Cats Stun Jayhawks Dream Season Comes To An End

Roy Williams choked back tears. Jacque Vaughn couldn’t believe he was taking off his Kansas uniform for the final time. Raef LaFrentz had a hollow look in his eyes as he recounted the shot that could have extended a remarkable season.

Kansas, recognized throughout the season as the best team in the country, was knocked out of the NCAA tournament Friday night by an Arizona team that was a step quicker and didn’t show the least bit of respect for the mighty Jayhawks.

“Life isn’t always fair,” Williams, the Kansas coach, said after Arizona stunned the Jayhawks 85-82 in the semifinals of the Southeast Regional. “We had a fantastic, fantastic year. It was a dream season, but we didn’t reach our final dream.”

Top-seeded Kansas (34-2), which defeated Arizona in the regional semifinals last year, displayed the will of a champion, coming up with two steals and three straight 3-pointers to cut a 10-point deficit down to 83-82 with 21.1 seconds remaining.

After Mike Bibby made two free throws for Arizona with 18.2 seconds remaining, Kansas had a chance to send the game to overtime. But all three attempts from 3-point range were off target, the last coming when the All-American LaFrentz rebounded a miss under the basket, dribbled to the corner and fired up a shot that bounced off the front of the rim as time ran out.

“I saw a clear lane to the corner, so I ran out there and let it fly,” LaFrentz said. “I thought it was a good shot, but then it started to drift right.” He let out a weak chuckle and added, “Damn.”

“I’m proud of this team and we don’t want it to end,” said coach Lute Olson of the fourth-seeded Wildcats (22-9). “We’re having so much fun.”

Arizona advances to the regional final Sunday against Providence, a 71-65 winner over Tennessee-Chattanooga.

“The thing I loved all week long was their attitude,” Olson said. “It was like, ‘You think we’re in awe of them? We’re not in awe of anybody.”’

Kansas, which spent the final 15 weeks atop The Associated Press rankings, committed 20 turnovers, many caused by Arizona’s swarming defense, but others simply a result of a team that looked sloppy and disorganized.

“We’re used to being the guys who put the foot to the pedal,” said Vaughn, who passed up the NBA draft to return for his senior season. “But there were a lot of plays, a lot of shots we normally make that we just didn’t make.”

Williams credited Arizona’s quickness for taking the taller Jayhawks out of their game.

The Wildcats surged ahead with an 11-0 run, capped by Bibby’s 3-pointer that made it 75-62 with 3:29 remaining. Vaughn characterized his team’s night with two turnovers during that run. Bibby, hardly looking like a freshman, scored 21 points and had five assists to lead Arizona, but the win was a true team effort. Paul Pierce kept Kansas in the game by scoring 27 points, 11 above his season average, but he got hardly any help from his teammates until the final 2 minutes. Vaughn scored only eight points while committing five turnovers. LaFrentz was held to 14 points and Scot Pollard didn’t score at all.

Providence 71, Chattanooga 65

Jamel Thomas hit three 3-pointers during a late 15-2 run that helped the 10th-seeded Friars (24-11) survive in an unexpected matchup of underdogs in a Southeast Regional semifinal.

In beating 14th-seeded Chattanooga (24-11), the Friars are the first No. 10 seed to make a regional final since Temple did it in 1991.

Thomas shrugged off a scoreless first half to hit three 3-pointers after Chattanooga had tied the game at 51 with 7:56 left.

Thomas’ last 3-pointer and a dunk by Ruben Garces put the Friars ahead 66-53, and they survived 5-for-11 free-throw shooting down the stretch to win.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: NCAA Tournament Friday’s scores Louisville 78, Texas 63 North Carolina 63, Cal 57 Arizona 85, Kansas 82 Providence 71, Chattanooga 65