Gamer 05
The University Daily Kansan - Mon. March 26, 2007 - Page 1A
It's over: Missed shots end tournament run
By Michael Phillips
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Jayhawks might have had more luck with a carnival game than they did against the UCLA Bruins on Saturday.
Kansas missed several layups and tip-ins on its way to a 68-55 loss that left the players baffled at how something so easy became so hard.
“The rim wasn’t friendly for us,” sophomore guard Brandon Rush said. “It was just one of those days where things weren’t going right.”
Meanwhile, the home-state Bruins seemed to be playing with an oversized hoop. When Kansas made a late run with less than five minutes remaining in the game, guard Darren Collison hit a long three-pointer as the shot clock expired to seal the victory.
“We played very good defense,” sophomore guard Mario Chalmers said. “Tonight, the hoop was as big as the ocean for them.”
Instead of slowing things down, the Bruins decided to run with the Jayhawks. The game moved at a quick pace throughout, with turnovers and rebounds keeping things moving even when there was no scoring.
None of the Kansas players admitted to feeling nervous, but they handled the pace by playing too fast, rushing shots and hurrying into plays that didn’t exist.
“I think we got impatient and tried to score too fast,” coach Bill Self said. “If we had shot the ball well, we could have scored quite a few points today.”
The Kansas defense kept the team in the game. Chalmers and junior guard Russell Robinson forced turnovers at a steady rate. At the end of the game, UCLA had turned the ball over a season-high 25 times.
But for all their defensive success, the Jayhawks couldn’t find a way to convert those turnovers into points on the offensive end.
“That was frustrating, because we just weren’t able to convert,” sophomore forward Julian Wright said. “One person starts missing, and then the basket seems smaller and smaller, and the other team gets confidence.”
Going into the final timeout, UCLA held an eight-point lead with three minutes remaining. Sensing the end of the season, the players threw themselves at the ball in an attempt to create something positive.
“We tried to go into scramble mode so we could force some turnovers and get some easy baskets,” Chalmers said.
Self credited UCLA with staying poised and fending off every Kansas rally. The Bruins made it to last year’s Final Four, so the challenge was nothing new for them.
Three times in the second half Kansas cut the lead to six, and each time UCLA responded, increasing the lead once again. The Jayhawks never found the momentum to sustain a run.
“We did a very poor job in key stretches,” Self said. “Possessions are magnified when you’re playing from behind, and you have to make the most of each one.”
In the end, the loss boiled down to one key statistic: Kansas missed 19 layups and tip-ins. A deep tournament run ended on the most unlikely of cold streaks, as the Jayhawks couldn’t produce on the easiest of shots.
“It just wasn’t our day,” junior forward Darnell Jackson said. “The ball just wasn’t going in.”