Kansas Edges Southern Illinois 61-58

Southern Illinois went into Thursday's night game against Kansas with a solid game plan. The Salukis wanted to keep the game close against the No.1 seeded Jayhawks, pestering shooters and ball handlers with hard-nosed defense. It was a good plan, but not good enough against a very good No.1 seed.

The Kansas Jayhawks survived Southern Illinois on Thursday night, winning 61-58. The low scoring contest was dominated by strong defense on both sides. It was a back and forth game that saw neither team pull ahead of the other. In the end it was Kansas that was just good enough. They will advance to the Elite Eight.

Kansas jumped ahead early to a 10-2 advantage. That was their largest lead of the game. Southern Illinois came right back, eventually grabbing the lead for a brief time. Kansas would grab a three point lead at the half. The second half was just as close, with both sides trading the lead. With five minutes to go Kansas went ahead. They never trailed again. The Salukis had a chance to tie the game with 18 seconds left, but Jamaal Tatum missed on this three-point attempt. Southern Illinois was given one final chance at the buzzer, but the half court shot fell short.

Brandon Rush led the Jayhawks in scoring with twelve points. Rush also had five rebounds and five assists for Kansas. Three other players had nine points each for the Jayhawks. Kansas turned the ball over 19 times, but they also had nine steals. Kansas won despite making only one three-pointer and going 10 for 19 from the charity stripe.

Jamaal Tatum led Southern Illinois, scoring 17 points in the second half and 19 overall. Tony Young scored 14 points for the Salukis. Randal Falker had eleven points and nine rebounds. Southern Illinois went 6 for 25 from behind the arc and 10 of 14 from the line. The Salukis simply couldn't score when they needed to. As a team they shot just under 37 percent. It wasn't enough to knock off the No. 1 Jayhawks.