KU-KSU 2002 Revisited

Here's a story I wrote back in 2002 after KU beat KSU yet again. Ahhhhh memories.

LONG LIVE THE STREAK
Much of the talk from the Land of the Purple prior to Saturday’s match-up between the Kansas Jayhawks and the K-State Wildcats was about The Streak. KU had won 19 games in a row in Manhattan and 26 in a row overall. After K-State took a 36-35 lead into half-time, purple fans everywhere had visions of their first win over KU in Manhattan since 1983. Then the Jayhawks, led by an incredible effort from senior Kirk “Not On My Watch” Hinrich, came out in the second half in an all-out blitz that would make Bill Snyder blush.


The Streak: 26 in a row in the series. 20 in a row in Manhattan. K-State has never beaten KU in Bramlage Coliseum. It’s the longest active winning streak on an opponent’s home court and only six games away from the longest streak EVER in Division I college basketball. Even K-State fans have to admit that their recent dominance in football doesn’t touch The Streak. It’s truly one of the most mindboggling statistics in college basketball.

Kirk Hinrich: What an incredible game for Kirk: 39 minutes, 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting (4-of-7 from three-point range) five rebounds, and five assists. And those numbers don’t even give a glimpse of how dominant he was in this game. He played with so much heart and intensity and put the team on his back when Nick went to the bench with his fourth foul. I think everyone in Bramlage Coliseum can appreciate the effort that Kirk gave in his last trip to Manhattan. You could feel him thinking “The Streak will NOT end on my watch.” When he wanted to score, he scored. When he wanted to involve his teammates, he’d
do it. When he wanted to turn up the defensive pressure, he did it. And, in the end, he willed his team
to victory.

I only wish Kirk’s performance would have been witnessed by a national television audience because anyone in their right mind (i.e. the voters) can see that he has All-American written all over him.

Aaron Miles: Aaron Miles played a solid game, scoring 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting and dishing out six assists while grabbing four steals. However, Aaron’s biggest contribution this season and again in this game was his defense. If you haven’t paid attention to the suffocating defense that Aaron has been playing this year, make sure you watch him in the next few games. He is one of the best on-the-ball defenders that has ever worn the Kansas uniform and it’s time that he starts getting credit for that part of his game.

I do have to disagree with Coach Williams, however, who said: "Nobody I've ever coached has gotten more criticism than Aaron Miles. That's just silly.” Uh Coach, I think Eric Chenowith and Greg Ostertag might disagree with you.

I, for one, think it's silly that Roy thinks it's silly that folks have criticized Miles. You might remember that Roy himself went off on Aaron's performance in the MU post-game press conference just a few days ago. The majority of the criticism toward Aaron has been for his inability to hit the open jump shot. I think that criticism is both fair and valid. We should all appreciate the fact that Aaron generally does a great job running this team, dishing out assists, getting to the bucket for lay-ups, forcing the tempo and playing great defense. But until he starts hitting his jump shot with some consistency and forcing teams to guard him on the perimeter, people will criticize his shooting.

Keith Langford: Keith shrugged off a less-than-spectacular performance against Missouri and came up with some huge plays in this game. I believe he ended up with three “bucket and the foul” situations and continues to be Mr. Consistent. When it’s all said and done, Keith will go down as one of the best finishers in the history of KU basketball. I love watching him glide through the air for lay-ups and knock down jumpers like he was born to do it. 18 points and 6 rebounds. What else is new?

Jeff Graves: Let’s give credit to Jeff Graves for one thing right off the bat: STAYING OUT OF FOUL TROUBLE. After having foul trouble in the last several games and getting two fouls early in the first half, Jeff had only one foul the rest of the way. Let’s hope this is a trend that continues and that The Mountain is finally learning to keep his hands to himself. Not only did Jeff stay out of foul trouble, but he ended up scoring 8 points and grabbing 10 rebounds (his sixth double-digit rebounding effort this season). He also was 4-of-4 from the free throw line on his way to having, as Roy said, “one of his best games of the season.” Way to go, Jeff. Keep it up. You will do great things if you stay out of foul trouble.

Michael Lee and Bryant Nash: Michael Lee and Bryant Nash continue to improve and are becoming solid contributors off the bench. Nash played 23 minutes and came up big with six rebounds. Lee played 12 minutes and had three rebounds and a three-pointer to go along with his aggressive defense. I don’t know about you, but I’ve really enjoyed watching these two develop and come into their own. They gain confidence with each and every minute on the court and the team knows that they can be counted on in crunch time.

"With Nick out, it was a matter of us stepping up with others on the bench. I knew we could do it," said Nash. And that is the difference. Earlier in the year, they weren’t sure of themselves. Now they are and the team is reaping the rewards.

Defense Becomes the Offense: Nick Collison heads to the bench after getting his fourth foul with 14:13 left in the game. K-State fans smell blood and KU fans feel an uncomfortable lump in their collective throat. At that moment, KU trailed 47-45. Then a funny thing happened. The Jayhawks picked up their defensive intensity with the ferociousness of a pit bull in a meat locker and completely devastated the Wildcats. With Player of the Year and All-American candidate Collison on the bench for nearly 12 consecutive minutes in the second half, the Jayhawks outscored K-State 35-13 and turned a two-point deficit into a 20-point lead. Go back and read that sentence again and tell me that isn’t beyond impressive.

