ouch

nothing but mistakes down the stretch. missed free throws, point guard gets his pocket picked, no challenge on the three, a crummy shot selection at the end. Only positive is the kids got some valuable experience in crunch time. Self ditched the two bigs way too late.
Uncharacteristically bad finish by Dotson.

This was a game, just like the Duke game that KU gave away. Dotson played horribly, whole team. Nova is not that good.

I think this is a game we can definitely learn from. The hawks had several chances to win and did not get it done. I thought the ref's letting them play really helped Villanova. All you can do is as HCBS kept yelling quit playing so soft, but Dok got fouled every time he touched the ball with most of them not called. Big Dave has got to develop better hands. When V made their run in the later parts of the first half they really out worked us.Hopefully the players can keep that from being a regular occurrence, I hated that the Hawks lost but it was a good game and as someone else on the board pointed out Villanova is not that good. Hopefully the players can not get down but use that as motivation going forward. RCJHKU.

Hairy agree with everything you say. It’s frustrating to watch this team give away a 2nd game this year. It is one thing to be clearly outplayed, or the other team is unconscious from 3...but neither of this happened today. KU kept shooting themselves in the foot and literally gave this game always, TO’a and 4-10 FT’s come on. Nova has won more than enough against KU just like this, 2014 Atlantis, 2016 in Louisville and this game. All games KU coughed up a late lead. You’d rather learn from a win then a tough L.

learning how to win close games is a challenge. Hopefully this version of the Hawks will get better at it. I am sure DD feels bad about not winning that one but there are more important games to come and hopefully he will get better at finishing out the game.

My respect for Jay Wright grows every time I see his team play. They play hard, smart and don't back down from anyone.

Our team showed some bright spots, and exposed some weaknesses.

Dotson stepped up and played like a beast to get us tied, even though his free throw misses were devastating. Garrett's defense is our key, seeing Nova score at will once he went out.

Being good at Iowa does not translate to being good at Kansas. Moss looked lost today.

And I think we've seen the last of DeSousa, and the awakening of Braun. Once Braun gets more confidence, he's going to be very good. I just hope Enaruna gels at some point and plays up to his talent.

The mystery today was Dok. He seemed flustered in post, and got stuffed or got his shot altered several times. He just wasn't confident today.

Overall, our lack of outside shooting was a key, as was our loss of Garrett's defense. Self's rotation will shorten quickly, and we'll see some players rise to the occasion.

It was a loss, but not a bad one. Onward.

Rock Chalk.

I appreciate that DD had to play a lot of minutes with Garrett out but DD just did not seem himself at the end. He made the mistake helping on Gillespie on Samuels 3, he got his pocket cleaned and he missed a front-end. Bad games happen, but it just seems like DD was checked out a bit today.

Holy crud! This team is almost becoming the new Puke! What does it take to beat them?

First off..let me whole heartedly agree with AZ here. Jay Wright can coach. He seems to have HCBS's number. Not that "hit your threes, let them take as many as they want and foul the big guy..EVERY time" is a secret. My question? How many losses does this team have if Jay W is their coach? Hmmm?

I cannot believe Lightfoot is on the bench in street clothes and HCBS gave Moss a scholarship. What a waste.

DD is young. No way is he ready for the League. He will be a great PG if he listens to his coach and plays within himself. Got to hit the FTs though. That was bad.

Hopefully Garrett is OK. Seems to be a glue guy who helps the team in so many ways.

When it comes to Braun (or Brown according to Gus Johnson), I just have one request......think Oliver Twist....more please. Yes, hes a freshman. Yes, he doesn't take enough shots. But come on man....dude almost won the game for us yesterday. I'll say it again...for all the 5 star, one and done, POY, Wooden Award candidates....blah blah blah....great teams REQUIRE a Moody, a Morningstar, a Releford, a Robinson...etc. Braun could fill that role..given the opportunity by HCBS.

I am sure hoping that McCormack improves...soon. I am unimpressed with the Roberto Duran (hands of stone) version.

Agbaji continues to be Mr Consistant. Besides the two turnovers I thought he had the best game of anyone.

