Temple decimates Kansas 77-52

Courtesy: kusports.com

When your leading scorers put up 17 plus each, shoot 95% from the line and almost 60% from the field, one would think you had a fantastic night. Or when you hold the other team to 32% shooting and cause 17 turnovers, the night just got better. That is unless you were Kansas playing Temple last night. In the words of Charles Barkley, it was "tuuurible" just "tuuurible."

The Jayhawks traveled to Philadelphia last night to take on the Owls of Temple. The Jayhawks had lead the series between the two teams at 8-3 with the last lost coming almost a decade ago in 1995. Going into this game I had my superstitions about the Wells Fargo Center. The Sixers are 0-12 there.

Courtesy: kusports.com

Jayhawk big man Cliff Alexander had earned his first career start. Alexander was coming off a great game against Lafayette and overall has proven himself in just a short time. As I looked back on last night, maybe it should have been a different night for the big fella. For just 17 minutes of play, Alexander put up 2 points and 3 rebounds.

Kansas controlled the tip, but that was about it. Temple started off early with a bucket from Quenton DeCosey. Fouls committed by Alexander and Kansas Sophomore Frank Mason and perfect free-throw shooting had Temple up 7-0 on the Jayhawks. Missed shots, 4 turnovers and Temple playing about as badly as Kansas was, had them up 12-2. Kansas coach Bill Self had seen enough and called time. Sophomore's Branne Greene and Frank Mason each nailed a big 3 to give Kansas some life, but Temple had turned up the heat on defense. Kansas kept turning the ball over and Temple kept making shots. After a dunk by Temple's Jaylen Bond, the crowd had erupted. Eleven thousand strong had given life to this Temple team. Self had enough and called for another timeout with Temple up 22-10. 3 timeouts later did nothing to get the Jayhawks back in this game. Selden nailed a 3 to silence the crowd for a minute, but Temple kept the defense up causing more turnovers and missed shots. With a timeout coming with just over 3 minutes left in the 1st half, Temple had edged away from the Jayhawks 28-17. The only thing giving the Jayhawks any life was Temple started having troubles on offense. Mason nailed two huge 3's for Kansas at the end of the first half, but the damaged had been done. Temple lead by 10 35-25.

Kansas came out with some much needed life in the 2nd half. Buckets by Selden, Junior Perry Ellis and Freshman Kelly Oubre Jr, had the Jayhawks only down by 6 with just over 3 minutes played. Temple answered back.....and kept answering. Shot after shot went down. Kansas could not get anything going on either end of the court. Fouls......Kansas was infected with them and Temple was hitting everything put into the air. At the 1345 mark Self called for another timeout. Temple had taken the lead from 6 to 13 in just a few minutes.

Courtesy: espn.com

The Jayhawks were cold, bitter cold. From watching this team just two days ago locking down every defensive play to looking like a bad day of drinking, had this writer scrambling for thoughts. No doubt Temple was hot. I wont take anything away from that but this wasn't the Jayhawks. The "meltdowns" had come full circle.

Mason and Oubre kept chipping away at the deficit, but so did Temple. Temple's Jesse Morgan had found his mark. Within a 2 minute span, Morgan had put up 8 points with 2 3pt shots that were completely unguarded by Kansas. Self has called for another time out......2nd of the half....and 4th of the game. 8:41 remained. History has taught Jayhawk fans several things over the years. One of which is when Self is low on timeouts, its not good. Usually never is. So when Self called for his final time out less than a minute later, Kansas was done. Temple had carved a well deserved lead on Kansas. 61-38.

Courtesy: Temple Athletics

Loosen your tie, kick off your shoes and crack a beer because that is the only thing that will ease the pain of what will only get worse. Ellis, Mason and Freshman Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk all made good buckets but so did Temple. The energy level was at max. Its a hard fact to swallow, but the night belonged to Temple. They continued to pound away at the rim hitting almost everything they put up, eventually sealing the deal 77-52. With a crowd storming imminent, Kansas fell to 9-2 on the season and Temple would move up to 8-4. This writer has never been a fan of storming the court, especially for a non-conference win, but Temple earned it. Temple played their hearts out, hit almost every shot in the 2nd half and were at the top of their game. Several KU players were caught in the middle of the rush, and every Temple fan went around some even waiting. Hats off to the Temple crowd for giving your team the edge and the win. Enjoy it while it lasts. It doesn't happen very often!

If anything can be learned from this, its that Kansas has a weak spot for staying tough. Twice now, this team has been shut down mentally. Temple is not the better team here. Tonight they were mentally. Kansas, when faced with a threat in the paint, melts down. This weakness has been exposed all season. I have to praise Coach Self. There is a reason this team has 10 straight conference championships, and 25 consecutive NCAA appearances. That reason is mental and physical toughness. You don't play the toughest non-conference schedule in the league for anything. This team will bounce back. This team will come together and when they do, hold on for the ride!

The Jayhawks will be back in Allen Fieldhouse Tuesday December 30th at 7pm to take on the Flashes of Kent State. Kent State is 8-3 on the season coming off a recent loss at UTEP.

!!!ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!!!