Kansas junior forward Thomas Robinson has been named to the 2012 NABC Coaches’ Division I All-America First Team, the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced Tuesday.

The ESPN.com National Player of the Year, Big 12 Player of the Year and Naismith and Wooden awards finalist, Robinson leads the nation with 25 double-doubles in 2011-12, which is tied for the Kansas single-season record set by Drew Gooden in 2002. The Washington, D.C., native, Robinson is the only player in the Big 12 to average a double-double with 17.7 points and 11.8 rebounds. A certain consensus All-American first-team selection and four-time Big 12 Player of the Week this season, Robinson’s 11.8 boards per game are second nationally.

Joining Robinson on the NABC All-America First Team were Anthony Davis (Kentucky), Draymond Green (Michigan State), Doug McDermott (Creighton) and Jared Sullinger (Ohio State). A complete list of the NABC All-America teams is located at www.nabc.com. The last Jayhawk to be named to the NABC All-America First Team was Sherron Collins in 2010.

Located in Kansas City, Mo., the NABC was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, the legendary basketball coach at the University of Kansas. Allen, a student of James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, organized coaches into this collective group to serve as Guardians of the Game. The NABC currently has nearly 5,000 members consisting primarily of university and college men’s basketball coaches. All members of the NABC are expected to uphold the core values of being a Guardian of the Game by bringing attention to the positive aspects of the sport of basketball and the role coaches play in the academic and athletic lives of today’s student-athletes. The four core values of being a Guardian of the Game are advocacy, leadership, service and education.

— KU Sports Information —

Kansas junior Thomas Robinson has been named one of four finalists for the Naismith Men’s College Basketball Player of the Year presented by AT&T, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Monday.

The other three finalists for the award are Kentucky freshman Anthony Davis, Michigan State senior Draymond Green and Creighton sophomore Doug McDermott.

The Big 12 Player of the Year, Robinson leads the nation with 25 double-doubles in 2011-12, which ties for the Kansas single-season record set by Drew Gooden in 2002. The Washington, D.C., native, Robinson is the only player in the Big 12 to average a double-double with 17.7 points and 11.8 rebounds. A certain consensus All-American first-team selection and four-time Big 12 Player of the Week this season, Robinson’s 11.8 boards per game are second nationally.

Kansas’ Danny Manning was the recipient of the Naismith Men’s College Basketball Player of the Year in 1988. Robinson is the first Jayhawk to be named a Naismith finalist since Sherron Collins in 2010.

“We have four tremendous candidates, all with unique and interesting storylines, vying for this prestigious award,” said Eric Oberman, Executive Director of the Atlanta Tipoff Club. “We wish all the finalists the best of luck throughout the tournament and we look forward to recognizing the winner in New Orleans.”

Beginning March 19, AT&T wireless customers – and sports fans on other wireless networks – will be able to text their votes for the player of their choice by texting VOTE to 34763. Fans will be eligible to cast their vote for the winner until 11:59 p.m. EDT on Saturday, March 31, 2012. For the eighth consecutive year, AT&T is making the voting open to other wireless carriers, enabling even more fans to participate. Other wireless carriers must opt‐in for their subscribers to participate. Standard messaging rates apply.

The finalists were voted on by the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s National Voting Academy, comprised of leading basketball journalists, coaches and administrators from around the country. The academy based its criteria on player performances this season. The vote was tabulated and certified by the accounting firm of Habif, Arogeti & Wynne, LLP. HA&W is the largest independent accounting firm in Georgia and one of the top 50 firms in the United States. The winner will be announced at the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Guardians of the Game award program April 1 during the Final Four in New Orleans.

“With the variety of talent these finalists have shown, we know this will be a close race,” said Jamie Kerr, Director, AT&T Corporate Sponsorships. “We at AT&T are looking forward to the results as college basketball fans vote for their favorite finalist to be named this year’s Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year.”

— KU Sports Information —

Bill Self leaped to his feet on the Kansas sideline, the typically restrained coach finally unloading with a moment of sheer exuberance.

After trailing almost the entire way against Purdue, his Jayhawks are moving on.

Elijah Johnson scored 18 points, including the go-ahead basket in the final minute, and No. 2 seed Kansas rallied to beat Robbie Hummel and the No. 10 seed Boilermakers 63-60 on Sunday night.

Thomas Robinson fought through double-teams all night for 11 points and 13 rebounds, and the Jayhawks (29-6) got enough production from everyone else to erase a 10-point second-half deficit and reach the Midwest Regional semifinals in St. Louis.

