Kansas 80, North Carolina 67 Postgame Notes
March 25, 2012
Recap | Final Stats |
–
Kansas 80, North Carolina 67
NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional Final
Edward Jones Dome – St. Louis
March 25, 2012
Postgame Notes
Kansas’ Win …
— Improves Kansas to 31-6 on the season and gives the Jayhawks 31 victories for the third-consecutive season and fifth time in the last six years. In all, Kansas has won 30 games in 11 different seasons.
— Gives the Jayhawks a 15-6 mark in games away from Allen Fieldhouse (8-2 in true road games and 7-4 on a neutral floor).
— Advances Kansas to its 14th Final Four and first since 2008.
— Makes Kansas 7-1 all-time in NCAA Tournament play in St. Louis, including a 5-1 mark in the Edward Jones Dome.
— Helped Kansas improve to 8-7 against No. 1-seeded teams, the first win over a No. 1 since defeating Memphis in the 2008 National Championship. Kansas improved to 17-4 as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
— Moves Kansas to 93-39 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, one of only five programs to reach the 90-win plateau.
— Moves Kansas closer in the series against North Carolina, which the Tar Heels now lead 6-4. The Jayhawks own a 3-2 series edge in NCAA Tournament games played against UNC.
— Gives Bill Self a 268-52 record while at Kansas and 475-157 mark overall. Self improved to 3-1 against North Carolina.
— Makes the Jayhawks 2,069-805 all-time.
Kansas Starters (Career/Season): C Jeff Withey (38/37); F Thomas Robinson (40/37); G Tyshawn Taylor (125/36); G Elijah Johnson (44/36); G Travis Releford (40/36).
Team Notes
— Kansas limited North Carolina to 22.6 percent shooting in the second half, the lowest opponent field goal percentage ever in a half against KU in the NCAA Tournament. It was a stark contrast to the 63.6 percent shooting percentage by the Tar Heels in the opening half. The 2012 Jayhawks have posted two of the top three defensive halves in KU’s NCAA Tournament history, limiting Purdue to 29.4 percent from the field a week ago.
— Kansas and North Carolina dueled to a 47-47 tie at the break. Kansas improved to 1-1 when entering the break tied with its opponent.
— North Carolina matched Davidson and Kentucky for the most points scored against Kansas in a single half with 47, but the mark was the most scored against KU in a first half. North Carolina’s 21 made field goals in the first half was the most allowed by the Jayhawks in a single half this season, topping 17 by Baylor (1/16 – 2nd). The Tar Heels shot 63.6 percent in the first half, the second highest in any half against the Jayhawks this season (Kentucky – 64.0 – 2nd)
Individual Notes
— Senior guard Tyshawn Taylor turned in his best offensive game of the 2012 NCAA Tournament with 22 points. It was the 13th time this season that Taylor reached the 20-point mark and 16th time in his career. Taylor scored a combined 26 points in the Jayhawks’ first three tournament games and nearly doubled that effort Sunday.
— Junior forward Thomas Robinson finished just shy of a double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds. He paced the Jayhawks with 14 first-half points. With 655 points this season, Robinson is knocking on the door of the top-10 single-season scoring list behind No. 11 Bud Stallworth (659) and No. 10 Sherron Collins (661). Robinson is already second on KU’s single season rebounding list behind Wilt Chamberlain.
— After wrecking opponent shooting percentages with a school-record 10 blocks Friday night, junior center Jeff Withey worked on inflating his own. Withey was efficient from the field, shooting 5-for-5 and knocked down 5-of-6 free throw attempts en route to 15 points. It was the most points for Withey since pouring in 18 against K-State (2/13). Withey also pulled down eight rebounds to tie Kevin Young for second-most in the game.
— Junior guards Elijah Johnson and Travis Releford each reached double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