Make no mistake about it, folks. This team’s best weapon is their defense. As we’ve seen time and time again this season, when this Jayhawk team commits….truly and unselfishly commits….to play in-your-face man-to-man defense, they are downright scary. They force turnovers that lead to baskets in transition and their defensive intensity creates a frenetic pace that forces the opponent out of their comfort zone.

We all know it and can feel it: This team is coming together and has the pieces to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament. Just how they far they go depends on their commitment to their bread-and-butter: DEFENSE.

Lavender Is NOT Your Color: K-State coach Jim Wooldridge decided to shake things up a bit when he asked his seniors what they thought about wearing replica jerseys to celebrate 100 years of basketball in Manhattan. The idea was to take K-State fans back to the glory years of purple hoops…back to a time when the KU-KSU game actually resembled a rivalry.

Here’s my take on the lavender unis, which I have to admit I had a hard time looking at: If this was truly “just another game” as Wooldridge offered during the week, why would he suggest that they change their uniforms? It may have fired up his team in the early going, but I think if any of his players had truly put The Streak out of their minds, bringing out the old jerseys brought it right to the forefront. I say forget the gimmicks and go out and play.

I think Keith Langford summed it up best for Jayhawk fans everywhere: "Their jerseys were kind of ugly if you ask me. But, then again, I don't like purple."

From the “Not So Original” department: K-State fans were heard chanting “H—A—R—R—Y
P—O—T—T—E—R” on a couple of occasions while Kirk was shooting free throws. That would have been funny if the chant wasn’t about two or three years old. I guess that just goes to show that things still are a couple of years behind in Manhattan.

A Tale of Two Teams: If you take a look at the two games between KU and K-State this year, there’s an interesting item to make note of: If K-State could have taken their first half from the game in Manhattan and the last 32 minutes or so from their game in Lawrence and put them together into one game, then
The Streak might have ended. Unfortunately the purples simply couldn’t avoid huge Jayhawk runs in
both games…..16-0 to start the game in Lawrence and a 21-6 run in Manhattan after K-State pulled to within 61-58.

Live by the Three, Die by the Three: K-State had seven three pointers in the first half due in large part to Roy switching to a zone defense because of foul trouble. Give K-State credit for taking advantage of the situation and knocking down the long ball. I have to admit that visions of the Nebraska game in Lincoln last year were dancing through my head as three-pointer after three-pointer went through the net. K-State’s hot shooting from behind the arc and impressive defense in the first half were the reasons the Wildcats took a 36-35 lead into the half.

Of course, there are two halves in every game and K-State didn’t show up for the second half. Not only
did their shooting cool off considerably (they hit one three-pointer in the second half), but they simply didn’t have the energy to match the defensive intensity they showed in the first half. “They ran us out of
the gym at the end there,” said Matt Siebrandt. “It seemed like they had an extra gear and we couldn't keep up with them.”

The Scratching Your Head Stat of the Game: KU was 14-of-20 (70%) from the free throw line. Collison, Graves and Langford combined to go 12-of-14 and Hinrich, who is usually an excellent free throw shooter, was 2-of-6.

After Further Review, The Officials Missed the Call: Kirk Hinrich shoots a three-pointer and one official raises his arm to signal that it indeed was a three-pointer. Swish…3 points for the Jayhawks. But wait, the officials decide to stop the game and take a look at the tape to see if Kirk’s foot was on the line. For those of us that saw the replay, it was clear that Kirk’s foot was behind the line and that is was a legitimate three-pointer. The officials, one who I believe was wearing lavender under his zebra outfit, reviewed the play and said that it was a 2-pointer instead of a 3. Huh? What? You’re kidding, right? Are we on Candid Camera?

In the end, it wasn’t the difference between a win and a loss, but it continued this season’s story of questionable officiating in the Big XII. I’m not just talking about calls that go against KU. I think there have been some horrible calls both ways in Jayhawk games and in other conference games. It’s really something that should be looked at by the Big XII leadership.(Did I mention that I’m still fuming at the “kid glove treatment” the officials gave TJ Ford when KU knocked off Texas?)

Give Credit Where Credit Is Due: This team loses it’s leading rebounder and second-leading scorer and is in prime position for another Big XII conference title. Roy Williams has done a great job of motivating this team and keeping them focused on the task at hand. He whipped Graves into shape, has made adjustments where necessary, and developed a questionable bench into a group of solid contributors that are buying into their roles on the team. Roy said this year has been more challenging than last year, but sometimes the payoff in life is so much sweeter when you have to work harder to reach your goals. I think Roy has done a great job this season of dealing with the adversity and should be commended for putting the pieces together and getting the team to buy into what he is teaching.

Wayne’s World: Did you hear the news that Wayne is hoping to be back for the Iowa State game on February 16? Keep those prayers coming, Jayhawk fans. This team will improve by leaps and bounds when the big guy is back on the floor. That thought, in a word, is delicious.

Up Next: KU takes on the Baylor Bears in Waco, Texas (8 p.m. Central time, ESPN+). The Bears are coming off an embarrassing 91-42 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners and will undoubtedly be more focused when the Jayhawks get to town. That being said, I think the Jayhawks will be ready and will head back to Lawrence with another double-digit road win.

Rock Chalk.

Mic