Kansas-Texas A&M Preview

3/14/2008 11:23 PM

By JEFF MEZYDLO
STATS Senior Writer

Kansas is hoping one poor half of basketball will actually prove beneficial in the near future.

The fifth-ranked Jayhawks know they will likely need a more complete effort when they face rival Texas A&M in the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament Saturday afternoon in Kansas City.

Second-seeded Kansas (29-3) didn't have an easy time in its 64-54 victory over No. 7 seed Nebraska in quarterfinal action Friday. The Jayhawks had 12 turnovers and made just eight field goals in the first half to trail 27-22 at the break against a team it had won 10 straight against coming into the contest.

Kansas, though, used a 15-4 second-half run to help outscore Nebraska 42-27 in the final 20 minutes en route to its fifth straight win.

"I told our guys that we needed this. We needed to be behind in the first half,'' said Kansas coach Bill Self, whose team matched a season low for points scored in a half in the first 20 minutes Friday. "You don't ever like it when your team doesn't perform. But how many teams have done well in the NCAA tournament that haven't been behind?''

Self hopes that will be the case for the Jayhawks, who are looking to win their third straight Big 12 tournament while holding out hope for a possible No.1 seed in next week's NCAA tournament. Kansas earned one of the four top seeds in 2006-07 after winning the league tournament, but lost to UCLA in the regional finals.

On Friday, Sherron Collins scored 13 points off the bench, while Darnell Jackson and Mario Chalmers each added 12 for Kansas, which shot 46.3 percent and overcame 18 total turnovers.

"We just weren't ourselves,'' Self said. "We seemed slow, we were careless, we seemed nonchalant. The second half I thought we came out and played like I thought we would to start the game. We haven't been behind much this year so it was good to see that we can change it at halftime.''

On Saturday, Kansas will face sixth-seeded Texas A&M (24-9) for the second time in eight days after the Aggies beat third-seed Kansas State 63-60 in Friday's final quarterfinal contest.

The Jayhawks won 72-55 at Texas A&M last Saturday to close out the regular season in the teams' only meeting in 2007-08. Chalmers and Darrell Arthur each had 16 points, while Collins added 13 for Kansas, which held the Aggies to 31.9 percent shooting and outscored them 44-12 in the paint.

Collins, winner of the Big 12's Sixth Man Award, is averaging 14.2 points in his last four contests.

Texas A&M, which started 15-1, could use another upset to firmly secure a spot in next week's NCAA tournament after losing five of its final seven regular-season games.

"We're looking forward to it," Aggies coach Mark Turgeon said of facing Kansas again. "Our guys will have to step up and try to hang around."

After shooting 42.9 percent in a 60-47 first-round win over Iowa State on Thursday, the Aggies went 23-for-46 from the field and 7-for-14 from 3-point range to beat Kansas State.

Dominique Kirk went 5-for-6 from beyond the arc and finished with a season-high 19 points for Texas A&M, which has lost 11 of its last 12 games against Kansas.

Kirk, who had 12 points versus Iowa State on Thursday, had 15 against the Jayhawks last week.

The winner of this contest will face either No. 6 Texas or Oklahoma in Sunday's tournament championship game.