KU rally falls short – Iowa State 79, Kansas 77

By Gary Bedore     Feb 6, 2001

Earl Richardson/Journal-World Photo
Kansas' Kirk Hinrich loses the ball between Iowa State's Martin Rancik, left, and Paul Shirley. The Cyclones beat KU, 79-77, on Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse.

Kansas senior Luke Axtell was right where he wanted to be: Past the three-point line, hoisting a shot that could win a basketball game in Allen Fieldhouse.

“It’s what every shooter wants to do. I wanted that shot bad. To miss it it’s a tough responsibility to bear,” said Axtell, who airballed an off-balance 24-footer with two seconds left in Kansas’ 79-77 ESPN Big Monday loss to Iowa State.

Axtell the third option on a play devised during a time out with 9.5 seconds left accepted a pass from Kirk Hinrich at :04, dribbled the basketball, then misfired to the left.

“I rushed the shot,” the 6-foot-10 Axtell said, tears welling in his eyes in an emotional interview room. “It was on line. I just put it up too fast. It’s obviously a bad shot in a normal situation fading away off the dribble but if it goes in it’s a different locker room right now. I just wish it had gone in.”

It would have been ironic had KU (18-3, 7-2) beaten Iowa State (20-3, 8-2) on a buzzer-beating three.

The Cyclones hit 11 of 17 threes to KU’s five of 11.

“Eleven of 17 is amazing. It was an unbelievable performance,” Axtell said.

Yet KU almost survived the barrage by Kantrail Horton (four of four threes for 19 points) and Jamaal Tinsley (three of six threes, 18 points) by rallying from an 11-point deficit in the last 41/2 minutes.

The Jayhawks trailed 79-77 following two Eric Chenowith free throws at 1:04. Horton missed a driving one-handed shot, which was rebounded by Nick Collison at :45.

Hinrich then missed a three-pointer at :25, Kenny Gregory rebounding and KU eventually calling time at :09.5.

“We ran an isolation for Kirk to penetrate. He chose to pull up and shoot the three. It would have been great had it gone in,” KU coach Roy Williams said. “Kenny got a great rebound and we got it back.”

Hinrich, who hit five of nine shots and one of four threes, explained the decision to shoot.

“Basically I’ve got my man 1-on-1. I felt he was sagging. I probably took a bad shot,” said Hinrich, who had 12 points, six assists and five turnovers.

Iowa State 46 33 79
Kansas 35 42 77

Attendance: 16,300

After failing to free Nick Collison down low for what KU hoped would be an inside hoop, the Jayhawks called time at 9.5, setting up plans for a final shot that would have forced overtime or won the game outright.

“We tried to set a play for Jeff Boschee to run across a screen by Nick Collison on the baseline,” Williams said. “So we had Jeff coming to the corner, Nick stepping in on the block, Eric screening for Luke on the other side. The first option is Jeff. The second is Nick. The third is Luke.

“They did a good job. They switched the screen inside. Martin Rancik got out on Luke and made it difficult for him to make the shot.”

Another possibility would have been for Hinrich to skip the third option and head to the hoop.

“I’d hoped when Kirk turned that corner, if he didn’t throw it to Jeff or Nick when he turns that corner he could have penetrated himself. But give them credit. They came out and guarded us,” Williams said. “I will never question a kid doing what he thinks he can do. I can live with that.”

Hinrich sorely wishes the final play would have resulted in a basket.

“It’s a play we ran several times in practice,” he said. “We try to get it inside first, or to Jeff in the corner. Neither were open. Luke’s the third option. The guy guarding the guy screening (Rancik) jumped out and did a good job on the shooter (Axtell).”

The last moments may have been exciting, but the Jayhawks know where they lost the game defending the three.

“Their guards are great. They were hitting big, big, big shots,” Hinrich said. “They have great shooters. They are the best team down the stretch I’ve ever played against.”

Tinsley iced a 25-footer straight on as the shot clock ran down with 4:37 left, giving ISU a 73-63 lead. Just before that, Horton had canned a 28-footer in front of ISU’s bench giving the Cyclones a 68-59 advantage.

