No. 3 Kansas Escapes Michigan with 67-60 Overtime Win
ARBOR, Mich. – Juniors Marcus and Markieff Morris each collected double-doubles as the third-ranked Kansas basketball team topped Michigan 67-60 in overtime Sunday afternoon inside the Crisler Arena to remain undefeated on the season.
The Jayhawks wrapped up non-conference play a perfect 15-0 for the first time since 2007-08. The Wolverines fell to 11-5 overall, including 10-2 on their home court.
U-M’s Darius Morris hit a jumper with 35 seconds left in regulation time to knot the score at 51-51 and Marcus Morris’ three-point attempt at the buzzer would not fall to send the game into overtime.
As the extra period got underway, the Morris twins gave the momentum back to Kansas scoring eight-straight points, capped by a traditional three-point play by Marcus, to give KU a 59-54 lead with 3:09 to play.
Michigan came within four points during its next possession and again at 62-58 at the 2:18 mark but it was as close as it would come. Junior Tyshawn Taylor helped seal the win for the Jayhawks hitting 3-of-4 free throws in the final minute along with a pair of charity shots from senior Tyrel Reed.
Marcus Morris led all players with 22 points to go along with 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Markieff Morris also finished with a double-double, his sixth of the year, with 13 points, all in the second half, and a team-high 11 rebounds.
Taylor and Reed contributed double-figure points in the effort adding 12 and 10 tallies, respectively.
Neither team had a successful night on offense as Kansas out-shot the Wolverines 35.7 percent to 33.3 percent. KU hit just 4-for-24 (16.7 percent) from the three-point arc.
As the second half wound down, Kansas led 51-45 with 3:27 remaining but failed to hit its last three shot attempts and committed a costly turnover to allow Michigan the opportunity to tie up the game. The Jayhawks also suffered from a 26.9 shooting percentage in the second half, including a 1-for-12 effort from beyond the arc (8.3 percent).
Kansas opened the contest with a 7-0 run while Michigan went 0-for-7 from the field. The Jayhawks held U-M without a field goal until the 13:09 mark, with KU leading 11-5 up to that point.
Marcus Morris scored 12 of Kansas’ 25 first-half points, which marked the fewest points in a half by the Jayhawks this season. Marcus hit a fastbreak bucket down low on a pass from freshman Josh Selby with 3:57 left until the break to put Kansas up 25-10, its largest lead of the game.
Unfortunately KU went scoreless for the remainder of the half as the Wolverines used an 8-0 run to cut their deficit to 25-18 heading into halftime.
Updated 01-10-2011
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