Philadelphia ? It may have been the worst 12 1/2-minute stretch in Kansas University’s storied men’s basketball history.

I’m talking about the first 12 1/2 minutes of the second half of the Jayhawks’ 83-62 thumping by Villanova — a defeat so stunningly one-sided that ‘Nova fans were chanting “Overrated, overrated” midway through the second half.

How bad were the Jayhawks in the first 12 1/2 minutes of the second half?

Well, it wasn’t so bad that Villanova scored 29 points during that stretch, but it was absolutely stunning that the Jayhawks counted only six points. That’s less than half-a-point a minute.

If you were keeping score, you know those six points were a basket by Wayne Simien 64 seconds into the half, a three-pointer by Michael Lee at 13:35 and a free throw by Darnell Jackson at 11:48.

During that fateful span, the Jayhawks squandered 19 trips down the floor. Broken down, KU tossed 10 bricks and coughed it up nine times. How could that happen to a team with four seniors, a team that countless times has silenced noisy crowds in unfriendly arenas?

Bill Self knew why.

“You shouldn’t be able to tell the way we’re playing by looking at the scoreboard,” the second-year KU coach said. “We should be playing the same regardless of the score.”

Yet instead of showing the patience needed when the other team is raining crowd-igniting three-point goals, the Jayhawks went into a heretofore unseen mode. They played more like they were afraid they were going to lose than like they knew they were going to win.

Kansas University starters, from left, Keith Langford, Wayne Simien, Christian Moody, Aaron Miles and J.R. Giddens, wait to re-enter the game against Villanova. The five were benched for a long stretch in the second half because of poor play.

“We panicked,” Self said. “We weren’t poised. We came down and tried to make seven-point plays.”

With 7 1/2 minutes remaining, Villanova led 72-40, and media-types began looking in the record books to ascertain the worst loss in school history. In modern times, that record is a 100-63 pounding at Kentucky during the 1974-75 season.

At that point, the 37-point margin seemed well within ‘Nova’s reach, but the Jayhawks outscored the Wildcats’ reserves, 22-11, the rest of the way and avoided an historic defeat.

On paper, Villanova dominated because of dynamic shooting. Few teams lose when they make 12 of 19 three-point attempts and 15 of 16 shots from the foul line. Yet the most telling statistic was the 35 points ‘Nova scored off turnovers.

On the stat sheet, Kansas had 22 turnovers, but that number seemed low. Then again, 15 of the 22 were listed as steals, and steals are what lead to transition baskets.

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“Villanova played good defense,” Self said, “but how many times did we throw the ball to them? Those looked like junior high plays out there.”

J.R. Giddens was the primary offender. All four of his turnovers were unforced passes right into the mitts of Villanova defenders. Freshman Russell Robinson struggled, too, with three turnovers in just five minutes — one reason little-used guard Jeff Hawkins logged a surprising 17 minutes.

All that speculation about the Jayhawks running the table is now just yesterday’s babble. Now the speculation centers around whether Kansas is suffering from a mid-season slump — Wednesday’s 59-57 victory over Nebraska in Allen Fieldhouse hardly was a thing of beauty — or whether the Jayhawks needed a slap in the face to take the monkey off their backs.

One thing is certain: Self and his staff were not surprised Saturday.

“In our coaches’ opinion,” the KU head man said, “we felt this coming. Not to the extent of this, but we saw it coming. I don’t think we’ve taken ourselves as seriously as we’ve needed to.”

How seriously the Jayhawks will take themselves after Saturday’s stinker won’t be known until they play Baylor on Tuesday night in Waco, Texas.

If Kansas bumbles against the Bears, then they officially are in a slump. But if they play loosey-goosey like they did most of November and December, then Villanova’s wake-up call still will be ringing in their ears.