With tears and sadness filling the faces of a few teammates around him, Kansas University junior Landen Lucas sat in a chair in the corner of the Kansas locker room and tried to explain how KU came up short during Saturday’s Elite Eight loss to Villanova.
Lucas, who finished up a fantastic individual run with another double-digit rebounding effort (12 boards, 6 points) was asked about Villanova’s defense, Perry Ellis’ struggles and the disappointing end to another season.
Although this one came in the Elite Eight instead of the first weekend, it did not take the sting away from the loss.
But the 64-59 setback at the hands of the Wildcats did bring a different feeling with it, and Lucas, at the end of the video below explains that.
A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.
