OKLAHOMA CITY ? If Kansas University’s basketball team was an internal combustion engine, then Utah State coach Stew Morrill figured guard Kirk Hinrich was the Jayhawks’ fuel-injection system.
“Hinrich is a great player,” Morrill said late Thursday night following the Aggies’ heartbreaking 64-61 loss. “We just felt we had to locate him in zone and follow him all over the court.”
Clog the injector, Morrill planned, and the cylinders would operate sporadically.
“We just felt Kansas plays so fast, we had to get the tempo of the game to where we could compete,” the USU coach said.
Morrill assigned the task of jamming Hinrich to Cardell Butler, a 6-foot-4 junior guard-forward.
“My job the whole game was to cover him,” Butler said afterward. “I think I did a pretty good job, but not a good enough job.”
Butler helped hold Hinrich to eight points — only two in the second half when he played all 20 minutes. Ultimately, however, the Jayhawks, a No. 2 seed, showed the No. 15-seeded Aggies that they are not a one-man team.
“I think they knew we were so focused on him,” Butler said, “that they knew somebody else had to step up, like Langford.”
Keith Langford made only nine of 19 shots, but scored 22 points.
“Langford is just quick, pure athletic,” Butler said.
Utah State nearly rode a career game by senior forward Desmond Penigar to the fifth win by a No. 15 seed since the tourney expanded to a 64-team bracket. Penigar scored 25 points and snatched nine rebounds, both game highs.
“Damn, it was tough,” Penigar said. “We were just trying to get one of those miracles. It doesn’t feel good to lose, but nobody expected us to be here.”
Both Penigar and Butler misfired on three-point goals in the last 10 seconds that would have forged a tie and sent the game into overtime. Butler had the last crack just before the buzzer sounded.
“I was sure I’d make it,” Butler said of that fateful shot. “But it happens that way sometimes.”
Utah lagged by as many as 13 points early, yet the Utags battled back time after time, closing within a single point a handful of times in the second half.
“If we just could have gotten ahead,” Morrill said. “We had several chances, but we couldn’t get over the hump. If we could have gotten ahead, maybe it would have made it tougher on them.”
As it was, the Utags were plenty tough on the Jayhawks.
“We felt we kind of gave it away,” said soph center Spencer Nelson, who had 10 points and nine boards. “But we’re proud as heck. We stayed together.”
At times, particularly in the second half, the Aggies looked nothing like a double-digit seed.
“I don’t know what Kansas was thinking,” Nelson said. “I’m sure we surprised them, though. I think maybe we showed we deserved a higher seed, but I thank (the committee) for that because otherwise we wouldn’t have gotten a chance to play Kansas.”
Added Butler: “I’m pretty sure they thought they’d win by 10 or 15 points.”
Utah State goes home to Logan with a 24-9 record and the respect of the college basketball community.
“Utah State’s on the map,” Penigar said. “For real.”
