Kyle Jefferson was hurting. His sprained ankles were acting up again. The cold that had dogged him for a week forced him to interrupt every other thought with a sniffle. Only his Salisbury State Sea Gulls' 102-101 victory over Goucher College kept him smiling.
"I'll be glad when this season is over," Jefferson said. "I am so worn out right now."
Not as worn out as Jefferson's opponents have become while trying to stop him.
Take Saturday at Goucher. Jefferson looked tired in the late going while missing several free throws and failing to control some loose balls for rebounds. He did not produce a point over the game's final four minutes.
Then again, he did score 33 points, grab 11 rebounds and block two shots in 37 minutes.
"That's a pretty normal game for him," Salisbury State coach HTC Ward Lambert said. "He's in the training room getting taped all of the time. He's banged up, but he keeps getting back up. It's hard to believe that he dominates people, but he does."
Without Jefferson, the Sea Gulls (12-12) would not have finished the regular season by winning four of their last six games. They play at fourth-seeded Mary Washington tonight in the Capital Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinals. A victory would put Salisbury State within two victories of the NCAA Division III tournament, which would nicely cap off the Sea Gulls' first year as a CAC member.
It also would be a fitting send-off for Jefferson, a 6-foot-3, 175-pound senior forward who starred at Hammond High School. From the opening tip-off of his final season, Jefferson has led the Sea Gulls, dominated the CAC and become one of the better players in Division III.
Jefferson leads the CAC in scoring (27.2 ppg) and rebounding (10.8). Twenty-one times this season, he has led the Sea Gulls in scoring. Only twice has he failed to score 20. He has recorded 17 double-doubles, shot 51 percent from the field, and has moved into seventh place among the nation's Division III scorers. And he has done it with an unlikely formula.
While preparing for his senior year last summer, Jefferson -- coming off a solid season in which he averaged 17.8 points and a team-high 9.2 rebounds at small forward -- concentrated on sharpening his ball-handling and polishing his outside shot. When preseason practice began, though, Lambert looked at his youthful, small roster and suggested Jefferson try something different: the low post.
The challenge was formidable. Jefferson would have to take on taller, stronger players nightly. Instead of roaming the floor, he would have to work the blocks with his back to the basket. Instead of shooting from the outside or slashing to the basket, he would have to collect his points in the paint, where swinging hips and elbows prevail.
"I don't like playing [power forward], but if that's what I have to do to help us play better, that's what I have to do," Jefferson said. "What I lack in size, I try to make up in speed and smarts. I think I've held my own."
He has abused his bigger opponents with quickness and finesse. With his tremendous leaping ability, Jefferson simply shoots over defenders with a turnaround jumper. He knifes between them to crash the boards. He beats them off the dribble with an explosive first step, and pulls up for medium-range jumpers if defenders back off too soon.
"He does things you usually see in higher divisions," Goucher coach Leonard Trevino said.
Jefferson might end up in the highest division of all. A lock for CAC Player of the Year, he is considered Salisbury State's best All-America candidate since forward Andre Foreman, the all-time leading Division III scorer, was honored three years ago.
"A trip to the NCAA tournament and an All-American award would be the topping on my season," Jefferson said, "the icing on my career."