Jojo Doria

New Orleans, LA

All-American Thomas Robinson made his dominating inside presence felt once again with 19 points and eight rebounds, lifting the Kansas Jayhawks to come-from-behind 64-62 win over the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Final Four Saturday night at Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

The epic win enabled Kansas to reach the NCA title game for the second time in five years.

Travis Releford added 15 points, Elijah Johnson had 13 points and 10 boards, while Tyshawn Taylor finished with 10 markers, including two big free throws with seven seconds left as the Jayhawks rallied from 13 points down in the first half for a shot at the title.

Kansas, a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament like the Buckeyes, went ahead for the first time since taking 2-0 lead following Releford's two free throws that capped a 7-0 run with 2:48 remaining.

It gave the Jayhawks, winner of the Big 12 regular season title, a 56-55 advantage.

At 1:35, Releford was sent to the charity stripe and converted again, making it 60-59 and giving the Jayhawks the lead for good.

With 55 seconds remaining, Robinson had a steal but it did not bear fruit as Jeff Withey was called for a controversial walking violation.

Deshaun Thomas, who battled foul trouble all game as tried to contain Kansas All-American Robinson, launched from long range but missed.

Ohio State retained possession, but Thomas missed again from 3-point range. William Buford crashed the net for a putback dunk that drew the Buckeyes within 62-61 with 9.6 ticks left.

Down by three with 2.9 seconds left, Kansas sent Aaron Craft to the line for a one-and-one bonus situation. The young Buckeyes guard made the first free throw, but his attempt to brick the second translated into a lane violation that may have cost Ohio State a spot in the national title game.

Buford scored 19 to lead Ohio State (31-8), while Jared Sullinger struggled as he made just five of his 19 field-goal attempts en route to 13 points and added 11 boards.

Sullinger was bothered by suffocating defense of Withey, who swatted five of the Ohio State's All-American's shot. Withey only had four points for the night, but he pulled down eight rebounds, blocked seven shots and altered several more.

The Buckeyes, who won their only national title in 1960, were appearing in their 10th Final Four.

Kansas, which captured three national titles ('52, '88, '08), will clash with Kentucky for the first time in a final. The two teams split two previous tournament contests, with the Jayhawks winning in 2007 and Kentucky in 1999, both in sub-regionals.

It will be also a rematch between the two coaches who met in the 2008 Final, with Jayhawks coach Bill Self besting John Calipari, who was then the Memphis coach but now at Kentucky.

 

Final Four: Kansas Completes Epic Comeback vs Ohio State