Some times, you just have somebody's number. Roy Williams is now 0-3 against Bill Self. In their first meeting as head coaches of the two perennial basketball powers, the 2008 quarterfinals, the Jayhawks thumped the Tarheels badly. This is the game commentator Billy Packer proclaimed "game over" when KU led 40-12 in the first half.
Last year, the Jayhawks put on a late surge to beat North Carolina in the regional finals, 80-67. I remember thinking at the time that the closing five minutes of that game may have been the best Kansas played all year.
This year, North Carolina failed to put Kansas away in the first half when the Jayhawks were flailing around and throwing the ball to just about everybody except each other. Senior Forward Travis Releford stepped up with some big baskets, which, coupled with Jeff Withey's dominance down low on both ends of the court, quickly erased their 9 point half-time deficit, and keyed KU's second-half dominance.
Image: Travis Releford, Ed Zurga — Getty Images
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