MADISON, Wis. – You know that old Wizard-of-Oz saying, “Toto, we’re not
in Kansas any more.”
But in Madison on Friday night, it sure felt like we were still in Kansas.
The top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks toppled the fourth-seeded Illinois Illini here on Friday night by a final score of 73-69 in the second close contest of the evening. Illinois, which is a mere two-hour drive from Madison, packed the Kohl Center with fans, but the Jayhawks were plenty loud enough with their fan section and their game play.
Kansas hardly trailed in the game, but Illinois sat on the Jayhawks’
front porch for much of the contest. Kansas never led by more than 10 points.
The second game of the evening at the Kohl Center came down to a
second-straight close finish.
With 1:15 left in the game and Kansas leading 71-68, Illinois center
Robert Archibald was fouled by Jayhawk forward Nick Collison, who left the game with five fouls and 11 points. Archibald missed his second free throw, but the Illini would get a chance to atone for Archibald’s mistake when Jayhawk guard Jeff Boschee missed a three-pointer. Illinois forward Brian Cook missed a three-pointer with 26 seconds left, and Kansas forward Keith Langford made two free throws to seal the win.
Langford and center Drew Gooden led the Jayhawks with 15 points each.
Gooden added 13 rebounds for a double-double.
The Kansas win set up a showdown between the top two teams in the Midwest Region on Sunday. The Jayhawks will face the No. 2-seed Oregon Ducks, and Kansas coach Roy Williams said he looks forward to the contest.
“I’ve been a big fan of theirs,” Williams said. “Ernie Kent is as quality a person as can be. I have real respect for him.”
Kansas guard Aaron Miles echoed the sentiments of many who believe that
Sunday’s game should be a wild-west style shootout.
“This is going to be a lot of fun, it’s going to be an up-and-down game,” Miles said. “It should be high-scoring.”
The Oregon players are also looking forward to Sunday’s game.
“They both have really well-rounded ball clubs,” Oregon forward Luke
Jackson said before seeing the outcome of Friday’s game. “We’re just happy to be playing in the Elite Eight.”
Email sports reporter Peter Hockaday at [email protected].