Kansas 73, Illinois 69

MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ With a trip to the Midwest Regional final on the line, three Kansas freshmen took over. <br><br>Aaron Miles, Wayne Simien and Keith Langford combined for 35 points and helped lead

Saturday, March 23rd 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ With a trip to the Midwest Regional final on the line, three Kansas freshmen took over.

Aaron Miles, Wayne Simien and Keith Langford combined for 35 points and helped lead top-seeded Kansas to a 73-69 over fourth-seeded Illinois on Friday night.

After foul trouble limited three of the Jayhawks' starters to a combined 20 points, the freshman trio seized the opportunity, avenging Kansas' round of 16 loss to the Illini last season.

``In the future we're going to be called on to do that more and more,'' said Langford, who shared Kansas' scoring lead with 15 points. ``We've always had the opportunity to do that. This night wasn't any different; it was just on a bigger stage and a bigger level.''

Third-seeded Oregon prevented an all-Big 12 regional final by beating No. 6 Texas 72-70 in the other semifinal.

Miles _ Kansas' point guard and the only starter among the three freshmen _ had 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Simien, a 6-foot-9 forward, had seven points and six rebounds.

``Combined, this is the best performance we've had,'' Simien said. ``Earlier in the year, we'd have one or two guys really do well. But we really stepped up as a group tonight.''

Illinois coach Bill Self wasn't surprised by how well the Jayhawks' freshman performed.

``Their three freshmen would start for anybody in America, except Kansas, with the exception of maybe one or two other schools,'' Self said.

Junior Kirk Hinrich missed all but 17 minutes because of foul trouble, finishing with three points, 12 below his average. Hinrich's absence left Miles to guard Frank Williams, who scored 30 points in last year's game.

Hinrich had three fouls in the first half and picked up his fourth with 15:36 left.

``I think maybe I was a little too pumped up,'' Hinrich said. ``I made some silly fouls.''

Williams finished with 15 points on 6-for-18 shooting from the field, and missed a 14-footer from the baseline with 4 seconds left and the Illini down 71-69. After the miss, Langford rebounded, was fouled and hit two free throws with 2.8 seconds left.

``I got a good look,'' Williams said. ``I just didn't knock down the shot, unfortunately. That could've changed the game, but I just didn't knock it down.''

Drew Gooden had a double-double for Kansas (32-3) with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Nick Collison, scoreless in the first half, had 11 points and nine rebounds, helping the Jayhawks outrebound the Illini 41-34.

Illinois (26-9) held guard Jeff Boschee to six points, seven points below his average.

Kansas' reserves outscored Illinois' 25-14. Last year, Illinois' backups outscored Kansas' subs 28-0.

``There is the whole key to the game,'' Kansas coach Roy Williams said. ``Last year, if I am not mistaken, they outscored us 8 million to two or something like that on the bench ... it was really ridiculous.

``The bench was big-time for us, and that is a big part of our team this year.''

Robert Archibald had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds for Illinois, which trailed 40-34 at the break. Brian Cook added 13 points but missed two wide-open 3-pointers in the closing minutes.

A 10-2 run, capped by Archibald's free throw with 1:15 left _ the first of a two-shot foul _ got the Illini within 71-69.

``We lost to a team that could very well cut down the nets in about 10 days,'' Self said. ``And I know deep in my heart that if a couple of things would have gone differently, we could be that team playing in that same game. But it just didn't work out.''