Jayhawks figure it out against former coach

By DAVE SKRETTA Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, MO. – Top-seeded Kansas was on the ropes, turning the ball over about as often as it was putting up shots, and had allowed North Carolina to build a comfortable lead by halftime.

Bill Self followed his team into the locker room and, undoubtedly, delivered quite a message, even though his answer dripped with sarcasm when he was asked later to describe it.

"I told them, 'Hey, just keep doing what we're doing, we'll be fine,' " Self said with a grin.

The Jayhawks were fine indeed, but only because they flipped the script.

They played better on defense, protected the ball on offense — making shots didn't hurt either — and behind the impassioned play of Travis Releford and Jeff Withey, pulled away from the eighth-seeded Tar Heels for a 70-58 victory Sunday in the third round of the NCAA tournament.

"We played miserably the first half and they took us out of everything," said Self, whose team trailed the Tar Heels 30-21 at the break. "The second half, we played really, really well."

Much to the chagrin of former Kansas coach Roy Williams, whose Tar Heels were knocked out of the tournament by Kansas during its 2008 title run and again last year, when the Jayhawks went to the Final Four.

"It was definitely a nightmare in the second half," Williams said, "no question about it."

Withey and Releford led the way, the 7-footer scoring 16 points and grabbing 16 rebounds and Releford adding 22 points. Together, the two seniors helped the Jayhawks (31-5) outscore the Tar Heels 49-28 in the second half, pushing them champs into a regional semifinal against Michigan on Friday night.

P.J. Hairston scored 15 points and James Michael McAdoo finished with 11 for the Tar Heels.

Of course, the subplot whenever two of basketball's bluest blue bloods meet these days centers on Williams, who coached the Jayhawks for 15 seasons and led them to four Final Fours.

Williams has always had a fond place in his heart for his former school, but the Southern charmer was booed heavily by the pro-Kansas crowd.

"We lost to another basketball team," Williams said. "The fact that I coached here for 15 years is extremely important to me, but it doesn't add anything to today."