Monday, February 16, 2009
MANHATTAN — One ill-advised, elbow-tossing reaction destroyed everything that Kansas State guard Denis Clemente worked for on Saturday.
Seven minutes into the second half, Clemente had 20 points and his team trailed by two, 53-51.
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Kansas Basketball vs. Kansas State
A photo gallery of the men's basketball game against Kansas State.
Then, while Kansas attempted to inbound the ball, Clemente and Kansas’ Brady Morningstar got entangled. Morningstar was called for a foul, but as they separated Clemente threw an elbow into Morningstar’s back.
The referee was on top of the players and whistled Clemente for an intentional technical foul.
The ramifications of that mistake — his only foul of the game — still haunted Clemente after the game.
“We were down by two and then I got a technical foul and they shot two free throws and we were down by four,” he said. “Then they got the ball back and shot a three and we were down by seven. We go down and miss and then they come back and shoot a three and take a 10-point lead.
“I think that’s the game right there.”
If Clemente’s elbow had never met Morningstar’s spine, Kansas State may have tied or taken the lead on its next possession. Instead, the Wildcats were forced to dig out of a double-digit hole that proved to be just a little too deep.
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Continue reading about the men's basketball game against K-State here.Listen to Kansan basketball writers discuss the game on The Jay Report.
“That was a big deal,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “Usually the ball goes back to K-State, but because the type of technical it was it goes to the other team. It turned out to be a pretty big play for us.”
A regular technical would have given the ball back to the Wildcats with a four-point deficit after Sherron Collins’ free throws. But because it was an intentional technical, Kansas took the ball and Tyrel Reed drilled a three-pointer. Collins hit another one on the Jayhawks’ next possession.
Clemente said his foul — which is all he could talk about despite scoring a game-high 26 points — was a reaction to a cheap shot from Morningstar.
“He elbowed me in my stomach,” he said. “I’m not going to let anybody punk me in my house.”
Whether that’s true or not, kids on a playground know the second person to attack is going to be the one to get in trouble.
“Denis was taking a stand,” Kansas State coach Frank Martin said. “He’s a very prideful kid who doesn’t like to lose or back down from anyone.”
Collins — who scored 10 of his 19 points after Clemete’s foul — said the scuffle fired him up.
“When a team comes after one of your players, one of the young guys, it’s my job to protect them out there,” Collins said. “I get upset, but it just pushes me forward and makes me want to play harder.”
As the final seconds ticked off the clock, Clemente looked at the scoreboard and started to weep. Would-be tears of joy streamed down his face in sadness.
Kansas center Cole Aldrich, whose mask shows he knows something about misplaced elbows, said that play and the teams combined 49 fouls were what made the game special.
“That’s the greatest thing about a rivalry game,” Aldrich said. “Everybody’s going at it. We just love to beat up on each other.”
— — Edited by Jesse Trimble
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