Chicago ? When DePaul leader Bobby Simmons went to the bench with three and then four fouls in the second half, Blue Demons coach Pat Kennedy looked down at his bench and saw a void.
“You know, we’ve got a drought of players from 6-2 from 6-8,” Kennedy said after DePaul let an 11-point first-half lead turn into a 75-69 loss to No. 10 Kansas on Tuesday at the United Center. “We’ve got only one guy in there, and that’s Bobby Simmons.”
With Simmons, a 6-foot-7 junior swingman, fighting foul trouble and finally out for good with 9:19 left to play, Kennedy faced a dilemma. Should he put in Joe Tulley, a 6-2 sophomore guard, or Jon Oden, a 6-8 sophomore forward?
Kennedy went with Oden without so much as a thought.
“With (KU’s Drew) Gooden out there, that’s a mismatch with Tulley they would have exploited,” Kennedy said. “So we went with our defensive player, John Oden, and I thought he had a lot of pressure on him out there.”
Oden’s no Simmons.
In the first half, the versatile Simmons had 14 points and four assists and helped the Blue Demons build a lead that reached 11 before they settled for a 42-33 halftime advantage. Simmons struck both inside and out, hitting three of five three-pointers.
After the half, however, Simmons picked up two quick fouls Nos. 3 and 4 and went to the bench. After Kansas reeled off 10 straight points to turn a 49-44 deficit into a 54-49 lead, Simmons returned and picked up his disqualification foul at 9:19.
“We lost all of our offensive continuity,” Kennedy said.
Oden, who came in with a 2.3 points-per-game average, didn’t reach his average against KU. He had two points in 16 minutes.
Kansas | 33 | 42 | 75 |
DePaul | 42 | 27 | 69 |
Still, Kennedy wasn’t too displeased with the outcome, though it dropped the Blue Demons, who had been receiving top-25 votes, to 4-4.
“I thought we did everything we needed to do for 25 minutes,” he said. “For the first 25 minutes, we had the best control of the game tempo, and that’s the big thing we’re struggling with.”
Kennedy then tossed a bouquet KU’s way, congratulating the Jayhawks for the comeback victory despite the fact two Jayhawks Kenny Gregory and Luke Axtell sat on the bench in street clothes. Gregory is nursing a stress fracture in his right foot, and Axtell has a sprained left ankle.
“I said earlier, after watching tape of them with Gregory and Axtell, I think that’s one of the best teams Roy has had,” Kennedy said of KU coach Roy Williams. “I think they have a real chance to win a national championship. Gregory is an outstanding athlete, and Axtell is a 6-10 shooter. I think this team has a real chance.”
Three-point goals: 1-4 (Boschee 1-2, Hinrich 0-2). Assists: 16 (Hinrich 5, Collison 4, Boschee 3, Gooden 2, Chenowith, Kinsey). Turnovers: 14 (Collison 4, Hinrich 3, Chenowith 2, Kinsey 2, Carey 2, Boschee 1). Blocked shots: 6 (Gooden 3, Chenowith 2, Hinrich). Steals: 10 (Collison 4, Hinrich 3, Gooden, Boschee, Carey). |
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Three-point goals: 8-26 (Simmons 4-7, Burno 2-8, Sawyer 2-9, Cashin 0-1, Tulley 0-1). Assists: 16 (Sawyer 8, Burno 4, Simmons 4). Turnovers: 14 (Sawyer 5, Hunter 3, Williams 2, Simmons, Burno, Brown, Oden). Blocked shots: 3 (Hunter, Brown, Oden). Steals: 7 (Brown 3, Oden 2, Simmons, Burno). |