Kansas University’s basketball players have come to the harsh realization they’re not going to win the Big 12 Conference regular-season title a third straight season.
“This was tough, because it’s killed our chances of winning the conference. It’s a crucial loss,” junior Wayne Simien said after the Jayhawks’ 82-67 loss to Texas Monday in Austin, Texas.
“What we have to do now is concentrate on our final three games in Big 12 play. We’ll try to finish out and get the momentum up for the postseason.”
KU wraps up the regular season with home games against Oklahoma and Nebraska, and a finale at Missouri. The third-place Jayhawks, who are 9-4 in the Big 12, are two games behind Oklahoma State, a double-overtime loser Monday night to Missouri, and Texas, who each stand 11-2.
Just three games remain for all three teams.
“There’s still a ton to play for this year,” KU coach Bill Self said Tuesday on his Hawk Talk radio show. “We are not going to win league. We have four losses. Mathematically, we are still in it, but I think there is the chance they will win one more game.
“Our goal is to have a chance to win it every year,” Self added, referring to the national championship. “This year we have not played to that level consistently at all. Just because we haven’t yet doesn’t mean we won’t. This baby isn’t over yet.”
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Graves’ technical revisited: Self had two Hawk Talk callers inquire about the future of troubled senior center Jeff Graves, who received a technical foul in the second half in the midst of an 18-4 Texas run.
Graves received a technical for bouncing the ball at UT’s Brian Boddicker after Graves was fouled.
“That was a play that was probably a bad basketball play,” Self said of Graves’ emotional display.
“I really don’t think you dismiss an individual from a team for getting a technical foul. I think you could dismiss an individual from a team for a culmination of different things or if he’s become a distraction.
“I believe, and the players believe, that Jeff can and will help this basketball team. I think Jeff has helped this team,” Self added, referring to Graves stepping up when David Padgett was out because of a stress fracture.
“Jeff wants to do what is right, in my opinion. A majority of the time he does. Sometimes we all fall short. A lot of people would say, ‘Hey, fish or cut bait right now,’ that expression, but there’s no question our fans want to see the best product Kansas basketball can put on the floor if in fact it’s consistent with the philosophy and beliefs and attitudes that go along with Kansas basketball. Every now and then you hit bumps in the road. Certainly now, that is the case.”
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More on ISU flap: Iowa State coach Wayne Morgan remains upset with a first-half sequence in Saturday’s loss to KU in which J.R. Giddens hit a three-point basket when the Cyclones should have been shooting a free throw.
“If I was coach Morgan I would be upset, to be very candid with you,” Self said. “But I also don’t believe anybody on their bench, based on us, ran out on the court and said it was a two-shot foul (instead of one-and-one by Jared Homan). I think it just caught everybody off guard.
“Our players said the official told them it was a one-and-one. There obviously was an error there. If I was coach Morgan, I certainly wouldn’t be happy about that, but there are a lot of things in every game coaches have reasons to not be totally ecstatic the way the whistle blows from time to time. They got the worst end of it, probably. Still they did have a five-point lead with a minute and half left. They still had an opportunity, but our guys stepped up and made plays.”
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UT game revised: Self liked the effort in Monday’s loss at Texas.
“The kids fought their hearts out. Dub (Simien) battled his butt off. I told the team a guy I was most proud of was a guy that’s laboring, David (Padgett). He missed a couple of those layups, but he was in there knocking and banging. Even though things didn’t always go right, they (Longhorns) certainly felt his height and his presence in there a majority of his possessions.”
