KU was 15-3 headed into a nationally televised game at Michigan on Jan. 27, 1985.  But the Jayhawks should have stayed home in Lawrence.  KU lost 96-77 in one of the most lopsided losses since Brown had arrived.  Near the end of the season, Brown had still not forgotten his trip to Ann Arbor or the way the Jayhawks played there.  “Michigan was ugly,” he said.

By Feb. 16, the Jayhawks had climbed to a No. 10 ranking in the AP poll when they traveled to Ames, Iowa.  On a last-second, acrobatic shot, Iowa State’s Jeff Hornacek beat the Jayhawks 72-70.  On March 9, after KU had defeated Nebraska in a first-round Big Eight Tournament game, the Cyclones once again rained on KU’s parade.  The Jayhawks were riding a five-game winning streak and were back to No. 10 in the national polls when ISU trounced them 75-59 in the second round.  Hornacek scored 12 of his 16 points in the first half, and long-range shooter Barry Stevens finished with 25.

After the tournament loss to ISU, certain that his Jayhawks had severely damaged their seeding in the NCAA bracket, Brown asked only half jokingly: “Are you allowed to turn down a bid to the tournament?”

Most conferences across the nation had used the 45-second clock during the 1984-85 season.  But it was not in use at the NCAA Tournament, and KU’s first-round opponent made the most of that fact.  KU met an Ohio team coached by Danny Nee on March 14 in the Midwest sub-regional at South Bend, Ind.  KU won 49-38 in what the Wichita Eagle described as “probably the first blowout in modern history in which the inning team scored a total of 49 points.”  Nee said his strategy was simple: “Our game plan was to made the 40-minute game a 25-minute game.  That’s our style … We were familiar with holding the ball a little.”

Freshman Danny Manning, nervous in his NCAA debut, came alive in the second half.  In one four-minute stretch, he mad a dazzling save and tossed the ball inbounds to Calvin Thompson for a 15-footer, fed Ron Kellogg for a short jumper, scored twice from the lane and grabbed three rebounds as KU took control of the game.

KU met a team on a mission in its second-round game at South Bend: Sonny Smith’s Auburn.  The 11^th-seeded Tigers, who had upset sixth-seeded Purdue 59-58 to advance, knew each game could be the last for Smith, who had resigned as their coach effective at the end of the season.  They desperately wanted to beat KU and advance to the regional semifinals in Birmingham, Ala., to play in front of the home-state fans.  They did, upending KU 68-64.  Dreiling and Manning got into foul trouble in the first half, and freshman Chris Piper got his first taste of NCAA action, playing 20 solid minutes before the game was over.

KU had struggled to a 52-50 lead when Auburn’s Chuck Person and Frank Ford combined to move the Tigers ahead by seven.  Ford scored 23 points, and Person finished with 21.  Despite three controversial intentional fouls called on KU late, Calvin Thompson pulled the Jayhawks back with 66-64.  KU then had a chance to tie the game on a 15-footer by Manning at the buzzer that barely missed.  “This game got away from us,” Kellogg said.  “It hurt most that the season ended on a bad note.”

Maryland

W

58-56

Nov. 23

at Anchorage, Alaska

Oregon

W

66-49

Nov. 24

at Anchorage, Alaska

Ala.-Birmingham

L

46-50

Nov. 25

at Anchorage, Alaska

Detroit

W

86-64

Dec. 1

at Lawrence

South Dakota State

W

85-72

Dec. 4

at Lawrence

Abilene Christian

W

84-72

Dec. 8

at Lawrence

South Carolina St.

W

81-54

Dec. 10

at Lawrence

Houston

W

87-75

Dec. 15

at Lawrence

Geo. Washington

W

76-70

Dec. 22

at Washington, D.C.

Kentucky

L

89-92

Dec. 31

at Louisville, Ky.

Texas Southern

W

78-74

Jan. 3

at Lawrence

Wichita State

W

90-83

Jan. 5

at Kansas City, Mo.

Western Carolina

W

79-62

Jan. 7

at Lawrence

South Alabama

W

90-81

Jan. 11

at Mobile, Ala.

Iowa State

W

76-72

Jan. 17

at Lawrence

Oklahoma

L

76-87

Jan. 19

at Norman, Okla.

Missouri

W

70-68

Jan. 22

at Lawrence

Colorado

W

70-68

Jan. 26

at Boulder, Colo.

Michigan

L

77-96

Jan. 27

at Ann Arbor, Mich.

Kansas State

W

75-57

Jan. 30

at Manhattan, Kan.

Nebraska

W

91-80

Feb. 2

at Lincoln, Neb.

Colorado

W

88-69

Feb. 4

at Lawrence

Oklahoma State

W

84-72

Feb. 6

at Lawrence

Memphis State

W

75-71

Feb. 9

at Lawrence

Missouri

L

55-62

Feb. 12

at Columbia, Mo.

Iowa State

L

70-72

Feb. 16

at Ames, Iowa

Kansas State

W

75-64

Feb. 20

at Lawrence

Oklahoma

W

82-76

Feb. 24

at Lawrence

Nebraska

W

70-65

Feb. 28

at Lawrence

Oklahoma State

W

88-79

Mar. 2

at Stillwater, Okla.

Nebraska

W

74-69

Mar. 5

at Lawrence

Iowa State

L

59-75

Mar. 9

at Kansas City, Mo.

NCAA Tournament

Ohio

W

49-38

Mar. 14

at South Bend, Ind.
(NCAA Sub-Regional)

Auburn

L

64-66

Mar. 16

at South Bend, Ind.
(NCAA Sub-Regional)