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Jayhawks' Aldrich Plays Big

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The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 23, 2009

MINNEAPOLIS - Playing in his hometown, Cole Aldrich was pumped up.

Patrolling the post for Kansas with those long arms, the 6-foot-11 sophomore forced the Dayton Flyers into a whole bunch of bad shots and sent them down for a rough landing.

Aldrich put up a triple-double with 13 points, 20 rebounds and a career-high 10 blocked shots to lead the defending NCAA champion Jayhawks past 11th-seeded Dayton 60-43 in the second round Sunday.

"I've been blocking shots since I was a little kid," said Aldrich, who grew up only a few miles away in the suburb of Bloomington. "I was 6 foot in fifth grade. I had a little height advantage, or what have you. That's the one thing I try to do if guys get beat. I just try to go up there and block 'em."

Shaquille O'Neal set the NCAA Tournament record with 11 blocks in a game for LSU in 1992. Shawn Bradley had 10 in 1991 for BYU. Aldrich's feat was, officially, the sixth triple-double in the history of the tournament.

Sherron Collins had 25 points to pace the third-seeded Jayhawks (27-7), who will play Michigan State in the Midwest Region semifinals Friday in Indianapolis.

Chris Wright had 10 points on 4-for-16 shooting for Dayton (27-8), which went a woeful 22.2 percent for the game. Charles Little was 2-for-10, and Marcus Johnson went 1-for-11.

Frequently settling for off-balance runners or floaters in the lane, Dayton barely had any chances for those fast-break tomahawk dunks Wright has made his signature this season.

"I guess their flight team, or whatever they call it, wasn't flying," Collins said, grinning.

The Associated Press

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