Kansas will face No. 11 seed North Carolina State.

“What a great game. It wasn’t the best played, but it was a grind-it-out, typical Big Ten game,” Self said. “Hummel was unbelievable and we just hung in there.”

Purdue was clinging to a 60-59 lead and had the ball and under a minute remaining when Lewis Jackson, the shot clock winding down, lost control at the top of the key. Johnson picked it up and went the other way for the go-ahead lay-in with 23.3 seconds left.

Hummel missed an open 3-pointer at the other end and Tyshawn Taylor scored a transition dunk for the Jayhawks with 2.5 seconds left, giving the roughly 15,000 fans who had made the three-hour drive from the Kansas campus reason to let out a roar for one of the first times all night.

After a timeout, Purdue sharpshooter Ryne Smith managed to get off a decent look at a long, potential tying 3-pointer. It hit off the backboard, clanked off the rim and finally fell away.

“It stinks,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “It stinks to lose.”

Hummel finished with 26 points and nine rebounds for the Boilermakers (22-13), who were trying to reach the round of 16 for the third time in four years. D.J. Byrd and Terone Johnson finished with 10 points each for Purdue.

The Jayhawks’ biggest lead all night was their final one. They overcame a rough night by Robinson by getting 10 points from Taylor and 10 more from Travis Releford.

Purdue couldn’t have gotten off to a much better start.

Neither could Hummel.

The senior forward hit first four shots, three of them from beyond the arc, and followed up his first miss with another basket with 11:46 to go in the first half that made it 19-8.

He proved too quick for Robinson to guard and too strong for Kevin Young as the Jayhawks kept searching for anybody who could put a body on him — they even tried seldom-used Justin Wesley.

The miserable start by Kansas was enough for Self to scream at his team during one defensive trip down floor, “You told me you were ready!”

Hardly seemed to be the case.

Kansas opened the game by missing 15 of its first 17 shots and all seven of its 3-point tries, compounding lousy offense by getting into foul trouble. Taylor, Young and Releford all sat stretches in the first half after picking up two early fouls.

The Jayhawks finally trimmed the lead to 31-30 with under 3 minutes left in the first half, but Lewis Jackson got inside for a basket, and Hummel managed to swish a closely guarded 3 from about 30 feet as the shot clock wound down to make it 36-30 at the break.

Hummel had 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting in the first half, while the Jayhawks’ trio of stars — Robinson, Taylor and Johnson — managed 12 points on a combined 4 for 18.

“I wanted to come out and be aggressive, especially the first half. It seemed like everything I was taking was going in,” Hummel said. “It was a crazy feeling you have as a player.”

Purdue extended the lead to 42-32 early in the second half, even after Kansas employed a zone defense to slow down Hummel. Johnson led the charge on offense, and the Boilermakers kept locking down Robinson in the post, frustrating the player of the year candidate to no end.

Kansas never went on its patented run, instead slowly clawing back into the game.

The Jayhawks trimmed the lead to 47-44 midway through the second half, but came up empty with four open shots on offense. They got within 52-49 minutes later only for Taylor to turn the ball over. And it was 52-51 with 5 1/2 minutes left when Hummel drove for a layup high off the glass.

Kansas never led until Johnson hit a deep 3-pointer with just over 3 minutes left to make it 57-56. Terone Johnson answered with back-to-back baskets for Purdue to regain a 60-57 lead, but Taylor’s alley-oop jam off a feed from Elijah Johnson made it a one-point game.

And set up a dramatic final flurry between Kansas and Purdue.

“We just kept grinding and grinding,” Taylor said, “and we ended up making some big plays down the stretch.”

— Associated Press —

Thomas Robinson had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and second-seeded Kansas rolled to a 65-50 victory over No. 15 seed Detroit in the second round of the Midwest Regional on Friday night.

Elijah Johnson added 15 points and Tyshawn Taylor had 10 for the Jayhawks (28-6), who toyed with the Titans (22-14) for the first 15 minutes before ramping up the defense and making sure they didn’t accompany fellow No. 2 seeds Missouri and Duke on the way out of the NCAA tournament.

Kansas advanced to play No. 10 seed Purdue on Sunday.

Doug Anderson led the Horizon League-champion Titans with 15 points before fouling out with 11:06 left. Ray McCallum, the son of the Detroit coach, added eight on 4-for-15 shooting.

— Associated Press —

Kansas senior guard Tyshawn Taylor and junior forward Thomas Robinson have been named to the 2012 National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 8 First Team it was announced Wednesday.

