CP UDK 20140211 A12

Volume 126 Issue 75
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
COMMENTARY
Loss will hurt more in March
S
sports
kansan.com
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
K-STATE REWIND
Embiid absent during second Big 12 loss
PAGE 8
KANSAS 82 KANSAS STATE 85
By Blake Schuster
his was the game Kansas needed to win. Not because the Jayhawks matched up against their in-state rivals. Not because the Big 12 title race depended on it. Not because of the AP rankings. As far as those things go, the Jayhawks will be all right. No, this was the game Kansas needed to point back to a few weeks from now when its playing somewhere in Missouri, or Indiana or, if its lucky, Texas. This was the type of game No. 7 Kansas needed to learn how to win so it doesnt stumble in March. Instead, the Jayhawks couldnt take control in overtime on Monday, falling to Kansas State 85-82. Bill Self is famous for these types of games: famous for pulling them out and famous for letting the opponents get the best of his teams. There is no middle ground. A testimony to a team's toughness is to figure out a way to win when things aren't going well, Self said. When you don't have that momentum and that energy, it takes toughness. Dont get confused, thats not a remark from Self on Monday. That one is from 2012. One of the good games, when Kansas came back from a 10-point deficit late in the second half against Purdue during the third round of the NCAA tournament. On Monday night, Self said the Jayhawks werent tough. They werent quick. They didnt guard. And yet, overtime: a chance to take down a team playing its best when Kansas was anything but. We actually played our best ball when we got down nine," Self said. Those last two minutes, when the Jayhawks didnt have a chance was when they seemed to believe the most. Brannen Greene was fighting for loose balls, and Andrew Wiggins was putting back his own rebounds. When Bramlage Coliseum went silent, Lawrence got rowdy. That was with Kansas unable to hit from 3-point range (3 for 17) Perry Ellis and Andrew Wiggins stumbling into foul trouble and an ailing Joel Embiid who Self said has been battling back issues lately unable to stay on the floor. This was a Kansas team that had nothing go right until the final moments of regulation. This could be a celebration of the fact that the Jayhawks were able to make it a game. Instead, Self didnt try to cover anything up afterwards; this is the type of performance that costs you in March. The Wildcats were stronger; they werent afraid of the No. 7 team in the country. They wanted them. Many things would need to go terribly right for any team other than the Jayhawks to win the conference. That shouldnt change anything. This was the game Kansas needed to win. Edited by Emily Hines
[email protected]
Sophomore forward Perry Ellis attempts to dunk the ball over a Kansas State player. Ellis led the Jayhawks with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
JAMES HOYT/KANSAN
OUTPLAYED IN OVERTIME
Kansas matched Kansas State for two halves, but failed to deliver in OT
BRIAN HILLIX
[email protected] The magic ran out. No. 7 Kansas (18-6, 9-2 Big 12) surged back from deficits all night long but couldnt hold off Kansas State (17-7, 7-4) in overtime as the Jayhawks fell 85-82 in Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kan. Kansas overcame a nine-point deficit with under two minutes remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime but couldnt sustain the momentum into the extra five-minute period. We just played catchup the whole time, Kansas coach Bill Self said. We didnt play well in overtime. Down by nine with 1:53 to go in the game, Kansas took advantage of two Kansas State turnovers to inch back. Backto-back buckets by Brannen Greene in a 10-second span slashed the Wildcat lead to three with more than a minute left. Missed free throws hurt the Wildcats as Kansas State forward Wesley Iwundu missed the front-end of a one-and-one with the Wildcats up by two points. After airballing a potential game-tying 3-pointer with less than a minute to go in regulation, Andrew Wiggins rebounded his own miss and laid it back in with seven seconds remaining to send the game to overtime. It was part of an inconsistent night for Wiggins, who scored 16 points but went 4-for-12 from the field and missed seven of his 15 free throws. I thought he made a couple of unbelievable athletic plays down the stretch, said Self, who hinted Wiggins should have made plays like that in the first 38 minutes of the game. Overtime was a back-andforth affair with the Wildcats holding a slim lead throughout the five-minute period. A short floater from Iwundu with a minute remaining gave the Wildcats a five-point lead one the Wildcats wouldnt give up. We didnt get any defensive stops toward the end, said Naadir Tharpe, who had a double-double with 13 points and 10 assists. They were relentless and played a real good game. Kansas freshmen got a glimpse of the Sunflower Showdown rivalry from the comfortable confines of Allen Fieldhouse on Jan. 11, where the Jayhawks thumped the Wildcats 86-60 behind 22 points from Wiggins, 20 from Wayne Selden and 11 from Joel Embiid. Monday night was a different story as Wiggins, Selden and Embiid rarely looked comfortable in front of an energetic Kansas State crowd. Selden scored a season-low two points and was benched for freshman Greene for the later stages of the game. Embiid scored six points on five field goal attempts as Self elected to play the more-experienced Tarik Black late in regulation and for the duration of overtime. Self would go on to say that Embiid was beat up and needed rest. Kansas State has had one the best defenses in the Big 12 all season. Kansas didnt see much of it in the teams first matchup in Lawrence when the Jayhawks shot 56 percent from the field and scored 86 points, the second highest total the Wildcats have allowed all season. The Jayhawks saw more of it this time around. Kansas shot 42 percent from the field including 18 percent from 3-point range. No starter shot better than 50 percent from the field. Perry Ellis led Kansas with 19 points, 11 rebounds and two steals. He kept the Jayhawks in the game with free throws down the stretch and would finish 9-for-12 from the line. He drew praise from Kansas State coach Bruce Weber after the game. If theres an MVP in this league, its Perry Ellis, Weber said. He is a winner for them and really helps them. Kansas remains in firstplace in the Big 12 with a one-game lead over the Texas Longhorns. The Jayhawks will return to Allen Fieldhouse to take on a Texas Christian University team that is winless in the Big 12. Weve got to just move on now, Ellis said. Edited by Austin Fisher
As Kansas State slowly pulled away with the lead, Kansas coach Bill Self yells to his players to regain control of the game.
JAMES HOYT/KANSAN

CP UDK 20140211 A12

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

CP UDK 20140211 A12

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Volume 126 Issue 75

THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Embiid absent during second Big 12 loss

KANSAS 82 KANSAS STATE 85

You might also like