Kansas City, Mo. ? Washington’s players and coaches didn’t blame a 19-for-65 shooting performance on bad luck.

Instead, the Huskies were quick to say the Kansas University defense was the biggest reason for their misfires.

“That’s what a good defensive team does — they force you into bad shots, and they force you into a low shooting percentage,” UW forward Jon Brockman said after his team’s 73-54 loss to Kansas on Monday at the Sprint Center. “Hats off to them. They did a great job defensively.”

Coming in, Washington had made 45 percent of its shots in its first three games.

After going just 9-for-38 in the first half (23.7 percent) against KU, the Huskies ended the game by making just 29 percent of their field-goal attempts.

“We knew going into the game they were holding teams below 30 percent, and I see why now,” Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said. “They did a good job in their man defense, but for the most part, they played the zone. We didn’t handle it very well because we didn’t pass the ball like we should.”

Also struggling offensively was Brockman, the preseason Pac-10 player of the year.

Though he was able to grab 18 rebounds, he made just two of nine shots and finished with seven points. Brockman scored at least 10 points in every game last season.

“They really sat in that zone and kept those two big guys down there in the paint,” Brockman said. “It makes it tough to get work done down there. They did a great job.”

Romar also wasn’t happy with his team’s shot selection. Washington ended with just eight assists to go with 15 turnovers.

“When you have your feet set, and it’s not a quick shot, you will shoot a higher percentage,” Romar said. “I just don’t think we were taking quality shots. I think we were rushing shots.”

Washington wasn’t able to cut into KU’s lead despite out-rebounding the Jayhawks, 43-34.

Part of the reason was a high number of blocked shots for KU. The Jayhawks finished with 10 swats, with six coming from Cole Aldrich and three others credited to Markieff Morris.

“They made it difficult for us to get anything easy,” Romar said. “We’ll see what happens (today), but I thought (Monday) they kind of came together.”

Brockman came away impressed with the young Jayhawks.

“I think it gives us a great idea of what a high-level basketball team plays like,” Brockman added. “They were just a great example of what a good Div. I, winning basketball program does.”