Kansas prevails over Eastern Washington in an NCAA Tournament game like no other
Two years after its last NCAA Tournament game, a year after a fertile opportunity at a national championship was yanked off the table by the COVID-19 shutdown, Kansas made its NCAA-record 31st straight tourney appearance Saturday at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum — the 156th such game in the proud history of the program.
Safe to say this one was unlike any of the others.
And not just because the third-seeded Jayhawks beat 14th-seeded Eastern Washington 93-84 after being outplayed most of the first 30 minutes in a return to the postseason that was eagerly anticipated but didn’t exactly erase the time in between.
“No, it wasn’t worth the wait,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “I don’t want to have to do this again.”
By “this,” he meant not only the wait but perhaps the unique elements of the game itself. When Self first looked at the stat sheet during his post-game Zoom teleconference, it was to see the attendance: 951 due to pandemic protocols.
“It was the coldest arena I think I’ve ever been in starting a game,” said Self, adding that he felt like it was around 60 degrees.
That was just the latest manifestation of a season marked by what Self called the constant “high anxiety” of playing during a pandemic, a pandemic that hovered over KU: Because of COVID-19 positive tests, Jalen Wilson and Tristan Enaruna weren’t with the team and David McCormack played after not practicing for more than a week.
Perhaps it was in some way fitting of this moment that McCormack somehow led the Jayhawks with 22 points. Not to mention remarkable.
“That was incredible,” teammate Marcus Garrett said.
So was the environment itself, a snapshot of a world proceeding in ways that would have been unfathomable even a year ago.
The game was a microcosm of a setting within a scene, mirroring a tournament like no other in an unprecedented setup in Indianapolis — where streets signs proclaiming #MASKMADNESS seemed to outnumber those touting the usual rites of March Madness.
A city that normally is pulsating, overrun and gridlocked during a Final Four practically was dormant on Saturday morning.
Even with dozens of teams and a small percentage of their fans staying here, enough variety to be reminiscent of that bar in Star Wars, only scattered groups could be found roaming amid mostly closed businesses and restaurants.
The scene was similarly disorienting, or at least unfamiliar by NCAA Tournament standards, outside the 6,500-capacity Indiana Farmers Coliseum, in which only 1,200 fans could be allowed because of pandemic protocols.
Approaching the arena, you were more apt to hear geese honking than the more customary sounds of scalpers plying their craft or the buzz of thousands of fans. An hour before the game, the only ones approaching the arena were family members of Eastern Washington guard Michael Meadows.
In ordinary times, or at least The Before Times, demand for the tournament and an emphasis on maximizing attendance and revenue would have precluded having a game in the intimate venue inside the Indiana State Fairgrounds.
But the miserable circumstances of the pandemic also have served to clarify and illuminate some simple points of appreciation, haven’t they? And this very environment was one of those, even without the pandemonium of fans within
While minimal crowds and such have been a reality in arenas all season, the quirk of the times took on a different context and meaning and vibe when it came to the stage and spotlight of the NCAA Tournament.
In this case, it made for the vibe of a quaint throwback game in a building erected in 1939 — coincidentally, but strikingly, the same year the NCAA Tournament began.
Even if the teams weren’t quite shooting at peach baskets, as initially incorporated by the game’s inventor and first KU coach, James Naismith, a contest with no cheerleaders or bands, and fans spaced around the arena, made for few frills besides the game at hand.
As such, the squeaks of sneakers and the syncopated thump of dribbling and the occasional swish were part of the soundtrack — as was the resounding voice of Self, who it turns out can be heard clearly even through a mask and on the third tier across the arena.
“Why?! … Are you kidding me?!?” he yelled at Mitch Lightfoot after an ill-considered three-point attempt in the middle of the first half.
Self also no doubt made himself heard at halftime, when the Jayhawks trailed 46-38 after falling behind 9-0, coming back to take the lead but ultimately allowing seven threes and a 19-5 run.
Also boding problematically for KU, already without Wilson and Enaruna, was Garrett incurring his third foul before the intermission.
Either seizing the moment or daring to picture this ending with the school’s first NCAA Tournament victory in three appearances, Eastern Washington fans stayed on their feet celebrating as the teams went to the locker room. And perhaps eager to keep feeling in a groove, the Eagles were back out to the court warming up for the second half more than 6 minutes before the buzzer.
KU nibbled its way back, with McCormack scoring the Jayhawks’ first eight points of the second half. But every time Kansas got back on the scent, EWU seemed to distance itself again with considerable boost from Tanner Groves (35 points).
Until, that is, Dajuan Harris’ three with 9:48 left gave Kansas its first lead since it had led 28-27. To that point of the game, Eastern Washington had led for 20 minutes, 47 seconds.
The Eagles wouldn’t lead again. Harris’ three was part of a 14-3 run, including a 7-0 flurry in the span of 1:01. And you could almost tangibly feel the tide shift, with Kansas taking over so emphatically as to have made it seem inevitable all along.
Now the challenge ratchets up for Kansas, which on Monday will play sixth-seeded USC, a 72-56 winner over 11th-seeded Drake.
This story was originally published March 20, 2021 at 3:34 PM.