Aug. 7, 2012

Kansas 79, Swiss National Team 76 Fribourg Arena // Fribourg, Switzerland

1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final  Kansas 10 20 27 22 79  Swiss 8 22 19 17 76  Statistical Leaders   Kansas Swiss  Points Withey (12) Stockalper/ Petkovic (17)  Rebounds Withey (10) Stockalper (8)  Assists Johnson (3) Mladjan (3)  Steals McLemore/ White (2) Mladjan/ Petkovic (2)  Blocks Withey (3) Stockalper/ Dubas (1)  Stats at a Glance KU Swiss  FG Percentage 44.8 38.2  3-Point Percentage 20.0 25.7  FT Percentage 64.0 65.2  Offensive Rebounds 22 13  Defensive Rebounds 37 17  Total Rebounds 59 30  Turnovers 28 14  Assists 14 9

Kansas 79, Switzerland 76 (.pdf) | Photo Gallery

FRIBOURG, Switzerland - Jeff Withey's basket off of Kevin Young's offensive rebound with 4.1 seconds remaining ended up being the difference in Kansas men's basketball's 79-76 win against the Swiss National Team here Tuesday evening.

The win gave Kansas its 40^th straight exhibition victory, including 26-0 under Bill Self (8-0 on foreign soil).

With the score 77-73, Young crashed the boards off a Naadir Tharpe miss with the shot clock running out. For Young the rebound was his eighth of the game and his sixth offensive, and it could not come at a better time. Young then found Withey underneath for a layup to give KU a 79-73 lead. The Swiss would not give up on its Fribourg Arena home floor. Derek Stockalper drained a three with 1.6 seconds remaining to pull the home team to within three. A Tharpe turnover then gave the Swiss squad another possession, but Dusan Mladjan's corner three-point attempt bounced off the far rim as time expired, sealing the win for Kansas.

Kansas had led by 17, 71-57, with just over five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. But the Swiss, who hit nine three-pointers during the game, ran off 10 straight points and hit four threes down the stretch to give the Jayhawks a scare.

A partisan Kansas crowd of approximately 250 saw four KU scorers reached double figures, led by senior center Withey with 12 points. Fellow seniors Elijah Johnson and Travis Releford each scored 11, while freshman guard Andrew White had 10. Stockalper and guard Stefan Petkovic paced all scorers with 17 points each for the Swiss.

Both teams struggled offensively at the start.  The Swiss held a 1-0 lead nearly six minutes into the contest. The first quarter ended with KU up by two, 10-8.

Both teams then started finding their respective rhythms in the second quarter with Kansas notching 20 points and the Swiss 22 to make the game 30-30 at intermission.  KU pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring the Swiss 27-19 to take a 57-49 lead heading into the final stanza.

The two teams will play again tomorrow, Aug. 8, at 5 p.m. local time (10 a.m. Central).