It was like a shovel to the head – point after point after point by Kansas University’s basketball team as soon as New Orleans made the game any sort of a game at all late in the first half.

For UNO, Thursday’s 73-56 loss to Kansas can be blamed on a game-changing run that started in the first half, ended in the second and featured Jayhawk points scored every which way but perhaps kicking the ball into the basket.

It ended up being a 17-0 run by Kansas – and the game, perhaps no coincidence, finished as a 17-point loss by the Privateers.

“The end of the first half was a disaster for us,” UNO coach Monte Towe said. “They’ve been awfully nice to us, but I knew that would stop once the game started.”

New Orleans showed some scrap, though. After the 17-0 rampage wrapped up with Kansas up 21, the Privateers outscored the Jayhawks 37-33 the last 18 minutes, a sign that the slide only was devastating on the scoreboard and not to the psyche of the team.

“Coach mentioned to us playing 40 minutes,” said guard Jamie McNeilly, who had five points and six assists. “We’re almost there. We’re playing about 36 minutes. We just need to translate that extra four minutes into positive stuff, and we’ll be OK.”

Sure enough, the run started with 2:08 left in the first half and ended 1:52 into the second half – exactly four minutes.

“Our guys got a little bit fatigued,” Towe said, “Their defense : maybe the defense didn’t take its toll immediately, but if you keep the pressure up, if a team lets up for two or three possessions, boom. You see what happens.”

James Parlow had 16 points for UNO, and Wayne Williams added 12. It wasn’t nearly enough, though.

New Orleans dropped to 2-8 on the season, all games having been played outside of Louisiana. Still trying to recover from the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina in late August, the Privateers have been stationed in Tyler, Texas, for the semester, but will play their first game back home Saturday at the Alario Center in Westwego, La.

Fellow Big Easy school Tulane will be the away team.

“It’s our first game back home, and we’re pumped up and ready to go,” McNeilly said. “Coach said it’s like a new season once we get back. It begins with Tulane.”