NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: KANSAS 83, OKLAHOMA 79 : Oklahoma at a Loss to Explain Exactly How Title Got Away

KANSAS CITY, Mo. —  Oklahoma forward Dave Sieger was trying to sort out his thoughts after his team was upset by Kansas, 83-79, Monday night in the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. title game at Kemper Arena.

“It’s like you beat a team and beat a team and then someone says the next one is for the national championship,” Sieger said.

In other words, the timing wasn’t right.

Oklahoma beat Kansas twice, 73-65 and 95-87, during the regular season. But those were only Big Eight Conference games.

As Sieger said, the third game was deemed the most important one.

Disappointment was etched on the faces of the Oklahoma players in their locker room. They didn’t seem angry, just shocked.

“I guess that Kansas is just a team of destiny,” said forward Harvey Grant, trying to sort out his feelings.

The Sooners, with their swarming pressing defense, were expected to run the Jayhawks off the floor as they have so many other teams in a 35-4 season.

However, Grant said that Oklahoma was more affected by the furious pace than the Jayhawks.

“It (the pace) took its toll,” Grant said. “A lot of us were playing for 40 minutes while Coach (Larry) Brown (of Kansas) was substituting a lot.”

The Sooners pride themselves on being a well-conditioned team, even crediting an aerobics program at the start of the season for getting them into peak shape.

Grant played the entire 40 minutes. So did Sieger and guard Mookie Blaylock. Center Stacey King was on the bench for only one minute, while guard Ricky Grace played 34 minutes.

The first half that ended in a 50-50 deadlock was one of the most entertaining and well-played in NCAA tournament history.

Sieger kept his team in the game in the first half with his three-point shooting. He made 6 of 8 three-point shots and had 18 points at halftime. But he made only one three-point basket in the second half while scoring four points.

Asked if he was tired, the former San Gorgonio High School player from San Bernardino said:

“Except for a cramp in my leg at one point, I wasn’t. They began pressing me more in the second half so we tried to go inside more. We’re not a one dimensional team.”

Then, the 6-5 forward paused and said: “No one can beat us if we play the game we’re capable of playing. As for any key to the game, we weren’t as effective inside as we wanted to be.”

Grant, a 6-8 forward, finished with 14 points, 7 below his average. King, a 6-10 center, had 22 points, only 9 in the second half.

The Sooners had problems punching the ball inside, and Grant, Sieger and King credited a disguised Kansas defense.

“They were getting weakside help and Manning was helping out whenever he could,” Grant said. “They got a lot of deflections.”

Said Sieger: “People seemed open when we threw the ball inside, but then they would slip around and cut a pass off as you released it.”

Said King: “They did a good job on us inside. Chris Piper really worked hard on denying us the ball and, when I did get open, Danny Manning would come over to help out. That was the toughest defense we’ve faced this year.”

Sieger tied a championship game record with seven three-point baskets set last year by Indiana’s Steve Alford.

But that statistic wasn’t any consolation to him.

It was a night for an underdog team to rejoice, just as Villanova did in 1985 and North Carolina State in 1983.

Manning, Kansas’ 6-10 forward-center, was the catalyst with his 31 points and 18 rebounds.

“At times, he was unstoppable even though we were double-teaming him,” Sieger said.

Said King: “I knew he wanted it bad and he came out and proved that tonight.”

Sometimes a team can become overconfident after beating an opponent twice. But the Oklahoma players didn’t believe that had any bearing on the game.

“We wanted to play anyone for the championship,” Sieger said.

Grant hedged a bit, saying he would have rather played Duke.

A factor, of course, was Kansas’ 71% shooting from the field in the first half.

“They shoot 71% and we’re lucky to be tied,” Grant said.

Oklahoma Coach Billy Tubbs was composed after the game and credited Kansas more than faulting his own team.

“I thought they (Kansas) played a great basketball game,” he said. “I don’t think you can shoot any better than they did in the first half. Maybe our defense was lacking, but they shot so well.

“It was a bitter defeat because we thought we could win it all. That doesn’t mean we lose any pride in our team and the accomplishments we had this year.”

As for Kansas clogging the inside and thwarting his quick, big men, Tubbs said: “We weren’t really open inside and we weren’t patient enough to get it inside.”

Oklahoma’s press usually takes its toll by attrition as it did against Arizona Saturday night in a semifinal game.

Tubbs was asked if Kansas’ familiarity with Oklahoma’s press worked in favor of Brown’s team.

“I really don’t think that the games that were played before were that important,” he said. “I said going into this that is in the past. What’s happening right now is important. They had 23 turnovers and that is pretty much our average (24) in forcing turnovers. They attacked our press just about like they did before.”

But Grant disagreed slightly with his coach.

“They had watched a lot of films of us and they were passing over the top of our press,” he said. “Then they would get a two-on-one and would either score, or get fouled.”

In analyzing the game, Tubbs said he didn’t believe that Kansas would play was well as it did and that his team would play better.

He answered questions patiently until a television reporter thrust a microphone in his face and asked the Oklahoma coach to really describe his feelings.

That was the last straw for Tubbs.

“I’m not going to describe my feelings. If a man was dying in a car, you’d stick that thing in his face.”

With that, Tubbs stopped answering questions. After all, a man can talk about a bitter defeat for only so long.