European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 21, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday March 21 2007 stars and stripes Page 29 Namy Kentucky Bobby Perry left and Jodie Meeks right Battle Kansas Mario Chalmers for a Loose Ball during the second half of sundays game in the Mcaa tournaments West regional Kansas the top seed in the Region beat no 8 seed Kentucky 8876 to Advance to the round of 16 next week against Southern Illinois got a question ask my just we of i h a a special e school Pouse club s base7 my about i my it will career i it a spouse cd tics Send your questions to s with l debuts april 1 your weekly scene stars stripes Rush buries Kentucky As Kansas Rolls beleaguered coach Tubby Smith sure to hear about it Back Home by Nancy Armour the associated press Chicago Kentucky might figure a Way to Stop Brandon Rush if it plays Kansas a few More times so far though the wildcats have no answer Rush beat up on Kentucky for a second straight year sunday shooting a career est 6for7 from Long Range to Lead Kansas to an 8876 Romp in the second round of the Mcaa tournament Rush finished with 19 Points 12 in the second half when the Jay Hawks broke open the game Brandon is a great shooter Kansas coach Bill self said i dont think Hes had a game where Hes been on a Roll like he was today Hes made four threes in a game or three in a game but for him to make six out of seven that came at key times really gave us a lot of momentum they were Back Breakers for Kentucky the rest of the to seeded Jay Hawks 324 were Happy to pile on Chicago native Julian Wright led Kansas with 21 Points and eight rebounds and Mario Chalm ers added 16 Points and eight assists Kansas shot 57 percent from the Field for the game 64 percent in the second half throughout the year weve pretty much been beating our selves today though you have to give Kansas a lot of credit said Ramel Bradley who had nine assists for the eight seeded wildcats they came in re hot and they knocked Down shots it was the 13th straight Victory for Kansas which next plays fourth seeded Southern Illinois on thursday in the West regional semifinals in san Jose Calif Randolph Morris who missed last years game against Kansas while serving a suspension for entering the 2005 Aba draft led Kentucky with 22 Points and Bobby Perry added 21 it was the seventh loss in 11 games for Ken Tucky we had some chances but when they Are shooting the Ball the Way they were it makes it Tough to fight Back said Ken Tucky coach Tubby Smith who said again that he expects to re turn next year despite a recent chorus of criticism Kentucky and Kansas Are two of the most storied programs in the game Kentucky has More Vic tories than anybody else and Only Urcla has More National titles Kansas has quite a few victories of its own and can claim or James Naismith the inventor of the game its special when they play and it Doest happen very often Only 25 times in fact with Ken Tucky having the decided Edge but its been All Kansas lately and Rush is a big reason Why As a freshman last year he turned the 7346 Blowout in Lawrence Kan into his com ingot party with 24 Points and 12 rebounds i guess its just that Kentucky on the Jersey he said knowing Michael Jordan was in the House made it sweeter i wanted to give him a great performance Rush said the whole team wanted to Rush opened the second half with a three that gave Kansas a nine Point Lead Perry responded with Bac Toback threes that pulled Kentucky within 3936 with left to play but Morris left after picking up his third foul with still to play and just like last year the Jay Hawks steamrolled Kentucky in his absence Hes critical Smith said when he went out that when we kind of lost momentum Wright made a jumper and scored on a follow As Kansas ran off eight unanswered Points As part of a 132 run Smith irritated called a timeout and Sheray Thomas then stopped the Kansas run with a Layup it had All the effect of a Speed bump Wright scored again and Rush hit another three Pointer that extended the Lead to 5440 and brought the Kansas faithful including Chicago bulls guard Kirk Hinrich a member of the 2003 Kansas team that lost to Syracuse in the Mcaa final to its feet in a tournament like this you cant Hope youve got to go out there and make shots Bradley said we didst do a Good Job of that Morris returned with just Over 12 minutes to play but the dam age was done the loss wont do much to re turn Smith to the Good graces of Kentucky fans despite winning a National championship 1998 and five Southeastern Confer ence titles in 10 years Smith has been criticized by the wildcats faithful in recent weeks for underachieving athletic director Mitch barn Hart gave Smith a vote of Confidence after the Sec tournament but the fact it was needed shows just How far from favor Smith has fallen i expect to be Back Smith said just put it that Way