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Monday, March 17, 2008

‘Horns ‘left it out on the court’

By Ryan Wood

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2008 Big 12 Tournament

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KU vs. UT

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2007-08 March 16 KU-UT Hoops

Kansas City, Mo. — It's hard to keep up with a team raining three-pointers like Kansas University's men's basketball team was Sunday.

But Texas coach Rick Barnes doesn't think the Jayhawks' 15 threes were the reason Texas lost, 84-74, in the Big 12 tournament final at the Sprint Center.

"I think we got beat with not rebounding the ball at crucial times," Barnes said. "I think that we gave up too much dribble penetration at times. But Tennessee made 16 threes (in a 97-78 Texas win on Nov. 24). I don't believe 15 beat us today."

Besides, the Longhorns kept up for much of the game anyway. They hit 12 threes of their own and led, 46-45, after a wildly entertaining first half. At halftime, Texas had hit eight of its 11 treys.

But it got away when the Longhorns stopped hitting shots. They misfired on 13 of 17 three-pointers in the second half, allowing KU's consistently hot shooting to separate the score.

Barnes said his team was tired, playing its third game in three days.

"It had been tough, but it's not an excuse," said guard D.J. Augustin, who had 20 points but struggled in the second half. "All the teams have been playing a lot lately, and we just came out and tried to play hard every night we played.

"We don't want to make any excuses. We played hard tonight, and we left it out on the court."

Augustin missed all nine of his field-goal attempts after halftime, putting the offensive burden on A.J. Abrams (15 points) and Justin Mason (17) while Kansas continued to pour on the points.

"They got more aggressive on the ball screens," Barnes said of Kansas guarding Augustin. "They definitely started getting out, trying to get him to give it up.

": He had an incredible day today. I don't think any of us thought he was going to come out and continue to score the way he did in the first half. It's hard to do, but that's not what he's looking to do."

Like most teams Sunday, the Longhorns (28-6) immediately looked ahead to their NCAA Tournament prospects. They locked up a No. 2 seed in the South and will head to Little Rock, Ark., to play Austin Peay on Friday.

But every competitor wants to win every time. So Sunday's victory - which may not have had a ton on the line in the grand scheme of things - still wasn't one to brush off right away.

"There's no doubt we're disappointed," Barnes said. "We like to think every time we go out, we like to win even though we know that's not going to happen."

KU vs. UT

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Comments

albraun (anonymous) says...

Being tired because of having played 3 games in 3 days isn't an excuse. Our guys played 3 games in 3 days as well, and our 2 others were much harder fought than theirs were.

March 17, 2008 at 7:03 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

yates33333 (anonymous) says...

KU has a much better bench than UT. We have two subs who would start on their team. For certain they would play Kaun at center and might use two point guards or have Augustin play no. 2 guard. Mason would be the sixth man. In fact, Aldrich might start for them if they didn't have Kaun. They need a really good big man to go with James as power forward. Of course, KU plays slightly better as a team and is much better passing, moving the ball. Let's hope KU plays as it did Saturday the rest of the way.

March 17, 2008 at 7:41 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

pilot100 (anonymous) says...

""We don't want to make any excuses." Ya I have heard that before from Ricky. How about this Ricky Ticky you got your ____
kicked....

Rock Chalk

March 17, 2008 at 9:56 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

vmwskywalk (anonymous) says...

Either of those two teams could have whipped anyone in the country yesterday.

March 17, 2008 at 10:38 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

mariochalmersfan15 (anonymous) says...

hawks all the way!!!!!

March 17, 2008 at 10:52 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

kc_wildfire (anonymous) says...

Hey D.J. maybe you should talk to your coach about using his bench players in a 28 point blowout win the day before against OU.

James - 35 minutes
Atchley - 30 minutes
Abrams - 38 minutes
Augustin - 35 minutes
Mason - 31 minutes

You can't tell me that they didn't have someone who can play SG for 3 to 4 minutes at the end of a blowout game so Abrams could sit. Or give Pittman more than 9 minutes so James minutes get lowered to 30-32.

March 17, 2008 at 10:54 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Timmay97 (anonymous) says...

I totally agree with vmwskywalk...........both teams played at an extremely high level yesterday. It's not even about the fact they made so many threes......there were only 14 turnovers during the ENTIRE game. And about three of those were by KU in the first 3 minutes.

Texas pose matchup problems for other teams because of Augustin and Abrams outside play. I do think they will go deep into the tourney.

Also, regardless of whether they deserved it or not.....congrats to baylor. i'm obsessed with KU, but I love to see the Big 12 get the recognition they did on Selection Sunday. Six teams in the tourney looks really good for this balanced conference!

KU in '08.......Rock Chalk Jayhawk Baby!!!!!!!!!!

March 17, 2008 at 11:17 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jross1972 (Joe Ross) says...

Ive had a heap of difficulty logging on to this site. is it high traffic volume impeding access or what?

March 17, 2008 at 5:58 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

KUbsee69 (anonymous) says...

jross - I've had the same problem all day. I also tried other LJW sites and found the same problem. I'd guess they had server problems.

March 17, 2008 at 6:16 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jayhwkroks (anonymous) says...

Barnes should just give credit where credit is due. He brings up excuses and then turns around and says that he doesn't want to make excuses. YOu got you're butt kicked. Just except it. Now it's time to show the rest of the country what Jayhawk basketball is all about. Enough talk about NC and Duke, here come the Hawks!!!!!!!!! rockchalk baby!!!!!!!!

March 17, 2008 at 7 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jaybate (anonymous) says...

ESPNema college basketball minimization of ku ubiquitious

ku continues to be minimized to the ESPN task bar, despite being a Number 1 seed. Vitale never mentions KU once in his four reports today other than that they are in the tourney. On the Men's BB page, again, nothing but KU is the one seed by Katz in his Midwest summary and a lot of talk about Georgetown. ugh.

espnema's big shill

Katz LAMELY arguing UNC has a tough region makes him seem like he's licking Roy's Tarheels. College Basketball Shill of the Year: Andy Katz.

March 17, 2008 at 8:29 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jross1972 (Joe Ross) says...

jaybate...

the one seed is not much to celebrate considering whats at stake. Id rather wait for people to lay props on us when/if we win a championship. until then, I let people say whatever they want to, positive or negative, about our team.

lets prove it on the court.

March 17, 2008 at 8:32 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

ralsterKUMed95 (anonymous) says...

Unfortunately, I think the obvious lack of media respect for KU will only change significantly if/when we win the national championship. And hopefully beat UNC by double-digits in the process...I think that would shut up alot of media 'experts'. And our 'reload' for next season is solid, and could be spectacular, depending on which non-seniors this year leave or stay. Although, if we play like we did against TX, we would win it all, and some of our players may choose to leave early (after this year)...

March 18, 2008 at 10:02 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Lebowski (anonymous) says...

Very good point Wildfire...

That's a lot of unnecessary minutes... if KU wins by 28, nobody gets more than about 25 or so.

March 18, 2008 at 4:22 p.m. ( | suggest removal )