One shining moment
With 1:37 left in the game, and Kansas leading 77-60, both Pacific coach Bob Thomason and Jayhawks coach Bill Self did their players and the fans a favor. Instead of a pointless death-by-foul finish, the two men began emptying their benches, subbing several times in the game's final seconds in order to give all their players a chance to run the floor. After such a competitive game, it was a classy move.
Player who impressed me
Guillame Yango, C, Pacific. For the first 30 minutes, the 6-foot-8 junior from Paris single-handedly kept the Tigers in the game. He showed excellent moves around the basket, and buried a few mid-range jumpers to boot. He was the find of the Kansas City branch of the tourney. Yango's line for the game was 22 points on 9-for-13 shooting. He went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line, pulled down six rebounds and never got intimidated by any of Kansas' physical big men.
Courtside confidential
For about 15 minutes after the game, thousands of Kansas fans remained in Kemper arena -- not to celebrate the Jayhawks' victory, but to watch the final minutes of the tilt between Kentucky and Alabama-Birmingham. The winner of the game was scheduled to play KU later this week in St. Louis. When UAB finally pulled off the upset, the Jayhawks' fans roared their approval. ... Three times now, including this year, Thomason has led the Tigers to 16 victories in a row. He has never made it to 17. ... Before playing for Pacific this year, Yango had been stuck at the end of the bench playing junior college ball for the College of Southern Idaho. ... KU junior guard Aaron Miles has played in all 106 games since his arrival in Lawrence, and he has at least one assist in every one of them.
Long-term prospects
After struggling at times this season, Kansas' prospects for making the Elite Eight are suddenly rosy. They are getting excellent play inside from Wayne Simien, Jeff Graves and David Padgett, and if they keep hitting the boards hard, there may be no stopping this team. While the Jayhawks are certainly playing well, Kentucky's loss to UAB is as much a reason for optimism as anything. Bill Self, however, might disagree.
