DePaul Upsets No. 5 Kansas
POSTED: Saturday, December 2, 2006
UPDATED: 4:30 pm CST December 2,
2006
CHICAGO -- Sammy Mejia scored 23 points, including a string of eight straight in the second half that turned a three-point DePaul deficit into a five-point lead, as the Blue Demons rallied for a 64-57 victory over fifth-ranked Kansas at Allstate Arena.
Wilson Chandler chipped in 12 points for the Blue Demons (3-4), who were coming off a 1-2 mark at the Maui Invitational and beat Kansas for the first time in eight all-time meetings.
Mario Chalmers scored 15 points to lead Kansas (6-2), which had won five straight since a stunning home loss to Oral Roberts on Nov. 15.
The Jayhawks followed their overtime win over then-top-ranked Florida last Saturday in Las Vegas with an 83-32 blowout of Dartmouth on Tuesday, but couldn't hold a late lead on this day.
A 10-2 run midway through the second half pulled DePaul within 47-45, but Kansas responded with six straight points to open some breathing room. Two free throws from Russell Robinson gave the Jayhawks a 53-45 edge with 4:39 remaining, but Kansas wouldn't score again until the final minute.
Karron Clarke was fouled while attempting a three-pointer and drained all three free throws to ignite DePaul's comeback. After a twisting drive by Chandler cut the Blue Demon deficit to three, Mejia took over.
The senior drilled a three-pointer with 3:01 left to tie the game, then followed with another shot from beyond the arc less than a minute later to put DePaul in front for good. It was the first lead for the Blue Demons since 11-10 in the first half.
After a Kansas miss, Mejia worked against a double team and connected on a 12- foot turnaround jumper to give the Blue Demons a 58-53 edge with 1:20 to play.
Robinson missed the front end of a one-and-one for Kansas and Marcus Heard hit one free throw at the other end to give DePaul a six-point edge.
Chalmers finally ended Kansas' drought with a pair of free throws with 48.3 seconds remaining, but the Jayhawks couldn't hit a shot from the field and the Blue Demons made their free throws to seal the contest.
DePaul finished 19-of-26 from the line for the game, while Kansas was just 9- of-14 from the charity stripe.
The slow-moving first half saw Kansas rattle off 16 of the last 22 points to take a 26-17 advantage to the break.
Copyright 2007. Courtesy of SportsNetwork.