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Associated Press
Arizona Daily Wildcat December 3, 1997
Wildcat's blue in Chicago
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Associated Press Kansas forward Paul Pierce reacts as he slams the ball through the net during the opening minutes of the Great Eight tournament. The Wildcats lost to the Jayhawks 90-87. |
CHICAGO (AP) - Kansas couldn't erase the memory of last spring, so the Jayhawks
did the next best thing last night.
They beat Arizona for a small measure of revenge.
"I feel a lot better with this being Arizona. Last year, they ripped our hearts out. It was a devastating loss. We watched the tape just to scout Arizona and it was difficult," said Raef LaFrentz after carrying the second-ranked Jayhawks to a tense 90-87 victory over No. 4 Arizona in the Great Eight.
Kansas had been No. 1 for nearly the entire last season when Arizona upset the Jayhawks in the Southeast Regional finals and then went on to win the national championship.
This time, Kansas pulled out to a big lead and then held off a furious comeback in the second half, one that didn't end until Mike Bibby's three-point attempt just before the buzzer veered off the rim.
LaFrentz scored six of his career-high 32 points in the final two minutes and freshman Kenny Gregory rebounded his own miss and hit a layup with five seconds left to preserve the victory in the frenzied atmosphere of the United Center.
"Everybody talks about this look in my eye. I don't know what it is. But there are times I feel if I get the ball, I'm going to score," LaFrentz said.
Kansas wasn't worried about revenge, more about playing a better game.
"I never watched one minute of last year's game until last night," Kansas coach Roy Williams said. "The feeling I had was hurt and sorrow. What I had after watching the tape was that I was ticked off. We didn't play."
The Jayhawks certainly did last night, especially in the first half and the first part of the second before Arizona showed the defense that carried it to the title.
"We just came out soft and they were doing anything they wanted, getting open shots and killing us. We have to get ready before the game and play the first half instead of coming back," Bibby said.
The Wildcats (4-2) lost last week to Duke in the Maui Invitational championship game after falling well behind and having a comeback fall short. Last night's game was the third top 10 team that Arizona has faced in the last six days, all being on the road.
"How can you play this hard in the last 10 minutes and not play that hard in the first 10?" Wildcats coach Lute Olson asked.
LaFrentz hit two free throws with 27 seconds left to give Kansas (7-0) an 88-84 lead. But Jason Terry, who helped lead Arizona's comeback from a 20-point second-half deficit, hit a three-pointer with 14 seconds left to make it 88-87.
Associated Press Kansas forward Raef LaFrentz (45) tries to go through UA's A.J. Bramlett (42) and Michael Dickerson (23) to score during the Great Eight tournament yesterday in Chicago. Lafrentz scored a career-high 32 points to lead the Jayhwaks. |
After the Jayhawks got the ball in bounds and down court, Arizona didn't foul and Gregory was able to grab his own miss and scored for a three-point lead.
Arizona rushed the ball up court and Bibby's long three-pointer misfired.
"I could tell right when I shot it, it was off," he said.
Paul Pierce, who hurt his right ankle midway through the second half but returned to the game, scored 17 points for Kansas.
Bibby had 22 points, Michael Dickerson 17 and A.J. Bramlett 15 for Arizona.
Arizona used an 18-3 run to cut a 79-62 deficit to two points with two minutes to go when Bibby hit a three-pointer off a pass from Bennett Davison.
The Jayhawks then broke the Arizona press and LaFrentz drove for a lay-in to make it 84-80.
Pierce came up with a steal and LaFrentz scored again for a six-point lead before Bramlett's shot rolled in for the Wildcats, making it 86-82 with 46 seconds left.
After a wide open three-point shot by Kansas' Billy Thomas, Arizona's Davison was fouled by T.J. Pugh as he grabbed the rebound. Davison hit both free throws, his first two attempts of the season, with 36 seconds left to make it a two-point game.
Kansas led 66-52 when Pierce left for four minutes after hurting his ankle with 12:24 left and was up 75-56 when he came back.
No. 2 KANSAS 90, No. 4 ARIZONA 87
KANSAS (7-0) Pugh 1-7 0-0 2, Pierce 8-16 1-3 17, LaFrentz 12-17 8-8 32, Robertson 2-6 0-0 5, Thomas 5-9 0-0 14, Chenowith 1-2 0-0 2, Gregory 6-10 0-0 12, McGrath 0-0 0-0 0, Bradford 3-4 0-0 6. Totals 38-71 9-11 90.
ARIZONA (4-2) Davison 4-5 2-2 10, Dickerson 7-15 2-3 17, Bramlett 6-13 3-4 15, Bibby 9-19 0-0 22, Simon 3-12 2-2 10, Edgerson 0-1 2-2 2, Terry 3-10 0-0 8, Wessel 0-0 0-0 0, Tebbs 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 33-76 11-13 87.
Halftime -Kansas 47, Arizona 32. 3-Point goals-Kansas 5-15 (Thomas 4-7, Robertson 1-3, Gregory 0-1, Pierce 0-2, Pugh 0-2), Arizona 10-28 (Bibby 4-10, Terry 2-7, Simon 2-9, Dickerson 1-1, Tebbs 1-1). Fouled out-Pugh. Rebounds-Kansas 34 (LaFrentz 8), Arizona 33 (Bramlett 10). Assists-Kansas 24 (Robertson 10), Arizona 18 (Bibby 6). Total fouls-Kansas 16, Arizona 11. A-19,161.
AP Top 25 Basketball Poll
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' men's basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Nov. 30, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking:
Record Pts Pvs
1. Duke (31) 5-0 1,695 3
2. Kansas (28) 7-0 1,678 2
3. N. Carolina(11)6-0 1,657 4
4. Arizona 4-2 1,519 1
5. S. Carolina 2-0 1,381 5
6. Purdue 5-1 1,360 6
7. Kentucky 4-1 1,265 8
8. New Mexico 5-0 1,246 10
9. Xavier 4-0 1,216 9
10. Iowa 4-0 1,013 14
11. Utah 6-0 955 16
12. Stanford 4-0 900 15
13. Connecticut 5-1 801 11
14. Mississippi 3-0 782 17
15. UCLA 2-1 764 7
16. Fresno St. 3-1 601 12
17. Clemson 3-2 444 13
18. Arkansas 5-0 393 -
19. Florida St. 5-1 388 -
20. Temple 2-1 379 20
21. Georgia 5-1 372 22
22. Georgia Tech 4-0 285 -
23. Maryland 3-1 230 24
24. Wake Forest 5-0 226 -
25. Princeton 4-0 176 -
Others receiving votes: Louisville 173, Rhode Island 152, Oklahoma 67, Texas Christian 60, Syracuse 53, St. John's 41, Hawaii 40, Marquette 36, Indiana 34, Vanderbilt 33, Gonzaga 31, Miami 31, Michigan 24, Mississippi St. 24, Arizona St. 22, West Virginia 22, Saint Louis 20, UNLV 18, George Washington 17, Tennessee 17, Minnesota 16, N.C. Charlotte 16, St. Joseph's 9, Texas 9, Colorado St. 8, Michigan St. 8, Washington 8, Massachusetts 7, Georgetown 6, Illinois St. 6, Oklahoma St. 5, Kansas St. 2, New Mexico St. 2, South Alabama 2, W. Michigan 2, Cincinnati 1, Murray St. 1, Oral Roberts 1.
