LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Mario Chalmers had 21 points and Number
Three Kansas fought back from a 16-point deficit and beat the
Number 15 Longhorns 90-to-86 to claim its fifth Big 12
championship.
Texas' freshman sensation Kevin Durant hit all but four of his
first 14 shots and scored 25 points in the first half and the
Longhorns seized a 54-to-42 halftime lead.
But Durant injured his ankle with about eleven minutes left in
the second half and was not the same after he returned from the
locker room a few minutes later.
Hitting only 3-of-8 from the field in the second half, Durant
finished with 32 points for Texas (22-and-8, 12-and-4).
Kansas (27-and-4, 14-and-2) trailed 51-to-35 late in the first
half and the normally deafening Allen Fieldhouse crowd fell silent.
But then Chalmers, Julian Wright and Russell Robinson sparked a
24-to-7 run, capped by Wright's putback with 16:01 left for a
59-to-58 Kansas lead.
With a minute to play, Robinson's two free throws put Kansas on
top 88-to-80. Then Durant and A-J Abrams drained quick
three-pointers and it was only 88-to-86.
Wright's free throw stretched the lead to 89-to-86, and then the
6-foot-8 sophomore made the defensive play of the game.
Seeming to come out of nowhere, he blocked D-J. Augustin's
three-point attempt with five seconds to go and Kansas raced back
down the court with the ball.