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KANSAN.COM
CHAMPIONSHIPS BY THE DOZEN
STARTING FIVE
AARON MILES Senior guard
Miles averaged 9.3 points and 7.2 assists in his last of his four seasons as Kansas' starting point guard. He's ninth all-time in NCAA Division I assists with 954, which is a Kansas and Big 12 record.
J.R. GIDDENS
Sophomore guard This was Giddens' last season at Kansas before transferring to New Mexico on a mutual agreement between him and Bill Self. He averaged 10.1 points per game, good for third on this team behind Wayne Simien and Keith Langford.
KEITH LANGFORD
Senior guard Langford averaged 14.4 points and four rebounds per game in his final season at Kansas. He finished his career at seventh on Kansas' all-time scoring list with 1,812 points in four years with the Jayhawks.
CHRISTIAN MOODY
CHRISTIAN MOODY Junior forward In this season, Moody went from walk-on to a part-time scholarship player, eventually playing on scholarship for his senior season. Moody is maybe best remembered for Kansas fans yelling "MOOOO" when the 6-foot-8 forward made a play.
Jeff Jacobsen/KU Athletics
WAYNE SIMIEN
Senior forward The Leavenworth native was a consensus first-team All-American and Big 12 Player of the Year after he averaged an absurd 20.3 points and 11 rebounds per game. His No. 23 jersey was retired in January 2011.
SEASON AT A GLANCE
Kansas started this year at No. 1 in the polls and rolled off 14-straight wins before taking a 19-point loss to Villanova. The Jayhawks closed the regular season by losing four of their last six games, and went 1-2 in postseason play. The last loss hurt the worst, of course, as No. 3-seeded Kansas fell to No. 14-seeded Bucknell in the first round of the NCAA tournament after Simien's game-winning shot clanked out.
BY THE NUMBERS 1,812 Langford finished his career as the seventh all-time scorer at Kansas with 1,812 points.
.091 — Kansas had a poor three-point percentage in the game against Bucknell that ended the season. The Jayhawks were 1-of-11 from behind the arc.
21 — Previously, the Jayhawks had advanced past the first round of the NCAA tournament for 21 straight tournaments before this loss, brought on party by Langford's flu and ankle issues.
Simien blazes the trail for Kansas
MIRANDA LENNING
originally published in 2005
For a guy who doesn't show much emotion on the court, Wayne Simien was certainly fired up yesterday.
Even before the tip-off, Big Dub had his hands in the air, waving to the 16,300 fans in Allen Fieldhouse. After Kansas' 81-79 victory against Oklahoma State, he was fist pumping like Tiger Woods.
Not to mention what happened during the game. The senior forward put the Jayhawks on his back, scoring a career-high 32 points and adding 12 rebounds.
After the game, he was all smiles. He knew his team had gotten an important victory.
"I'm not one to show much emotion, but this was just extra special today," Simien said. "This was one of our last home games, two of the top teams in the country were going at it fighting for a championship, emotions were hot and the crowd was into it."
For the first time in four games, good things did happen for the Jayhawks. Their coach got a victory against his mentor and his alma mater. The Jayhawks, 21-4 and 11-3 in the Big 12, regained sole possession of the conference lead. And perhaps more importantly, Kansas won a close game against a good opponent, and played like one of the tops teams in the country.
The Jayhawks clearly knew they had to do one thing to win. "Just feed the beast and good things will happen," senior guard Aaron Miles said.
Self said he'd never been a part of a game where two teams competed harder,where the atmosphere was better or as well officiated.
It was tough week for the Kansas basketball team. After losing to Oklahoma last Monday, the Jayhawks did some soul searching. They put in work on the practice floor and shut themselves off from the outside world.
No media. No cell phones. No distractions. The Jayhawks just wanted to focus on playing Oklahoma State. They didn't talk to the media all week. Saturday night, they turned their cell phones over to the coaches. It didn't matter that they had family and friends in town. This team was determined to be focused.
"I think we did a good job of eliminating those outside distractions," Miles said.
The return of junior forward Christian Moody to the line-up was another instrumental element of the Jayhawks' success yesterday. Simien shot the ball 17 times, three less than he had in the previous two games combined.
Simien scored 14 first half points as the Jayhawks shot 68 percent from the field in the first half. The thing is, the Cowboys were just as good. They had just two turnovers in the first half and went 5-10 from behind the arc.
"He just made himself Big 12 player of the year," senior guard Keith Langford said. "We just rode his back."
The 39-39 halftime score left for a leave-it-all-out-on-the-court second half. Self said he didn't want to play anyone more than 16 minutes in the first half because he anticipated an intense second half. Other than Miles, who played 17 first-half minutes, none of the Jayhawks went over 16. The Jayhawks opened the second half with an 8-0 run that put them up by as many eight with about 12 minutes to play.
Before Kansas knew it, they were down by seven points with 6 minutes left.
The Jayhawks appeared to be in trouble. So what happened in the games' final minutes?
Kansas finished the game on a 12-3 scoring run ignited by a Miles three point shot with 4:30 left. That gave the Jayhawks momentum and they tied the score at 78 with 1:30 to go.
"Wayne," Langford said. "He got after it, made some big plays and got a couple of big stops."
Miles gave the Jayhawks their final lead with 30 seconds left in the game. Guarded by Oklahoma State guard JamesOn Curry, Miles blew past the freshman, drove to the bask-ket and layed the ball up over senior forward Ivan McFarlin.
But the Cowboys went on a run of their own, rattling off 10 straight.
"Christian did a good job of screening my man," Miles said. "They had to respect Keith out on the wing so they didn't help too much and I just found the opening."
Holding onto a 80-79
lead, Miles went to the line. He missed the first but sunk the second to give the Jayhawks a two point lead. The Cowboys had the ball with 19 seconds left. Senior guard Daniel Bobik inbounded the ball to senior guard John Lucas. It appeared that Oklahoma State wanted to get the ball to senior forward Joey Graham, but the Jayhawks' defense didn't allow them to get set up.
"We told our guys to switch on all ball screens," Self said. "Joey set a ball screen and it looked like they wanted to get it to him to shoot a three."
Lucas was forced to take a quick three at the buzzer that would have won the game, but it was short, hitting the front of the rim. Simien fist-pumped. Self high-fived his players, then he hugged his mentor.
Langford said it was just good to smile again.
"I'm happy," Langford said. "I'm happy for coach Self and his family. I am just excited that we got the win."
NEWS
President George W. Bush officially swears in for his second term Jan. 20.
Hurricane Katrina hits the Gulf Coast, leaving millions without a home and over a thousand dead.
SPORTS
In the NCAA Basketball Championship, North Carolina Tar Heels defeat the Illinois Fighting Illini, 75-70.
The New England Patriots defeat the Philadelphia Eagles, 24-21, in Super Bowl 39.
Gwen Stefani's "Hellaback Girl" is downloaded 1.7 million times, making it the most popular song of the year.
"Million Dollar Baby" wins the Academy Award for best picture.
POP CULTURE
"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" movie is released.
Rosa Parks
Richard Pryor
NOTABLE DEATHS
Anne Bancroft
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