A Win, but!!

A win is a win, but definitely not very impressive. In AFH, against in-state rival, getting De Sousa cleared (should have been an emotional lift if nothing else), playing a team who was without their starting point guard (Stokes) who has 13.4ppg & 4.6apg this year.

Agreed. That in-state rivalry meant a lot to D Wade and he showed it. He was really locked in today more than any game I have seen this year. Though I admit I have not watched KSU much. It is not often you shoot 88% from the charity stripe and the other team does better. We will need to get much better if we are going to win this 14th in a row. Devonte and Svi both shot 50% from 3 which is pretty impressive.

I can't take games like this in the Phogy barn! Unranked kitties take our mighty 'hawks to the wire? Two blood pressure meds, one statin, and a baby aspirin every morning will not get it done. Good thing cannabis is legal in the Golden state . . . .

I'm dreading Monday night,

RC

Exactly - KSU had others step up - when DG isn't on, KU is in big trouble.

they might all be this way. OU hangs on to win in OT at home, Texas Tech "whips" WVU by 1. Yes, we are doing it with some and mirrors, but we are doing it. Currently in multiple-way tie for 1st with WVU, OU, and maybe others! Yes, I will have to visit doc to get my meds adjusted.

Monday for sure is going to be tough. I watched the whole WV TT game. They are their usual selves. Tech inexplicably beat them by out hustling them at the end. That rarely happens. But both of those teams are going to be tough match ups for KU.

Hard to believe the records listed above. Obviously a lot of talent at the top. The real surprise for me is TCU. Its hard to believe they have the same record as ISU. I am confident, they won’t stay that way. I am a big fan of their coach.

Not winning on Monday won’t derail the whole season but it will start to create the slippery slope that might become the conference season. Either way, 14 is going to be very tough. Beating good teams in March could even be harder. Hopefully, we can find some rest for DG and continue to develop De Sousa.

Just win, baby. Trying to find a silver lining in the fact that we're allowing teams that aren't so good to hang with us (because we're not very good either, btw).

First, getting DeSousa is a good thing. Now that I've seen him play, while he didn't do much, he didn't do much WRONG either. His defense it decent, and while he didn't get any boards, I'm sure he will. The best part is that he passed his first test, will improve, and will give Dok a few minutes of rest.

Second, being in pressure situations (and winning) is a good thing. We hung on and won a tight one, and played good defense in the final possession. It seemed at first that K-State waited too long on the last possession but looking at it, he started the play on time but didn't have any options because of our defense.

Now we're tied for first and control our own destiny. According to Sagarin (not updated yet) we'll be underdogs on Monday but only by a point or two due to home court. While I don't like the way we've "looked" I'm not sure that the other teams in the league look THAT much better. We're not dominant this year, but we have the ability to beat anybody in the league anytime. Unfortunately we're also beatable by any team in the league on any night too

good summary Not O. i wld also argue that another reason to feel good is that devonte has become utterly dependable as frank was last year and that svi, doke, vick, lightfoot, garret and malik seem to be getting better and better in giving us what we need from each of them. if they continue to improve and we can get sam and desouza to contribute as they should by march we cld be a tough out. we will be hardened by a very tough conference and our players will be much more clear on what coach wants them to do. preston coming on wld be a huge plus of course and neither doke nor devonte can get hurt because we have no one to replace either of them. feels like it will be tough to beat tech, west va, okla on the road so thats 4 losses almost for sure and 2 more somewhere along the line seems likely. can 6 loses get a share? 50/50 odds i think. whatever happens it will be very entertaining and this group is easy to root for.

I had the privilege of attending today's game (thanks to a gift from my dentist and his wife!!!). I was really excited to experience my first Sunflower Showdown. Well, it was a definitely louder than the Texas Southern game I had attended earlier in the season (the students were on break). However, it did not quite have the classic feel that I was thinking might be present. (just sayin') I don't know if folks assumed a W, or what? Or maybe I was expecting more from the aura than I should have.

The first cool thing, out of the ordinary, was when DeSousa got up to check into the game for the first, and only time. I saw Self go over to where Silvio was sitting and If figured it was his time. The cheers began to swell when SD hustled to the scorers table. Interestingly, he was going in for Doke, who was preparing for a FT. in the middle of the cheer for SD, Doke made his first FT, bring a decidedly larger roar. Then, after Doke made the 2nd FT, the cheers for Doke grew quite large and into a standing ovation for SD. It had to send chills down the young man's spine ... I know it did that for me.

The next cool thing was the last second shot from Svi at the end of the 1st half. We had gone down by 6 and my son had just commented to me before KSU's run, that it would be nice if we could grab the lead at half. We pulled to within 3, and after a stop, I believe, brought it down with a chance to tie. DG ran a version of the chop play, and when the ball drew nothing but net from Svi's hand, the old barn literally erupted!!! It was unreal!!!

The last noteable play was when KSU brought the ball up in the waning seconds of the game. When the play was developing, you could almost hear individuals muttering, "stop him!" "get him!" "no!" (maybe that was just me, or the voices in my head) and when the shot went up, there was a collective gasp, almost as if 16,300 (well 16,250 if you subtract the mildcat fans) were holding their breath ... and when the shot clanged off the front of the rim, there was a huge cheer ... unless I was mistaken the cheer for the sound of 100's of pacemakers resetting in the chests of those who were proud owners.

BTW, most of the folks I talked to were really surprised they tried a 3 at the end. Perhaps the defense was so good that they could not drive to the bucket and draw a foul, which is what I had envisioned.

Here are several reflections for this game. As much as I don't really like squeaky Weber, KSU's coach, he knows how to get his guys to play defense. They seemed locked in and were giving us problems. Secondly, DG, though he had some TO's, had a quietly good game to carry us. I would have had no idea he scored 23 points if I would not have had his points called to my attention by the guy next to me half way through the 2nd half. Doke was a load today. He played 32 minutes (Mitch only had 4, and Silvio had 4) and he seemed unstoppable. His youth came through a couple of times, especially when he went to the floor, but all in all, he had a solid game.

It was an incredible experience, for sure!!! Rock Chalk!!!

Sounds like an enjoyable day. Thanks for the first hand account. It is so close it would have been incredible.