Kansas basketball: Jayhawks celebrate another championship
By Stan Unruh
The Kansas basketball team is celebrating a Big 12 Tournament Championship. The Jayhawks finished off West Virginia 81-70 in Saturday’s title game.
On Wednesday afternoon, few Kansas basketball fans expected the Jayhawks could win the Big 12 Tournament. The news Udoka Azubuike would skip the weekend to rest a knee strain suggested the Jayhawks had little chance doing much at Sprint Center. Fortunately, Hall of Fame coach Bill Self and this group of Jayhawks used Dok’s injury as motivation.
The Jayhawks certainly did not need to validate their regular season conference title. On the other hand, getting a revenge win over Oklahoma State Thursday was a huge confidence boost. They survived the awful semifinal against Kansas State and played one of their best games of the season Saturday to beat West Virginia. Who said it’s difficult to beat an opponent three times in a season.
Malik Newman picked just the right week to get a hot hand. His 30 points against the Cowboys were huge. The 72-point effort for the three games made all the difference with Dok on the sideline. The Tournament MOP has shown flashes of brilliance this season. He was more than brilliant the past three games. As a matter of fact, if Newman continues to attack the basket this way, the Jayhawks could play 5 or 6 more games.
Five Jayhawks scored in double figures against the Mountaineers. Big 12 Player of the Year Devonte Graham proved once again that he is the league’s best. He had another double-double against one of the best defensive teams in the country. Newman and Graham did more than enough to earn their place on the All-Tournament Team.
While Graham and Newman were the stars, Silvio De Sousa probably deserved just as much attention. The 6-foot-9 freshman had an outstanding tournament. His battle inside against the nasty West Virginia bigs was incredibly entertaining and effective. De Sousa ran the floor like a race horse, hit all eight of his shots and fought for 10 rebounds.
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A total team effort
Every member of this Jayhawk team contributed to this tournament title. Svi Mykhailiuk and Lagerald Vick hit big shots. Mitch Lightfoot had a big blocked shot and steal Saturday. Marcus Garrett brought energy off the bench in all three games. Fans and ESPN certainly got their money’s worth at this year’s Big 12 Tournament.