Selected and voted on by member coaches of the NABC, these student-athletes represent the finest basketball players across America. The 240 student-athletes, from 24 districts, are now eligible for the NABC Coaches’ Division I All-America teams, to be announced on Tuesday, March 20.

Taylor and Robinson have both become accustomed to receiving accolades this season. Earlier this week Taylor was named a Third Team All-American by CBSSports.com, while Robinson earned first team honors.

Robinson, a Washington, D.C. native, is averaging 17.9 points and 11.8 rebounds per game this season. He leads the Big 12 in double-doubles (23) and rebounds per game (11.8). His 23 double-doubles are tied for first nationally with Siena’s O.D. Anosike. Against eight nationally-ranked teams in 2011-12, Robinson averaged 19.8 points and 12.3 rebounds while shooting 55.6 percent.

Taylor, a Hoboken, N.J. native, led Kansas in conference games with an 18.6 scoring average. A two-time Big 12 Player of the Week this season, Taylor’s 17.3 points per game overall in 2011-12 rank fourth in the league. Taylor fared well against the eight ranked foes Kansas faced in 2011-12 averaging 19.1 points, 4.9 assists and shooting 48.0 from the field, 50.0 percent from three-point range. He also had five of his 12 games with 20-points against ranked competition this season. Taylor ranks among the top six in the Big 12 in scoring (17.3 ppg), field goal percentage (49.2 percent), three-point field goal percentage (43.5 percent) and assists (4.8 apg).

The Jayhawks will take on the No. 15-seeded Detroit from the Horizon League on Friday, March 16, at approximately 8:57 p.m. (Central) at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Neb. The game will be televised on truTV. Kansas will have an open practice in the venue on Thursday, March 15, from 5:10-5:50 p.m.

— KU Sports Information —

Kansas junior forward Thomas Robinson was named to the 2011-12 U.S. Basketball Writers Association All-America Team it was announced Monday. The first team consists of five forwards, as the USBWA selected the nation’s top five players regardless of position.

Robinson is joined by Kentucky’s Anthony Davis, Michigan State’s Draymond Green, Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger and Creighton’s Doug McDermott. This marks the fourth-straight season that a Jayhawk has been named a USBWA All-American and 21st time overall. Last season, former Jayhawk Marcus Morris was named to the second team.

Robinson, a Washington, D.C. native, is averaging 17.9 points and 11.8 rebounds per game this season. He leads the Big 12 in double-doubles (23) and rebounds per game (11.8). His 23 double-doubles are tied for first nationally with Siena’s O.D. Anosike. Against eight nationally-ranked teams in 2011-12, Robinson averaged 19.8 points and 12.3 rebounds while shooting 55.6 percent.

Each of the first-team selections is among the Oscar Robertson Trophy finalists. The USBWA’s National Player of the Year Award, as well as the Henry Iba Award, presented to the National Coach of the Year, will be announced next Monday, March 19. Both prestigious awards will be formally presented on Friday, March 30, at the 2012 USBWA College Basketball Awards Breakfast at the New Orleans Marriott in conjunction with the NCAA Men’s Final Four.

The Jayhawks will take on the No. 15-seeded Detroit from the Horizon League on Friday, March 16, at approximately 8:57 p.m. (Central) at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Neb. The game will be televised on truTV.

— KU Sports Information —

Kansas head coach Charlie Weis continues to make plays in the 2012 signing period as he added New York offensive lineman Aslam Sterling to his first Jayhawk haul Monday. Sterling, who comes to KU from Nassau Community College, is the 20th player to sign with KU in 2012, in addition to three January transfers, pushing Weis’ first class haul to a total of 23 athletes.

Sterling, who played left tackle at NCC, started every game of his two year career with the program leading the Lions to a combined 19-2 mark. Playing under Curt Gilliam at NCC, Sterling earned All-Northeast Football Conference honors in both his freshman and sophomore campaigns.

In 2010, Sterling was a part of an offensive line that was instrumental in helping NCC running back, Steven Miller, rush for more than 1,000 yards on his way to Northeast Conference Most Valuable Player and All-American honors. With Sterling leading the way, the Lions finished the 2010 season with a perfect 11-0 mark and No. 3 national ranking.

Sterling attended Bayside High School in Queens, N.Y., before moving on to NCC. He earned All-Borough and All-City honors, while playing both center and right guard at BHS.

The Springfield Garden, N.Y., native chose to sign with Kansas after receiving interest from West Virginia, Syracuse, Rutgers and Buffalo. He will graduate from NCC in May and join the Jayhawks in June in preparation for the 2012 football season.

