From the agony of the basketball defeat at the hands of Bucknell to the ecstasy of the football victory over Nebraska, from the stabbing of J.R. Giddens in the Moon Bar incident to the disclosure of NCAA rules infractions at KU, it was a wild year on the Lawrence sports scene.

A look at the top sports stories of 2005:

1. March 18 — A day that will live in infamy for Kansas University’s proud men’s basketball program.

That was the day Bucknell, a team with only five scholarship players, dazed the Jayhawks, 64-63, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City.

Bucknell fired buckshot heard ’round the basketball world in handing KU its first opening-round defeat since the NCAA began seeding schools in 1981.

So stunning was Bucknell’s victory that it earned an ESPY Award a few months later as the year’s “Best Upset.”

Kansas University's Keith Langford sits in the locker room after the Jayhawks' first-round NCAA Tournament loss to Bucknell. The 64-63 loss in Oklahoma City was so monumental, it earned the ESPY Award for Best

Bucknell began playing basketball in 1896, joining Yale and Minnesota as the nation’s oldest Division I programs. But the only other times the Bison even made the NCAA field were in 1987, when they lost by 22 to Georgetown, and in ’89, when they lost by 23 to Syracuse.

Bison center Chris McNaughton banked in a hook shot over Wayne Simien with 10 seconds left, then Simien missed an open 15-foot jumper at the

buzzer to send the Jayhawks, who began the season ranked No. 1 in the polls, reeling.

Kansas threw bricks all over the Oklahoma City arena that day. Keith Langford, J.R. Giddens and Aaron Miles were a combined 2-for-19 from the field. Giddens, playing in his hometown, had more turnovers (3) than points (2).

In the final analysis, Bucknell didn’t win so much as Kansas lost. The Bison shot only 40 percent and clanked 23 of their 31 three-point attempts. But they made eight treys and KU was only 1-for-11 from beyond the arc.

“Not a day goes by when I don’t think about that game,” KU coach Bill Self said months later. “I can’t escape it. Everywhere I go, there’s a reminder about Bucknell. Everywhere I’m introduced, there’s a Bucknell joke that follows.”

2. Quarterback Jason Swanson was making his way to the locker room, avoiding pad slaps and high-fives, when a man in the stands got his attention.

Swanson looked up to see his new biggest fan say two words to him before letting him go.

KU fans carry part of the goalpost out of Memorial Stadium after the Jayhawks' 40-15 victory over Nebraska. KU beat the Huskers for the first time since 1968.

“Thank you.”

Similar gratitude was seen all around Memorial Stadium after KU’s 40-15 victory over Nebraska, as the goalposts were being carried out and the Rock Chalk chant swirled the venue louder than ever.

The pride ran thick Nov. 5 for a fan base starving to escape the role of football punching bag. Nebraska had stomped Kansas 36 consecutive times before that day, but KU’s defense played over its head, and Swanson led the offense to 428 total yards as Kansas ended an agonizing streak with unmatched authority — much to the relief of fans waiting all those years to see it happen.

3. Who stabbed J.R.? Jeremiah Creswell did May 19. He also cut four other men with a knife during an incident in the parking lot of the Moon Bar, near Ninth and Iowa Streets. Creswell maintained he did so in self-defense after he said he was jumped by the group, a claim eyewitnesses backed up.

When all the dust settled from the melee, Giddens had transferred to the University of New Mexico, the Moon Bar had folded, and Cresswell pleaded no contest to battering Giddens inside the bar and was sentenced to one year’s probation. Giddens pleaded no contest to one count of misdemeanor battery and received one year’s probation and an order to attend two days of anger-management classes.

4. Who needs Wayne Simien? Kansas University’s men’s basketball team, that’s who.

At least that’s what everyone thought Jan. 9, when the Jayhawks went to Lexington, Ky., for a nationally televised game against Kentucky.

KU's Stephen Vinson, left, and Nick Bahe celebrate during the Jayhawks' victory on Jan. 9 at Kentucky.

Kansas (10-0) was unbeaten and ranked No. 2 in the polls, but the Jayhawks would have to face the once-beaten and No. 8-ranked Wildcats (10-1) in Rupp Arena without Simien, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder who was out because of a thumb injury.

Surprisingly, Kansas did win without Simien, snapping a seven-game losing streak to the ‘Cats in Rupp with a 65-58 victory.

Even more eye-opening: The Jayhawks won despite shooting just 39.6 percent, committing 21 turnovers and surrendering 20 offensive boards.

How did Kansas win? Mainly with a stifling three-point defense. Kentucky misfired on 20 of its 26 shots from beyond the arc. Overall, the ‘Cats shot a paltry 31 percent.

Also, freshmen C.J. Giles (10 points, six rebounds) and Sasha Kaun (seven points, four boards) combined to provide Simien-like numbers.

5. KU couldn’t have gotten more out of the Fort Worth Bowl than it did. First, a big turnout of Jayhawks fans let future bowl directors know the school travels better for football these days. In Houston, KU had an opponent it matched up well against and the fact the Cougars talked trash all week fired up an already emotional, senior-laden defense that was the strength of the team all year.

