We can't play down to K-State's level tomorrow

For whatever reason, Bramlage has become a much more difficult place to play for us in recent years. In the last two years, but heck, even going back all the way to Sherron's years, we seem to encounter serious turbulence there. And yet, every time we go in there (except for, say, 2010, when they were very good), we have been/are the clearly superior team. Thus, you'd think we'd win every time by double digits.

So what gives?

I think we suffer from a failure to dictate. As in not dictating the style and pace of the game in our favor. As in falling into the trap of allowing them to set the pace and style of play. We seem to consistently get stuck in very ugly games there. Yes, some of that is enabled by State, some of it is enabled by the refs, but a non-trivial chunk of it is in our own heads. We start bricking shot after shot, we fail to box out on the defensive end and surrender too-easy putbacks, and the next thing you know we're in a dogfight, holding on for dear life.

I am pining...yearning...craving a KU performance in Manhattan where we just come out, play OUR game, perform at the height of our potential, and just run them out of the gym. I could go into lots of the Xs and Os surrounding what that might look like, but I prefer to keep this at a higher qualitative level for now. We need to be so dialed in, so focused, and so fixated on setting the terms of this game tomorrow that the Grapes won't know what hit them...and will have little to no chance of pulling off another upset of KU, storming the floor, puffing out their chests, and what-not.

Come out and punch them in the mouth repeatedly, Hawks! (Figuratively speaking, of course) Once they wobble, knock them out. And do not, at any cost, let them crawl back in it, get their fans juiced up, and gain confidence that they can not only hang with us but defeat us. That is a recipe for serious problems on the road in an amped, highly hostile environment such as Bramlage.

Final comment: We cannot afford to lose this game. It would constitute a serious setback in our recent momentum and quest for #12, particularly given the difficult closing slate ahead.

Get 'er done, Hawks!

Going back to our championship season, here's how we've performed at the venue formerly known as AFH West:

2008: Lost, 84-75
2009: Won, 85-74
2010: Won, 81-79, OT
2011: Lost, 84-68
2012: Won, 59-53
2013: Won, 59-55
2014: Lost, 85-82, OT
2015: Lost, 70-63

So...the numbers bear out my initial post. It's been a tough slog of late at Bramlage. 4-4 in our last 8 seasons there, and all but one win was a nail-biter.

And even when we've pulled out those three wins in the last 6 seasons, they were all slobberknockers. The 2010 KU win by a deuce came down to Sherron fighting off killer back spasms to hit the crucial drive in the paint.

The 2012-13 wins were the most murky, muck-filled, mudfest-type games you could ever want to play. Absolutely ugly basketball. And of course, the last two were horrible outcomes.

This is why I had this game just behind UT as our toughest game left. However, there are zero excuses today. We are BY FAR the superior team. We are more athletic, far deeper on the bench, an exceptionally better shooting team, far more experienced, and the coaching edge clearly is in our favor.

We have to dictate the game, not play on our heels, and avoid getting into one of those muddy, ugly hack-fests.

Squish the Grapes. It's that simple.

Rock Chalk...

Our guys need to play far enough ahead of them that they eliminate any chance of the refs handing the opponent a shot at winning.

They have the superior talent and coach.

Today they have to prove it.

LET'S GO JAYHAWKS!