Collison, Hinrich Pull a Disappearing Act

Kansas was supposed to have the advantage.

The Jayhawks had tradition and the experience of two well-seasoned seniors on their side.

But when Kansas needed them most -- late in Monday night’s national championship game in the Superdome -- Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich were nowhere to be found.

Collison fouled out with 24.1 seconds remaining in the game.

Hinrich passed up on a wide open three-pointer with three seconds to play that could have tied the score before forcing a wild three-point attempt as time expired that hit nothing but air and brought nothing but heartache for the Jayhawks.

And underdog Syracuse escaped with the 81-78 win.

“The one I passed to Michael [Lee], we needed three,” Hinrich said.

“I was a ways out there. I thought I had two guys on me. I saw him out of the corner of my eye. I thought he was open.”

Lee was open, deep in the left corner ... for a nanosecond.

But as Lee unleashed his shot, and with images of Indiana’s Keith Smart beating Syracuse in the 1987 title game flooding Syracuse fans’ minds, Orangeman forward Hakim Warrick and his long wingspan flew toward him and promptly swatted the ball into press row.

But 1.5 seconds remained on the clock.

That’s when Hinrich, who began the game shooting 41.5% from beyond the arc, unleashed his wild shot that was wide right.

“The last three I took,” he said, “I just didn’t get a good look.”

And he didn’t stick around long enough to get a good look at Syracuse’s passionate midcourt celebration, unlike Collison, who, from beneath a towel, stood stunned near the Kansas bench for a minute or two, numbed by opportunity lost.

Both seniors put up decent numbers -- Collison had 19 points and 21 rebounds and Hinrich had 16 points and four assists.

But while Hinrich had a brutal night from three-point territory, making just three of 12, Collison was horrendous from the free-throw line, converting only three of 10.

In fact, the All-American forward and Wooden Award finalist missed six straight free throws in the second half.

“You try to make a free throw,” said a curt Collison, a 65.3% free-throw shooter. “You miss. You make. There’s nothing else you can do.”

Tears welling in his eyes, Kansas Coach Roy Williams was appreciative of his two four-year starters.

“As much as I hurt right now because of the loss, I hurt even more because I’m not going to be able to coach Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison anymore,” Williams said. “If you ever have a chance to work with somebody and care about somebody as much as I have these kids, you’re going to be a really lucky person.”

Just don’t tell that to Collison and Hinrich, whose careers included two Final Four appearances and a Sweet 16 stopover, but no national championships.

“We’ve had great careers, but this will hurt for a while,” Collison said. “I wouldn’t [take] a million dollars to be on Syracuse right now. They have a ring, but my experience here has been unbelievable.

Hinrich agreed.

“It’s a great place to be, but [we’re] so disappointed right now,” he said. “It’s so hard to reflect on all that. You just can’t put the disappointment out of your mind.”