SALT LAKE CITY — When the pain of losing the chance to get to the Final Four subsides, don’t be surprised if former Rice star Curtis Kelly of The Bronx and his Kansas State teammates to feel a little angry.
Kelly kept the No.2-seeded Wildcats in the game in the first half of a 63-56 loss to Butler in the yesterday’s West Region championship game. He scored 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Yet he didn’t get a single shot attempt in the second half, finishing with 14 points, five rebounds and three blocks.
“You know, everywhere I went, it seemed like [Gordon] Hayward was on me, even an offensive rebound or anything,” Kelly, who was in tears after the loss. He was everywhere I turned.
“A little bit the first half I think he eased up on me and let me catch it,” added Kelly. “But the second half, they just was everywhere. Everywhere I looked, there was somebody there.”
Kelly has resurrected his career since transferring from Connecticut. He’s slimmed down from 270 pounds to 250 and at 6-foot-9 is a terrific post player. He could be one of the nation’s top big men next season.
“I don’t know what happened at UConn,” said Kansas State coach Frank Martin. “I can tell you the reason I took Curtis Kelly, the reason I offered him a scholarship was because during the recruiting process, not once did he blame UConn for everything. He took all the responsibility. That told me something about him and the kind of kid that he is.”
