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Kansas remains unbeaten with win over Boston College

Jan 5, 2008 - 9:36 PM By Tony Lee SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CHESTNUT HILL, Massachusetts (Ticker) -- Perhaps all unbeaten Kansas needed to finish a big road win was a little pushing and shoving.

Darnell Jackson scored a career-high 25 points and Darrell Arthur had 22 as the third-ranked Jayhawks pulled away for an 85-60 victory over Boston College on Saturday following a contentious moment midway through the second half.

Kansas (14-0) saw a 25-point second-half lead dwindle despite Boston College (10-3) playing with leading scorer Tyrese Rice on the bench with four fouls. Freshman Biko Paris' layup with 10:31 left pulled the Eagles within 61-47 and brought Conte Forum to life for the first time since early in the first half.

After an exchange of baskets, Jayhawks guard Mario Chalmers and Eagles freshman Rakim Sanders became tied up running down the court. All 10 players on the court convened before referees stepped in.

"(Sanders) said a few things he shouldn't have said," Chalmers said. "I kind of slipped (into him) and after that it was just talking back and forth. It didn't bother me."

"Mario got excited," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "I don't always like seeing that but it fired us up."

Kansas players, who were yelled at by Self in a timeout moments earlier, appeared energized by the incident and responded immediately.

Chalmers found Jackson for a quick hoop to start an 8-0 run that Sherron Collins capped with a steal and a layup with 8:30 left to force a Boston College timeout.

The Eagles never got closer than 21 thereafter and lost for the second time in as many seasons to the Jayhawks.

"When that little thing happened, I don't know what happened, but it got us sparked up," said Brandon Rush, who chipped in 12 points for Kansas.

The moment was not lost on Boston College, either.

"We made our push and it got a little chippy and it woke them up," Rice said. "If we matched that intensity for a full 40 minutes rather than 10 the game might have been different."

Chalmers finished with eight points, six assists and four steals for Kansas, one of six unbeatens in the nation entering Saturday's action.

Sanders led the Eagles with 21 and Rice kept them in it early with four first-half 3-pointers, the last coming midway through the half to forge a 20-20 tie. A dunk by Arthur moments later gave the Jayhawks the lead for good.

Chalmers later drained consecutive 3-pointers to make it 36-24 and Rush capped a 9-0 burst with another from the arc to put the Jayhawks ahead, 45-26, with 74 seconds left in the half.

Much of Kansas' initial surge came inside and on the break, a product of superior athleticism, according to Boston College coach Al Skinner.

"That's just God-given talent," Skinner said. "They're just faster than us and their frontcourt made a point of getting up the floor. When someone is faster than you, they're faster than you. It's just something you have to accept."

The Jayhawks opened the second half with an 8-1 run, with dunks from Jackson and Arthur the highlights. The pair finished a combined 19-of-25 from the floor and had the bulk of Kansas' 10 dunks as the Jayhawks outscored the Eagles in the paint, 54-26.