UPDATE: Villanova Doomed by KU's 3-Pointers in Final Four; Jayhawks Advance to Championship
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Kansas and Villanova waged a 3-point shooting contest at the Final Four with one of them racing out to a big lead in the opening minutes and the other spending the rest of the night trying in vain to catch up. It all may sound familiar to basketball fans. But in a rematch of a rout by the Wildcats four years ago in San Antonio, it was the Jayhawks who joyously walked off the court with the win this time at the final buzzer Saturday night. David McCormack muscled his way for 25 points, Ochai Agbaji was nearly perfect from the field and finished with 21, and the lone No. 1 seed to reach the national semifinals rolled to an 81-65 victory.
Villanova needed Justin Moore on offense, to add another scoring threat and spread the floor. The Wildcats could have used him on defense, to rotate out to Kansas' shooters and help dig down into the post. Then again, it might not have mattered the way the Jayhawks were dropping 3s in the Big Easy. Villanova fell into a big early hole and under a barrage of 3-pointers in an 81-65 loss to Kansas in the national semifinals. Kansas hit 13 of 24 from behind the arc and scored 16 more points in the paint to earn a spot in Monday's championship game.( Read more.)
(Earlier reporting...)
KU Plays Villanova in Final Four
NEW ORLEANS, La. (AP/KPR) - In the Final four in NCAA Division One men's basketball, the University of Kansas Jayhawks face the Villanova Wildcats Saturday evening in New Orleans. The last three times that KU and Villanova met in the tournament, the winner has gone on to win the national title. That includes the 2018 semifinal that involved two players -- KU's Mitch Lightfoot and Villanova's Collin Gillespie -- that will be on the floor again Saturday. The winner of Saturday's game will face Duke or North Carolina for the national championship.
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Trans Sports Ban Passes Kansas House, Senate
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP/KPR) — Kansas lawmakers have passed a ban on transgender girls and women competing in female school sports, but don't appear to have veto-proof margins. The House passed the bill Friday night, 74-39. It passed the Kansas Senate early Saturday morning, 25-13. The bill now goes to Democratic Governor Laura Kelly, who is expected to veto it. Supporters fell votes short in both chambers of the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto. The measure was part of a broader agenda for conservatives, which also included responding to concerns about what’s taught in public schools by making it easier for parents to try to remove materials from classrooms and libraries.
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Two Men Arrested after Footchase through KU Campus
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) - Two Lawrence men were arrested Friday after a footchase through the University of Kansas campus. KU sent out an alert about 1:20 Friday afternoon warning of a possible armed suspect near Memorial Stadium, but the Lawrence Journal-World reports the only firearm located was a BB gun in a backpack dropped by one of the suspects. Twenty-nine-year-old Clinton Dubray and 29-year-old Roger Helm were arrested on outstanding warrants. The university sent out an all-clear message around 1:50 Friday afternoon.
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Kansas Chamber Subpoenaed; Ethics Official Briefly Targeted
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A powerful Kansas business group says it has received subpoenas from the state ethics commission for information about campaign finance activities. The disclosure Friday from the Kansas Chamber of Commerce came as Republican lawmakers pushed but then abruptly dropped a plan to oust the commission’s top staffer. A chamber spokesperson said in a statement that the Governmental Ethics Commission has launched what the chamber called “an extreme fishing expedition.” It declined to comment on the exact details. The statement came after GOP senators proposed setting new qualifications for the ethics commission’s executive director that would remove the current one. But Republican state Senator Rob Olson of Olathe later said the idea was dropped.
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With 'Endemic Normalcy,' Kansas Plans Fewer COVID Updates
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is planning fewer updates of its data about COVID-19 now that Governor Laura Kelly is formally declaring that the state is moving toward treating COVID-19 as a disease like the flu that spreads regularly and isn't considered a pandemic. Kelly said Thursday that the state health department will continue to support access to free COVID-19 testing, work to ensure that vulnerable populations can get vaccinated, see that providers serve a broad population and give “comprehensive guidance” about the virus. She called the new phase “endemic normalcy.” The health department plans to update data about cases and vaccinations once a week rather than the current three times a week.
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Kansas Lawmakers Approve New Districts, Ed Board Map
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers have given final approval to a redistricting measure that’s likely to preserve Republican supermajorities in the Legislature while possibly moving the state school board to the right. The votes Wednesday night were 29-11 in the Senate and 83-40 in the House on a single bill containing plans for lawmakers and the State Board of Education. The measure goes next to Democratic Governor Laura Kelly, and she said earlier this week that she thinks lawmakers did a good job on legislative redistricting. Republicans currently have majorities of 29-11 in the Senate, 86-39 in the House and 6-4 on the state board.
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Late KSU Grad Leaves $17 Million to University
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas State University graduate has left $17 million to the school to fund scholarships and recognition. The university announced Thursday that Wichita businessman Robert “Bob” Campbell graduated from Kansas State's business college in 1950 and eventually opened Robert E. Campbell Oil and Gas Operations, which he operated for 56 years. The new scholarship funds set up in Campbell's estate plan are in addition to a $1 million gift to the College of Business Administration in 2018. Campbell died in March 2021.