Shane Power threw in a pair of deep threes, as did Jake Sullivan.

“They won the game behind the three-point line,” Chenowith said after scoring 11 points with five boards. “Some of them were NBA threes that were unbelievable.

“Tonight we outrebounded them (36-32). We shot free throws well (12 of 15 to ISU’s 12 of 21). We shot well (50 percent to ISU’s 46.7). We did everything except defend the three.”

KU’s Williams was dismayed at the three-point defense.

“We felt like a couple of times they took a shot we felt like we wanted them to take,” Williams said. “They kept making them. It started out early when Sullivan made one six or seven feet behind the line. Horton made one that looked like it was 10 feet behind the line.

“Even on those shots you have to get out and get a hand up. We should have got out there. We were five of 11 (threes) and they were 11 of 17. Congratulate them but again we’ve got to get a hand up regardless of how far out they are.”

ISU hit six of nine threes the first half in building a 46-35 lead. Horton threw in a long three at the halftime buzzer to give the Cyclones their improbable 11-point margin.

KU trailed by as many as 12 the final half before the late rally that fell short.

“They played really well. We played well down the stretch,” Williams said. “I never did feel we had a handle on the game until the last four or five minutes. They were sharper and more aggressive than we were.”

Still, the Jayhawks would have been able to win had one last-second shot fallen.

“I just hope he doesn’t take the last shot too hard,” Williams said of Axtell, who busted a seven-game drought by hitting a three and scoring seven points with four rebounds in 18 minutes. “Before that, he did some really nice things.

“We’ve just got to get after it and realize we get to play them again (Feb. 17 in Ames).”

The Jayhawks will next meet Oklahoma State at 3 p.m. Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.

IOWA STATE (79) MIN FG FT REB PF TP
m-a m-a o-t
Paul Shirley 34 3-7 1-6 4-6 4 7
Martin Rancik 25 3-9 3-5 1-5 4 9
Kantrail Horton 36 6-10 3-4 0-3 3 19
Jamaal Tinsley 36 6-16 3-4 1-4 3 18
Jake Sullivan 34 3-6 2-2 0-1 2 10
Richard Evans 12 3-3 0-0 2-4 1 6
Shane Power 13 2-4 0-0 1-3 1 6
Tyray Pearson 10 2-5 0-0 2-3 3 4
Team 1-3
Totals 28-60 12-21 12-32 21 79

Three-point goals: 11-17 (Horton 4-4, Tinsley 3-6, Power 2-2, Sullivan 2-5). Assists: 10 (Tinsley 6, Horton 3, Sullivan). Turnovers: 9 (Tinsley 3, Shirley 2, Rancik 2, Sullivan, Power). Blocked shots: none. Steals: 7 (Tinsley 3, Shirley 2, Rancik, Pearson).

KANSAS (77) MIN FG FT REB PF TP
m-a m-a o-t
Drew Gooden 29 5-11 3-4 3-8 5 14
Nick Collison 31 5-10 2-2 2-9 1 12
Kenny Gregory 30 5-12 1-2 2-4 1 11
Kirk Hinrich 32 5-9 1-1 0-2 4 12
Jeff Boschee 37 4-6 0-0 0-3 4 10
Eric Chenowith 18 4-7 3-4 2-5 4 11
Luke Axtell 18 2-5 2-2 1-4 0 7
Mario Kinsey 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0
Jeff Carey 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0
Team 1-1
Totals 30-60 12-15 11-36 19 77

Three-point goals: 5-11 (Boschee 2-3, Gooden 1-1, Axtell 1-2, Hinrich 1-4, Gregory 0-1). Assists: 14 (Hirnich 6, Gregory 3, Chenowith 2, Gooden, Boschee, Axtell). Turnovers: 13 (Hinrich 5, Gooden 2, Gregory 2, Collison, Boschee, Axtell, Chenowith). Blocked shots: 7 (Collison 4, Gregory, Hinrich, Chenowith). Steals: 2 (Hinrich, Boschee).

PREV POST

Cyclones make it four in a row over KU: 79-77

NEXT POST

904KU rally falls short – Iowa State 79, Kansas 77