Originally published February 25, 2008 at midnight, updated February 25, 2008 at 1:28 p.m.
STILLWATER, Okla. — With two seconds left in Kansas’ 61-60 loss to Oklahoma State, junior Brandon Rush found himself with the ball in the corner. Rush head-faked once and hoisted up a last-second heave. Rush’s shot drew nothing but rim.
“I thought it was going to bounce in,” Rush said. “A miracle was going to happen.”
Go figure. Kansas needed miracles to beat a normally toothless Oklahoma State team.
For more about the game, check out the Wrap-Up.
Photo Gallery
Kansas Basketball vs. Oklahoma St.
A photo gallery of the Kansas men's basketball game against Oklahoma St. Saturday afternoon in Stillwater.
Who would have ever thought that?
Certainly not the folks who witnessed Kansas’ 20-0 start, and certainly not the Jayhawks themselves, who have now lost three out of the last four on the road.
And unlike in Kansas’ first two road losses against Kansas State and Texas, which were deemed as excusable losses to good teams in tough environments, the Jayhawks looked shockingly ordinary on Saturday.
“We stunk, I mean, we stunk,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.
Self was rightfully displeased. Kansas, which hadn’t played in a week, played like a team in need of a spark.
Kansas air-balled shots, racked up 21 turnovers on a number of errant passes and had costly mental breakdowns on defense.
“I felt like we were out of rhythm the whole game,” senior Darnell Jackson said.
Jackson, who led Kansas with 16 points and 10 rebounds, may have been on to something.
The first half had the rhythm of a tap dancing rhinoceros.
The two teams combined to shoot 35.9 percent from the floor, while racking up a combined 25 fouls in the first half. Three of those fouls came in a scuffle in the opening minutes. Oklahoma State junior Terrel Harris was assessed a personal foul, and Oklahoma State freshman Ibrahima Thomas and Kansas sophomore Darrell Arthur were each whistled for technical fouls.
“It was nasty,” said Oklahoma State guard Bryon Eaton, who led all scorers with 26 points.
It didn’t get much prettier.
Arthur’s technical gave him two fouls in the first half, and he played only 17 minutes, finishing with six points.
“There’s not many good players out there that can produce if they’re only playing 15 minutes a game,” Self said.
Kansas was also hamstrung by Sherron Collins’ knee injury. The sophomore guard played only 11 minutes and missed his only shot.
Self said Collins practiced only 15 minutes the entire week.
“He’s a shadow of what he can be,” Self said. “Hopefully, he’ll get back where he can help us. I certainly would have played him more, if he was capable.”
With Collins sidelined, it was Oklahoma State’s bowling ball point guard, Eaton, who took control of the game.
Eaton repeatedly drove to the basket and drew fouls on Kansas’ big men. And it was Eaton, who shot 16-18 from the free-throw line, who made the game-winning free throw with nine seconds left after driving into the lane and drawing a foul on Sasha Kaun.
“He’s the MVP of the game,” Jackson said. “We couldn’t contain him at all. He got it in his mind that he was going to take over the game, and that’s what he did.”
The Jayhawks did show some resiliency in the second half. Down 48-39 with 10:20 left in the second half, Rush sparked a 19-6 run that gave Kansas a 58-54 lead.
“We had the game sealed,” Rush said.
Rush’s performance mirrored the Jayhawks’ day. The junior was abysmal in the first half, going scoreless and missing all five of his shots. Rush rebounded in the second half with 12 points, but his miss in the waning second sealed Kansas’ loss. Rush said the last-second play was designed to give Chalmers an opening to the basket.
Rush’s second-half performance wasn’t enough for Self.
“He had a terrible day,” Self said of Rush. “But we just didn’t play as a group.”
Jackson echoed his coach’s feelings.
“I don’t know what it is,” Jackson said. “But we need to find it out and work through that, so we can all stay on the same page. We played terrible.”
— Edited by Katherine Loeck
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