The Jayhawks fall, leaving only Memphis undefeated.

NEIL JOSHI, The Sports Lounge
JSB COLLEGE BASKETBALL COLUMNIST

The Kansas Jayhawks (20-1) lost on the road to in-state rival Kansas State for the first time in 25 years, and now the Memphis Tigers have the distinction of being the sole unbeaten in college basketball. Kansas’ 84-75 loss was a credit to how well the Wildcats played, and now the Jayhawks are staring up in the Big 12 Standings. Kansas State is the only undefeated team left in the league at 5-0, and the combination of Michael Beasley and Bill Walker is beginning to look more and more like a fearsome duo.

Beasley, the front-runner to be Player of the Year and the top overall pick in next year’s draft, made waves by guaranteeing that his Wildcats would sweep Kansas, – the rematch at Allen Fieldhouse is March 1st– but he looked terrific in completing the first half of that daring prediction. After a slow start, Beasley still managed to dominate, knocking down all four his 3-pointers, and leading all scorers with 25 points. In the first half, however, Beasley struggled and Kansas State was largely reliant on Walker and unheralded freshman Jacob Pullen, who combined for 42 points in their team’s biggest game of the season.

Bill Self made an effort to harass Beasley and he constantly double-teamed, and sometimes triple-teamed the star, daring other guys on the Wildcat roster to beat his second ranked team. Walker has been one of Kansas State’s most consistent performers, but Pullen’s first 20-point game of his career was more than double his 9.4 scoring average. The freshman was most impressive in going 10-10 from the free throw line, while his teammates only went 8-14 (.571).

The Jayhawks are still in great shape for a #1 seed, but the game on the first day of March suddenly becomes a must-win game for a team that hasn’t had to deal with a loss to the Wildcats since 1982. Both players and the head coach acknowledged the bitterness of losing to a rival, and that they will be committed towards avoiding the same result in the rematchl. Self did mention a very good point, putting the loss into perspective.

“We weren’t going to run the table. As much as I wish we could, that wasn’t going to happen. So this could be a good thing for us in the long run.”

That’s very true, just ask the Patriots about what it’s like to constantly be asked about being undefeated. Those types of questions are being directed at John Calipari, who is the coach of the Tigers, a team that passed its own test on the road last night. Calipari insists that his team is due for a couple losses in conference play, but his team continues to prove him wrong

The Tigers looked as dominant as ever, rolling past Houston 89-77. The Cougars are the second best team in a weak Conference USA, but are a solid bet to make the field of 65 this year. This was a statement win for Memphis, who just continues along at 20-0. Despite turning the ball over 22 times, the Tigers still looked impressive in shooting 58% from the field, and outrebounding the overmatched Cougars 49-29. Last weekend, they handled Gonzaga at the Fed-Ex Forum in a similar fashion, and now the focus shifts towards the February 23rd showdown with Tennessee. It doesn’t appear that teams like UTEP or SMU will pose much of a problem until then, and it’s safe to assume that Memphis will be 26-0 entering that matchup. No offense to UAB, Tulane, or Central Florida, who all have an opportunity to slay Goliath in the coming weeks, but I don’t see it in any of them to pull off a major upset.

Chris Douglas-Roberts had 30 to lead the way for the Tigers, who are a complete team in every sense of the word. Joey Dorsey handles the dirty work inside, and had a season-high 22 rebounds. For the year, he averages over 11 a game; he had the defensive performance of his life when he manhandled Roy Hibbert earlier this year. Freshman sensation Derrick Rose had six assists, nine rebounds, and 10 points. That’s not too bad from a point guard that many think is one-dimensional. Rose is a score-first point guard, but is learning to defer to Douglas-Roberts, who is the team’s unquestioned leader.

Now that they are only team that without a blemish, the target on the Tigers back is only going to get bigger. A team hasn’t entered the NCAA Tournament undefeated since St. Joseph’s in 2004, who lost in the Elite 8 that year. A season like that would be a colossal failure for the Tigers, who have been dropped in that round the last two years. They’re sole objective for this season is to be cutting down the nets in San Antonio on April 7, and a regular season loss will not derail them of that goal, if and when that time ever comes.

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