“We’ve got to take pride in certain possessions,” senior forward Mitch Lightfoot, who tallied 10 points and six rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench on Sunday. Iona opened the second half on a 5-0 run to cut the KU lead to 46-36, prompting Self to call a timeout 50 seconds into the second half.Īt one point, early in the second half, Self could be heard from the sideline yelling, “Where’s our energy, blue?” The mere fact that things like energy, effort and defensive toughness need reminders is something that is not sitting well with the Kansas coaches and veteran players right now. While that lead kept Kansas comfortable and was never truly threatened, Self and his veteran players said there was no excuse for giving up the lead in the first place. But the biggest reason for the Jayhawks’ frustration - beyond the win column - was the way they competed on defense.Īfter building that 22-point first-half lead on the strength of several lock-down defensive possessions that led to easy buckets, the Jayhawks surrendered a 12-3 run that allowed Iona to pull within 15 at halftime. The Jayhawks went with the same starting five in what was the first ever meeting between Hall of Fame coaches Self and Rick Pitino. I’m not displeased, but I’m certainly not leaving out of here giddy about how we played.”
#Killer instinct 2 classic crack#
We had a chance to crack all three of them and didn’t and, obviously, one of them came back to bite us. “But the biggest thing is I don’t think we played the way you’re supposed to play in any of the games to give yourself a chance to win. “We obviously are disappointed we lost (to Dayton),” KU coach Bill Self said of Friday’s semifinal setback. From KU jumping out to leas of 19-7 and 41-19 in the first half and building a 23-point lead midway through the second half to the Gaels (6-2) cutting that down to a dozen with five minutes to play, KU’s Sunday victory went the way of their week in Orlando. But, after a day off, the Jayhawks (5-1) bounced back on Sunday and rolled past Iona in a game that saw a number of ebbs and flows. That goal went out the window with Friday’s semifinal loss to Dayton. “We didn’t accomplish the goal (we had) coming down here,” said junior guard Christian Braun after dropping 18 points in Sunday’s victory at HP Field House at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex.
While all of those factors left a little to be desired, it was the bottom line that hurt the most. No one in the Kansas locker room was overly thrilled with the Jayhawks’ 96-83 win over Iona in Sunday’s third-place game at the ESPN Events Invitational, and there were many reasons for the ho-hum vibe.įor the third game in a row, the fourth-ranked Jayhawks lacked a killer instinct, showed deficiencies on defense and had momentary lapses from several players on one end of the floor or the other.
Iona forward Nelly Junior Joseph, left, and guard Elijah Joiner, right, guard against Kansas guard Christian Braun during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, Nov.