Jayhawks

Since Mark Olson left the Jayhawks in 1995, something has happened that he didn't exactly foresee. "I worked really hard in the band for a decade or more, and we were doing a lot of warm-up tours," Olson said from Minneapolis, where the Jayhawks rehearsed for a mini-reunion headlining tour that will bring them to Philadelphia on Saturday. "Now it seems the stature of the band has grown quite a lot over the years. The material's lasted, and there's probably more people interested in us now than when I was in the band.

The Jayhawks are as fresh and good a country-rock outfit as there is right now. The four-man band, from Minneapolis, played before 30 or so people Thursday night at the Khyber Pass Pub in an hour-long set that crackled with smart songwriting and bristling, beautiful singing. Jayhawks songwriter and lead singer Mark Olson is often compared to the late Gram Parsons, underappreciated founder of country rock and leader of the International Submarine Band and the Flying Burrito Brothers.

Coach Roy Williams knew No. 6 Kansas was looking past Baylor, so he told his Jayhawks to snap out of it before tipoff. Williams told them again when the Bears scored the game's first 10 points, and again when his team was down by 25 at halftime. Kansas eventually got the message and rallied, but it wasn't enough as the Bears beat the Jayhawks, 85-77, last night for their first win over a Top 10 team in 11 years. "I don't know that I've ever been part of a more complete breakdown," Williams said.

Kansas couldn't erase the memory of last spring, but the Jayhawks did the next best thing. They beat Arizona for a small measure of revenge. "I feel a lot better with this being Arizona. Last year, they ripped our hearts out. It was a devastating loss. We watched the tape just to scout Arizona and it was difficult," Raef LaFrentz said after carrying the second-ranked Jayhawks to a tense, 90-87 victory over No. 4 Arizona last night in the Great Eight in Chicago, which features the final eight teams from last season's NCAA Tournament.

SAN ANTONIO - In an NCAA regional full of underdogs, Kansas played like the dominant No. 1 seed it is. Brady Morningstar scored 18 points and the Jayhawks defeated 12th-seeded Richmond, 77-57, last night get one win from returning to the Final Four for the first time since their 2008 championship. They will play 11th-seeded Virginia Commonwealth, a 72-71 overtime winner over 10th-seeded Florida State. The Southwest Regional is the first in NCAA history with three double-digit seeded teams.

A smiling Drew Gooden held up the sole of his blue and white basketball shoe for all to see. Amazingly, there was still tread remaining. "My dogs are hurtin'," the splendid 6-foot-10 forward from Kansas said. "That's why I've got my shoes off. It was a fun game, but it hurt my feet. " There was sweet irony in Kansas' 104-86 victory over Oregon yesterday in a highly entertaining Midwest Regional championship game that threatened to give the 16,310 spectators at the Kohl Center whiplash as they followed the furious action.

So much for that homecourt advantage. All week long, Kansas coach Roy Williams insisted that playing at Kemper Arena - only a 45-minute drive from the Jayhawks' campus - would be nowhere near the factor the media made it out to be. The man knew what he was talking about. No. 4 seed Virginia knocked off top-seeded Kansas in last night's Midwest Regional semifinal, 67-58. The Cavaliers, who last made it to the Final Eight in 1989, will play Arkansas tomorrow afternoon for a trip to the Final Four, which they haven't been to in 11 years.

Damion James scored 12 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the second half, and No. 11 Texas upset visiting Kansas, which is ranked third, 72-69, last night. James missed most of the first half with foul trouble, then provided the muscle the Longhorns (20-4, 7-2 Big 12) needed to counter the Jayhawks' size and strength under the basket. James finished with 14 points. Connor Atchely led Texas with 16 points and A.J. Abrams added 14 points. Darrell Arthur scored 22 to lead the Jayhawks (23-2, 8-2)

Two picture-perfect, one-handed lobs by Aaron Miles set up easy baskets by Christian Moody and J.R. Giddens, and all of a sudden there seemed little doubt that No. 3 Kansas would rally to beat Missouri. Giddens' bucket gave Kansas a nine-point lead - after trailing by eight at halftime. It got the crowd screaming and sent the host Jayhawks rolling to a 73-61 victory over their archrival last night. "I was sitting on the bench, but I was yelling my lungs out," said Wayne Simien, who had 22 points and eight rebounds.

Coming off Saturday's huge win over Connecticut, No. 3 Kansas was due for a letdown against Colorado. Sure enough, the Jayhawks started slowly against the visiting Buffaloes, committing 11 turnovers in the first half and leading by only four points at intermission. But following a stern halftime lecture by coach Roy Williams, Kansas took control and went on to a 99-77 victory last night. "I told them we were posting up like third-graders, not being very aggressive, walking down the court," Williams said.

