Dec. 30, 1999

KANSAS CITY - Tenth-ranked Kansas closed the game with an 18-to-5 run and knocked off Saint Louis 71-60 tonight before 17,100 in a non-conference men's basketball game at Kemper Arena. Jayhawk sophomore guard Jeff Boschee drilled two late threes to spark the comeback as KU rallied from a 55-53 deficit with 6:21 to play.

"We competed tonight against one of the best teams in the country, but a few errors killed us down the stretch," Billikens head coach Lorenzo Romar said. "Boschee made a couple of big time shots that seriously shifted the momentum in their favor."

Kansas started quickly and bolted to an early five-point lead, but Justin Love, who led the Bills with 19 points, kept SLU in range. He had 11 of his points in the first half.

The final score didn't tell how hotly contested the game was. In the first half, Kansas' largest lead was five, while the Billikens' biggest margin was three and there were three ties. KU led at the break 34-32.

Kansas freshmen Drew Gooden and Nick Collison repeatedly hurt the Billikens with key shots at opportune moments. Gooden collected 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Collison matched him with 15 points. The two combined to make 12 of 17 shots.

Saint Louis was hampered by its worst free throw shooting of the year as the Bills made only 10-of-18 for 55.1 percent. That included three missed front ends of one-and-one opportunities.

Boschee drilled a trey with 6:06 remaining to put the Jayhawks ahead for good. After Gooden followed a missed Collison lay-up, Boschee drained another three with 3:37 remaining to put Kansas on top 63-55. The Billikens suffered through a scoreless drought of 4:35 until Love hit a three with 1:46 to play, but it was too late.

Kansas left the door slightly ajar as Boschee missed the front end of a one-and-one with 54 seconds remaining, but Love missed an open trey that could have cut the lead to four.

The Billikens pressure defense forced 23 Kansas turnovers and came up with a season-high 23 steals including a career-high four steals by junior swingman Maurice Jeffers. But Saint Louis committed 19 turnovers of its own.

Junior forward Justin Tatum was a force inside for the Billikens with 13 points, but was only 3-of-8 from the free throw line. The Bills did a respectable job on the glass despite being out-rebounded 44-36. Jeffers had his second double-figure rebound game of the year with 10, and Chris Heinrich blocked a career-high three shots.

Gooden and Collison led four Jayhawks in double figures. Kenny Gregory added 11, and Boschee chipped in with 11. Love thought Kansas' depth proved decisive down the stretch. "We match up with them pretty well," he said. "But their depth was a factor in the last five minutes. We weren't able to match their intensity in the last few minutes."

Tatum agreed that the rotation of Jayhawks big men took its toll. "It's hard to keep track of everyone coming in and out and their style of play," he said. "But we handled it alright."

Kansas coach Roy Williams praised the defensive effort that Gregory did on Love in the second half. "We haven't talked much about Kenny's defense the last few seasons, but we can tonight," Williams said. "It look Love 20 shots to get his 19 points, so what we still need to work on is limiting his attempts."

The Billikens continue their four-game road trip at Southwest Missouri State on Sun., Jan. 2, at 2:05 p.m.