When Texas Tech sophomore forward Darryl Dora hit a fade away three-pointer to defeat Kansas 80-79, on Feb. 14, few realized the Jayhawks’ season was about to spiral out of control.

After all, Kansas was 20-1 going into that game. The team was ranked No. 2 in national polls, and sole possession of the Big 12 Conference regular season title seemed to be a lock.

Kansas played well at Texas Tech and Dora’s game winner came only after senior guard Aaron Miles was questionably called for traveling, while Texas Tech players frantically tried to foul him.

Kansas coach Bill Self said the game ended in the worst way possible. Because the Jayhawks played well enough to win, none of the players put stock in the loss and instead chose to blame the loss on officials.

If the officials had called a foul on the Red Raiders, or if Dora had missed his shot from the top of the key, the season could have ended differently. But as Self said, that was the difference between winning and losing.

The setback in Lubbock, Texas, was followed by a home loss to Iowa State, which Self later said his team had not come fired up for. The losing streak hit three games when the team traveled to Oklahoma. Kansas rebounded with a win against Oklahoma State, but finished the year losing six of nine.

After Kansas fell to Bucknell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Self said he had tried his best to glue things together down the stretch, but everything seemed to change after losing to Texas Tech.

“I thought it fit together pretty well until we had the three-game losing streak in February,” Self said. “We were 20-1. I didn’t think it didn’t fit, but we didn’t finish the season on a note that we were capable of finishing the season on.”

Before that game, the Jayhawks battled past injuries and adversity. They found a way to win every close game, and even when senior forward Wayne Simien missed action, the team defeated Georgia Tech and Kentucky.

After the Texas Tech game, things changed. Kansas sustained new injuries, and failed to respond in the same way it did earlier in the year.

“We had our frustrating moments,” senior guard Mike Lee said. “We lost some games down the stretch, and even when we were winning we weren’t playing well.”

Junior forward Christian Moody missed a few games after he suffered a floor burn at Lubbock, which turned into a staph infection.

Senior guard Keith Langford sat out two games after he severely sprained his ankle, and then came down with the stomach flu. He played against Bucknell, but Self said he was nowhere near full strength.

Self refused to use those injuries as excuses, but did call them bad luck.

“We’ve dealt with a lot of crap,” he said. “We’ve dealt with some injuries and stuff that a lot of other teams didn’t have to deal with. Late in the season it was seriously spliced together.”

Hard to imagine that a team’s fortunes could change so drastically on a single play, but if you ask any of the players they’ll tell you that’s what happened.

Langford was asked why Kansas fell apart after losing to Texas Tech and all he could do was shake his head and shrug.

“You can go back and make up a lot of things, but nobody really knows,” Langford said. “There’s just no explanation for why teams lose.”