Kansas will open 2012 spring football on Tuesday, March 27. The Jayhawks will host their annual Spring Game on Saturday, April 28 at 1 p.m., in Memorial Stadium.

— KU Sports Information —

Baylor heard all the pundits clamoring for one more Kansas-Missouri matchup, this time in the Big 12 tournament title game. It didn’t matter that those teams needed to win in the semifinals. The tantalizing rematch seemed to be fate.

“You never want to get disrespected,” the Bears’ Quincy Acy said, “so we came in with the mindset this week to win every game.”

They’re 2 for 2 so far.

Sharpshooter Brady Heslip hit a pair of 3-pointers to keep No. 3 Kansas at bay, and Perry Jones III finished with 18 points in an 81-72 upset of the Jayhawks on Friday night.

It will be the 12th-ranked Bears who will face No. 5 Missouri or Texas for their first championship.

“This was a night we grew up,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said.

Quincy Miller added 13 points and eight rebounds, and Pierre Jackson had 11 points and seven assists for the Bears (27-6), who lost to the Tigers in their only previous Big 12 title game.

“We were just more focused, and we’re playing as a team,” Jackson said. “Once we’re all clicking like that, we’re hard to beat. We know what time of year it is.”

Tyshawn Taylor had 20 points for Kansas (26-6), which used a big second-half charge to briefly take the lead. But the Bears hung tough down the stretch, and Heslip’s two 3-pointers — one with 2:03 remaining, the other with 1:12 left — allowed them to hang on.

No team from Texas has ever won the Big 12 tournament.

Baylor will get another chance.

“They beat us. Make no mistake about that,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.

The last time the Jayhawks lost to Baylor was in the quarterfinals of the 2009 conference tournament, when they were also the top seed. Now they’ll spend the rest of the weekend waiting for their seeding in the NCAA tournament, where many expected them to receive a No. 1 spot.

Thomas Robinson finished with 15 points and nine rebounds for Kansas. Elijah Johnson added 15 points but was 1 of 6 from beyond the arc, while Jeff Withey added 11 points.

“The thing that was most disappointing to me is we played a style that is just good enough to get your butt beat,” Self said. “Average energy, we let them pass wherever they want to, we never dictated defensively, crappy traps on the post, not paying attention to the scouting report.”

That about covers it.

Baylor took a 15-8 in the opening minutes and, with the exception of a couple flurries by the Jayhawks, managed to hold the advantage all the way to halftime.

Jones looked as if he never left the Sprint Center after his epic 31-point outing against Kansas State in the quarterfinals. He had 10 points and five boards by halftime, once going way up for an alley-oop jam off a pass from Jackson that seemed headed for the cheap seats.

“They’re a great team,” Jones said. “When they get on runs it’s hard to stop them. Just trying to get rebounds and defend against second-chance points.”

The Jayhawks trailed 43-35 when the teams hit the locker room, and they were fortunate it was that close. Robinson, the Big 12 player of the year, was held to five points and one rebound in 13 minutes, forced to spend the final five on the bench because of foul trouble.

The Bears kept building on the lead in the second half, going ahead 53-40 on Acy’s basket with 16:32 left. Little did they know it would be their last one for a while.

Taylor started the Jayhawks on an 18-3 push with an easy basket, and after Acy blew a dunk, Robinson scored underneath. Kansas started to get into transition, where it’s at its best, and Taylor eventually rattled in another 3 to get the Jayhawks within one with 12:52 to go.

The senior guard shrugged his shoulders on his way back to defense, the Sprint Center coming alive with the crowd heavily favoring the school about a 30-minute drive from Kansas City.

“We started playing how we played,” Taylor said. “We started defending a little bit.”

Withey’s three-point play and a basket by Robinson gave Kansas a 58-56 lead, its first since midway through the first half, but it wound up being short-lived.

Baylor scored the next nine points, four of them coming on Jones’ first buckets of the second half, and still led 65-60 on a pair of foul shots by A.J. Walton with 6:08 left.

Taylor and Robinson managed to get to the foul line for Kansas, but Heslip’s 3-pointer with 2:03 left gave Baylor a 70-64 advantage, and his next 3 with 1:12 go made it 73-66.

Except for a small contingent of Baylor fans, the arena was quiet the rest of the way.

“Very pleased with our guys from the standpoint we’ve been successful against Kansas before in spurts, and then they’d have a spurt and we couldn’t answer the run,” Drew said. “When they made a run tonight, I was really pleased with the character of our guys.”

