If Kansas basketball’s season ended today, it would be defined by missed opportunities

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If there was a sequence in the loss to No. 3 Houston that encapsulated the Kansas basketball season, it came with about four minutes left in the second half.

The Jayhawks, on the road, had recently cut the Cougars’ lead to 57-54 on a bucket from Hunter Dickinson and gotten the ball back after a defensive stop. But on that ensuing possession, Dickinson turned the ball over and Houston went on a fast break and saw Mylik Wilson slam home a dunk to make it 59-54.

Then, when KU got the ball back, Dickinson was called for an offensive foul on that very next possession, and whatever momentum the team had seemed to dissipate.

The game didn’t end there. Kansas found itself within a possession in the last minute of the game, but chances squandered there and over the course of the game helped the Cougars win 65-59 in a Big 12 Conference battle.

The Jayhawks (19-11, 10-9 in Big 12) have now lost back-to-back games against highly-ranked teams they had their chances to beat. And if the season ended with this latest defeat, one that did see KU show some life in a matchup some might have been anticipating a blowout, KU’s season would be defined by its missed opportunities.

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“The season’s almost over, we’ve got one more game in Allen Fieldhouse,” Kansas coach Bill Self said on the Varsity Network postgame show, asked how they can use this effort moving forward.

“Hopefully, our fans will show up to see some seniors that have meant an awful lot to this place over time — and I’m sure they will. But it was a different feel in the locker room after the game. I thought we had a pretty tight huddle. I thought the guys were — competed harder. Even the guys that didn’t play, they all thought it felt different, too.”

Self, later, added: “No moral victories, but this was going to be a — you were going to have to play a fantastic game to win down here and we almost pulled it off….

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/kansas-basketball-season-ended-today-053008012.html

Author : The Topeka Capital-Journal

Publish date : 2025-03-04 05:30:00

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