunny despite some contact. Foul shot misses. KU still leads... not anymore. Rose hits a HUGE three! Memphis re-takes the lead! Bill Self wants a timeout with his team trailing now 49-47.
11:43 2nd Half - KANSAS 43, MEMPHIS 42
Someone tightened up the rims at halftime. Neither side can seem to get their shots to drop, even from right underneath. Memphis rattles out a pair of free throws. KU still up one.
As I say that, KU gets a very friendly shooters roll for Darnell Jackson, who hits a 13 footer off a kick from Collins. CDR (15) hits another jumper. Action Jackson strikes again underneath. 43-40 KU.
Rose gets by Sasha and gets a lay-up to go. Just his second field goal. 43-42.
KU needs to take better care of the ball. Already 12 turnovers to just six for Memphis. They're shooting 50% to the Tigers' 40, but all that carelessness has given Memphis six extra shots.
15:15 1st Half - KANSAS 39, MEMPHIS 38
Memphis takes exception to my halftime thoughts, tying it up with a 5-0 run spanning the first minute and change of the second half. Dozier throws down and Anderson drains a three. Anderson then gives the Tigers their first lead in a while, swooping in for a three point play. It's an 8-2 start to the half for Memphis (Chalmers two free throws... forgot to tell you about that).
KU getting back to the game plan. Dump inside for Jackson, who eases it over the rim. Dorsey slams right through it off an alley-oop on the other end. Memphis back on top 38-37.
Dorsey just picked up his third foul. Russell Robinson attacks the void, driving for a lay-up and the lead.
The officials are letting them play through a lot of contact. Memphis is particularly feeling the effects. They keep finding ways to penetrate but can't quite get it to the rim through all of KU's big bodies. When they try to kick it out the jumpers aren't falling.
1st Half Thoughts:
Bruce Haertl - "KU is going to win this game."
Sports photographer Greg McFadden - "KU-Davidson was the real national championship game."
Brash words from the Eyewitness Sports crew. And now you know whose house to egg if the Jayhawks fall on their faces (beaks?) in the second half. Still, it's hard not to like their chances of winning this thing. They've clearly established their superiority in the post. Memphis' front line can't hang with Kansas in the post. Now throw in the fact that the Tigers front-court starters are battling foul trouble and you're looking at what could be a sizeable size mismatch.
KU out-rebounded the Tigers by eight, scored 24 points in the paint and to 39% from the field. The five-point deficit is Memphis' largest of the season.
CDR has lived up to the hype, but Derrick Rose has been eerily quiet, taking just four shots and missing three of them for a quiet three points. Memphis' bench has yet to score.
Dorsey, who had 15 rebounds in the win over UCLA and averages 9.6 is reboundless.
Leading Scorers:
KANSAS -
D. Arthur - 10
M. Chalmers - 7
B. Rush - 6
S. Collins - 4
S. Kaun - 4
D. Jackson - 2
MEMPHIS -
CDR - 13
Dozier - 5
Dorsey - 4
Anderson - 3
Rose - 3
HALFTIME - KANSAS 33, MEMPHIS 28
Memphis eats up the last minute of the first half, failing to get much of a look with their 35 seconds of shot-clock, but Taggart hustles and runs down a long offensive rebound to keep the possession alive. They don't do much with their second chance either and we go into the half with the Hawks up five.
1:02 1st Half - KANSAS 33, MEMPHIS 28
