November 18, 2009

Cole Aldrich had 18 points, 11 rebounds and blocked five shots, helping top-ranked Kansas overcome a sloppy night to hold off Memphis, 57-55, in a rematch of the 2008 national championship game on Tuesday in St. Louis.

Kansas (2-0) led most of the night despite 21 turnovers, but could never shake the scrappy and supposedly overmatched Tigers.

Memphis (1-1) closed within three on Doneal Mack’s 3-pointer with a minute left, then cut the lead to 56-55 on Elliot Williams’ long 3 with 16.7 seconds left.

Sherron Collins hit one of two free throws at the other end to give Memphis a final chance, but Williams’ contested 3-pointer clanged off the back iron.

Collins scored 12 points while struggling with leg cramps and former Memphis recruit Xavier Henry added 11.

Memphis wasn’t supposed to have much of a chance against the depth and talent of Kansas, and had a miserable night from 3-point range, hitting six of 25. The Tigers hung around with scrappy defense. Williams had 21 points to lead Memphis.

The last time these teams played, it turned into one of the greatest games in Final Four history. That was 18 months ago, and these aren’t the same teams.

Collins is the only major contributor left for KU. Aldrich logged four minutes in the final. The rest of the Jayhawks were either on the bench or watched it on TV.

Memphis’ Pierre Henderson-Niles, Willie Kemp and Mack played a combined seven minutes in the title game. None of the other Tigers were even on the roster.