March 7, 2009: Jayhawks make league their own with comeback victory over Texas

All season, Sherron Collins has not been in a mood to share. Over and over again, after great wins and bad losses alike, he stressed that the Kansas Jayhawks were his team, and if you didn’t like it, that was your problem.

So on Saturday afternoon, after KU’s 83-73 comeback victory over Texas, Collins wasn’t about to start sharing. He and his teammates had made sure that they would be the lone Big 12 team receiving a regular-season championship trophy — which was only natural — and Collins wanted some alone time with the hardware.

As the voice of Kansas basketball, Max Falkenstien, waxed about the contributions of the Jayhawks’ two seniors, walk-ons Matt Kleinmann and Brennan Bechard, Collins sat on the floor of Allen Fieldhouse with the Big 12 championship trophy tucked between his legs. He touched the glass on each side with both hands and smiled the smile of a young man who had just realized what he was capable of for the first time.

“I just wanted to soak it all in,” Collins said, “get the experience. I think I had a little bit more to do with this one than last year.”

Collins had everything to do with KU’s fifth straight regular-season title. On Saturday, he led the Jayhawks with 21 points and seven assists and didn’t allow his young teammates to panic under the heat of a 14-point first-half deficit.

Now, he was wearing a blue Big 12 champions T-shirt, celebrating on the court with a bunch of guys he barely knew a year ago. Somewhere along the way, they became his “young fellas,” and they looked up to him. Collins believed all along that he had the ability to lead.

“But I knew it was going to be hard to get it out,” he said.

At times, it was. He tried to do too much in losses to Syracuse and Massachusetts, and he kept shooting on a bad shooting night at Texas Tech on Wednesday night. All of it happened because he alone chose to bear the responsibility.

“He’s carrying the weight that, ‘It’s OK that those guys left, because I’m good enough to pick up the slack,’” KU coach Bill Self said. “Of course, we give him a lot of freedom, and he doesn’t abuse it for the most part. He’s certainly carried this team along.”

Yes, there’s a reason that when KU’s team managers cut down the nets, they immediately handed them to Collins and center Cole Aldrich, who labored for most of Saturday’s game but still finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Collins wore his net around his neck.

“I’m gonna give it to the team,” Collins said.

Collins can start with roommate Brady Morningstar, who deserves a gold star for his defense on Texas sharpshooter A.J. Abrams. Morningstar chased Abrams for 36 minutes and held him to 10 points on two-of-11 shooting. Morningstar was asked what kind of gum Abrams was chewing.

“Spearmint,” Morningstar said.

Self beamed when talking about Morningstar, who scored nine points and swished a key three-pointer to extend KU’s lead to 76-71 with 3 minutes, 25 seconds left.

“I didn’t see this,” Self said. “I didn’t see this with him at all. That’s not being negative. I just think it’s remarkable how well he’s done.”

Self echoed that sentiment for his whole team, top to bottom. KU outscored Texas 39-9 in bench points.

“After getting hammered at Michigan State, I would have never thought this team could experience that type of success,” Self said. “The other times that I’ve been here, it would be a poor year if we didn’t win the league. This one, I wouldn’t have thought that.”

Self couldn’t have known how much Collins would relish the leadership role.

“I think I did a good job of leading a group of young guys,” Collins said. “I’m just pleased that they listened to me, and they were able to follow me. They knew they didn’t know, and they were eager to learn. I’m really proud of them and proud of myself.”

KU, now 25-6 and 14-2 in the Big 12, got the Longhorns’ best on Saturday, and it wasn’t enough. The Jayhawks cut Texas’ lead from 44-30 to 44-37 with a late first-half run and never stopped coming after the Longhorns.

Collins stepped to the line and made five late free throws to seal it, the fans at Allen Fieldhouse chanting “One more year!” Collins, a junior, said he hasn’t thought about the NBA. He certainly wasn’t thinking about it on Saturday.

“It’s real special,” Collins said. “We’re the only team in the Big 12 to get a ring.”

This story was originally published March 8, 2009 at 12:00 AM with the headline "March 7, 2009: Jayhawks make league their own with comeback victory over Texas."