Kansas - UNLV Preview

Midwest- Round Two
Kansas Jayhawks (1) Vs. UNLV Rebels (8)
Saturday, March 22 @ 6:50 pm
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It was pretty simple for the Jayhawks to tee it up and beat Portland State. The final was 85- 61, with Kansas throwing the ball up at will and sinking everything from threes to huge dunks.

The one area that Portland dominated the Hawks was from the arc, where the Vikings went 10- 14 (71%), while Kansas hit 7- 15 (47%). All other stats belonged to the number one seed in the Midwest, the Jayhawks.

Forward Darrell Arthur led the team in rebounds with 7. He also put in 17 points. Guard Brandon Rush led all players with 18 points, while point guard Sherron Collins dished off 5 assists and put in 9. Mario Chalmers played a strong game, accumulating 16 points and 4 assists. The Hawks had 10 steals.

UNLV went into the locker room at halftime with a 31- 10 lead over Kent State. The final score looked a little better for Golden Flashes as they lost 58- 71. UNLV simply proved to be too much for Kent State. The Rebels hit 51% from the floor, 33% from beyond the arc and 78% from the foul line. One of the few college basketball picks we lost in the first round, Kent State couldn't hit the broad side of a barn tying a record for the fewest first half points in an NCAA tournament gaem.

Core players did most of the damage for the Rebels. Forward Joe Darger scored 18 and guard Rene Rougeau used his bulk to muscle 10 rebounds. Swingman Curtis Terry gave out 8 assists and guard Wink Adams put in 17 points, handled 6 rebounds and handed off four assists. Most impressive were the Rebels’ shot blockers—Rougeau had four, Shaw two and Terry one—for a total of 7.

Kansas is a formidable foe and looks to be bound for the Final Four. But UNLV possesses some fine defensive and offensive weapons. However, the Rebels had 19 turnovers against Kent State and had the ball stolen 10 times. They have to handle the ball much better against the unforgiving Hawks.