— Associated Press —

When Elijah Johnson headed home over the weekend for the funeral of an uncle, the junior guard for No. 3 Kansas had steeled himself to support his family through a difficult time.

It seemed all anybody wanted to talk to him about was basketball.

“Everybody was supposed to be sad,” Johnson said. “I just realized where I’m at. It’s another reality check. I think that played into me. I couldn’t wait to get back to school.”

He couldn’t wait for the Big 12 tournament, either.

Johnson hit five 3-pointers and scored a career-high 26 points Thursday, complementing yet another strong performance by Thomas Robinson and helping the Jayhawks to an 83-66 rout of Texas A&M as they pursue a third straight tournament title.

“I just needed to get a little love from my family, honestly,” Johnson said. “When I went home for a little bit, I think it just gave me a little something going into March.”

Robinson finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds, and all-Big 12 guard Tyshawn Taylor added 16 points for Kansas (27-5), which will play Baylor (No. 11 ESPN/USA Today, No. 12 AP) on Friday.

The Bears advanced to the semifinals with an 82-74 victory over Kansas State.

“They’re so talented, it’s a joke,” said coach Bill Self, whose team knocked off the Bears in both their regular-season games. “It’ll be an interesting next 24 hours to get ready.”

Texas A&M (14-18) showed glimpses of what could have been had the Aggies had their full measure of players this season. Injuries derailed a season that began with massive expectations and ended with a whimper in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament.

Khris Middleton finished with 24 points for the Aggies, but he didn’t get a whole lot of help. Leading scorer Elston Turner was held to eight points on 3-of-11 shooting.

“I’ve been here for three years and never lost this many games,” Middleton said.

The Aggies, who beat Oklahoma in the opening round, simply couldn’t contain Johnson, who also knocked down a couple 3s just after whistles that didn’t count.

The sharpshooter set his previous career high of 23 points early in the year against UCLA, before spending several months struggling with his shot.

“Those are the shots that he usually takes; those are the shots that he practices every day,” Taylor said. “He just hit them today.”

The Jayhawks have won nine straight overall, including a thrilling overtime victory against Missouri. They improved to 15-1 in their opening game at the Big 12 tournament, and are 14-2 in quarterfinal match-ups, their last loss coming to Baylor in the 2009 quarterfinals.

The same team they’ll face Friday night.

“All I know is we play Baylor tomorrow,” Robinson said. “That’s about it.”

Early on, it didn’t look like things would be nearly so easy for top-seeded Kansas against the No. 9 seed Aggies, who were coming off a victory about 16 hours earlier.

Texas A&M clamped down on Robinson in the post and flustered Taylor in the backcourt while inching out to an early advantage. Middleton provided the offense for the Aggies, scoring 14 of his points in the first half as Texas A&M established a 21-17 lead.

Middleton’s basket with 8:48 left wound up being the high point for the Aggies.

Robinson got on track with a basket inside to start the Jayhawks on a 13-0 run, ultimately giving them the lead for good. Johnson knocked down a pair of 3s during the spurt, and Taylor’s signature floater in the lane with 4:19 left gave Kansas a 30-21 advantage.

Middleton stemmed the tide with a three-point play, but it was only a speed bump for the Jayhawks, who pushed the lead to 38-24 on Taylor’s back-to-back 3-pointers.

They scored on 10 of their first 11 possessions of the second half to put the game away.

Johnson started the clinching run with a jumper in the opening seconds, and after Withey made one of two free throws, Robinson knocked down a 3 from the top of the key — the bruising forward improved his career mark to 5 of 12 from beyond the arc.

The lead eventually swelled to more than 20 when Robinson made the first of two free throws, stole the ball after missing the second, and made one of two on his next trip to the line.

Robinson even knocked down another 3 with 5:04 remaining, the first time in his three-year career at Kansas that he’s made more than one in a game.

Kansas cruised the final 12 minutes to a comfortable win.

“They demand so much help with Thomas Robinson and Jeff Withey that we left some guys open on the perimeter, and when they make 10 3s and Robinson hits two 3s, they’re a very difficult team to beat for anybody,” Aggies coach Billy Kennedy said. “Kansas was very good today.”

The Jayhawks, who met Texas A&M in the semifinals two of the past four years, improved to 20-1 against the Aggies in the final meeting as members of the same league.

The Aggies head off to the Southeastern Conference beginning next season.

“You kind of reap what you sow,” Kennedy said. “We had some definition at the end of the season we didn’t have three or four weeks ago, or a month and a half ago.”

— Associated Press —