“It’s not really the way I wanted it to happen, especially in a losing effort,” said Boschee, whose three with 13:55 left was the 269th of his career.

“It’s a good record to have. I’m proud of it. It’s just unfortunate it had to come with us on the losing end,” added Boschee, who hit three of 11 threes and scored 14 points in KU’s 87-77 loss to UCLA.

Boschee hit two of five threes the first half as the Jayhawks lagged, 46-35, at the break. KU did cut a 15-point deficit to three in the second half.

“We didn’t come out mentally ready to play. We were not smart. They were scoring at will,” Boschee said. “I can’t pinpoint it. Whatever it was, we can’t let it happen again.”

Scott McClurg/Journal-World Photo

Boschee said he wouldn’t dwell on the fact the Jayhawks will fall from the top spot in the AP poll after holding the honor just a week.

“It doesn’t bother me. It’s probably a better thing for this team,” Boschee said. “Maybe there won’t be as much pressure. Maybe some of the younger guys don’t realize the target we have on us.”

Boschee said one bright spot could be taken from the loss, KU’s second against 13 wins.

“I think this shows how good we are. Playing so bad and only being down by three with two minutes to go says something about what we’re capable of when we play the way we want to play,” Boschee said.

Double trouble: KU junior Drew Gooden scored 22 points and grabbed 10 boards. He recorded his seventh straight double-double, tying him with Raef LaFrentz for most consecutive double-doubles in school history.

It wasn’t all fun and games for Richmond, Calif., native Gooden, who hit two of six shots the first half and scored six points at the break.

“A little bit,” Gooden asked, if he was a bit anxious early in the game, playing with 30 or more family members and friends in the stands. “I felt pretty good about the shots going down. They just rimmed out.”

Mob on the floor: Pauley Pavilion workers started to separate some tables at press row with about two minutes left, making it safe for fans to storm the court at game’s end.

KU was able to make some of the UCLA students sweat a bit by cutting a 15-point deficit to three late.

“It felt good,” Gooden said of the comeback. “They thought they had a win. I thought we could pull off an upset.”

Stats, facts: KU is 13-2 for the first time since the 1999-00 season. KU finishes the nonconference portion of its schedule 11-2. The loss snapped KU’s six-game road win streak and a three-game win streak over UCLA. KU is now 7-1 in California under Roy Williams. UCLA has defeated the country’s No. 1 team nine times. UCLA beat No. 1 Stanford last season. KU’s 77 points was a season-low. The Jayhawks had 78 versus Princeton. The 15-point second half deficit was KU’s biggest of the season. KU’s 11-point deficit at halftime was its biggest since March of last year in the NCAA Tournament when Illinois led by 12. KU, which has outrebounded 12 of 15 opponents, was outboarded, 34-32. KU’s 32 rebounds marked a season low mark. UCLA hit 52.6 percent of its shots, breaking a KU run of 24 straight games in which it held foes under 50-percent shooting. Keith Langford (27) and Wayne Simien (19) played their most minutes in a game all season. Gooden attempted a season-high six threes, hitting one. Kirk Hinrich hit his 100th three. Hinrich’s five threes tied a career high. Boschee is the Big 12’s all-time leader in career starts, previously held by Oklahoma State’s Desmond Mason.