Kansas has the go-to players that can make the big-time plays needed to propel their team to the national title.
An athletic trio of sophomores-Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers and Julian Wright-has provided key performances that have sparked an eight-game winning streak entering the Big 12 Tournament for the Jayhawks.
With the NCAA Tournament selection committee always focused on "what have you done for me lately," Kansas has made its case for a No. 1 seed by closing out its conference slate with style.
After sharing the Big 12 regular season title each of the last two seasons, the Jayhawks decided to be more selfish this season. Before their finale March 3 against Texas, the Kansas student newspaper printed a photo of the Big 12 crystal trophy and the words, "This year. we're not sharing."
After Kansas fell behind by 16 in the first half, Wright and the rest of the Jayhawks battled back to build a 10-point lead with five minutes remaining in the contest.
Wright was able to shut down the National POY candidate Kevin Durant, who shot 3-of-8 in the second half after pouring in 25 first-half points. Wright also blocked D.J. Augustin's three-point attempt that would have tied the game with five seconds to go, ensuring Kansas the outright regular season title.
Although the Jayhawks have tremendous depth, with eight players averaging over 10 minutes of playing time per game, the Jayhawks, like Duke, are very young and inexperienced. The five leading scorers on their roster are two freshmen and the three sophomores.
Early-season losses to Oral Roberts and DePaul seemed pretty ominous for the talented squad, particularly considering the Jayhawks' early exits from recent Tournaments to teams seeded much lower than themselves.
But this recent streak entering postseason play hints that the young Kansas squad may be maturing at just the right time.
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