One of the best pre-game pieces of trash talk this season goes to K-State freshman Michael Beasley, who said on Tuesday: “We’re going to beat Kansas at home. We’re going to beat them in their house. We’re going to beat them in Africa. Wherever we play, we’re going to beat them.” Wednesday, he scored a game-high 25 points and the Wildcats, buoyed by a rowdy home crowd, took down the unbeaten Jayhawks, 85-74.

We tethered between last year’s LOST season finale (full post coming in the afternoon) and the game, but a few things jumped out at us:

1) Kansas looked intimidated. Not frightened, but just … not nearly as confident as it has throughout the season. The K-State defensive intensity was pretty incredible, and mostly due to the crowd.
2) The crowd had a profound effect on the result. Though we haven’t seen K-State in every game, we find it hard to believe their guards (particularly freshman Jacob Pullen) will play this well on a neutral floor in March.
3) Bill Walker is a phenomenal athlete. Doesn’t do anything great - except leap - but does everything good. The body of LeBron James (chiseled 6-6, 220, but plays like he’s 6-8) with the do-it-all effectiveness of a Scottie Pippen.
4) Is Beasley capable of pulling a Melo and carrying K-State on his back to a title? Let’s not go overboard. This was a rivalry game, the Jayhawks came in unbeaten and had won in this arena 24 years in a row. Did you know the K-State lost at home to Oregon, was buried at Xavier and Notre Dame, and lost to George Mason on a neutral floor? First, let’s see if there is a letdown this weekend against undermanned Missouri.