From the sidelines
Ugly.
That's the only way to describe the Kansas-UCLA regional championship game Saturday at San Jose's HP Pavillion. Well, if you're a KU fan that is.
It doesn't matter if the game was in California, or if it was the Jayhawks playing poorly or UCLA kicking their butts.
It doesn't matter if the reason was Julian Wright disappeared for the second-straight KU tournament loss, or freshmen Darrell Arthur and Sherron Collins played like, well, freshmen.
It was ugly, and the Kansas Jayhawks and coach Bill Self deserved to lose.
Missed layups, turnovers, bonehead decisions. They all contributed to the loss. It didn't help that UCLA was a pick to win the national championship until about two weeks before the tournament.
The Bruins are a good team. A tournament-tested team that played in the national title game a year ago.
And they looked every bit the part.
The Jayhawks on the other hand looked like they had been on the beach all week having a California spring break.
Which hey, isn't a bad idea. As long as you aren't in the NCAA tournament.
So it's back to the dry erase board for Self and the Jayhawks. Wright has already announced he's coming back, and other than Rush, no one else is ready for the NBA. There are no seniors on the roster which means one thing — KU will have at least 92 percent of its team next year. If Rush stays, they will be hard to beat.
But the start of the season is still seven months away, and the sting of a loss so ugly KU might now know how Niagara feels, won't go away unless the 'Hawks are clipping down the nets next April.
It's natural to dislike UCLA for thumping KU, but really Jayhawk fans should send their anger toward Self and his players.
Of course, time will heal and talk will shift to the new recruits and what lies ahead. But until then, Saturday's game will be the final memory of a good, but not great season.
Ugly.
