Kansas forward Mario Little takes a look at the Las Vegas Invitational trophy with his teammates following the Jayhawks' 87-79 win over Arizona, Saturday, Nov. 27, at the Orleans Arena.

Las Vegas ? Arizona sophomore Derrick Williams exploded for 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds in 29 minutes in Saturday’s 87-79 loss to Kansas at Orleans Arena.

“Last year if we were down by 15, we would have crumbled,” said Williams, proud of a comeback from a 16-point first-half deficit. U of A led by as many as four the final half.

“We’d have had our heads down and gotten beat by 30. We played hard. It’s what people look at when they watch us play. We may not have won, but we played hard. It was the closest game they had this year and will probably be one of their closest games all season,” Williams added.

Hinrichs in house

Northern Colorado athletic director Jay Hinrichs, who ran KU’s Williams Fund and worked in the Jayhawk athletic department from 2002-04, was with his Bears’ team over the weekend as they competed in the tournament.

UNC defeated Bethune-Cookman on Saturday after losing to Valparaiso on Friday.

Hinrichs watched KU — his alma mater — play games against both Arizona and Ohio.

“It is always a great thrill to watch Kansas basketball,” said Hinrichs, UNC’s AD since 2004. “I had a chance to see a lot of fans I worked with in the past while at the Williams Fund. They are great fans. It’s great it worked out that I had an opportunity to see my alma mater play along with the Bears.”

Budding rivalry?

Kansas and Arizona met for the 12th time in history on Saturday, the Jayhawks taking seven of the first 11 battles.

The competition between the schools (nobody’s yet willing to deem this a “rivalry”) extends beyond the court — to all over the country in recruiting.

KU last spring beat out the Wildcats for freshman point guard sensation Josh Selby of Baltimore. Arizona countered in November by signing Sacramento, Calif., point guard Josiah Turner.

KU and Arizona are on the final list of Angelo Chol, a 6-8 senior forward from San Diego’s Hoover High. He’s ranked No. 76 in the country by Rivals.com.

Both schools are recruiting two of the top players in the Class of 2012: Alex Murphy, 6-8, and Kaleb Tarczewski, 7-foot, both out of St. Mark’s High in Southborough, Mass.

Current KU player Jeff Withey started his career at Arizona.

Dating way back, KU’s Aaron Miles, Scot Pollard and Paul Pierce all chose KU over Arizona and others. Andre Iguodala picked the Wildcats over KU.

Asked if the recruiting aspect mattered in Saturday’s KU-UA showdown, Arizona coach Sean Miller told the Arizona Daily Star it was just “an important game. It’s a game you want to play well in.

“It’s a game you want to put yourselves in a position to win. And at the same time, it’s a game you recognize that you’re going to have to be at your best to have that opportunity.”