In the final stages of the 42-13 rout of Houston, the only suspense centered on which KU star would be named the most valuable player. It wasn’t Brian Murph, who returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown, was on the receiving end of 48-yard touchdown pass and caught four passes for 78 yards. It wasn’t Jon Cornish, who rushed for 101 yards on 16 carries and turned two shovel passes into touchdowns covering a total of 43 yards. It wasn’t Charlton Keith, who harassed the quarterback, as usual, led the team in tackles and intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown. And it wasn’t Theo Baines, who had two interceptions. KU’s third starting quarterback, Jason Swanson (19-of-29 for 307 yards and four touchdowns; 33 rushing yards), took home the honors.

The bowl victory capped a 7-5 season in which KU won four of its last five games with the lone loss coming at Texas. It also was the Jayhawks’ only victory outside of Lawrence, where they went 6-0 at Memorial Stadium.

6. The stunning tourney loss to Bucknell and the J.R. Giddens Moon Bar incident cast a pall over a Kansas basketball program that desperately needed some good news to change its fortunes. It arrived Sept. 2, when the NCAA Clearinghouse ruled that Brandon Rush was eligible for an athletic scholarship.

Rush attended three Kansas City high schools and a prep school in North Carolina, which made the eligibility issue less than a slam dunk. A 6-foot-6-inch shooting guard, Rush joined a recruiting class that already was ranked as high as second in the nation.

His initial intention was to go straight to the NBA out of Mount Zion Academy, but after participating in NBA workouts, Rush decided to go to college to work on his defense and jumpshot. He chose KU over Indiana and Illinois and said he would not have come to KU if Giddens still were on the team.

Thus far, Rush has been KU’s leading scorer and most consistent performer, not just among freshmen, but on the entire team.

7. Football took a hit. So did women’s basketball. But the greatest hue and cry last summer was over a violation in Kansas University’s supposedly squeaky-clean men’s basketball program.

Overland Park attorney Rick Evrard, left, explains the scope of Kansas University's NCAA violations as KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway, center, and athletic director Lew Perkins watch. Evrard, shown in mid-July, was from a law firm hired by KU to investigate possible NCAA violations.

In a mid-July announcement of NCAA rules violations, KU officials said former coach Roy Williams had approved gifts of cash and clothing to several graduating seniors who had exhausted their eligibility.

“I am deeply saddened to say there was evidently a mistake,” Williams said of the gifts presented to former KU players by boosters Dana Anderson, Joan Edwards and Bernie Morgan.

No sanctions were applied to men’s basketball. However, football lost one scholarship in both 2005-2006 and 2006-2007. KU also restricted the number of junior-college transfers to three per year in ’05 and ’06.

In women’s basketball, KU forfeited two grants-in-aid for the 2005-06 season, and cut the number of coaches who could recruit off campus from three to two for the same school year.

“We are very disappointed that at times we fell short of the high standards we set for ourselves,” KU chancellor Robert Hemenway said.

All of the violations occurred prior to 2003.

8. Over the years, KU linebacker Nick Reid developed the reputation as a blue-collar hitter.

His final season, he was voted the Big 12 Conference’s top defensive player by the league’s coaches.

Recruited as a quarterback, Reid quickly became a much-needed team leader at linebacker upon arriving in Lawrence. He was good for 10 tackles per game, eventually anchoring one of the best defenses in KU history his senior campaign.

Overall, Reid will leave KU as one of the school’s all-time greats, registering 100 tackles three straight seasons and earning the school record for tackles for a loss. He earned third-team All-America honors, but it was his Big 12 accomplishment — defensive player of the year — which was unprecedented in KU history.

9. It didn’t happen without an overwhelming amount of drama — but a Brian Luke-sparked comeback and the cool head of kicker Scott Webb led Kansas past Iowa State and on to the Fort Worth Bowl.

Down 14-3 at halftime, Kansas started making its comeback, getting a boost from Luke after quarterback Jason Swanson hurt his leg. Luke ran for a touchdown and threw for another to deadlock the game at 21 with a minute left, then watched as Webb smoothly booted the game-winning field goal in the first overtime. It clinched the sixth victory and six tries at Memorial Stadium, suddenly a hostile place for opponents to put on the pads.

Kansas finished the regular season 6-5 — and assured itself of one more game in December.

10. Lawrence High, the scourge of Class 6A state football in the 1980s and early ’90s, posted its best season in a decade, thanks mostly to a core of 19 seniors.

Lawrence High's Marc Albers, second from left, is congratulated after his interception by teammates, from left, Edward Patterson, Chase Johnson and Richard Demby, in the waning minutes against Olathe South. The Lions beat the Falcons, 21-10, Nov. 11 in Olathe in the Class 6A state quarterfinals.

“Kids like that,” LHS coach Dirk Wedd said after the Lions’ posted a 10-2 record, “come along once in a great while.”

Lawrence High fell just five points short of reaching the school’s first 6A title game since 1995, when the Lions posted an 11-1 record.

In the ’05 state semifinals at Haskell Stadium, unbeaten Olathe East scratched out a 22-18 victory over the Lions despite a 190-yard rushing performance by tailback Nolan Kellerman, who concluded his senior year with 1,488 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Kellerman had to settle for second-team All-Sunflower League honors, but the Lions had three first-teamers in linebacker Scott Penny, defensive back Brandon Lassiter and offensive guard Nick DeBiasse.