New Orleans ? So impressive was Kansas University that Marquette coach Tom Crean couldn’t help but toss the Jayhawks a triple modifier.
“We did not play well. That’s an obvious statement,” Crean said following KU’s 94-61 crushing of the Golden Eagles in an NCAA Final Four semifinal Saturday night. “But they are very, very, very good.”
Moments later, the 37-year-old Crean, who concluded his fourth season at the Milwaukee school with a gaudy 27-6 record, delivered a double modifier.
“Their leadership from Roy (Williams) on down is very, very prevalent when you’re out there on the same floor with that team,” he said.
For half a dozen minutes, Marquette played Kansas even. Then the Jayhawks blew it open by making eight of nine shots while the Golden Eagles missed 10 of 11 attempts.
“We didn’t play as great as we wanted on either end of the floor,” Marquette junior All-American Dwyane Wade said. “Kansas … it was their night. It wasn’t Marquette’s night.”
It wasn’t Wade’s night, either. The 6-foot-5 off guard finished with 19 points, six rebounds and four assists — a far cry from his triple-double (29 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists) in the Eagles’ Final Four-qualifying victory over Kentucky last weekend.
“Kansas had a great game,” Wade said. “Their transition game was unbelievable. They got back and they made us take tough shots.”
Everybody knows Kansas has a great transition game. But foes don’t know just how great until they actually play the Jayhawks.
“As hard as we tried to assimilate that in practice,” Crean said, “I’m sure I learned now what so many other teams learned in the past. You cannot prepare for how good that break is.”
Thus, Crean felt like he was trying to plug a dike with his plug sack empty.
“I don’t have a lot of answers for how good their break was,” the MU coach said, “other than the fact we did not get back the way we needed to and did not communicate. We were paralyzed a few times.”
No Golden Eagle was more victimized by KU’s quicksilver offense and barracuda defense than MU point guard Travis Diener, who missed 10 of 11 shots and was guilty of eight turnovers.
“We’re extremely disappointed,” Diener said. “This will live with us forever. But no one can take away that we’re one of the top four teams in the nation.”
Marquette did not look like one of the top four Saturday night, allowing KU to score 56 points in the paint and 16 points off fast breaks.
“We haven’t had a day like this all year,” Crean said. “We did not play the kind of game certainly that we’re capable of, but at the same time this team won 27 games and 53 over the last two years.”
After his postgame media session, Crean went to a local hospital to be with his mother, Marjorie, who began to suffer weakness in her arms during the contest and was hospitalized as a precaution. She was listed in stable condition.
