KU mystified by cramps

By Jim Baker     Nov 20, 2001

? It’s hard for Kansas to play like champs when three players suffer from paralyzing cramps.

“Our legs gave out before theirs did,” said KU forward Nick Collison, one of three Jayhawks hammered hard by cramps in the second half of KU’s 93-91 first-round Maui Invitational tournament loss to Ball State on Monday in steamy Lahaina Civic Center.

Collison, who headed to the locker room for a second-half IV treatment and muscle relaxants, played five minutes the final half, while teammate Drew Gooden was able to go 16 minutes despite cramping. Frosh Aaron Miles cramped up while playing defense on Ball State’s final play of the game a driving layup by Patrick Jackson that busted a 91-all tie with less than a second left.

“You can’t make excuses. They won the game, but it definitely hurt us,” Collison said.

The cramps took the Jayhawks by surprise an hour and a half after South Carolina’s Aaron Lucas was carried off the court after suffering from cramps in a first-round win over Chaminade.

“None,” KU coach Roy Williams said, asked how much he talked about hydration before the game. “We’ve been to Maui twice, the Rainbow Classic twice and came here one other time. It’s the first time we’ve had this problem.

“Our training and conditioning program we have in the fall is very strenuous to get the guys ready to play. We play with a great deal of effort. The heat and things you go through in the course of this game was difficult for us.”

It was disconcerting for KU’s players, coaches and up to 800 fans in the 2,500-seat arena to see so many Jayhawks undone by cramps.

Both Collison and Miles at one time had to be carried off the court. Miles was hauled off as Ball State’s players were piling on each other at the final horn.

Tale of the tape
B.St. KU
47.1 FG% 52.2
43.3 3pt FG% 33.3
63.6 FT% 66.7
35 Reb. 43
16 Asst. 19
15 TO 16
8 Blk 4
5 Stl. 8
BALL ST. (93) MIN FG FT REB PF TP
m-a m-a o-t
Theron Smith 25 7-15 4-7 5-7 5 19
Lonnie Jones 28 1-3 0-2 2-7 4 2
Patrick Jackson 32 9-15 3-5 0-2 2 23
Chris Williams 33 8-14 3-3 2-3 4 24
Matt McCollom 25 1-6 2-2 0-3 2 5
Rob Robbins 16 3-8 0-0 0-1 0 9
Michael Bennett 12 0-0 0-0 0-3 1 0
Zach Willingham 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0
Robert Owens 21 4-8 2-3 2-7 2 11
Brian Burns 6 0-1 0-0 0-2 2 0
Totals 33-70 14-22 11-35 23 93

Three-point goals: 13-30 (Williams 5-10, Robbins 3-7, Jackson 2-3, Smith 1-2, Owens 1-3, Matt McCollom 1-5). Assists: 16 (McCollom 6, Jackson 3, Bennett 3, Smith, Williams, Robbins, Owens). Turnovers: 15 (Williams 5, McCollom 5, Jackson 3, Smith, Bennett). Blocked shots: 8 (Owens 4, Jones 2, Smith, Williams). Steals: 5 (Jackson 2, Williams, McCollom, Robbins).

KANSAS (91) MIN FG FT REB PF TP
m-a m-a o-t
Drew Gooden 33 12-21 7-13 4-10 2 31
Nick Collison 22 7-10 1-2 2-5 0 15
Kirk Hinrich 34 6-9 0-0 1-2 4 14
Aaron Miles 28 3-7 2-2 1-6 1 9
Jeff Boschee 34 1-5 2-2 1-9 2 4
Brett Ballard 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0
Keith Langford 17 3-9 4-4 1-5 2 10
Bryant Nash 8 0-0 0-0 0-0 5 0
Jeff Carey 20 2-4 2-4 2-5 4 6
Michael Lee 3 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 2
Team 1-1
Totals 35-67 18-27 13-43 21 91

Three-point goals: 3-9 (Hinrich 2-5, Miles 1-1, Langford 0-1, Boschee 0-2). Assists: 19 (Hinrich 6, Miles 5, Boschee 4, Collison 2, Langford 2). Turnovers: 16 (Gooden 5, Miles 3, Langford 2, Nash 2, Carey 2, Collison, Boschee). Blocked shots: 4 (Gooden, Collison, Boschee, Langford). Steals: 8 (Gooden 2, Miles 2, Boschee 2, Langford 2).

Ball State 55 38 93
Kansas 48 43 91

“Nick’s were the worst,” Williams said. “Drew’s were bad and Aaron at the end of the game. It’s hot. We have not played at this temperature. It was an up-and-down tempo game. Both exhibition games were not a struggle like today. You can add a lot of things to it. I’m not a medical person by any means.”

The Jayhawks did take some precautions before the game.

“I drank a lot this morning,” Gooden said after scoring a career-high 31 points. “I ate a lot of fruit. I’m going to take care of my body a little better, show a little more concern for my body tonight and keep a lot of fluids in me tonight and tomorrow. I can’t believe this right now. This is like a bad dream.”

Some Jayhawks, like Keith Langford, had no problems.

“All last night and early today I kept drinking and drinking,” Langford said after scoring 10 points with five rebounds. “I knew how hot it’d be. I thought we were ready to play. We had pre-game meal and watched film and went over the game plan, but we came out and struggled.”

KU trainer Mark Cairns, who spent most of the second half with doctor Larry Magee massaging the legs of Gooden and Collison, said the medical staff tried to tackle the problem since arriving in Hawaii on Friday.

“They’ve done a ton of drinking the last three days,” Cairns said. “People were getting dehydrated. Their electrolytes are out of whack and you get muscle cramps that are very hard to come back from.”

Collison, who said he drank a lot before the game, has had cramp problems in the past.

“Nick is such a heavy sweater,” Cairns said. “You play all those minutes with the heat and humidity and sometimes this happens. Drew sometimes if it’s in one muscle, in his case the calf, it can clear up quickly. Aaron’s just hit him at the end. I don’t know how it did, but it did on the very last play.”

Cairns said the Jayhawks would continue to drink water and add some extra salt to the diet, but cramping could continue today.

Ball State also had some cramping problems, coach Tim Buckley said.

“It’s a matter of keeping more fluids in you,” Buckley added. “Tony Cox is one of the best trainers in college basketball. He’s on ’em about fluids.”

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