Anyone know why we risked our post season chances, scholarship numbers, heck basically the entire program for De Sousa? Is THIS effort really worth probation, post season win strips, banners torn down, Kurtis Townsend's job? Gracious...aren't their some Midwest kids who attend REAL high school that could play harder than this guy? I sure hope the kid graduates. Somebody should benefit from all that craziness.

Not sure about this bunch. I DO NOT believe they are a true #1. I am not sure they are a one seed in March. There are just too many coaches who know how to beat the two big man threat. Its an arc about 22 feet from the basket. Our inability to use that tool and defend against it will continue to be the undoing of HCBS teams. This one is no different. They have a chance to win the Big 12 but beyond that, I am not sure how they will fair. Its going to be quite the year I imagine.

RC

great post. i violently agree on braun but wld add that his talent level is massively higher than those others you reference. big dave and tristan will continue to get much better because they work so hard. silvio still looks rusty to me and looks like hes lifted too many weights. dok and dotson are our anchors and have been remarkably consistent. garrett is vital to our success and we saw that yesterday. so where are we? two losses by three points to ranked teams on the road, otherwise unbeaten against a tough schedule. ranked number one falling now to five? on balance very good start. selfs body language at this time in the season is the best ive ever seen. i think he likes the toughness and the desire to win. absent injury to dotson the ceiling is very high here. plus theres no other dominant team. duke and nova are likely to be as good as anyone we will face in march. a tough loss like this will make it much harder to lose a tough regional final.

After I calmed down, and looked a little more objectively at this game, I agree it was not a bad loss. Villanova played their best defensive game of the season by far. Jay Wright is a great coach and maybe even the best in=game strategy coach in the nation. Agree on Braun. I was frustrated from this lost mostly because I am tired of being viewed nationally as the sort of step child of the Blue Bloods. Not living in the KC area I get a little more unvarnished view of how the Jayhawks are perceived. It has been my perception that we are perceived definitely as a Blue Blood but not at the level of UNC, Duke, Kentucky and Villanova. I think We are viewed similarly to Michigan St. but Izzo is viewed as an NCAA Tourney master where Self is not and Williams was not until he went to UNC. I, of course, view us as every bit the blue blood as any of these other teams. So I am sick of losing to these guys. That was my emotional reaction immediately after the game.

In retrospect, after calming down, this was a rugged hard-fought game played by two very good teams and two very good coaches. It was just one of those games when weird things happened with much greater frequency than normal and critical mistakes were made at critical times that were preventable and not necessary.

1. clearly the biggest pure mistake was Dotson not closing on that shooter, Samuels, at the end. Really kind of inexplicable.
2. Udoka bobbling the ball twice. Once we got a score anyway. The other was on the missed dunk where the balled just slipped from his hands. Very un Dok like.
3. 4 passes that were just completely screwed up, 2 to McCormack, 1 to De Sousa and one to Moss.
4. Moss looked like he had gone home already. Completely not in the game mentally.
5. De Sousa was lost as lost can be.
6. One of those games where we just kept missing bunnies. It happens.
7. Dotson getting his pocket picked by Gillespie. That may not happen like that again all year.
8. Free throws, 4-10 and really 4-12. Folks, that was the ball game right there.
9. Miscommunication on defense on a number of possessions (however overall defense was great)
10. Three point shooting. Hard to be too upset here because that happens. But still a little frustrating.
11. Sloppy passing -- totally preventable
12. Ill-advised shots (McCormack on several). too early in the clock

Okay, there were a number of very good things.
1. We competed hard
2. Overall defense was very good
3. Dotson for his horrible miscues down the stretch did far more good than bad (other than missing bunnies)
4. Came back from 8 down when they punched us coming out of the locker room.
5. Rebounded well when it appear to me that Villanova was really crashing the boards yet we outrebounded them.

I disagree that we are not a legit No. 1. I think we can compete with anyone out there on any given night. Defense wins games and this team is becoming a great defensive team. Yesterday we were not great on offense but still hung in there on defense. If we go 67% from the FT line we win easily.