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It was a much better season than most KU fans expected in December. On a night like tonight, the league championship accomplishments of a young Jayhawk team are outweighed by a tournament run that got untracked way too late to salvage the opening game.. In spite of a late run that saw Jeff Hawkins close out his career with three three-pointers in the final minute, the Kansas Jayhawks lost their second consecutive first round NCAA tournament game, this year to the Bradley Braves 77-73 Friday night at The Palace of Auburn Hills, MI. Marcellus Sommerville hit five treys en route to a game high 21 points for Bradley. Russell Robinson came up with 18 points for the Jayhawks, and Mario Chalmers had 15, all in the second half. Lead by Sommerville, Daniel Ruffin and Will Franklin, Bradley led by as many as seven points deep into the first half. Sommerville hit three treys while KU didn’t knock down a three in the first half. While Bradley was hitting seven shots from beyond the arc (they hit but three treys in the Missouri Valley tournament, and would hit 11 against KU), the Jayhawks were trying to stay in the game by hitting their free throws. Sasha Kaun hit his first four free throws and Robinson was 5-9 from the line in the first half. After KU briefly regained a one point lead at the last media timeout of the first half, 27-26, Bradley came back strong. J.J. Tuaui hit his fifth trey of the year with 36 seconds left in the half and Franklin’s three-point heave banked in at the buzzer, giving the Braves a 10-point lead at halftime, 37-27. Kansas did not score over the final four minutes of the half. Mario Chalmers and Brandon Rush each played 19 minutes in the first half. Rush’s four points, off of 2-8 shooting, was the only offensive production from the two freshmen. In the Big 12 Championship game KU turned the ball over but nine times; in the first half against Bradley the Jayhawks had 10 turnovers. The Braves moved their lead to as many as 14 early in the second half, and when KU managed to break the lead down to double digits, the Braves from Peoria, Ill had an answer every time. Rush hit KU’s first three with about 15:30 to go, then Sommerville hit a fade away jumper. Robinson hit a three, then a lay-up to cut the lead to seven, but Marcellus came right back with his fifth trey of the night, expanding the lead to ten again with eight and a half minutes to play. The teams traded blows like a heavyweight fight, with punches being landed seemingly at will. When Ruffin hit a three with six and a half minutes to play, the lead was 14, 65-51. It was obvious KU would need a huge run to pull out a victory. It came, but it was too late. KU went on a 10-0 run of their own, with Chalmers finally getting untracked with eight of the ten points in the run, to cut the deficit to four at 65-61 with 3:45 to go. Bradley’s lead stayed in the four to seven point range until the final minute, when the first of Hawkins’ final minute treys fell to cut the lead to three, 70-67. On the inbounds play Bradley broke the KU pressure for a Will Franklin lay-up and a five point lead. From there, Tony Bennett hit four-of-six free throws, Ruffin chipped in a one-of-two trip and the Jayhawks fate was sealed. It seemed Bradley benefited from an extra week between their conference tournament and Friday’s game. The Braves were on KU early and often, played with far more energy and quite frankly were the better team. They earned the victory. Everyone in the Midwest should be aware of how good the Missouri Valley was this season. Look no further than Wichita State’s 20-point victory over Seton Hall from the Big East. The loss hurts, but there ought not to be any shame in it. Heck, Bucknell’s victory over Arkansas helps legitimize the Patriot League. Time will pass. The disappointment, and analysis, of another first-round loss will soon fade. Last year we had a sense of security from three players who had been to two Final Fours, and the letdown was huge. This year KU can, and somebody probably will, be accused of overachieving. The fact is there are two trophies in the case that nobody outside of the team honestly expected. I wrote at the beginning of the season that the future is always now, and anything less than a strong tournament run is cause for concern. I still feel the same way about the future, but look to 2006-07 with great excitement. There’s definitely a monkey out there to be dealt with next March, but considering some of the more recent off-seasons this one should be somewhat predictable if nothing else. And as bad as we fans feel....   Tournament note: Eight of KU’s 2005-06 season opponents made the NCAA Tournament. So far, those teams are 4-4. 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.