Manhattan ? Turns out, Kansas University had very little to do with its streak of victories in Manhattan reaching 21 Wednesday night.
Sure, the Jayhawks must have done at least a few things right, such as scoring more points than the Wildcats in their 78-70 victory, but KSU coach Jim Wooldridge and his players thought the problem was themselves.
“I know everyone talks about the streak and all that,” Wooldridge said, “but that is so far out of the reality of what we’re doing right now. It’s trying to get guys to play better, get guys to play better together, etc, etc.
“We played KU tonight, but if we’d played Nebraska, or Texas, or Texas Tech, with some of the things that we did in that game, I think we’d still be alike in that we’re frustrated with how we’re playing. Playing a team to eight points, or six points, or two points, or one point or 12 — that just doesn’t get the job done.”
To KU’s credit, the Jayhawks (13-3 overall, 5-0 Big 12 Conference) did plenty right in making KSU’s night difficult. The Jayhawks were efficient, hitting almost 51 percent of their shots while logging a season-high 24 assists and a season-low seven turnovers.
That was barely good enough to hold off a furious K-State rally from 21 down, however. The Wildcats’ defense was intense enough that KU made just one field goal in the final 11 minutes. They used a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to single digits and eventually pulled within seven points.
That part looked good to Wooldridge, as did many aspects of the stat sheet. KSU outrebounded the Jayhawks 45-33, had an astounding 25-10 edge on second-chance points and committed just eight turnovers.
Two Wildcats even logged double-doubles. Junior forward Jeremiah Massey had 21 points and 12 rebounds, and senior guard Tim Ellis chipped in 11 points and 10 boards.
But for all the ‘Cats did right, they failed to topple Kansas again because they shoved too many thorns in their own paws.
“With our team it’s always something,” senior guard Jarrett Hart said. “If we’re not turning the ball over, it’s free throws. We’ve just got to be more consistent, and we’re working on that now.”
The 12-for-21 performance at the foul line hurt, but there was more to it than that. A sluggish offensive performance in the first half (10-for-26 shooting) led to the massive deficit. The Wildcats (9-7, 1-4) also forced just one turnover in the first half
Their zone also was ineffective and allowed Kansas to get plenty of slashing lanes and open jumpers.
“They were getting some easy points in the paint and second-chance points,” Ellis said. “They were getting it too deep and making little shots.”
Ironically, despite 6-foot-9 Wayne Simien pouring in 16 points and grabbing eight boards for Kansas, it was the Wildcats who held the advantage inside with a 38-30 edge on points in the paint.
Ten of those came from Massey.
“I played all right tonight,” Massey said, “It really doesn’t matter, though, because of the loss. That’s an encouraging sign, but when you don’t get the win you don’t even pay attention to it.”
And the beat goes on …
6Sports video: KU extends winning streak
See the photos: KU-KSU photo gallery
Hear Bill: KU-KSU postgame audio