Kirk Hinrich has been through this before.

âÂÂMy senior year in high school we started out 1-3. After that we won 22 straight games and a state championship,â said Hinrich, Kansasâ senior guard from West High in Sioux City, Iowa.

âÂÂIâÂÂd rather take bumps and bruises now, get things worked out and play better at the end when it really matters.

âÂÂThis is kind of like a wake-up call,â Hinrich said of KU taking a 3-3 record into WednesdayâÂÂs game at 4-0 Tulsa. âÂÂItâÂÂs hard not to be discouraged. IâÂÂm trying my best to stay positive so my teammates can feed off that. We could be 6-0, but weâÂÂre 3-3 and have to take care of business every time out. We need to look at the positives. (At Oregon) we scrapped and fought like never before.âÂÂ

Hinrich played a gutsy 39 minutes Saturday in an 84-78 loss at Oregon, experiencing no back problems, just cramps.

âÂÂI donâÂÂt think itâÂÂs really chronic to be honest, it feels fine,â Hinrich said of his back strain. âÂÂThe only problem is my legs were sore (Sunday) from cramps. IâÂÂve never had a problem with cramps before. I think itâÂÂs because I hadnâÂÂt done much the whole week.âÂÂ

Hinrich will continue to receive back treatments.

âÂÂI think itâÂÂll be a back that will be a problem for him the whole year,â KU coach Roy Williams said, adding that Hinrich is one of the toughest competitors heâÂÂs ever been around.

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Slow start bothers Nash: KU junior Bryant Nash on the Jayhawksâ .500 record:

âÂÂI canâÂÂt say it hasnâÂÂt affected me. I think about it all the time. IâÂÂm walking around, IâÂÂm like … how can we actually be 3-3? We should be winning all these games. ItâÂÂs unbelievable,â Nash said. âÂÂItâÂÂs kind of embarrassing, but itâÂÂs motivating us. We have to pick our game up. We have to go out there and play. We have to dive on the floor for balls and get rebounds. We have to motivate ourselves.âÂÂ

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Bad timing: Remember the play in the Kansas-Oregon game in which Ian Crosswhite lost his shoe in the Ducksâ backcourt and took several seconds to regroup? He finally trudged into the frontcourt and hit a deep three-pointer to give the Ducks a 17-8 lead as the Jayhawks were perplexed.

âÂÂIt was one of those days of MurphyâÂÂs Law, if things can go wrong they will go wrong,â Williams said on his âÂÂHawk Talkâ radio show.

âÂÂThat was our first possession of zone we called the whole game. I was expecting the kid to get his shoe on in two seconds. It took 3 hours, 13 minutes. WeâÂÂve got five against four. It was unfortunate timing. Look at the tape. It was our first possession in zone.âÂÂ

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Give Collison a break: Seems not all of the Jayhawksâ turnovers were earned against Oregon.

âÂÂWe are down four (points), throw the ball to Nick Collison. He turns around to make a move, they reach in and foul the heck out of him right in front of the officials and (itâÂÂs) never called. But that goes down as a turnover,â Williams said. âÂÂYouâÂÂll have some of those kind of things happen, too.âÂÂ