Jayhawks received wake-up call

PHILADELPHIA – Kansas is no longer perfect. The No. 2 national ranking will tumble. But an out-of-nowhere blowout loss to Villanova probably won’t matter in the long run to the Jayhawks.

“It’s just a little bump in the road,” guard Michael Lee said.

Kansas coach Bill Self expected a loss might be coming after the Jayhawks posted single-digit victories in six of their last eight games. The Jayhawks (14-1, 4-0 Big 12) were hardly playing like a team expected to contend for a national championship, but they couldn’t even contend for a mid-major conference title playing like they did in a stunning 83-62 loss to Villanova on Saturday.

Self tried putting a positive spin on the loss, saying the Jayhawks can only learn and get better from it.

“I think being embarrassed and with the ranking and popularity of our players nationally through the media, I think you can get a false sense of security,” Self said. “We weren’t as good as what our record was, and we’re not as bad as we played today. Hopefully it’ll be an attention getter.”

It was the Jayhawks’ worst loss in two years under Self and the most lopsided defeat since a Roy Williams-coached team lost to Wake Forest by 31 points on Dec. 7, 2000. The loss also left Illinois, Duke and Boston College as the only undefeated teams in the Top 25.

But with four seniors who have played in the Final Four, the Jayhawks are still the team to beat in the Big 12.

They’re going to have do better than they did against a Villanova team that dominated the second half.

The Wildcats opened the half on a 29-6 run to build a 32-point lead, went 13 for 13 from the free-throw line in the second half, went 12 for 19 overall from 3-point range and scored 35 points off KU’s 22 turnovers.

“We’re forgetting about doing the little things,” Self said. “Now we’re just showing up, and it doesn’t work that way.”