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NEW YORK (AP) -- Roy Williams' 13th season as coach at Kansas got
off to a good start, then came yet another question about what he
did last summer.
|  | | The Jayhawks' Drew Gooden beats Matt Barnes to a rebound, one of 10 Gooden got in the win. |
No sooner had the Jayhawks (No. 6 USA Today/ESPN, No. 7 AP) beaten the UCLA Bruins (No. 19 USA Today/ESPN, No. 17 AP) 99-98 in the opener of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic on Thursday
night than Williams faced another question about his decision to
stay at Kansas rather than move to North Carolina, his alma mater
where he worked for 10 seasons as an assistant to Dean Smith.
"This summer got too emotional," said Williams, who announced
his decision to remain at Kansas in front of media and fans at the
football stadium. "It was my dream to coach at North Carolina but
now it's over with. The kids are the reason I stayed."
Most of those kids came up big on the offensive end early as the
Jayhawks led by as many as 16 points in the first half.
Kenny Gregory scored 24 points and Kirk Hinrich added 21 for
Kansas, which shot 65 percent from the field in the first half but
had to hold off the Bruins down the stretch with offensive
rebounding and free-throw shooting.
"We were fortunate to win this one -- our defense was not good,"
Williams said.
The Jayhawks will meet St. John's in the championship game
Friday night at Madison Square Garden. St. John's beat No. 12
Kentucky 62-61.
Gregory, Kansas' leading returning scorer at 12.8 points per
game, had 15 as the Jayhawks built a 57-51 halftime lead. While
Gregory's scoring was expected, that wasn't the case with sophomore
point guard Kirk Hinrich.
Hinrich, who averaged 5.5 points last season with a high game of
12, had 13 points in the first half during which Kansas built a
24-8 lead over the opening seven minutes.
"We knew how good a 3-point shooting team they are so we knew
it wasn't over," Hinrich said. "I'm surprised we didn't have a
better defensive game."
UCLA, which missed eight of its first 10 shots from the field,
started chipping away behind the 3-point shooting of sophomore
Jason Kapono, the Bruins' leading returning scorer at 16.0.
Kapono hit three 3s in the final 8:34 of the first half.
He kept the long-range shooting up in the second half, making
all three of his shots from behind the arc to finish 6-for-9 from
there for 22 points.
"We kept our poise and kept our composure, the way a team with
nine players back should," UCLA coach Steve Lavin said. "They
came out fast and we did a poor job on transition defense and
that's how they got the early lead. They came out fast and then
both teams had the game come to a screeching half in the second
half."
Kapono's last 3-pointer brought UCLA to 93-92 with 51 seconds to
play and it ended a 6-2 run during which Kansas scored all its
points on offensive rebounds, one by Eric Chenowith and two by Drew
Gooden.
Kansas went 6-for-6 from the foul line over the final 23
seconds, while Matt Barnes, a 48-percent free-throw shooter last
season, missed three of four for UCLA, which ended the scoring with
a 3 by Earl Watson at the buzzer.
"We were tired but we had to suck it up," Gregory said. "We
had to deal with it."
Gooden had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Jayhawks, who
finished with a 41-29 advantage on the boards. Chenowith had 12
points and nine rebounds for Kansas, which shot 51 percent for the
game.
Freshman T.J. Cummings, the son of former NBA star Terry
Cummings, led the Bruins with 24 points on 8-for-10 shooting and
had seven rebounds. It was the most points ever scored by a UCLA
freshman playing in his first game, two more than Don MacLean had
in 1989.
"I'm still trying to find my way through our offense,"
Cummings said. "I expected this game to be at the highest level of
all basketball and it was."
Lavin knew he Cummings would be a special player.
"From the first day he walked on the court at Pauley Pavilion
for practice he has shown a tremendous work ethic and attitude,"
Lavin said. "He comes from a great family and understands the
game."
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
Kansas NCAA Team Report
UCLA NCAA Team Report
Chat: NCAA Tourney
Bruins get a dynamic debut from T.J. Cummings
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Kenny Gregory lays it in on the break.
avi: 1241 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Drew Gooden fires the rock to Kenny Gregory under the hoop.
avi: 618 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Earl Watson draws a foul and gets the ball to drop.
avi: 1016 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Kenny Gregory slams home the missed shot.
avi: 861 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Roy Williams is impressed with the play of both teams.
wav: 136 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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