The Day After: A UK embarrassment

By Matt Tait     Nov 19, 2014

Kansas guard Frank Mason III (0) give the ball a hard bounce in frustration after a string of Jayhawk fouls during the first half of the Champions Classic on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

By now, if you’ve even taken the time to read, listen or pay attention to any of the aftermath of Tuesday night’s bloodbath in Indy, you know that KU’s 72-40 loss to No. 1 Kentucky was an historically bad outing for a Bill Self-coached Kansas team.

So there’s really no need to rehash that. The Jayhawks were overmatched, looked ill prepared and overall rattled and rocked by the bigger, deeper, more talented Kentucky squad that started strong and never let up at the fourth annual Champions Classic showcase.

An outcome such as the one the Jayhawks suffered Tuesday night certainly is not what anyone on the team was hoping for, but it also was not all that surprising. During its three games leading up to the clash with Kentucky, Kansas showed plenty of signs that it was still very much a work in progress and KU coach Bill Self warned all along that the bigger Wildcats would be a handful for his Jayhawks. They were. And then some.

These Champions Classic events are great when you’ve got a veteran team or some guys ready for the bright lights. But they can be a nightmare when you don’t and KU found that out — again — last night.

Duke is now the leader in the four-year history of the event, at 3-1, while Kentucky and Michigan State are both 2-2 and the Jayhawks 1-3.

Kansas guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk leans down for a talk with head coach Bill Self during the second half of the Champions Classic on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Quick takeaway
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It’s cliché, but it’s also true. Getting rocked like that in front of the entire world could be the best thing to happen to this team. The young Jayhawks surely now realize that they need to listen to anything and everything Self has to say, and coaches always say it’s easier to teach and coach after a loss than a victory, so this week’s practices should be, well, interesting. KU will be fine. They’ll regroup, learn from this and start to come together in the very near future. The people screaming doomsday or freaking out about Self or his players are overreacting a bit, as easy and understandable as that is to do after watching your team play like that.

Three reasons to smile
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**1 – It’s college basketball and not college football.** Had this happened to a top-ranked team on the gridiron, it would’ve been devastating to their title hopes and haunted them the entire season. Not in hoops. Sure, this one might have been devastating for KU’s title hopes — in the sense that everyone not named Kentucky appears to be playing for second place this season — but the Jayhawks can move past this and still have a heck of a season. That’s exactly what happened in 2011-12, when Kentucky rocked KU in NYC and the two met for the national championship in New Orleans a few months later. The Jayhawks are too talented and too proud to not regroup and move on from this setback.

**2 – Several freshmen showed up to compete, they just didn’t play that well.** It would’ve been easy — and completely understandable — for those young guys to be overwhelmed by the big stage and scary opponent. But that did not appear to be the case. Cliff Alexander, Kelly Oubre and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, particularly, seemed fairly comfortable out there, the Jayhawks were just in too big of a hole too quickly for it to truly matter. It’s tough to ask or expect a group of freshmen to lead the way when experienced veterans like Wayne Selden and Perry Ellis aren’t clicking around them, and I think there’s less concern about the young guys today than those vets.

Kansas guard Kelly Oubre Jr. (12) pushes the ball up the court against Kentucky during the first half of the Champions Classic on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

**3 – It probably can’t get any worse than that.** It figures to be a long, long time before the Jayhawks play another game where they look quite as overmatched and out of sync. We’re talking 10 years or more. Most teams cant’ say that, so at least KU fans can hold onto that as they mourn Tuesday night’s embarrassment.

Three reasons to sigh
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**1 – This team is lacking leadership on the floor.** Wayne Selden, though competitive, has yet to fully step into that role. And neither point guard — Frank Mason or Devonte’ Graham — seems to own the leadership vibe that this team is missing. It’s not that the Jayhawks need someone out there who will scream and shout and rant and rave, but they do need a guy they can look to for encouragement in tough times and a guy who can pull the group together and get them going when needed. That can’t and shouldn’t always come from the guy in the suit on the bench. It’s just not the same thing as when it comes from someone on the floor.

**2 – The start of the second half was awful.** Obviously, the entire second half was pretty terrible, too, but after cutting UK’s 18-point, first-half lead down to nine at one point and 10 at the break, the Jayhawks put themselves in position to come out fast and get back into the game. Instead, they scored just 12 points the entire second half and shot 13 percent (3-of-23) during the final 20 minutes.

**3 – There were so many other bad statistics and numbers that it was easy to overlook KU’s sub-par performance at the free throw line,** but the Jayhawks struggled there, too. Kansas made just 15 of 27 free throws in this one (56 percent) and too often came away with empty trips that should have been points and could have helped keep the game close – at least closer. Poor free throw shooting is often something coaches just gloss over and expect the players to fix by practicing on their own and focusing in a little more. That’s probably what will happen here, but the Jayhawks need to get on the right side of the free-throw stat sooner rather than later before it becomes a real problem, both on the scoreboard and in their heads.

Kansas guard Wayne Selden Jr. (1) watches as Kentucky forward Alex Poythress (22) rejects his floater during the second half of the Champions Classic on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

One for the road
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The Jayhawks’ 32-point loss at Kentucky in Indianapolis:

·         Moved KU to a 1-1 record to start the season for the fifth time in the Bill Self era.

·         Expanded Kentucky’s lead for all-time wins in NCAA Division I history to 16 games. Kansas now has 2,127 wins in its history, while Kentucky has 2,143.

·         Added to Kentucky’s lead on the series, which stands at 22-6 in favor of the Wildcats, including three-straight wins.

Kansas players Devonte Graham, left, Wayne Selden, Frank Mason and Perry Ellis watch during the final seconds of the Jayhawks' 72-40 loss to Kentucky during the Champions Classic on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

·         Made Kansas’ record against ranked teams 53-29 in the Self era.

·         Made KU 7-16 all-time against the Associated Press No. 1 ranked teams, including 2-2 under Self.

·         Changed Self’s record to 3-4 against Kentucky, 326-70 at Kansas and 533-175 overall.

·         Made KU’s all-time record 2,127-823.

Next up:
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Kentucky guard Andrew Harrison (5) gets to the bucket between Kansas forward Cliff Alexander (2) and forward Perry Ellis (34) during the second half of the Champions Classic on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

The Jayhawks return to action at 7 p.m. Monday, when Rider, which does not feature nine All-Americans or any kind of platoon system that we’re aware of, comes to Allen Fieldhouse for Game 3 of the 2014-15 season.

By the numbers: Kansas vs. Kentucky

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.