Buried in a great evening of sports on Thursday was an excellent college basketball contest between UCLA and Kansas in Lawrence. The Jayhawks squeaked out a 77-76 victory at home, extending their winning streak to 64 straight at Allen Fieldhouse. The game came down to a free throw make by Kansas senior guard Mario Little at the end to separate a tie. Little only went to the line after a questionable foul was called on UCLA’s Malcolm Lee when the two went after a loose ball (pictured in the grainy image).
Lee did bump into Little, but it wasn’t the type of foul that is generally called, especially at the end of the game. It had UCLA coach Ben Howland fuming “Really, really a poor way to end the game on a call,” Howland said. “Normally, you wouldn’t make that kind of call at that point in the game unless it was very obvious, and from what I saw it was very disappointing to have the game end on that note.”
The Jayhawks shot 51% on their field goals and made five threes, but the best player on the floor was Tyler Honeycutt who had 33 points for UCLA on five three pointers. Kansas was fortune to get the win, and their coach Bill Self admitted as much afterwards saying “[UCLA] outplayed us. It’s evident we were fortunate.” Self also said the crowd won them the game and that they would have lost it on a neutral floor. Bruins fans will disagree and say they refs, not the crowd, won Kansas that game.
Kansas is going dancing regardless, but this was the type of game that would have helped UCLA’s tournament chances immensely. Still, the way they looked in this one, the Bruins will contend with any opponent in the weak Pac-10.
