New Orleans ? The Kansas men’s basketball team overcame a 13-point first-half deficit, rallying to beat Ohio State, 64-62, in the national semifinals on Saturday night at the Superdome in New Orleans.

KU fell behind, 34-25, at halftime before starting the second half on a 13-4 run to tie the game at 38.

The Jayhawks took its first lead in the second half on a pair of free throws by Releford to make it 56-55 with 2:48 left.

Ohio State answered with four straight points, but KU responded to take a 60-59 lead with 1:37 left on two more free throws from Releford.

A William Buford stickback dunk trimmed KU’s lead to 62-61 with 9.6 seconds left.

Tyshawn Taylor followed with two free throws with eight seconds left. Ohio State’s Aaron Craft made one free throw with two seconds left before committing a lane violation.

KU inbounded the ball and wasted the rest of the time to advance.

Thomas Robinson had 19 points, while Travis Releford added 15 and Elijah Johnson had 13.

Jeff Withey had seven blocks, which set a new Big 12 record of 135 in a season.

KU (32-6) will play Kentucky at 8:23 p.m. in the national championship game on Monday.

See Jesse Newell’s blog on KUsports.com for post-game stats and analysis.