Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kansas guard Elijah Johnson (15) celebrates after their 64-62 win over Ohio State in an NCAA Final Four semifinal college basketball tournament game Saturday, March 31, 2012, in New Orleans.
Saturday, March 31, 2012 | 10:04 p.m.
Elijah Johnson, Kansas make title game
Viewing video requires the latest version of Adobe's Flash Player
KSNV coverage of Las Vegas product Elijah Johnson and Kansas Jayhawks' win over Ohio State, March 31, 2012.
Related content
A big play from a Las Vegas area product helped the Kansas basketball team Saturday overcome a double-digit deficit against Ohio State in the national semifinals in New Orleans.
Elijah Johnson, a junior guard for Kansas and a graduate of Cheyenne High School in North Las Vegas, finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds in leading the Jayhawks to a 64-62 victory and a spot in Monday’s national title game against Kentucky.
Kansas, which trailed by nine points at halftime, opened the second half on a 13-4 scoring run to even the game at 38-all. Johnson capped the rally with a 3-pointer.
The game went back and forth until Kansas pulled ahead in the final two minutes, taking a lead for the first time since early in the game. Johnson was nearly the goat when he committed a terrible turnover, which led to an easy basket for Ohio State’s Aaron Kraft.
Seconds later, Johnson had one of the great plays of the game when he came up with a steal and drove the length of the floor for a layup to give Kansas a 62-59 lead with 1:10 remaining.
Johnson, a reserve in his first two seasons with Kansas, has emerged as one of the Jayhawks’ best players. Against Purdue in the NCAA Tournament third round, Johnson’s layup in the final seconds gave Kansas a win in a game they trailed from virtually start to finish.
Earlier in the week, Johnson talked to the Sun’s Taylor Bern about his journey to the Final Four. It’s a voyage that will include the biggest game of his career, Monday against Kentucky.
Of course none of our Las Vegas Sports Anchors were even aware before the tourney that Kansas had a starter from Cheyenne on their team. This kid was great in high school, a out of this world athletic kid who dominated. Now that Muhammad is headed to another big school other than carving out his own name at UNLV - I am sure our sports casters will also forget him and will show us BYU basketball highlights instead.
Findlay - didn't they have an amazing win over the weekend? Once again players who will be forgotten when they go to a big time program and we wont see their faces as local kids either. Cal's Findlay Prep kid only was the PAC 12 Player of the Year - UNLV could have used his leadership.