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It didn't take long for the party atmosphere to fade Friday night at Kemper Arena. The euphoria of Kansas University's early lead in an eventual 78-53 first-round NCAA Tournament blowout win over Illinois-Chicago gave way to grave concern as KU junior Wayne Simien did the splits on the defensive end of the court with 6:32 left in the first half. At the time, KU led, 28-12. "I didn't have a lot of positive thoughts while I was laying there on the floor after doing the ballerina splits. It felt pretty bad," said Simien, who was face-down on the court with his eyes closed as a pro-KU crowd fell silent.

At practice, in team meetings and while hanging out in the hotel room, Aaron Miles noticed a big difference in his roommate the past couple of days. "Mike has been hyped. He's been excited. He knows it's time to ball right now," Miles, Kansas University's starting point guard, said of his best friend, Michael Lee, who scored nine straight points to bust open a close game and propel the fourth-seeded Jayhawks to a 78-63, second-round NCAA Tournament victory over 12th-seeded Pacific on Sunday afternoon at Kemper Arena.

Alabama-Birmingham didn't exactly put Kansas University through 40 minutes of hell Friday night. It was more like 40 minutes of hilarity for the No. 4-seeded Jayhawks, who shredded UAB's vaunted press in racing to a 100-74 victory over the No. 9-seeded Blazers -- KU's most lopsided win in 23 Sweet 16 appearances. "It was like playing in the rec center -- attack, take it to the hole when you're not guarded and score," KU junior guard Keith Langford said after scoring nine points at the Edward Jones Dome. "We had a lotta, lotta easy baskets tonight."

Kansas University's four juniors now know what it's like NOT to reach the Final Four. "It doesn't feel good ... I can tell you that," junior Michael Lee said after the fourth-seeded Jayhawks' 79-71 overtime loss to third-seeded Georgia Tech in a classic Elite Eight contest Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome. "But I will not hold my head down after this. We battled back all season. We scratched and clawed and went a lot farther than some of the naysayers said. A situation like this, you've got to take the bitter with the sweet. Life goes on. You've got to keep moving."