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College Basketball: Kansas Jayhawks Rally to Beat Texas Longhorns in Big 12 Championship Game
Sherron Collins scored 22 points and pulled down 6 rebounds, Brandon Rush added 19 points and 7 rebounds and Mario Chalmers scored 17 as the Kansas Jayhawks (30-4) rallied from a 22-point deficit to beat the Texas Longhorns (24-9) 88-84 in overtime to win the Big 12 championship game.
Led by Kevin Durant, the Texas Longhorns jumped out to a 21-6 lead in the first half and extended their advantage to 32-10 with just over eight minutes remaining in the opening half. Kansas began to chip away at the Longhorns lead and went on a 14-3 run to cut the deficit to 11. By the end of the half the Longhorns lead had been trimmed to 39-34.
In the second half the Jayhawks grabbed the lead 62-60 with 7:17 remaining in the game. It was their first lead since a 4-2 advantage early in the first half. The Longhorns appeared determined not to let the game slip away and rallied to grab a four point lead with 1:07 left on the clock. Kansas answered with a jumper from Collins to get within two and when Craig Winder hit one of two free throws for the Longhorns it opened the door for Mario Chalmers who buried a three pointer to even the score at 79-79 with 15 seconds left.
Kevin Durant had a chance to win the game for the Longhorns but his last second shot fell short and sent the game to overtime.
In the extra period the Jayhawks held Durant scoreless and hit five of their six free-throw attempts to grab the victory.
Durant finished with 37 points and 10 rebounds in the Longhorns loss.
Kansas is almost assured of a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament while Texas will no doubt earn a spot when the announcements are made.
