Friday, February 1, 2008
Wildcats will continue to be a challenge
The bus ride home on I-70 across the plains back to Lawrence Wednesday night may have felt like the men’s basketball team’s longest of the season. There was a certain feeling in the air, one very unfamiliar to this year’s Jayhawks: defeat.
It was a feeling that the returning players from last year’s Elite Eight finish and coach Bill Self can relate to after their 55-68 loss to UCLA. There wasn’t a group of fans waiting in Lawrence to greet the team upon returning to Lawrence, but it was the closest this year’s Jayhawks can relate to last year’s tournament loss.
Wednesday’s 75-84 loss to Kansas State snapped Kansas’ fourth-longest winning streak in its storied history and the longest winning streak of the Bill Self era. This loss was not about the winning streak but something much more.
“It didn’t sting because of the (winning) streak. It stings because it’s our rival,” Self said after the game Wednesday. “I could care less about the streak, but I do care about beating our rivals.”
pullquote
It didn’t sting because of the (winning) streak. It stings because it’s our rival. I could care less about the streak, but I do care about beating our rivals.
- Bill Self, KU basketball coach
During the regular season, losing to a rival is the closest thing to losing in the NCAA tournament. Kansas’ loss to Kansas State re-established a rivalry that lay dormant. Since Bill Self began coaching at Kansas, the Jayhawks were 10-2 overall against the Wildcats. Kansas State hadn’t won in Manhattan since 1983 and defeated Kansas just twice since the 1990s.
Though the rivalry hasn’t been a factor for many years, this year’s Wildcat team is different because of two freshmen phenomenons, Michael Beasley and Bill Walker. Both players guaranteed victories against Kansas before the season even started, which is quite a tall order against a Jayhawk team that was ranked No. 4 in the Associated Press preseason poll.
“I’m not scared to say it,” Bill Walker told reporters on Big 12 Media Day. “I’m saying we’ll beat them.”
Before Michael Beasley had even played a game for Kansas State, and perhaps even looked at the schedule of where the Wildcats were going to play Kansas, he confidently boasted his team.
“We’re going to beat KU at home. We’re going to beat ‘em in their house. We’re going to beat ‘em in Africa,” said Beasley. “Wherever we play, we’re going to beat ‘em.”
Wednesday night, the Wildcats lived up to the first part of Beasley’s guarantee. Beasley and Walker combined for 47 points and 11 rebounds. Their talent combined with the intensity of the rivalry will be the toughest test for Kansas during the regular season.
Wherever the Wildcats play the Jayhawks again this season, they will continue to be waiting and ready to seek their first season sweep over Kansas since 1983. After checking the schedule, it is confirmed for Beasley that there will be no game in Africa, but there is a good chance the two teams will face each other two more times this season with the last game coming during the Big 12 Tournament.
When Kansas State comes to Lawrence on March 1, the Jayhawks should remember the long bus ride back to Lawrence and the performance of this year’s Kansas State team. The Jayhawks’ loss Wednesday needs to serve as a reminder of how tough teams will be in the NCAA tournament.
— Edited by Patrick De Oliveira
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