Woodling: Seniors stuck with Bucknell bummer

OKLAHOMA CITY ? Dynamic start. Dreadful finish. I can’t think of a better way to sum up the ultimately disappointing Kansas University men’s basketball season.

Who would have ever believed that after the Jayhawks won their first 14 games and 20 of their first 21 that they would lose six of their last nine?

Worse, not even the most pessimistic person in America would have ever believed this edition would become the first Kansas team to lose a first-round NCAA Tournament game since seeding began in 1981.

It was a different tournament back in 1978, the last time Kansas lost an NCAA opener. The field was composed of only 32 teams then and champions met champions in the first round.

The bracket was set in stone before the 1977-78 season with the Big Eight champion scheduled to meet the Pac-10 champion in Eugene, Ore. UCLA won, 83-76, in a familiar gym: Oregon’s MacArthur Court.

Kansas hasn’t had many close calls in the first round since seeding began. Their narrowest escape was against No. 16 seed Holy Cross three years ago. As you know, Holy Cross is in the same league as Bucknell. It’s safe to say Kansas wants no more of the Patriot League.

Was Friday night’s loss to Bucknell the most ignominious of all the shocking defeats Kansas has suffered in the NCAA Tournament?

That’s hard to say. It certainly ranks in the top three. I still think that second-round loss to Rhode Island in 1998 — also in Oklahoma City — was a classic bummer. Kansas went into that NCAA meet with a 33-1 record and, of course, a No. 1 seed.

Then there was that second-round loss to Texas-El Paso in 1992 in Dayton. Kansas had a No. 1 seed that year, too, and finished with a 27-5 record. Oh, and then there was the 1990 loss to UCLA in the second round in Atlanta. That KU club was a 30-game winner.

Is it worse for a No. 1 seed to lose in the second round, or worse for a No. 3 seed to lose in the first-round? That’s like comparing bad apples. Who’s to say?

Why did the Jayhawks struggle down the stretch after such a fast start? Injuries played a role, as you know. So did a schedule bottom heavy with quality opponents.

In my opinion, the Jayhawks sagged in large part because they became too dependent on Wayne Simien. Somewhere along the line, they started wearing “Let Wayne Do It” buttons.

That may be oversimplying the problem, but it’s obvious Simien didn’t have enough help in March. Other than Michael Lee, Big Dub had no help at all Friday night against Bucknell. Simien and Lee combined for 42 of the Jayhawks’ 63 points.

Meanwhile, Keith Langford, J.R. Giddens and Aaron Miles were a combined 2-19 from the field. Langford had an excuse for missing six of seven shots. He hadn’t played in nearly two weeks because of an ankle injury and the stomach flu.

Miles, who compiled more assists than any player in KU’s storied history, finished his otherwise lustrous career with a stinker. He missed all five of his shots and had only four assists. Obscure Bucknell point guard Abe Badmus outshone Miles with 11 assists.

Giddens, meanwhile, couldn’t hit red dirt with a boot. Playing in his hometown, the 6-foot-5 sophomore had more turnovers (3) than points (2). Like Langford, Giddens was 1-for-7 from the field and missed all five three-point attempts. It was like he was driving an Isuzu in the Ford Center.

In the final analysis, Bucknell didn’t win Friday night’s game. Kansas lost it. The Bison shot only 40 percent and clanked 23 of their 31 three-point attempts. But eight threes beats one three every time and Kansas was 1-for-11 from beyond the arc.

When tourney time comes around, the teams that advance are usually the teams that turn on the spigot from three-point range. That’s how Rhode Island crushed the ’98 KU team. Anybody remember Cuttino Mobley and Tyson Wheeler?

The sad aspect of the 2004-2005 Kansas edition is that three months of splendid basketball were ruined by a month of ordinary basketball. Nobody remembers how you started. They remember how you finished, and few KU teams have started faster and finished flatter than this one.

That’s not a legacy seniors Simien, Miles, Lee and Langford wanted to leave, but they’re stuck with it.