SAN ANTONIO – The sadness inside the Kansas locker room was typical for any team that had just experienced a crushing season-ending loss. The difference Saturday night at the Alamodome, after a 95-79 loss to Villanova in the Final Four, was the sense of total shock that enveloped the Jayhawks and left them in disbelief.
That happens when the other team bolts to a 22-4 lead. That happens when the other team has a record-shattering performance shooting 3-pointers, launching 40 shots and making 18. That happens when the scoreboard reflects a 22-point margin with 13 minutes left in the game and there’s no hope of turning things around.
“It was unreal,” Kansas center Udoka Azubuike said, speaking in a hushed tone. “I had never seen that before. It lowered our confidence a little bit and they were just shooting and making everything it seemed. I don’t know.
“Not a happy feeling when you lose. When you know you’re one step away from your dreams. It’s an awful and bitter feeling.”
From a Kansas perspective, that said it all. As Villanova fans celebrated every pick, pop and successful three-pointer, Kansas fans felt the pain of every dagger Villanova stuck into their hearts.
When it was done, it all seemed to blur together. And it felt bad.
The Jayhawks finished their unexpected season of high-level accomplishment with a 31-8 record. They will be remembered for breaking the UCLA record for consecutive regular-season conference championships, streaking to their 14th Big 12 crown. They backed that up with the conference tournament championship and advanced to the Final Four with a classic overtime win over Duke in the Elite Eight.
After all that, the taste of this lopsided defeat was foreign to them. Needless to say, it wasn’t the Final Four experience desired by senior point guard Devonte’ Graham and his teammates.
“We had an unbelievable season,” Graham said in the postgame interview room. “You know, it’s not the way you want it to end. But even if you lose by one point it will still hurt. And we all just – we just need to keep our heads up. It’s going to hurt now but we’ll be all right.”
It was the first loss for the Jayhawks in five games against a Top 10 team this season, but from the very start it was clear Jay Wright’s Villanova team was the best on the floor. Kansas, which won 30 or more games for the ninth time under coach Bill Self, hadn’t lost a national semifinal game since 2002 – when Roy Williams was still head coach. Kansas had advance to the championship game in 2003, 2008 and 2012 – defeating Memphis for the title in 2008 in the same San Antonio building.
All of those reasons, along with the fact the game was never close, contributed to the stunning impact for the Jayhawks. There were times, after another Villanova 3-point basket, that Self could only drop his head and let his shoulders slump.
“Villanova was incredible,” Self said. “We knew going in that we were probably going to have to hope that they were going to miss some. But then after we got discombobulated, we were never able to recover.”
The showdown between Player of the Year candidates Graham and Villanova’s Jalen Brunson never really developed. Graham had 23 points in another 39-minute performance. Brunson scored 18 points and all three of his 3-pointers seemed huge in 35 minutes.
On a forgettable night, when Kansas fans had planned a night of celebration on San Antonio’s famous Riverwalk, the lasting memory may have come with 32 seconds remaining. That’s when Self removed his top players from the game. First Malik Newman, then Svi Mykhailiuk and finally Graham walked to their coach, gave him a hug and continued on to the bench.
The exchange between Self and Graham was heart wrenching. Unforgettable. That moment that defines the college experience.
“He’s an amazing kid and an amazing man,” Self said, “I’m so proud of him and Svi with what they’ve given us [as seniors].
“[Brunson] obviously is terrific and he controlled the game. It’s such a difference when [Wright] can take him out and rest him a minute here and a minute there to rest him. We can’t take Devonte’ out. The kid is just worn out. He has to be as tired as any player in the country. He gives us everything he’s got.”
Self obviously had envisioned a different ending for the entertaining and popular Graham.
“It’s sad for him,” Self said,” I’d love him to be in a one- or two-possession game where the ball was in his hands to do it or not do it. He would live for that. He’s had many opportunities to do that for us this year and he should remember those and not remember this one.”
Kansas will be in a different situation next season. Despite the departures of Graham and Mykhailiuk, expectations will be higher. Newman, who put his incredible talent on display in the final month of the season and the postseason, said after the game he has not decided anything about next season but it seems likely he will turn pro. He said that decision could come by next week.
Lagerald Vick and Azubuike will go through the same process. Silvio Se Sousa made drastic improvement the final half of the season but still has amazing potential.
The Sporting News has already named Kansas the early preseason No. 1 for 2018-19. That is base on recruits Quentin Grimes, Devon Dodson and David McCormack and transfers Charlie Moore, as well as transfers Dedrick and K.J. Lawson – the brothers from Memphis.
“Our roster will be totally different next year,” Self said, “There’s a lot of unknowns out there. Sometimes with the underclassmen you don’t realize this may be the last time. You’ve got a safety net. For seniors, there’s no safety net.”
“”Of all the Final Four teams we’ve had, this one was probably the least expected to do it. After we got punched in the face a couple of times,we never really recovered. Guys will remember they weren’t at they’re best [against Villanova]. But what they should remember after two or three days, is to reflect on all the good things they did with kind of a makeshift roster at times.
“It wasn’t that they didn’t try or they didn’t prepare. It wasn’t anything like that. Today was just a perfect storm. Unfortunately we were on the wrong end of it.”
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