No. 10/12 Kansas Upends No. 1 Florida, 82-80
Nov. 26, 2006
LAS VEGAS, Nev. –
In the highly anticipated final round of the Las Vegas Invitational, the No. 10/12 University of Kansas men’s basketball team defeated No. 1 Florida, 82-80 in overtime, Saturday night from the Orleans Center. Sophomore Brandon Rush made a baseline lay-up in the final minute of overtime and junior Russell Robinson knocked down a free throw with five seconds remaining to seal the victory.<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
The victory marks KU’s first against a No. 1 opponent since the Jayhawks defeated UMass in December of 1994. The Jayhawks improve to 5-1 while <?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>Florida falls to 6-1.
Five Jayhawks finished in double figures for Kansas. Sophomore Julian Wright led Kansas with a career-high 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. The Chicago Heights, Ill., native was named the tournament’s MVP and threw down several crashing dunks. Freshman forward Darrell Arthur knocked down several critical free throws and finished with 19 points and nine rebounds.
Sophomore Mario Chalmers added 13 points and five assists, including the key helper on Rush’s winning lay-up. Rush finished with 13 points and seven rebounds while Robinson scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
The Jayhawks shot 54 percent from the field and limited the Gators to just 45 percent shooting in the game.
Junior Taurean Green led Florida with 25 points and junior Joakim Noah scored 17.
Kansas took a 37-31 lead into halftime behind Wright’s 17 points and six rebounds. The sophomore forward was 7-of-10 from the field and also swatted two shots.
The Jayhawks return to campus to play Dartmouth on Nov. 28 with a 7 p.m. tip-off. KU has six home games remaining before the New Year, travels to Chicago to play DePaul on Dec. 2 and plays Toledo in the American Century Investment Shootout at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo., on Dec. 9.
