April 7, 2008

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Kansas 75, Memphis 68 (OT)

April 7, 2008 * Alamodome * San Antonio, Texas

Postgame Notes

Kansas' Win Over Memphis...

... Marked Kansas' third NCAA championship (1952-88-2008) and fifth national title (1922-23)

... Added to Kansas' all-time wins in a season with 37-3 on the season

... Extended Kansas' winning streak to 13 games, the second longest of the season (20-0 to open the year)

... Marked KU's 23rd win as a No. 1 seed, improving its mark to 23-7 in that spot

... Gave KU an 82-36 record all-time in the NCAA tourney

... Made Kansas 5-6 in NCAA Championship games played in the state of Texas, including a 2-1 mark in games played in San Antonio

... Improved Kansas to 4-2 all-time against Memphis

... Improved KU to 82-36 all-time in the NCAA Tournament

... Made KU 9-0 in neutral site games this season and 17-3 away from Allen Fieldhouse in 2007-08 (8-3 away, 9-0 neutral)

... Made Bill Self 142-32 at Kansas, 319-137 all time and 22-9 in the NCAA Tournament (12-4 while at Kansas)

... Made Kansas 1,943-785 all time.

Notes

• Trailing 60-51 with 2:12 seconds left in regulation, Kansas closed the second half with a 12-3 run capped off by a Mario Chalmers three-point basket with 2.1 seconds remaining to force overtime. Kansas then outscored Memphis 12-5 in overtime to claim its third National Championship.

• Kansas finished the season 31-1 33-28) win leading at the half and also improved to 2-0 in overtime games. KU defeated Arizona 76-72 in overtime on Nov. 25, 2007.

• Kansas held a 39-28 advantage over Memphis on the boards, led by Darrell Arthur's 10, in controlling the paint throughout the game. In addition to its advantage on the boards, KU out-scored the Tigers 44-26 in points in the paint.

• Kansas made 29-of-55 (52.7 percent) shots from the field, including 4-of-6 in the overtime period, while holding Memphis to 25-of-62 (40.3 percent) and just 1-of-8 during the overtime session. The Jayhawks conclude the 2007-08 season allowing just one opponent to make 50 percent or more of their shots from the field. Louisiana-Monroe connected on 51.0 percent of its shots from the field in the season-opener.

• Kansas made 14-of-15 shots from the foul line, good for 93.3 percent. Darrell Arther (2-2), Darnell Jackson (2-2), Mario Chalmers (6-6) and Sherron Collins (2-2) were all perfect from the line, while Brandon Rush missed just once (2-3).

• The Kansas bench out-scored their Memphis counterparts 15-2.

• Darrell Arthur dropped in a team-high 20 points, while also pulling down a game-high 10 boards for his fifth double-double of the season and seventh of his career.

• Arthur's 20 points give him 510 for the season and marked his fifth 20+ point performance of the season. Arthur finished the 2007-08 season with 27 double-figure scoring games.

• Arthur's 20-point outing marked the most points he scored in a game since dropping in 22 at Texas on Feb. 11, 2008.

• Mario Chalmers finished the game with 18 points, including the game-tying three-point shot that forced overtime. Chalmers scored 11 of his points after halftime.

• Chalmers also led the Jayhawks in steals with a game-high four pilfers. The four steals gave Chalmers 97 on the season, tying his own Kansas single season record, which he set in 2006-07.

• Chalmers also recorded three assists in the win, giving him a team-leading 169 on the season.

• Chalmers played 40 minutes, tying a career-high.

• Brandon Rush made 5-of-9 shots on his way to 12 points, marking his 29th double-figure scoring game of the season. The 12 points pushed Rush over the 500 mark in scoring on the season. He finished the 2007-08 campaign with 507 tallies.

• Rush also pulled down six rebounds in the win, 602 in his career. Rush is one of 24 players in Kansas history to record 600 or more assists in a career. He finished the season ranked 23rd in KU history on the career-rebounding list.

• Sherron Collins came off the bench to score 11 points in the win, including a critical three-point basket in the closing minutes of regulation. Collins' 11 points tied his 2008 NCAA Tournament high, which he also scored versus North Carolina in the Final Four.

• Collins was Kansas' assists leader in the game with six dimes. Collins dished 23 assists in KU's six NCAA Tournament games, an average of 3.8 per contest.

• Collins' six assists were the most for the Chicago native since he dished seven versus Texas in the Big 12 Tournament Championship game on March 16, 2008.

• Collins also grabbed three steals versus Memphis. His three steals are the most for him in a game since collecting three at Texas A&M in the regular season-finale on March 8, 2008.

• Darnell Jackson finished the game with eight points and eight rebounds. His eight rebounds moved him into the top 20 on KU's all-time rebounding chart. Jackson finished his Kansas career with 612 boards, which is 19th on the Jayhawk all-time chart.

• Russell Robinson finished the game with one assist giving him exactly 500 helpers in his Kansas career. Robinson closed out his career ranked seventh on the KU all-time career assists chart.

• Darrell Arthur, Brandon Rush and Mario Chalmers were all named to the 2008 NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team, with Chalmers being named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

• Memphis grabbed 11 steals in the game, a Kansas opponent season high. Five teams had managed 10 steals versus KU prior to Memphis collecting 11 on Monday.