Dejà BU? Jayhawks inundated with Bucknell references as Bradley opener nears

By Gary Bedore     Mar 15, 2006

Thad Allender
Bucknell's Chris McNaughton (32) and Rob Thomas celebrate their first-round NCAA Tournament victory over Kansas University in this file photo from last March 18 in Oklahoma City.

It’s not easy for a Kansas University basketball player to forget last year’s first-round NCAA Tournament loss to Bucknell.

Reminders of the No. 3-seeded Jayhawks’ loss to the No. 14-rated Bison seemingly are everywhere this time of year.

“You have to think about it. CBS plays that commercial every day,” KU senior guard Stephen Vinson said Tuesday, referring to a tourney promo that shows Wayne Simien’s last-second shot missing and the Bison rejoicing after a 64-63 decision March 18, 2005, in Oklahoma City.

“I keep trying to get excited about the tournament, but every time I start watching something about it, that’s on there.”

KU will play another BU on Friday – this time Bradley University of the Missouri Valley Conference in a first-round clash at 8:30 p.m. in the Palace of Auburn Hills outside of Detroit.

Scott McClurg
Wayne Simien takes KU's last shot over McNaughton. The shot missed, and Bucknell won, 64-63. Reminders of that game are everywhere as the Jayhawks gear for this year's opener against another mid-major, Bradley.

A victory there might force CBS to stop showing the commercial regarding the “Bucknell Bummer.”

“You see the highlights, and it’s easy to change the channel real fast,” KU senior Christian Moody said.

KU senior Jeff Hawkins said he also had been reminded about Bucknell of late.

“I saw it in a couple of headlines,” Hawkins said. “I’m not worried about Bucknell. I didn’t play against Bucknell much. More than half our team didn’t play against Bucknell. None of us played a major part of the game.

“We lost to Bucknell. Maybe it’s good in one way. We won’t look past any other team because Bucknell proved last year nobody will lay down just because we are Kansas.”

KU coach Bill Self has addressed the Bucknell game at practice this week. He won’t dwell.

“I’ve taken a few moments, but I don’t need to have Christian or Jeff or Stephen talk about Bucknell. You guys will probably do that just fine whenever you talk to the players,” Self said. “So why do I need to dwell on Bucknell when you guys will do my job for me? We won’t spend a lot of time on the negatives, but these guys really didn’t have much to do with what happened last year.”

“Bucknell did a great job in that game. It put them on the map,” KU sophomore Russell Robinson added. “They deserved it. This is a different year, and we’re excited about the opportunity to play in the tournament.”

“Hopefully we’ll use that game as a learning experience and use it to our advantage,” Vinson said. “The name of game is survive and advance. It’s what we’ll try to do.”

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