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Six minutes in KU fans who allowed themselves the luxury were thinking ‘FINALLY!’ Six minutes into the game, Brandon Rush was in double digits, the ball was moving freely between teammates, and defensively the Jayhawks looked fine. Six minutes into the game, KU lead 17-4 and all was right in the world again. The game didn’t fall apart for KU from there; instead it slowly slipped away. To their credit St. Joseph never lost their poise. The Hawks from Philadelphia used first half runs of 7-0 and 14-4 to get back into the game, and similar runs in the second half to gain and maintain a lead they would only briefly relinquish. When all was said and done, St. Joseph edged Kansas 70-67 Tuesday night at New York City’s Madison Square Garden in the first game of the Jimmy V Classic. For the second time in a week, Kansas had an opponent who seemed to score at will and go for his career best. The Hawks' Chet Stachitas went six of seven from three point range and 9 of 12 overall, matching his career high 27 points. Lee and Ahmad Nivens went for 13 and 11 points respectively. Coach Self had every reason to be concerned about St. Joseph’s perimeter game, as they matched the quickness of KU’s guards and kept Rush off the scoreboard (expect for one second half trey) after the first six minutes. It’s not as if KU really fell apart as much as St. Joseph took control of the game and the Jayhawks couldn’t take it back. Statistically, the teams were really quite even, except for one area. KU shot the ball pretty well from three-point territory and actually made one more three than St. Joe’s did, in spite of Stachitas’ effort. Jayhawk fans everywhere would take 11-21 threes every night. It was somewhat surprising the solid marksmanship didn’t open up the inside. Sasha Kaun only got two shots, hitting one; C.J. Giles had a tough night, going 3-8 from the field and Christian Moody officially had but one shot. The strongest presence, and really the only presence, on the inside came from freshman Julian Wright, who went 4-8 from the field and a strong 6-8 from the line to lead KU in scoring with 14. He showed his athleticism by making a fantastic play midway through the second half. St. Joseph’s Abdulai Jalloh was driving the baseline from the left, having beaten Micah Downs (Jalloh will do that many, many players) when Wright went way up to block the Jalloh’s lay-up. The ball went to Downs, who dribbled down the right side and found and hit a sprinting Wright with a pass around the free throw line, and Wright finished with a strong dunk. Outside of the first six minutes, this was KU’s highlight of the night. Most nights the winning team will shot around 50 percent from the floor, and each team was close, KU at 48 and St. Joe’s at 47. St. Joe’s out rebounded KU by two, 27-25 but really did a terrific job boxing out in the second half. Each team turned the ball over 11 times; really not a bad job of taking care of the basketball. What really did KU in this game was free throw shooting. Championship teams who make less than a third of their free throws simply do not exist. While St. Joseph was going 14-20 from the line (70 percent) KU was shooting a dismal six of 19 (31.6 percent). While I’m hard pressed to remember a KU team shooting 70 percent from the line very often, a mere 65 percent would have altered the course of this game considerably. Anybody want to do the math to see what KU’s free throw percentage would have been if you take out Wright? Jeff Hawkins did some good things tonight. He is an infinitely better three point shooter when he can get his feet set and shoots off the pass. Russell Robinson played decently in front of his hometown crowd, but I’m sure he’d rather it have been a more memorable night. This wasn’t a team that looked bad, but KU didn’t look good either. There are further comments about free throw shooting that can (and will) be made, and it seems like we can just feel it coming on. The ESPN play-by-play crew of Dan Shulman and Dick Vitale briefly discussed KU’s odds of even making the NCAA tournament, and Vitale expressed confidence KU would be there on Selection Sunday. March 12 is now 95 days and a minimum of 25 games away. Time is an ally at the moment. After a game, and for that matter a season-to-date, filled with wouldas, couldas and shouldas, time is a necessary tool. Time is available. But right now, on the flight home from New York, there has to be an empty feeling in the pit of the team’s collective stomach from an opportunity not lost, but squandered. Mark Howe is a freelance writer currently residing in Milford, IN. He is a former ticket taker, usher and security worker at Allen Fieldhouse, and can be reached at mhowe (at) rockchalk (dot) com.