Plagued by cramps in the Hawaiian heat, the Jayhawks fought and scratched their way to a first-round loss in the Maui Tournament. Down by as many as 11 points in the first half, Kansas overcame spotty free-throw shooting and long-distance sniping from the Cardinals to climb back in it, but stumbled right at the very end.
Hot three-point shooting gave Ball State an early 18-13 lead over the Jayhawks. When KU’s Bryant Nash got called for an illegal pick moments later, Coach Roy Williams called a time out, removed his glasses, and chewed the team out.
Williams really got mad a few minutes later, when KU’s Jeff Carey, in for the injured Wayne Simien, drew an intentional foul. The resulting free throws contributed to a Ball State 10-0 run, leaving the score at 31-20.
Kansas started to turn the game around after the 7:39 mark. Upon resuming play after a time-out, the Jayhawks went on a 12-2 run of their own to close to within one.
The remainder of the first half stayed close. KU tied the game several times, but just could not take the lead.
Ball State got the best of a fast flurry of points right at the end of the half to go up 55-45 in the closing seconds. KU’s Aaron Miles hit a desperation three at the end to trim Ball State’s lead to seven.
Kansas came out fast in the second half, chipping away at the Cardinals’ lead, finally pulling ahead at the 12:15 mark. After that, the game’s pace slowed way down-two minutes later each team had only added two points.
Ball State’s three-point touch left them. First Drew Gooden, then Nick Collison cramped up. Bryant Nash fouled out.
Despite being held scoreless for three minutes from the 5:16 mark, Ball State was one clanked free-throw away from tying the game up with under two to play. They did tie it up with a very deep three-pointer with about 50 seconds left on the clock.
Aaron Miles slipped trying to hit a three-pointer of his own with 13 seconds left, then cramped up on the defensive end to let the winning basket in with 0.8 seconds remaining.
Ball State hit nine of 12 three-point shots in the first half, and ended up 13 of 29 on the night.
Catch tonight’s 6News, on Sunflower Cable Channel 6, and tomorrow’s Lawrence Journal-World for full coverage of today’s game.
