Monday, February 25, 2008
STILLWATER, Okla. — The janitors at Gallagher-Iba Arena may have spent extra time mopping the floor after Oklahoma State’s 61-60 victory against Kansas because what happened on it was downright sloppy.
The game was uglier than Frankenstein’s monster. From the beginning, it became clear that watching this mess unravel would be as difficult as reading Ulysses in one sitting.
nutgraf
A first half with less rhythm than William Hung was devastating for Kansas, a team that thrives off of a lethal pace and scoring transition points.
Five of the Jayhawks’ first six possessions ended in either a turnover or an air ball. The inefficiency continued for the rest of the day as Kansas committed 24 personal fouls, 21 turnovers and threw up plenty of shots that didn’t even make contact with the rim.
“I don’t know if we were distracted, but we certainly gave the appearance of being distracted and not as focused because we made a lot, a lot of mental mistakes,” Kansas coach Bill Self said,
It’s true, Kansas was Bad-News-Bears-awful, but the complete lack of any sort of pace in the game hurt it equally.
Bizarre circumstances in the first half made the flow dissipate to the point where it didn’t even feel like basketball. It started when Oklahoma State freshman center Ibrahima Thomas decided he was more interested in taking cheap shots than helping his team.
When Kansas senior center Sasha Kaun checked in and the referee turned his back, Thomas shoved Kaun for no apparent reason as a greeting.
Minutes later, Thomas incited a minor quarrel under the basket when he picked on Kaun again as he fought for a loose ball. The incident led to a delay as officials reviewed the tape and called a technical foul on Thomas and Kansas sophomore forward Darrell Arthur.
The distractions didn’t end there. The arena became silent in confusion when an Oklahoma State booster sitting courtside was ejected after he apparently touched the referee, which resulted in another interruption.
A first half with less rhythm than William Hung was devastating for Kansas, a team that thrives off of a lethal pace and scoring transition points. Meanwhile, Oklahoma State gained confidence and embraced the slapdash nature of the contest.
“By the way it started off, the scuffle, they thought they were going to come in here and push us around,” Oklahoma State junior guard Byron Eaton said. “We had to let them know we’re going to fight, you are in our house. You’re not fixing to come in our house and take us off our court.”
And the Jayhawks didn’t. In the second half, the Cowboys tried to lengthen all of their possessions by holding the ball until the end of the shot clock. The Jayhawks couldn’t adjust and continued to look like they were trying to compile a blooper reel.
Senior guard Russell Robinson was the victim of two embarrassing blocks, junior guard Mario Chalmers fell over on a fast break and junior guard Brandon Rush missed a wide open three-pointer by multiple feet.
Eaton called the game “nasty”. But he knew the unpleasantness paid off for the Cowboys in the end and gave them their biggest victory of the season. It also gave the Jayhawks their most hideous defeat.
—Edited by Sasha Roe
Kansas falls out of rhythm in Oklahoma
The men’s basketball team has lost three of its last four road ...
Cowboys ride on
It wasn't a sweet homecoming for Kansas coach Bill Self. His team ...
Eaton Up The Competition
Eaton scored a career high of 26 points in Saturday’s game and ...
Jayhawks destroy Cowboys 87-57
With Big 12 conference play underway, it was time for Brandon Rush ...
Kaun leads Jayhawks to 84-66 rout
Sasha Kaun broke out of his season-long slump and scored 15 points ...
Self sees room for improvement
Despite Kansas’ win against the Cowboys, coach Bill Self doesn’t highlight the ...
NEW: Kaun's big night sparks KU against ...
Forward Sasha Kaun scored 14 of his 16 points in the first ...
Men's Basketball: The season in review
Beginning with Boot Camp and ending at the Elite Eight in San ...
Kansas can't stop streak, defeated 63-61
Jayhawks defeat Oklahoma State to seal eighth ...
After an emotional victory against Missouri, the team came together to earn ...
On to Vegas
Kansas heads into its weekend games with a boost after defeating Tennessee ...
Morning Brew: A short gambling lesson
The favorite’s roller-coaster victory over the underdog excites gamblers and objective viewers ...
Jayhawks unable to make Cowboys pay for ...
Kansas was in position to take the lead, but missed opportunities in ...
Jayhawks fight back
Jayhawks score 32 points from the line in physical game.
Kansas road woes continue in Oklahoma
Foul trouble and scoreless streaks are troubling trends for the Jayhawks on ...
Team discusses flaws over lunch
In preparation for the battle for the Big 12 title on Saturday, ...
Senior welcomes reduced role on the court
A viable reserve and a better shooter, Kaun has shown his resilience ...
Student splits time between basketball and music
The Jayhawks have gone 37-0 when Reilly has attended its games.
Frankenstein scares competition
And then there were four
Trip to Final Four stamped for Kansas on a missed game-winning shot ...
The one that got away
Battle for the Big 12
Senior Night game against K-State will be a challenge for Kansas.
Slow start, but victory ensues
Erratic play holds freshmen out against UCLA
Freshmen Elijah Johnson and Thomas Robinson struggled Sunday and played only five ...
Cowboys’ offense too much for Jayhawks
The Kansas baseball team's fourth-straight loss sent them to the bottom of ...
Baseball to face critical matchups
The Kansas baseball team will face Big 12 competition for the first ...
Wheeler: The wrath of Kaun
Senior center Sasha Kaun is one of the best students-athletes to attend ...
Jayhawks' perfect conference record falls in Stillwater
Oklahoma State shoots over 50 percent from the three point line to ...
The High/Low: February 5, 2008
Taking stock of the good, the bad and the fans
Alarming trends persist when Kansas hits the ...
The Jayhawks are 2-6 in games away from Allen Fieldhouse.
Oklahoma State defeats Kansas 82-62
The Cowgirls eliminated the Jayhawks from the Big 12 Tournament Wednesday night.
A cross-conference uplift
Coaches at Big 12 Media Day say that Kansas’ championship victory put ...
Kansas narrowly escapes Oklahoma State 63-62
Oklahoma State's inspired performance proved a tough test for Kansas.
Sloppy play lead to KU’s loss against ...
A recap of Wednesday’s game
Kansas fails to finish in loss to ...
The Jayhawks fall 61-60 on the road.
Blog: Top seed Kansas defeats No. 16 ...
Marcus Morris finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds to lead the ...
Sprint Center Stunner
Kansas dropped its second game of the season in a 61-60 upset ...
Rematch already
The Jayhawks defeated the Huskers 79-58 two weeks ago in Lincoln, Neb., ...
Kansas defeats North Carolina, 84-66, advances to ...
Kansas held off a rabid North Carolina comeback to survive and advance.
A quick look into the Jayhawks basketball ...
All-American previews, Self’s bonus checks, the New Orleans showdown and potential game ...
From left: Kimberlee Hinkle, Libby Johnson and Hannah ...
1 comment
Kansas Jayhawk fans hold aloft a reproduction of ...
2 comments
Erin Saupe, a Ph.D. student from St. Cloud, ...
1 comment
0 comments
Armed robbers continue to threaten.
3 comments
Lecture from Greg Mortenson, co-author of New York ...
0 comments
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID