DAYTON, Ohio (AP) – Trailing pesky Cal State Northridge late in
the first half, Kansas coach Roy Williams called a timeout and
called for change.
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Fri, March 16
The Jayhawks had a battle on their hands for most of the first half until a 15-0 run broke
the game open.
It was simply a matter of Kansas' front line being too strong. The trio of Nick Collison,
Kenny Gregory and Drew Gooden dominated and combined for 61 points and 28
rebounds. Cal State-Northridge fought hard.
In the end, Roy Williams' team was just too strong and they advance.
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He got what he wanted – a 17-point run and another impressive
tournament debut.
The Jayhawks' towering front line dug in and dominated Friday
night, muscling its way to a 99-75 victory that marked Kansas' 18th
straight first-round win in the NCAA Tournament. Kansas will play Syracuse in the second round after the Orangemen beat Hawaii on Friday night.
Nick Collison had 23 points and 11 rebounds, and Kenny Gregory
added 18 points and 11 rebounds for fourth-seeded Kansas (25-6),
which will face a bigger obstacle in the next round in the Midwest
Regional.
The Jayhawks have lost in the second round in each of the last
three tournaments.
They were in control Friday after Williams took a timeout with
just over four minutes left in the half and Northridge ahead 37-35.
"It wasn't a 'win-one-for-the-Gipper' type of thing, but I did
ask them for a great push in the last 4 minutes," Williams said.
Kansas closed with a 17-point run that featured five points each
from Drew Gooden and Gregory and put the Jayhawks in control 52-37.
Northridge (22-10) never got closer than eight points the rest of
the way in its first NCAA Tournament game.
Four Jayhawks and four Matadors reached double figures in a game
of back-and-forth offense. The difference was on the boards, which
Kansas controlled 45-24.
|  | | Drew Gooden scored 20 points for the Jayhawks. |
"We hurt them on the boards when it counted," Gooden said.
"They didn't have an answer for us. If we could have gotten more
defensive stops, it would have been a blowout."
It was close enough.
Unable to get the ball inside, Northridge had to fire away from
the perimeter. Enough 3-pointers fell to keep the Matadors close –
they made 13-of-30 overall and cut an 18-point deficit to eight
midway through the second half. As soon as the shots stopped
dropping, the Matadors started fading.
"We got beat down," Northridge coach Bobby Braswell said. "We
didn't play as tough as we needed to inside. They softened us up."
Northridge came into the game openly cocky about its chances of
running around Kansas' bigger front line and pulling off the upset
in its first NCAA Tournament appearance. The Matadors stayed close
until the closing minutes of the first half, when the Jayhawks'
front line changed the momentum for good.
The Jayhawks shot 64.5 percent and outrebounded Northridge 24-11
in the first half while clamping down on the Matadors' leading
scorer.
They rely on Brian Heinle, a 6-foot-9 center who was the Big
Sky's MVP and averages 20.4 points, the most by a Division I
center. They found out the hard way that it's better to have three
big men than just one.
"They've got three great players in there," said Heinle, held
to 13 points. "They play smart and they just kept coming at us."
A front line featuring the 6-foot-9 Collison, the 6-foot-10
Gooden and 7-foot-1 Eric Chenowith controlled the boards,
misdirected shots and powered in for easy baskets, keeping the
Matadors at bay.
As if to drive the point home early in the game, Gooden jumped
above the rim and snatched an alley-oop pass from Northridge point
guard Markus Carr, then started a fast break that led to Gregory's
alley-oop dunk.
Gooden blocked Heinle's first shot, a sign of things ahead, and
Northridge's best player missed his first three shots badly. He
finished 4-of-17 from the field.
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
Cal State Northridge Clubhouse
Kansas Clubhouse
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