BY DARRELL MOODY
Appeal Staff Writer
ST. LOUIS - University of Alabama Birmighham's pressure failed - miserably.
Kansas shot 61 percent in the first half, mostly on layups as a result of beating the Blazers' pressure, en route to an easy 100-74 win in a semifinal at the St. Louis Regional at the Edward Jones Dome Friday night.
"I thought our team played very very well tonight," said Kansas coach Bill Self. "We did a good job in backing up against the pressure. We played with a lot of character.
"We played five against eight, then seven, then six, then five. And when you get to five, the floor seems more spread. We did a good job of attacking the pressure. UAB had some good looks, but they couldn't put it away. We really benefitted from that."
Aaron Miles, who orchestrated the Jayhawks' press offense, said the up-tempo that the Blazers tried to play was fine with him.
"We love to run," he said. 'We want to run. They made us run even more. This is just one game, though. Coach told us if we attacked the basket we'd get some good looks, and that's what we did. We were ready for their press, and it's a tough one."
Twelve of Kansas' 19 first-half baskets were layups, as once the Jayhawks beat the early pressure, they had no problem scoring against the Blazers, who finished 22-10.
Leading 8-6, Kansas went on a 14-2 run to grab a quick 14-point lead, 22-8, with 13:27 left in the first half. Jeff Graves (13 points) snuck inside for a couple of easy layups, and ex-Reno star David Padgett threw down a dunk.
The lead stayed in double digits for most of the first half until the Blazers rolled off seven straight points, slicing the lead to 40-32 with 4:47 remaining, as Mo Finley knocked down a three-pointer and two free throws and Demario Eddins hit two free throws.
The Jayhawks bounced back with a 10-3 run to increase their lead back to 15, 50-35. Wayne Simien, who hit 18 of 20 from the line and finished with 30 points, knocked down a running one-hander and a fade from the baseline. Michael Lee tossed in a three-pointer.
The Blazers' said they were surprised by Kansas' early success, and blamed themselves more than crediting Kansas.
"We feed off our defense," Carldell Johnson said. "We got turnovers (by Kansas), but didn't do anything with them. We didn't rotate correctly, and they got layup after layup."
"They must have scouted us really well," said UAB center Gabe Kennedy. "It was one of those days where they were making every shot and getting to every loose ball."
It wasn't much different in the second half. Kansas cooled off to a 44 percent figure, and UAB never warmed up offensively, shooting 30.6 in the second half and 32.4 for the game.
That won't win many games, especially an NCAA tournament game.
J.R. Giddens scored nine of the Jayhawks' first 15 points in the second half, allowing Kansas to build a 71-48 lead. A free throw by Padgett capped a 12-0 run with 3:39 left, giving Kansas a 97-66 lead, its biggest of the night.
"It just wasn't our day," said UAB coach Mike Anderson. "I think you have to credit something to Kansas, and at the same time, I think they are good in this atmosphere. This is something new for our guys, and I think you possibly saw some of them get caught up in it.
"And, when you don't make shots, it's hard to put pressure on like we normally do. I thought they came in and did a good job. They were prepared, and they've been in this thing before."
Notes: Kansas now has three sraight Sweet 16 wins ... With 10 assists, Miles moved ahead of Kirk Hinrich into sixth place all-time .. Simien's 30-point effort was the most since he scored 31 against Missouri on March 12 of this year... Kansas is 23-0 when scoring 70 points or more ... Coach Bill Self is 13-5 in NCAA games.