KU’s win over Texas A&M sets up battle of top seeds
By J. BRADY McCOLLOUGH
The Kansas City Star
Turns out, the Kansas Jayhawks will play in a rivalry game this weekend after all.
After 10 games and three days of non-stop basketball at the Sprint Center, KU and Texas — big surprise — are the last ones standing.
And if you think that today’s Big 12 tournament championship game between the Hawks and Horns won’t be heated like KU-Missouri or KU-Kansas State, you clearly haven’t been paying attention.
No. 2 seed Kansas escaped a valiant effort by Texas A&M on Saturday, holding on for a 77-71 victory. The win over the Aggies set up the game everyone expected to see. Regular-season co-champions Kansas and Texas will play in their third straight Big 12 tournament title game — and this meeting might decide a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament after Tennessee lost on Saturday.
A 700-mile stretch of highway may separate the two schools geographically, but lately, it’s been hard to tell them apart on the court. Kansas beat the Longhorns in their previous title-game matchups, and Texas has won two of the past three regular-season meetings, including this year.
“They feel like rivals,” KU guard Brandon Rush said. “We beat them the last two years in the tournament, and they beat us down at their spot. We’re looking forward to the rematch.”
But this budding Kansas-Texas rivalry has been born out of mutual respect. It does not depend on bickering, bitterness and message-board posturing for fuel.
“No bad blood at all,” Rush said. “Just two teams trying to figure out who’s the best in the Big 12.”
Rush made sure that would be the situation by pouring in a career-high 28 points on nine-of-13 shooting. He made five of eight three-pointers and five of five from the free-throw line. This was the Rush that KU coach Bill Self imagined when he recruited the 6-foot-6 forward from Kansas City to KU three years ago.
“He had a great look about him, didn’t he?” Self said. “Brandon was as good as I’ve seen him in the last three years.”
Sometimes, Rush explained, the ball just goes in the hole. There wasn’t some magical difference that he can point to.
“I was on fire,” Rush said. “I was demanding the ball, and everyone was looking for me because I had the hot hand.”
The Jayhawks, 30-3, needed Rush on Saturday. Sherron Collins got off to a slow start, and Mario Chalmers was hampered by a strained patella tendon in his knee during the second half. Darrell Arthur struggled through his second straight subpar performance, scoring only seven points.
Rush had eight points in the first half as KU built a 34-26 lead. But the Aggies answered — as they would do all day — going on an 8-0 run to finish the first half. The scoreboard read 34-34, and Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon, a former KU player, pumped his fist as he left the floor. Nobody could have imagined what Rush had in store for the second half.
Playing in front of a hometown crowd that included his mother, grandmother, father and AAU coach, Rush went off for 20 more points in the second half. Rush didn’t play well Friday night, so he wanted to put on a show Saturday.
When he dunked in the first half to give KU a 17-16 lead, Rush felt the crowd come alive.
“I definitely felt the love,” Rush said. “It feels like home.”
Eventually, as Self saw Rush heating up, he started calling plays to get Rush free.
“When the man is hot,” Arthur said, “we just keep going to him.”
Rush’s teammates know that he’s capable of a game like Saturday’s. But they also know his personality. It is rare that he will demand the ball like he did against the Aggies.
“He’s the kind of player who’s gonna let the game come to him,” KU guard Russell Robinson said.
Rush said he will continue to be aggressive against Texas. But the main concern for the Jayhawks, he said, was to make sure the Longhorns don’t beat them on the glass as they did in the second half in Austin.
That game has stuck in KU’s craw a bit, but Self doesn’t consider revenge a motive for today. Remember, this isn’t a bitter rivalry.
“It’s going to be one of the more fun games our guys will play in,” Self said. “They’re playing for a championship. The stakes are high.”
To reach J. Brady McCollough, Kansas reporter for The Star, send e-mail to jmccollough@kcstar.com
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