KU’s Hunter Dickinson laments lopsided loss to Gonzaga: ‘I feel I let the guys down’

Kansas senior center Hunter Dickinson, who dislocated his right shoulder two weeks ago yet was able to play in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, shouldered the blame, so to speak, after the Jayhawks’ 89-68 second-round NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional loss to Gonzaga on Saturday afternoon at Delta Center.

“It’s tough because I feel I let the guys down. That’s what happens after a loss. We all have to look in the mirror and think about what more we could have done,” Dickinson, a 7-foot-2, 260-pound native of Alexandria, Virginia, said while seated in front of a pack of reporters in a somber locker room scene.

Dickinson — he scored 19 points and grabbed 20 rebounds while playing 37 minutes in Thursday night’s 93-89 first-round victory over Samford — hit two 3s and scored 13 points (on 5-of-8 shooting) with four assists and four rebounds in helping the No. 4-seeded Jayhawks (23-11) secure a 44-43 halftime lead over No. 5 Gonzaga (27-7).

As great as the Jayhawks played on offense the first half, the team struggled as much or more the final 20 minutes.

Dickinson scored two points on 1-of-7 shooting with one rebound while playing 12 minutes in a half in which Gonzaga outscored KU 46-24.

The Michigan transfer spent the final few minutes of his first and perhaps final season at KU seated on the bench cheering on the walk-ons who finished the contest — KU’s second-worst defeat in a tourney game in school history.

“I thought ‘Hunt’ gave us everything he had. But that was one tired dude out there today,” said KU coach Bill Self, who finished the season two victories away from tying Phog Allen as winningest coach in school history. “He was exhausted after the first game. There’s no excuses. But there wasn’t much recovery time for our guys.”

The Jayhawks reported back to their team hotel just before midnight after upending Samford on Thursday. Game time Saturday was 1:15 p.m. local time.

Asked if fatigued played a role in the Jayhawks hitting 4 of 24 shots to open the final half, Dickinson said: “You can’t really make that excuse because Gonzaga had to deal with the same turnaround (after routing McNeese 86-65 on Thursday night). So if they were good enough to be able to go out there and play two halves, we should have been able to do the same.

“This is tough,” Dickinson added, “because we battled for a whole half. We felt we played really well the first half. The second half it wasn’t our night. It’s all you can sum it up to, honestly. We battled (but) hard shots didn’t fall for us. They fell for them. They hit some tough shots. It happens this time of year when you are playing really good teams. They made tough shots.”

The Bulldogs hit 66.7% of their shots the second half and 60.3% for the game. KU hit 50% the first half (including canning 7 of 11 3s), but just 27.8% the final half and 36.8% for the game. The Jayhawks were 2-of-11 from 3 the final 20 minutes.

“At halftime I thought that we were in decent shape except for my guys were gassed. Everybody knew that at the end of the first half. I mean, my guys were gassed,” Self said.

“I hadn’t had very many times where you take a guy out and he’s sitting through a 3-minute timeout and I say, ‘Go back in,’ and he says, ‘I need a little bit more time.’ So I knew that we were tired, and I was just hoping we had enough energy to get to the finish line. I’m not going to blame it on energy, but I think we played very fatigued the second half.”

Asked if the quick turnaround between tourney games for KU was disappointing, Self said: “I’m not an expert on that. Of course, would we have preferred more rest? Absolutely. But I’m sure anybody would that gets back to the hotel at 1 a.m. and you have your dinner and then you’ve got to flip it quick.

“I would have loved to been able to practice yesterday. But that wouldn’t have made any difference. It’s not the time’s fault that we had to play 40 minutes on Thursday in a fast-paced game. That’s just the ... team that we drew. We had to fight hard to get the win.

“Gonzaga also had the time, but they played so well (against McNeese Thursday) they didn’t have to stress. So I don’t think people making the times when teams play take that into consideration.”

The Jayhawks now enter the postseason with an uncertain roster for the 2024-25 campaign.

Dickinson said he’s not sure at this time if he’ll return to KU for a super-senior season or turn pro.

“Whatever happens, it was a great experience to play for Kansas,” he said. “Whether this is my only year or I get another year at this thing … it was great to play in Allen Fieldhouse with those fans. This fan base treated me really well. I’m grateful the way they embraced me, took me in. My teammates and coach Self ... it was a great year. I had a lot of fun.”

He added: “I feel I’ve got a good timeline (for a decision). Now that the season is over I’ll probably take some time off and relax a little bit, (then) make a decision when I’m ready.

“It’s possible,” he added, referring to returning to KU. “I’ve been able to push it off a while now, until now. I guess now after this game I’ll take some time off then try to find a decision later.”