Kansas Works Overtime to Win

It took Kansas more than a half to realize it could beat a good team without Wayne Simien.

Keith Langford’s twisting shot in the lane with three seconds left in overtime lifted No. 2 Kansas past No. 9 Georgia Tech, 70-68, Saturday, capping the Jayhawks’ rally from a 16-point deficit.

“It’s almost a naked feeling not having [Simien] out there in a big game like that, especially with this team really needing him,” Langford said. “But something happened. Guys just stepped up. We just stepped up to the challenge.”

Simien, Kansas’ leading scorer and rebounder, is out for at least a month because of a thumb injury. The Jayhawks were playing for the second time without their star, and Georgia Tech was their first ranked opponent since he went out.

At the outset, the Jayhawks (9-0) seemed to be entirely out of sync.

“Wayne Simien is an All-American, and that’s hard to replace,” said point guard Aaron Miles, who became Kansas’ career assist leader in the win. “But we can do it collectively, and that’s the thing we did. People just stepped up and made plays.”

It was a physical, fast-paced rematch of a regional final in the 2004 NCAA tournament -- the Yellow Jackets won that one in overtime en route to the national championship game.

Georgia Tech (9-2) was also missing a key player after guard B.J. Elder, its leading scorer, went out in the first half because of a strained hamstring.

“It was a very hard-fought game,” Yellow Jacket Coach Paul Hewitt said. “They made more plays offensively down the stretch than we did. It is awfully disappointing to give out that type of effort and not come away with the win.”

The Jayhawks did not take their first lead until overtime. Langford stole the ball to set up Alex Galindo’s basket that gave them a 66-65 lead with 1:38 left.

Then, with the capacity crowd at Allen Fieldhouse screaming, Langford put a spin move on defender Mario West and made the game-winning shot.

Langford finished with 18 points. Miles had eight assists, giving him 808 to break the school record of 804, set by Jacque Vaughn in 1993-97.