With just under two minutes to go, a chant of "Rock Chalk Jayhawk KU" began drifting though the arena. Despite proficient three-point shooting from a Cal State Northridge team that refused to quit, Kansas will be playing on Sunday morning.
In a tournament that is rapidly becoming known for its string of upsets, Cal State Northridge gave Kansas all it can handle. KU got off to a quick start, but a brief one, as the two teams traded the lead several times.
Just past the halfway point of the first half, Kirk Hinrich got called for a technical foul after colliding with a CSN player. That call negated a Kenny Gregoy bucket, and the resulting free throws completed a four point swing the Matadors' way.
Kansas ended the half with a 17-0 run, which accounted for a fifteen point halftime difference.
In the second half, the two first round opponents traded baskets at a blistering pace. The Matadors' three-point shooting kept them close. Kansas denied CSN an inside game for most of the night, but the Matadors responded with effective shooting from the outside.
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Cal State Northridge cut KU's lead to as little as nine points in the second half, but it never got closer than that. A few minutes later the lead was back to 17.
Kansas dominated the boards, outrebounding CSN 45-24. This was one of the keys to the game. Another was KU's accuracy shooting the ball: 61% overall, and 50% from three point range.
Nick Collison led KU with 23 points and eleven rebounds. Kenny Gregory also had a double-double with 18 points and eleven rebounds. Drew Gooden scored 20 and Jeff Boschee notched 19.
Kansas will next face the winner of tonight's Syracuse-Hawaii game.
See tomorrow's Lawrence Journal-World, and KUSports.com, for full coverage of tonight's game.
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