Kansas basketball notebook / LJWorld.com

Archive for Sunday, March 23, 2008

March 23, 2008

2008 NCAA Tournament

Photo Gallery

Audio Clips

Bill Self speaks with the media after his team earned a trip to the Tournament's second weekend for the second straight year
Brandon Rush talks about the weekend that was in Omaha as KU gets set to head to Detroit
Darrell Arthur talks about relying on the guards with the way Saturday's game played out
Mario Chalmers talks about the physical nature of KU's second round game with UNLV
Sasha Kaun talks about Saturday's physical game and how important a healthy Sherron Collins is next weekend
Sherron Collins talks about his huge second half against UNLV Saturday

Stewart has tonsillitis: Kansas University senior Rodrick Stewart, who had complained of a sore throat Friday, was unable to attend Saturday's KU-UNLV game.

Saddled with a tonsillitis, Stewart watched the game at the Embassy Suites Hotel.

"He's at the hotel. We have him quarantined," KU coach Bill Self said. "He was sick yesterday morning. He said no way he could go today. He'll be fine in a couple of days."

Stewart and the Jayhawks' traveling party took two buses this week from Lawrence to Omaha. Stewart was to ride on the second bus back to Lawrence on Saturday night, so as to not infect any teammates.

KU sophomore Sherron Collins said he spoke with Stewart at the hotel right before leaving for the game.

"He's got a little bug, but he's pretty sick," Collins said. "I feel sorry he couldn't play today, but we told him we'd try to get the win and he'll be ready to go the next game."

¢ Collins 'OK': Collins wore a wrap on his bruised left knee during the game. He didn't score the first half, but finished with 10 points off 5-of-8 shooting.

"I don't think it took me a while to get going. I just played into their hands the first half," Collins said. "It's a little sore, but I'm OK."

Self said Collins is not 100 percent.

"He couldn't practice yesterday," Self said. "He couldn't move (on the court). The doctors talked to him today. They said, 'You bruised your knee again. You are fine.' His biggest basket may have been when we called time with five seconds on the shot clock.

"He comes back on the court and makes a play."

Collins headed into the paint and scored just ahead of the shot-clock-violation horn to give KU a 46-37 lead with 13:58 left.

What did Self tell Collins during the huddle?

"Just drive it," Self said.

¢ Mario's fall: Mario Chalmers landed hard on a drive to the goal late in the game.

"I landed on my wrist and banged my knee. I'm fine," Chalmers said.

Also, Darnell Jackson was whacked in the face during the game. Self said Jackson's only injury was his eyes watering for a moment.

¢ K-State's season over: Self was sorry to see K-State lose to Wisconsin in the first game on Saturday.

"I talked to Frank before the (KU) game," Self said of KSU coach Frank Martin. "Also Blake (Young), Michael (Beasley) and Clent (Stewart) to say, 'You had a great year, one they should be proud of.' I like Frank. He wished us the best."

¢ Stats, facts: KU improved to 33-3, matching last year's 33 wins. ... The Jayhawks have won nine straight games. ... KU has reached its 25th Sweet 16. KU has made the Sweet 16 six times in the last eight years dating to 2001. ... KU is 5-1 in NCAA games played in Nebraska. ... KU is 4-0 versus UNLV. ... Self improved to 138-32 at KU. ... Brandon Rush nailed two three-pointers to move his season total to 75, which ties his effort from last season for ninth place on the KU single-season list. The two treys increased his career total to 200 made threes and tied him with Terry Brown (1990-91) for fourth place on the KU career list. ... Chalmers has 1,285 points and ranks 26th on KU's all-time list. ... Chalmers has 85 steals this season. ... Rush fouled out for just the second time in his career.