For the first time in over 10 years, the Kansas Jayhawks have lost three consecutive games. The first came on Feb. 14, a Valentine's Day gift from Bobby Knight and his 25th-ranked Texas Tech team.
The game was back and forth the entire way, and a tie at the end of regulation forced an overtime, and then another. With 7.9 seconds remaining in double OT, Kansas point guard Aaron Miles was called for traveling after pulling down what appeared to be the game-winning rebound.
After a timeout, Texas Tech, trailing by two, got the ball to Darryl Dora, a 6'9" sophomore who had missed his first four three-point attempts of the night. This time, Dora knocked down the trey with 3.6 seconds remaining to put the Red Raiders up by a point. Miles' desperation shot at the buzzer bounced off the backboard and the Red Raider fans stormed the court to celebrate the tight 80-79 double OT victory.
The second defeat came on Saturday against Iowa State. With the Cyclones up by five at halftime, Kansas came back in the second half to force overtime, but Iowa State's Curtis Stinson was too much for the Jayhawk defense, as he poured in 29 points, including the game-winner from the lane with 5.1 seconds remaining. Jayhawk Keith Langford missed a 17-footer at the buzzer that would have forced overtime and given Kansas another chance.
The third (and most painful) of the three losses occurred on Monday against conference rival Oklahoma, a team that had just come off of its own three-game losing streak. The Sooners came out firing in the first half and headed into the locker room up by 15. The deficit was too much for Kansas as the Jayhawks fell by the count of 71-63.
Look for these key losses to push Kansas out of the top ten for the first time all season.
Games of the Week: Two games sparked a lot of interest this past week. First, Boston College hosted Syracuse in a match-up of the top two teams in the Big East. The first half was back and forth as the Orangemen took a two-point lead heading into halftime. The Eagles responded, though, with the superb play of Jared Dudley, Craig Smith and Jermaine Watson. Dudley finished with 21 points, Smith had 16 points and 15 boards, and Watson was clutch at the charity stripe, going 5-6 down the stretch to give the Eagles a 65-60 victory. Syracuse superstars Hakim Warrick and Gerry McNamara couldn't find their rhythms as Warrick, an All-American candidate, finished with just 12 points, while McNamara, despite an 18-point performance, shot just 2-11 from beyond the arc, missing three of those shots in the final 28 seconds.
The other granddaddy of a game was on Sunday, featuring Wake Forest and Duke. Wake managed to grab a small, two-point lead at halftime, but the Blue Devils erupted in the second half, making up for a rare two-game losing skid. Duke shooting guard J.J. Redick was unstoppable, knocking in a career-high 38 points on 9-15 shooting from the field, including 6-10 from three-point range and 14-15 from the free-throw line. Redick's performance overshadowed the play of Wake point guard Chris Paul, an All-American candidate who put up impressive numbers himself, with 27 points, seven assists and three steals.
Undefeated and Defeated: Illinois is still undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the nation. The Illini posted solid wins over Big 10 conference foes Penn State and Iowa last week, putting their unscathed record at 27-0.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Savannah State Tigers managed to finish their season without a win (0-28). For only the second time in 50 years, a Div. I program closed a season without a single tally in the W column. The Tigers lost their last game of the season to Florida A&M (49-44) on Valentine's Day and ended up firing their head coach shortly thereafter.
