WINSTON-SALEM — Now we know the real reason why Roy Williams didn’t leave Kansas last summer to take that vacant coaching job in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels have to play Wake Forest at least twice per season.
One dose every century of Demon Deacon basketball looked like more than enough for Williams and his Jayhawks at the Joel Coliseum on Thursday night. Wake (7-0) tossed Roy’s Boys around like that tornado that whipped Dorothy and Toto from Kansas to Oz, embarrassing the nation’s third-ranked team 84-53.
And it wasn’t as close as the score indicates.
The thumping equalled the fourth-worst loss ever for the Kansas program and was the second-worst loss for Williams at KU. It was a humiliating hammering for the Jayhawks, who rode in unbeaten and averaging 92.1 ppg (fifth in the nation) and shooting 55.4 percent (third in the nation), but left with their self esteem in tatters.
“There’s just not a lot I can say about this,” began a shaken Williams. “We got our tails kicked in every phase of the game. It was just one big butt-kicking.”
The Jayhawks (7-1) played without leading scorer Kenny Gregory, who averages 18 ppg. Gregory, 6-foot-5, was a late scratch because of a stress fracture in his right foot. His absence cost Kansas its most athletic player and one of those senior leaders a team needs on the road. However, no one guy would’ve changed the outcome of this one, even if Williams had been able to suit up Danny Manning in his prime.
And Williams said as much.
“The story of this game was not Kenny Gregory,” he said. “The story of this game was Wake Forest.”
Wake coach Dave Odom agreed.
“With Gregory, the game would have been played differently,” he said. “However, I am not going to take anything away from my team by saying that if Gregory had played, we would not have won.”
The fact is, the 11th-ranked Deacons were so impressive they moved back into the national picture for the first time since Tim Duncan graduated in 1997. They’ve won 12 straight games (don’t forget, they won the NITlast season), second-longest winning streak in the nation. During one torrid second-half binge, a black-and-gold painted fan even dared to hoist a sign that read, “Duke Who?”
The preseason talk was all about the Blue Devils, Tar Heels and Maryland Terrapins. But it’s time to include the Deacs in the conversation. They’re deeper than Duke, quicker than Carolina and better on defense than the Terps.
Wake’s numbers against Kansas were unbelievable. Coming in, Odom was scared to death of Kansas’ offensive rebounding and its transition game. But spearheaded by Josh Shoemaker’s 12 rebounds, the Deacs killed towering Kansas on the glass 43-26. The Deacs allowed the Jayhawks’ frontcourt of 7-1 Eric Chenowith, 6-10 Drew Gooden, 6-10 Luke Axtell and 6-9 Nick Collison, a pitiful seven offensive boards. Its inability to rebound, in turn, wrecked Kansas’ chance to get easy hoops. The Jayhawks had a mere four fastbreak points.
“Our big men didn’t move and didn’t play tough,” said Williams. “ We talked about going inside and using our size. Our first possession was a 16-footer by Chenowith and our second possession was an 18-footer by Gooden. We played like pansies. It was a total breakdown.”
Wake started out with some understandable jitters in the nationally televised contest and was sputtering along with an 11-10 lead after eight minutes. But then sophomore Josh Howard and junior Craig Dawson figured out that while Kansas was awfully big, it was also painfully slow. The youngsters started throwing in tough shots. Then Kansas started turning the ball over against Wake’s alternating man-to-man and matchup zone defenses. Kansas had six turnovers in a 12-possession span and suddenly it was down double digits.
Then with 3:43 left in the half, Dawson drilled a 3-pointer to push the lead to 15 points at 33-18. Williams screamed for timeout and Dawson cupped his hand to his ear Allen Iverson-style, exhorting the packed house to roar its approval. The crazed crowd responded. And at that moment, everyone in the house — including the Kansas players — knew Wake would win the game.
The lead was not insurmountable at the half — 38-25 — but Wake had already won the all-important mental war. It had not shot well (36 percent), but it had made just two turnovers against Kansas’ traps and had dominated the glass.
“We had built confidence,” said Odom.
Then Wake came out of the second-half chute with a terrific 16-4 run that pushed its lead to 25. The Deacs would shoot 65 percent in the second half. Dawson, who scored 20, was awesome. Howard, who played the game of his life with 21 points and seven boards, made three shots lying flat on his back. Robert O’Kelley and Darius Songaila, playing with a hip pointer, joined the fun.
And finally, so did Broderick Hicks. Yes, even Hicks. Averaging 4.5 ppg, the oft-maligned guard nailed back-to-back jumpers to give Wake a resounding and astounding 72-41 lead with 6:24 still to play. Kansas wouldn’t reach the 50-point plateau until the walk-ons were going at it with 40 seconds left in the game.
By then, delirious Deacon fans were chanting, “Over-rated, over-rated” at the beleaguered visitors, who couldn’t wait to get to the airport.
“What you saw tonight was an excellent Kansas team that was not on its game,” summed up Odom. “I just hope we had something to do with that. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect anything like this.”
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