?Gut check?: KU faces fast, emotional turnaround

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Someday, Conner Teahan will tell his grandkids about the day he went 4-for-4 from three and helped Kansas University?s basketball team overcome a 19-point second-half deficit in an 87-86 overtime victory over Missouri in Allen Fieldhouse.

?Thse memories will always be in my head for sure,? Teahan said of mental snapshots of Thomas Robinson and Travis Releford ripping off their jersey tops and coach Bill Self raising his hands high over his head and screaming in concert with the fans following Saturday?s final horn.



?That was the craziest game I?ve been a part of. For a game I played in, it was the most awesome experience of my life,? added Teahan, a fifth-year senior out of Kansas City (Mo.) Rockhurst High.

In the wake of all that unbridled emotion comes the stark realization that today ? just two days after the taming of the Tigers ? the Jayhawks (24-5 overall, 14-2 Big 12) again must take the court in an 8 p.m. ESPN Big Monday contest against Oklahoma State (14-15, 7-9) in Gallagher-Iba Arena.

?I will do what I need to do to get back to where I need to be Monday,? said Teahan, who played a career-high 37 minutes versus Mizzou. ?I?ve never seen a win in Stillwater. Nobody else on our team has seen a win there. That?s motivation in itself.?

The Jayhawks, who are 1-3 in Stillwater and 7-4 overall against OSU in the Bill Self era, last won at Self?s alma mater on Feb. 13, 2006. The Cowboys have remained tough at home this season, evidenced by a 6-2 record that includes a 79-72 victory over Mizzou.

?It?s a quick turnaround. It will be a gut check as much as any, because, hey, if we could pick a game to not play on Big Monday, it?d be that game,? said Self, his Jayhawks coming off such an emotionally and physically draining victory.

Extra incentive tonight is the fact KU can wrap up an undisputed league title. KU assured a tie for its eighth-straight crown Saturday.

?Winning the Big 12 title is obviously important to us,? said Teahan. ?It?s a streak we take a lot of pride in ... winning eight in a row.?

Self said there was a time he was not sure this team could win a league title.

?When we started 1-2 in the league (before rallying to win it in 2005-06), you?d say, ?(Mario) Chalmers, (Brandon) Rush, (Julian) Wright and those other cats are pretty good. It?s just a matter of time before the light comes on,?? Self said. ?Hey, I didn?t know if the light would come on. I didn?t even know if it?d be a flicker. Early in the season we were not a good team. We ended up winning some games. South Florida was a pretty good win (70-42, Dec. 3). The Davidson game (80-74 loss on Dec. 19) was good for us. We were awful there (in Sprint Center). One thing with our players, our roster changes, but expectations don?t. They committed to it. They?ve amazed me.?

Withey?s ankle OK: Self said Sunday that junior center Jeff Withey is ?probable? for tonight?s game. Withey twisted his left ankle in Saturday?s game. ... The Jayhawks drove a charter bus to OSU late Sunday afternoon after a short 15-minute practice.




About OSU: Senior guard Keiton Page will be making his final home appearance tonight. He averages a team-leading 16.2 ppg, including an 18.0 mark in Big 12 play. He has hit a team-leading 82 threes. Freshman guard/forward Le?Bryan Nash, who did not play in Saturday?s 60-42 home win over Texas A&M because of a fractured left hand, averages 13.3 ppg. Nash may be finished for the season.

?The word is he fractured it and it?s a good clean fracture, and he doesn?t need surgery or any of that. We really didn?t have time to experiment with any contraption of any sort if he did want to play,? coach Travis Ford told the Oklahoman on Saturday. ?He wants to play, but I?ll decide on Monday what?s best for him, and we?ll see.?

KU beat OSU, 81-66, on Feb. 11, in Allen Fieldhouse. Markel Brown had 21 points, Page 19, and Nash and Brian Williams 11 apiece. Thomas Robinson had 24 and Withey 18 for KU, which was outscored, 42-30, the second half.

 

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Young Cowboys continue to grow up



Some of Oklahoma State's disappointing season may be explained by defections, injuries and bad luck.


But hope for the future was on display once again on Saturday.

"Even with all the things we've been through, I think we've done a lot to lay the foundation for the future," said OSU coach Travis Ford.

OSU, which has suffered through perhaps the school's worst season in 24 years, pieced together a lineup of the remaining healthy players and hammered Texas A&M 60-42 at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

"We just told everybody that they were all going to have to do something extra," said Ford.

OSU, already thinned by a rash of injuries and defections, was without freshman sensation Le'Bryan Nash, who was injured in a loss at Oklahoma earlier in the week.

That left Ford with a very thin bench and few options.

"Everybody else had to do a little more," said Brian Williams, who scored a game-high 17 points.

However, Oklahoma State pressed ahead and got another victory in a season that went wrong long ago.

"This was a game where everything was clicking," said Williams. "We were making shots and playing hard."

That was not what Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy thought about his Aggies.

"Our guys were just terrible," said Kennedy.

The Aggies, picked in preseason to win the league, will finish no better than eighth, matching the football-playing Aggies for underachievement.

"It was disgusting," said Kennedy.

OSU, 14-15 against what is rated the nation's second toughest schedule, improved its Big 12 record to 7-9, assuring the Cowboys of no worse than the seventh seed in the league tournament. That probably means an opening round game against 10th-seeded Texas Tech.

Considering the circumstances, that is probably acceptable. However, OSU fans are not going to be very patient very long. The Cowboys are expected to be contenders in the Big 12 and significant on the national scene.

So, a losing season, regardless of the circumstances, is never going to be acceptable.

"These guys continue to overachieve," said Ford.

Not many fans would classify seventh place in the Big 12 as over achieving by recent OSU standards. However, considering the thin roster (some of it Ford's fault), it does show some promise.

"We're always laying the foundation, wins and losses," said Ford.

OSU still faces long odds of salvaging a winning season. The Cowboys catch fourth-ranked Kansas on Monday at Gallagher-Iba followed by the regular-season closing road game at Kansas State.

Anything less than a two-game sweep will send OSU to Kansas City, Mo., with a losing reccord.

That doesn't look probable for a team that has five freshmen among its eight-man rotation. And, one of those freshmen is now sidelined.

Still, with all of the negatives surrounding this season, there have been good signs for the future.

OSU has some terrific pieces in a lineup that could be lethal next year if it can find a point guard and an interior scoring threat.

Against the Aggies, the Cowboys needed help from just about everyone.

"Oklahoma State did a lot of good things," said Kennedy. "Their offense was crisp. The did a good job of playing without Nash."

Oklahoma State's immediate future doesn't look very bright. The Cowboys have been good at home, winning four of its last five in Stillwater (including an upset of then-No. 2 Missouri). However, Kansas has been playing at a very high level in recent weeks.

"That's a very, very good team," said Ford. "They are one of the top-five teams in the country. Their starting five are as good as any in the country."

Plus, as good as OSU has been at home, the Cowboys have been equally awful on the road. In its last three road games, OSU has lost by 13 (Oklahoma), 18 (Missouri) and 15 (Kansas). So, going to Kansas State isn't a good way to end the regular season.

However, one way to give OSU a chance is to repeat what it did against Texas A&M.

"We just have to step up to the task," said OSU's Michael Cobbins.