Distraction? What Distraction?

"We were focusing on the game, and I didn’t want it to
become a distraction...We were close. He was probably closer to me than anyone
on the team because we were roommates."

This was a quote from Russell Robinson in today's Kansas City Star in regards to his recently defected teammate, Micah Downs. I was worried going into this game that Downs' departure would knock the Jayhawks temporarily off-kilter. And for the first 20 minutes, my fears
appeared to have been realized.

Julian Wright made his first start, but with the extremely physical play in the post, Bill Self decided to sit him (6 minutes) and let his big guys take the abuse. Sasha Kaun and Darnell Jackson fought hard, with Jackson standing out on a 12-point, 9-rebound effort. But the offense was very inconsistent. Robinson and Mario Chalmers each had 3 points in the first half. Only the other-worldly ability of Brandon Rush kept Kansas within 2-points at halftime. Rush unleashed his vast array of offensive moves, hitting a three, floaters in the lane, pull-up jumpers and a fade-away. Nobody else on this team has half the offensive arsenal of Rush; fortunately, he brought all his weapons.

The halftime commentary of Dave Armstrong and Chris Piper was insightful and somewhat prophetic: Even though the Jayhawks offense was hit-and-miss and the defense was being exploited on numerous instances of KU players overplaying their man, they were only down 31-33 and they had the potential to be much better in the second half. Well, this has been the predominant theme all year: They've got loads of potential, but can they close out a game?

A 16-0 KU run to start the second half answered that.

Robinson and Chalmers had spoken during the intermission and decided that they need to be more involved. How about combining for 33 points, 10 assists and 20-21 free throw shooting? They played without fear, constantly challenging the A&M defense with drives to the basket and pushing the ball up the court on missed shots. And their relentless defensive pressure continued to force turnovers.

But the Jekyll-hawks (or would it be Jay-Hydes?) showed up and allowed a 14-point lead to dwindle to 4. My stomach was turning flips, but my mind was telling me to hang in there, that maybe this will be the night that these guys figure out how to tough-out a close win.

And that they did.

The combination of KU's guard play and a crew of whistle-happy officials resulted in A&M having 8 players with 3 or more fouls. And unlike recent weeks, the Hawks took advantage at the foul line, hitting 73% and refusing to allow the Aggies to claw their way back into the game.

Kansas was able to get another road win despite playing in a tough arena. They managed to learn from the missed opportunities of the K-State and Missouri losses. They didn't let the Nebraska blow-out inflate their egos. And they avoided a let-down in focus following the Micah Downs transfer. As A&M head coach Billy Gillespie said after the game:

"They did what they had to do. I can see why they’re
getting better in a hurry."

Me too.