Kansas 63, Purdue 60 Postgame Notes
March 18, 2012
Recap | Final Stats |
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Kansas 63, Purdue 60
NCAA Tournament Third Round – CenturyLink Center Omaha
March 18, 2012
Postgame Notes
Kansas’ Win …
— Improves Kansas to 29-6 on the season and gives the Jayhawks 29 victories for the third-consecutive season and fifth time in the last six years.
— Gives the Jayhawks a 13-6 mark in games away from Allen Fieldhouse (8-2 in true road games and 5-4 on a neutral floor).
— Advances Kansas to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 for the 28th time in program history.
— Keeps Kansas undefeated at the CenturyLink Center (4-0), having won against Detroit Friday night and two games at the site during the 2008 run to the National Championship.
— Helped Kansas remain undefeated (4-0) against No. 10-seeded teams. Kansas improved to 15-4 as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
— Moves Kansas to 90-39 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, one of only five programs to reach the 90-win plateau.
— Breaks a tie and moves the Jayhawks to 3-2 against Purdue, including a 2-1 mark in NCAA Tournament games.
— Gives Bill Self a 266-52 record while at Kansas and 473-157 mark overall. Self moved to 4-3 all-time against Purdue.
–Makes the Jayhawks 2,067-805 all-time.
Kansas Starters (Career/Season): C Jeff Withey (36/35); F Thomas Robinson (38/35); G Tyshawn Taylor (123/34); G Elijah Johnson (42/34); G Travis Releford (38/34).
Team Notes
— Kansas’ first lead came with 3:04 left in the contest after a deep three-pointer from Elijah Johnson made it 57-56. The Jayhawks had trailed for the previous 36:24. Kansas led for just 45 second of the game, but finished ahead at the final buzzer.
— Purdue led by as many as 11 points in the first half (19-8 at 11:48) en route to a 36-30 halftime advantage. Despite the deficit the Jayhawks emerged on top, moving to 5-4 on the year when trailing at half.
— Kansas shot just 29.4 percent from the field in the first half, the second-lowest field goal percentage in a half and lowest in a first-half for Kansas in NCAA Tournament play. The 1974 Jayhawks shot 28.6 percent in the second half of a 78-61 loss to UCLA.
— The Jayhawks couldn’t find the range from long distance on their first eight attempts before Conner Teahan and Naadir Tharpe knocked down back-to-back treys on opposite sides of the eight-minute mark in the first half.
— KU pulled down a team season-best 21 offensive rebounds, topping the squad’s previous high of 17 against Oklahoma State (2/11). Kansas out-rebounded Purdue 44-36, and improved to 20-4 when edging its opponent on the boards.
Individual Notes
— For the second consecutive game junior guard Elijah Johnson turned up the scoring in the second half, pouring in 13 of his team-best 18 points after intermission. Johnson scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half of Friday’s win over Detroit. Johnson has reached double digits in 16 games this season.
— Johnson was also responsible for both of Kansas’ go-ahead buckets, a three-pointer with 3:04 to play and a deciding lay-up with 0:23 left to play.
— Already the nation’s leader in double-doubles, junior forward Thomas Robinson notched his 25th double-double of the season with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Robinson tied the Kansas single-season mark for double-doubles, matching Drew Gooden (2002).
— Senior guard Tyshawn Taylor and junior guard Travis Releford each added 10 points to join Johnson and Robinson in double figures. Taylor moved into KU’s top-25 single season scoring ahead of Paul Pierce (1997) and Walter Welsey (1965) with 588 points (22nd).
