CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
By Wendell Barnhouse | wendell@big12sports.com
Big12Sports.com Correspondent
KANSAS CITY – Reality for Kansas is that center Joel Embiid, the first freshman to be selected Big 12 defensive player of the year, won’t be back on the court for another two weeks … if then.
More reality: The Jayhawks have a talented roster and they advanced to the semifinals of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship thanks to Andrew Wiggins and Wayne Selden, Jr. – two talented freshmen on a roster with plenty of players.
Andrew Wiggins followed up his 41-point effort at West Virginia with 30 points, including a clutch game-tying jumper, as Kansas outlasted Oklahoma State, 77-70 in overtime in Thursday’s quarterfinals. KU will take on No. 4 seed Iowa State at 6 p.m. Friday.
“It was an unbelievable game,” said Kansas coach Bill Self, sharing the interview platform with Selden and Wiggins. “That took everything we had. But these two guys, I thought Wayne was unbelievable in the first half and I thought Wigs was just terrific play after play the entire game. So large credit goes to these two why we won.”
The victory avenged a Kansas loss in Stillwater on March 1, part of a closing stretch that saw the Jayhawks lose two of their last three regular-season games. Selden’s defense on Marcus Smart and Wiggins’ lock-down effort on Markel Brown, were key factors for a team missing its rim protector.
“We know we have to defend,” Selden said. “We have to take pride in our defense, and we’re doing a lot better.”
Smart was limited to 14 points on 4-of-14 shooting while Brown was 5-of-13 from the field for 12 points. However, Brown’s rise-and-fire 3-pointer with 1:30 remaining gave the Cowboys a 67-65 lead.
“In Stillwater, down the stretch, (Smart) went nuts on us, “ Self said. “We didn't allow that to happen again in large part due to Wayne. Andrew is not one dimensional. He's our best defender. I thought Markel made a couple of really hard shots. That one 3 he made to give them the lead was a joke how good that was.”
Kansas, though, was able to get the last laugh thanks to Wiggins, its defense, its depth and its rebounding. For this game, that made up for Embiid’s absence.
After Brown’s 3-pointer gave Oklahoma State it’s last lead, Wiggins found himself on the baseline against the Cowboys’ zone.
“My shot was falling the whole game, and they cut out the baseline, stepped back one of my main moves is what I like to do, said Wiggins, who finished 9-of-17 from the field and 3-of-6 on 3-pointers. “It just fell through.”
Wiggins had 17 in the first half. Kansas built a 31-21 lead with 2:53 remaining but four straight empty possessions (three turnovers and a missed layup) prevented the Jayhawks from extending their lead. That frustrated the sellout crowd that was anxious to chant Rock Chalk ASAP.
"It's always hard to beat Kansas, especially in this building," Smart said. "They have the fanbase to back them up. It's kind of hard. They have the energy and momentum from their fans and it kind of takes the opposing team out of it."
Kansas post players Tarik Black and Perry Ellis each had four fouls with 10 minutes to play. Sophomore Jamari Traylor played a career-high 27 minutes and he was the only post player when the Jayhawks went to a four-guard lineup.
After two Wiggins free throws gave KU a 57-49 lead with 7:14 remaining, Cowboys coach Travis Ford called timeout. Oklahoma State went to a full-court press that a 7-point spurt in 43 seconds to make it 57-56 and force a KU timeout at 6:31.
From there, the largest lead was three points. When Wiggins shot forced overtime, Oklahoma State’s best chance to win had slipped away.
Self’s message to his team before overtime: “What else would you rather be doing on a Saturday evening at 5 p.m.?”
“That was actually the perfect thing to say at that moment,” Black said, “because it was so true.”
The Cowboys missed seven of eight shots in the extra five minutes.
“Our guys fought really hard, just didn't have enough left in the tank there late,” Ford said. “We fought a lot of adversity. Foul trouble. … We were trying to sub offense and defense for a long period of time with (our post players). And we had guys cramping a little bit.
“But, hey, no excuses, Kansas deserved it. They made big shots and big rebounds against us.”