Thursday, January 31, 2008
MANHATTAN – All the bad feelings finally returned. The perfect start ended.
Brady Morningstar leaned on a slumped over Sherron Collins. Chase Buford, dressed in street clothes, patted Tyrel Reed on his head. Brandon Rush stared forward, not looking behind at the court.
Junior guard Mario Chalmers tries to force a shot past Kansas State forward Michael Beasley during Wednesday night's game in Manhattan. Chalmers led Kansas with 19 points. The Wildcats defeated the Jayhawks 84-75 and improved to 5-0 in the Big 12 with the victory while Kansas dropped to 5-1.
None of the Jayhawks wanted to look that direction. That’s where the party was. Kansas State won 84-75 on Wednesday night, its first home victory against its rival in 25 years, and the celebration was starting. Fans, who had screamed and booed in a ravenous, vengeful tone for 40 minutes, lifted Michael Beasley, their basketball savior, on their shoulders. Bill Walker, also on top of the crowd, felt vindicated by the victory.
“Who in here actually thought we could win tonight?” he asked.
The players and fans had good reason to cherish the victory. They deserved it.
“K-State was just a better team than we were tonight,” Self said. “Offensively and defensively.”
That was a shock. Before the game, the hype centered around superb freshman Beasley. Everyone knew he was the best player on the court. Would the No. 2 team or the No. 1 freshman win? The rest of the K-State team got lost amid the talk. Wednesday night, they showed that shouldn’t happen again.
Bill Walker scored 12 points in the first half to give his team an early lead, and Self said the Wildcats’ guards sped up Russell Robinson, Mario Chalmers and Sherron Collins, who were supposed be the superior players.
“The way that team started gave them confidence,” Self said, “and put us on our heels.”
It didn’t help that the Wildcats couldn’t miss. They made 12 of 26 three-pointers and several of them came during times when Kansas was starting to come back. They made 18 of 24 free throws. Self and Rush said most of the loose balls went their way, too.
“It just wasn’t our night,” Rush said.
Photo Gallery
Kansas at Kansas State
Photo gallery of men's basketball game against Kansas State Wednesday night in Manhattan.
But Kansas State’s victory wasn’t lucky. Its players came through. Freshman Jacob Pullen scored 18 points in the second half and didn’t miss a free throw. He, Beasley and Walker – all freshmen – combined to score 67 points. It was the biggest game of their short careers, and they stepped up. The same couldn’t be said for the Jayhawks.
Kansas’ players had been through NCAA Tournaments, Big 12 Championships and countless rivalry games. They didn’t show it, though. Collins said the guards often got into the lane then threw the ball away. Darrell Arthur played brilliantly offensively but hurt himself by picking up his fourth foul early in the second half.
The performance was far different from those the Jayhawks gave in other tight games against Arizona, Southern California, Missouri and Georgia Tech. In those games the Jayhawks played with poise, made big baskets and controlled the ball.
pullquote
It just wasn’t our night.
-Brandon Rush
“Tonight, we didn’t,” Arthur said. “We didn’t take advantage of our opportunities.”
Because of that, the Jayhawks not only lost their perfect record but lost their position atop the conference. Kansas is now one game behind the Wildcats, who are still undefeated in conference play.
It’s the first time the Jayhawks have lost, and Self said the players can use it for their benefit if they improve. A big test for Kansas likely won’t come until Feb. 11 at Texas. The Jayhawks will know how much they’ve improved then. For now, they’ll just have to hurt.
“This could be a good thing for us in the long run,” Self said, “but certainly, it stings.”
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Comments
KansasToonami (anonymous) says...
Correction: It's the first time in 25 years that K-State has beaten KU *in Manhattan*; but the first time in 14 years (not 25) that K-State has beaten KU during the regular season (I'm not aware of Big 8/Big 12 tournaments). This is because in 1994, the Wildcats beat the then #1 Jayhawks 68-64 at Allen Fieldhouse:
http://www.rockchalk.com/games/g19941...
I'm a Jayhawk fan, and I was a KU student that year; that's why I'm familiar with the 1994 loss.
The article needs to be edited/corrected, as that's quite a significant error. As journalists, I would hope that the UDK staff would have researched this fact; I would think that at least UDK sportswriters--being students, but also more familiar with the history of the program than others--would have a better grasp of the facts than the average "national" sportswriter.
January 31, 2008 at 2:41 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
KansasToonami (anonymous) says...
I correct my correction... it's only been TWO years, not 14, since K-State beat KU. I overlooked the game at Allen Fieldhouse in 2006:
http://www.rockchalk.com/games/g20061...
In any case, a correction is still needed. More urgently than I thought, in fact.
January 31, 2008 at 2:49 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
tsmith (Tara Smith) says...
Where is the part for which you are suggesting a correction?
The teaser says, "the first time the Wildcats have beat the Jayhawks in Manhattan in 25 years."
The third graf says, "its first home victory against its rival in 25 years."
Both of those seem accurate to me.
January 31, 2008 at 3:04 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
KansasToonami (anonymous) says...
Then the corrections have been made... at least on the website.
Take a look at the print edition of Thursday's UDK for the original, uncorrected version: "its first victory against in its rival in 25 years" (no mention of 'home', and that first 'in' is kind of lost, and I attribute that to hasty writing or poor editing).
The *teaser* was internet-only, so there's no print version to compare it to, but again, it would have been updated at the same time as the third paragraph. The UDK staff may have caught the error independent of my suggestion; in any case, by the time you read the article 12 hours later, it had been corrected--online, but not in the print edition of Dent's article.
February 2, 2008 at 5:08 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )