Jayhawks share blame after blowing 17-point lead to Iowa State

Kansas guard Wayne Selden Jr. (1) walks off the court after the Jayhawk’s 70-66 loss to Iowa State in the championship game of the Big 12 Tournament Saturday in Kansas City, MO.

Kansas City, Mo. ? Tears formed in Kansas University freshman Devonté Graham’s eyes as he met the media after Saturday’s 70-66 loss to Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament final in Sprint Center.

The backup point guard — who was at the opposite end of the emotional spectrum when he flexed for KU’s fans after hitting a layup to give the Jayhawks a 13-point lead late in the first half — took ownership of KU’s eighth loss of the season against 26 victories.

“I just feel so bad right now, especially turning the ball over at game point like that, I feel I let the team down, the fans down,” Graham stated.

• Box score

Obviously, no one player could be singled out for full blame after a game in which the (25-8) Cyclones turned a 17-point second half deficit into a seven-point lead down the stretch.

However, Graham — who was not responsible for ISU grabbing three offensive rebounds and eventually hitting a pair of free throws to conclude that possession and grasp a 65-63 lead with 48 ticks to play — believes he erred big-time on KU’s ensuing possession.

He lobbed a pass into Landen Lucas that was batted and stolen by Georges Niang (19 points, five boards), ISU hitting one of two free throws on the next trip down court to up the lead to 66-63 at :23.8.

“He (Lucas) came off a screen. I thought he was open, so I lobbed it up there,” said Graham, who scored seven points with four assists and just the one turnover in 24 minutes. “Georges … (or) somebody got a hand on it,” he added.

Lucas, who scored six points and had five boards in 24 minutes, deflected the blame to himself.

“He (Graham) is feeling hurt about that. That’s on me,” Lucas said. “Me personally … I should have shifted my momentum and went after it and got up there. We talk about 50/50 balls. That was one of them. I failed on that. I should have got that ball. We can’t dwell on plays. We have to move past that, but I’ve got to make sure that doesn’t happen in the (NCAA) tournament. That could send us home. I’ve got to do better next time.”

Another Jayhawk who was feeling personally responsible for the title-game setback was freshman Kelly Oubre Jr., who scored three points off 1-of-3 shooting in 17 minutes.

“Terrible,” Oubre said of his performance. He played just seven minutes the first half and 10 the second. “I had an and-one (in first half) for my only points. I was trying to force it, get to the paint, to the rim. There was nothing going on. They had a big wall there in the paint. I didn’t do anything. I wasn’t a factor in the second half. I take responsibility for not doing my part, not being there for my team.”

ISU overcame the largest halftime deficit in a Big 12 championship final (14 points). Previously, Oklahoma came back from 12 down to beat Texas, 54-45, in 2001.

“I feel it was all on the defensive end. They scored a lot of points the second half,” said KU sophomore Wayne Selden Jr., who scored 25 points off 8-of-12 shooting in 35 minutes and was the only KU player named to the five-player all-tournament team.

ISU outscored KU 47-29 the final half after scoring just 23 points the first half.

“We basically played a pitiful half of basketball and a really good half of basketball. It was polar opposite,” coach Bill Self said. His Jayhawks went 5-for-19 (.263) from the field the final 20 minutes after hitting 15 of 34 shots (.441) the first half. “Our pitiful half was a little worse than our really good half.

“We did some good things,” Self noted, “but the bottom line is we need to get our team back. This isn’t an excuse but we need to get back healthy. Landen is out there fighting through it (hip, knee, back problems) and Perry (Ellis, seven points, nine boards while wearing knee brace) is fighting through it and we have some other guys nicked up (Frank Mason III bumps, bruises) and we need to take a couple of days and regroup and get our batteries recharged.”

Self thinks his team will be healthy for the upcoming NCAAs.

“Perry did well. It was a lot for him to come back two days in a row, that was obvious,” Self said. “It’s only been nine days today. Give him six more days. I thought he made positive strides. He didn’t play particularly great in the tournament. We didn’t expect him to. The purpose for him playing in the tournament more than anything else was getting him ready to play next week.

“Landen needs three or four days with his nagging stuff. Frank obviously needs a couple of days, but I think we will be as close to whole as we have been in a long time by the time Thursday or Friday rolls around.”

The Jayhawks, who will learn their postseason fate while turning into CBS’ Selection Show at 5 p.m., Sunday, were planning on thinking about this defeat for a few hours at least.

“We have had plenty of lessons this season. This is one that stings the most. We couldn’t close it out,” Oubre said. “It will be in the back of our minds. We have to focus and get back to playing Kansas basketball. We have a fresh start coming up. We have to regroup and continue to get better in the gym and be a team.”

Noted Self: “Frustrated is a good word. (But) this is the quickest turnaround, win or lose, you have all year long. Tomorrow it doesn’t matter if we won this game. I hate to say that, it doesn’t. It doesn’t matter if we lost, doesn’t matter if we won tomorrow. That’s the beauty of this deal when you know you are going to the tournament. If you play, you’ve got to win. We didn’t get it done. This isn’t the worst thing that’s ever happened to us,” Self added.