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KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Colorado's David Harrison is still not convinced top-ranked Kansas is the best team in the Big 12. After the Colorado center proclaimed that "Kansas was not that good" and that "Oklahoma was the best team in the conference," Kansas again treated the Buffaloes like a punching bag with a 102-73 rout in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament. It was Kansas' 27th consecutive win over Colorado, including three this season. Yet despite becoming the first Big 12 team to finish with a 16-0 regular season league record in league play, Kansas did not impress Harrison, who scored just eight points on Friday, two less than Jayhawks backup center Jeff Carey. "It was kind of weird for him (Harrison) to say that," said Kansas' Drew Gooden, who scored 18 points in 19 minutes. "We had already beat them twice. But this isn't a trash talking tournament. I like to let the scoreboard do the talking. You've got to play well or you go home." Gooden was so incensed by Harrison's comment that he refused to shake his hand before the game. "He'll always be the good guy, but his not shaking my hand shows his weakness as a person," Harrison said. "But I'm apparently the person with no class. I'm the one who got booed and he got cheered." "If you want me to say the politically correct thing, I will tell you that KU is the best team in the nation, but in my opinion Oklahoma is better." Kansas (28-2) settled matters quickly on Friday, racing to a 15-2 lead in the first 3 1/2 minutes, increasing the advantage to 18 at halftime and leading by as many as 37 in the second half. The Jayhawks reached the century mark for the 11th time, extended their winning streak to 15 games and will meet Texas Tech in the Big 12 semifinals. Jeff Boschee scored 21 points and Kirk Hinrich had 18, combining for nine 3-pointers, for Kansas, which improved to 12-2 in Big 12 tournament play, capturing the title in 1997, 1998 and 1999. "I like playing in the tournament atmosphere. The atmosphere in this arena is great," Boschee said. "I was real excited to play today and I showed a lot of emotion." Stephane Pelle led Colorado (15-14) with 22 points and Michel Morandis added 19. Afterwards, Pelle did not share Harrison's assessment of Harrison. "It takes a lot to beat Kansas," Pelle said. "They show a minimum amount of mistakes and they take advantage of yours." Harrison's comments obviously inspired Kansas, which is a lock for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. "We were already motivated, but we used it as motivation," Hinrich said. "But we just have to ignore the nonsense and play." Boschee scored 14 of his points in the first half when Kansas built a 53-35 lead. Hinrich converted on four 3-pointers in the second half as the Jayhawks continued to pull away. Boschee connected on a 3-pointer and a layup and Hinrich added a layup and a pair of free throws as Kansas raced to a 15-2 lead. The Jayhawks used a 13-2 spurt later in the half to increase the advantage to 50-29 as Nick Collison scored five points. Hinrich connected on a pair of 3-pointers as Kansas opened the second half with an 18-7 run to open a 71-42 lead with 15:08 remaining. The Jayhawks held their biggest lead at 95-58 on a layup by Boschee with 7:45 left. A layup by Carey with 3:55 remaining put Kansas over the century mark at 101-67. |
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