Friday, March 14, 2008
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – As far as endings to basketball games go, this was perfect.
Sophomore guard Sherron Collins celebrates after making a basket and drawing a foul during the second half. Kansas outscored Nebraska 42-27 in the second half.
Brandon Rush stood at midcourt, dribbling the ball so high that it almost hit his chin, and waited for the final seconds to run out. Nebraska’s Sek Henry, not surprisingly, swiped the ball away. Rush tried to keep his dignity by stealing it back but instead fouled Henry.
“Mario, Sherron and Brandon were close enough,” Kansas coach Bill Self said about the play, “that they could’ve held hands. I would’ve stolen the ball too.”
A fittingly ugly finish for an ugly game. Kansas beat Nebraska 64-54 Friday at Sprint Center but the Jayhawks never seemed completely interested or energized even after making a run early in the second half.
“This is our welcome to the postseason,” senior guard Russell Robinson said.
Well, it was almost a farewell, at least from the Big 12 Tournament. Kansas didn’t look like a team that was peaking at just the right time in Friday’s opening round game. The Jayhawks played without passion in the first half.
Bill Self called two timeouts. Players grouped into huddles. Fans, adults mind you, stood up from their cozy Sprint Center seats and serenaded Kansas with a “Let’s go Jayhawks” chant.
All three parties were attempting to get the Jayhawks focused. None succeeded. Kansas matched its lowest point total for a half this season, trailing 27-22 to the Huskers.
Darrell Arthur, who players said needed to get hot at the beginning, picked up two fouls and four turnovers early. His performance reflected the rest of the team’s. The Jayhawks turned the ball over 12 times, which led to 15 Nebraska points. Kansas needed a 16-4 run early in the second half to break away.
Photo Gallery
Kansas Basketball vs. Nebraska
Photo gallery of Kansas men's basketball game against Nebraska in the Big 12 tournament at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.
“I don’t think we played with any energy level at all,” Arthur said.
Thing is, the players and Self didn’t mind that the team played out of whack. Better now than later.
In the grand scheme, this game hardly mattered. All the players said they wanted to win a third straight Big 12 Tournament, but they know the more important tournament starts next week. Self, as much as he preaches about the importance of conference play, agreed. He also pointed out that it's routine for top teams to struggle in the first round of conference tournaments, and like Kansas, Duke, North Carolina, Tennesse and Texas struggled on Friday.
“I told our guys we needed this,” he said. “You don’t like it when your team doesn’t perform, but how many teams in the NCAA Tournament play well when they haven’t been behind?”
Rush and Robinson maintained that they didn’t overlook Nebraska, but something obviously wasn’t right against the Huskers. The Jayhawks didn’t play with the intensity they showed during the last four games, and they’re going to have to dial it back up during the coming week, unless they want the season to end early.
Remembering losses in previous years to Bucknell and Bradley, Darnell Jackson said the Jayhawks wouldn't lapse like they did Friday in the rest of the Big 12 Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. He doesn’t even want to think about what would happen if they did.
“Losing in the first round hurts,” Jackson said. “It hurts a lot.”
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