ANAHEIM, Calif. – Kirk Hinrich went from his worst day to his best, taking Kansas back to the Final Four.
Hinrich scored 28 points and blocked a 3-point attempt by Jason Gardner in the final seconds Saturday as the second-seeded Jayhawks beat top-seeded Arizona 78-75 to win the West Regional.
So much for that anticipated Arizona-Kentucky matchup in the national semifinals next Saturday at the Superdome.
Instead, the Jayhawks (29-7) will face Marquette in New Orleans.
The victory was the 1,800th for Kansas – third-most in NCAA history. The Jayhawks will play in their 12th Final Four, the fourth in Roy Williams’ 15 years as coach.
Williams has a 417-100 career record and his .807 winning percentage is the best among active coaches, but he’s never won a national championship.
This team appears poised and ready.
Hinrich, a miserable 1-of-9 for two points in Kansas’ 69-65 victory over Duke in the regional semifinals, came out sharp in this game and wound up one point shy of his career high.
He shot 10-of-23, including 6-of-17 from 3-point range, and added five rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks.
After the Jayhawks committed a shot clock violation, the Wildcats took possession with 7.1 seconds remaining. Gardner let fly from about 25 feet away, but Hinrich slapped the ball away.
Arizona’s Luke Walton grabbed it and fed the ball back to Gardner in the left corner, but his second attempt to tie the game missed as time expired, setting off a wild Kansas celebration.
The loss was a tough one for Arizona and 68-year-old Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson, who remained stuck at 499 wins in his 20 seasons as leader of the Wildcats.
Jeff Graves had 13 points and 15 rebounds, and Keith Langford also scored 13 points for Kansas.
Nick Collison, brilliant in the victory over Duke with a career-high 33 points and 19 rebounds, sat out key minutes down the stretch with four fouls. But he made his second basket of the game with 1:27 left to give Kansas a 76-73 lead.
Langford made a free throw with 4:31 remaining to snap a 69-all tie and put the Jayhawks ahead for good, and his runner with 50.6 seconds to go completed the scoring.
The sophomore guard then drew a charging foul on Walton with 43.4 seconds left, setting up the final sequence.
Gardner led the Wildcats (28-4) with 23 points. Walton had 18 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, and Rick Anderson and Hassan Adams added 11 points each.
Marquette 83, Kentucky 69
MINNEAPOLIS – Marquette did what no team had done in three months, and what many people thought was impossible.
Dwyane Wade and the Golden Eagles upset Kentucky 83-69 Saturday, ending the top-seeded Wildcats’ 26-game winning streak and earning a trip to the Final Four in New Orleans.
Cheered by a sea of yellow-clad followers, Marquette’s surprising rout gave the school its third regional title and first since 1977, when Al McGuire coached the Golden Eagles to their only national title.
If Wade keeps it up, they might get another. He showed again why he’s one of the nation’s top players with a triple-double – 29 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.
As he stood on the floor celebrating, Marquette’s fans began chanting “One more year, One more year” to the talented junior, who is a top NBA prospect.
Wade did get plenty of help in this game. Burly 6-foot-10 Robert Jackson, a transfer from Mississippi State, had 24 points and 15 rebounds, and freshman Steve Novak hit five 3-pointers and scored 16 to help the Golden Eagles win convincingly.
Marquette (27-5) used a 35-12 run over the final 12 minutes of the first half to take a 45-26 lead against the stunned Wildcats, who hadn’t lost since Dec. 28, against Louisville.
Kentucky’s star guard, Keith Bogans, wore a protective brace on the left ankle he sprained in Thursday’s semifinal win over Wisconsin.
He scored 15 points on 4-of-11 shooting in 24 minutes.
, but with his quickness hampered, the Wildcats simply couldn’t respond to Marquette’s offense. Gerald Fitch also scored 15.
Kentucky (32-4) pulled within 12 with 10:50 left and had a chance to cut it to 10. But after a great spinning move to the basket, Antwain Barbour was called for an offensive foul, sending Wildcats coach Tubby Smith into a dance of disgust.
From there, Wade was too much for the Wildcats to control, scoring several of his baskets on eye-popping dunks.
After Scott Merritt hit a jumper, Wade scored Marquette’s next 11 points with two three-point plays and a 3-pointer to put the victory away.
During the spree, Wade fouled out Kentucky’s defensive standout Chuck Hayes with 6:17 left as Marquette went up 72-54.
The 6-foot-5 Wade put his considerable athletic ability on display early when he went straight up under the basket and blocked a shot by 6-9 Marquis Estill. Wade then drove for an acrobatic reverse layup on the other end that Estill goaltended.
The sequence put the Golden Eagles ahead 26-19 with 6:29 left in the half and provided the spark for what was ahead.
Wade made another spectacular drive to the basket, and though he missed the reverse scoop, he was fouled and hit two free throws to put Marquette up by nine.
Travis Diener sank a 3-pointer and Novak, a star in Marquette’s second-round overtime win against Missouri, hit three 3-pointers in a span of 2:30 as the Golden Eagles roared ahead by 21.
Jackson, who became familiar with Kentucky while at Mississippi State before transferring to play one final season at Marquette, was able to negate Estill, who had scored 28 points in a win over Wisconsin. Estill finished with 10.
Bogans scored nine points in the first half, playing 14 minutes, but his quickness was obviously affected by his injury. One time after coming down awkwardly on his left foot, he winced in pain.
Kentucky went inside early and at one point had a 12-5 rebounding edge. But by the end of the half, Marquette had a 25-21 edge on the boards; Jackson grabbed 10 to go with his 14 first-half points.
Now it’s on to New Orleans, where the Golden Eagles will face either Kansas or Arizona in the national semifinals.
AP-ES-03-29-03 1929EST
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