Temple's basketball team prides itself on facing tough nonconference opponents. That's why the Owls will play national powers Kansas, Duke, and Syracuse next season. The Kansas game will be part of a home-and-home series. Temple will face the Jayhawks next season at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan. The teams will meet again during the 2014-15 season in Philadelphia, most likely at the Wells Fargo Center. Temple also is scheduled to play Duke next season at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J. It will mark the third consecutive season the teams will square off. The Owls will face Syracuse in next season's Gotham Classic at New York's Madison Square Garden.

OLYMPIC DIVING champion Mark Lenzi has died at 43 in Greenville, N.C. Lenzi's alma mater, Indiana University, made the announcement Monday. Lenzi's hometown newspaper, the Free Lance-Star in Fredricksburg, Va., said Lenzi had been hospitalized for 2 weeks after suffering fainting spells. His mother, Ellie, told the newspaper her son's blood pressure was too low. Lenzi won the 3-meter springboard at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Four years later, he came out of a brief retirement and won the bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

NEW ORLEANS - They could have started to play "My Old Kentucky Home" way early last night. Ashley Judd could have turned to Jay-Z and planned the after-party in the first half. What Kentucky did not dunk, it blocked. What the Wildcats did not affect, they at least sent a signal that trouble was looming. Kansas coach Bill Self had a resigned look on his face way before halftime. He had stolen his championship against John Calipari's Memphis team 4 years before. He would always have that.

NEW ORLEANS - Kansas athletic director Sheahon Zenger looked at the scoreboard Saturday night, when the Jayhawks trailed Ohio State by 13 points, and figured they had a chance if they could get the lead under 10 by halftime. Travis Releford's layup at the buzzer cut it to nine. "You come to expect those things out of this team," Zenger said Sunday. The Jayhawks eventually would fend off the Buckeyes, 64-62, as Releford, the junior guard from Kansas City, Mo., had 15 points and six rebounds.

NEW ORLEANS - Saturday night's second national semifinal at the Superdome looked very much like the first one, with the favorite taking a significant lead and the underdog looking as if it might never score. Both games changed dramatically in the second half, going from double-digit leads to ties. Kansas, however, was not Louisville. The Jayhawks came from way back and just kept coming, refusing to be deterred by playing from behind all night. Beyond the brilliant play of their star, Thomas Robinson, the Jayhawks (32-6)

NEW ORLEANS - The question has been dressed in different ways, asked by countless people in every situation imaginable: Is this the best coaching job of Kansas coach Bill Self's career? The second-seeded Jayhawks have played a who's who of major-college basketball: Duke and Kentucky, Missouri and Baylor. In the regular season they beat Ohio State, the team they'll play in the Final Four on Saturday night, and won their record eighth straight Big 12 title. And they've done it with an all-American forward (Thomas Robinson)

Tyshawn Taylor broke out of his slump in a big way Sunday, scoring 22 points and leading Kansas back to the Final Four with an 80-67 victory over former coach Roy Williams and top-seeded North Carolina. The second-seeded Jayhawks (31-6) will play Ohio State on Saturday in their first appearance in the Final Four since 2008, when they won the national championship. And how's this for symmetry? Kansas began this year's tournament in Omaha, Neb., the same place as four years ago. As the game ended, Taylor - much maligned for his shooting struggles during the first three games of the NCAA tournament - ran to Kansas fans and raised both arms in the air. "There's no way to put into words the way we feel," Williams said.

ST. LOUIS - Nothing personal, Roy. Tyshawn Taylor broke out of his slump in a big way Sunday, scoring 22 points and leading Kansas back to the Final Four with an 80-67 victory over former coach Roy Williams and top-seeded North Carolina in the Midwest Regional final. The second-seeded Jayhawks (31-6) will play Ohio State on Saturday in their first appearance in the Final Four since 2008, when they won the national championship. And how's this for symmetry? Kansas began this year's tournament in Omaha, Neb., the same place as 4 years ago. As the game ended, Taylor - much maligned for his shooting struggles during the first three games of the NCAA Tournament - ran to Kansas fans and raised both arms in the air. "There's no way to put into words the way we feel," Williams said.

ST. LOUIS - It's a riddle neither North Carolina nor Kansas finds funny. Is it better for your star guard (the Tar Heels' Kendall Marshall) to be injured and unable to play, or your star guard (the Jayhawks' Tyshawn Taylor) to play so miserably he would be better off riding the bench? Either way, the two heavyweights playing in the Midwest Regional final Sunday are striking down the notion that outstanding guard play is the key to NCAA tournament success. "We were damn ugly, that's what we were," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said Saturday, given time to reflect on his team's overtime escape against No. 13 seed Ohio the previous night.

ST. LOUIS - Tyshawn Taylor and the rest of the Kansas Jayhawks know better than to focus on seeds at this time of year. Especially when it comes to those nasty No. 11s. It was one year ago that their bracket seemed to be opening up nicely for another Final Four run. The fourth and fifth seeds in their regional went down in the second round, and the second and third quickly followed them out. That left Virginia Commonwealth standing in the top-seeded...