K-State @ KU Postgame

With my internet down for the past couple of days, I’ve had more time than normal to digest the rotten game that took place last Saturday in Lawrence. I had hoped beyond hope that in some belated Christmas miracle the Wildcats were going to pull out a season changing win but obviously that didn’t happen. Oh, the game was still season changing, just in the wrong direction.

One of the KU players said that it’s not a rivalry if the other team never wins. KU doesn’t see it as a rivalry, and honestly I don’t think this K-State team does either. The game was over 5 minutes in with Kansas up by 12 points and Kansas State had clearly given up. I’m not going to say they came out before tip-off ready to lose but shooting 0-8 on three pointers and only putting up 4 points in those first few minutes killed any energy and desire in the team. And that’s exactly how they played for the final 35 minutes. The disappointment with this loss is more than just seeing KU win again. It has to do with the effort, the desire, the drive, the intestinal fortitude that was completely missing from the Kansas State team. I think that’s the byproduct of everything this team has been through this season. I also think it’s completely the fault of the players. Not all of them are equal in the blame but I don’t put this on the coaches.

Normally I do a good, bad, and ugly of the game but there just isn’t a point with this one. I don’t know that anything at all would qualify for the “good”, not much would be in the “bad”, and I don’t have enough time to write about everything that fully deserves to be in the “ugly” column. Instead let’s just forget this one for now. Throw away the tape, focus on the next game against Nebraska, and get things figured out. Otherwise, making the NIT might even be a stretch.