Memories of '87-'88

Published on 12, April 5, 1988

Kansas is NCAA champion

Seems Danny Manning, basketball-player deluxe, is also a poet. And not a bad one at that. Get a load of the verse Kansas' 6-10 senior recited moments after the Jayhawks' resounding 83-79 national championship -- sounds sweet, doesn't it? -- victory over Oklahoma on Monday night at Kemper Arena: "To all the people who said it coulldn't be done ... we're national champions, we're No. 1 ... how do you like us now?" bellowed Manning, who somehow mustered the energy to create rhyme, following his one-for-the-ages 31-point, career-high 18-rebound effort. Read more.

Published on 12, April 5, 1988

KU players waiting for win to sink in

He was the only Kansas basketball player who didn't step on the floor during the NCAA championship game. Marvin Mattox didn't care, though. Read more.

Published on 12, April 3, 1988

KU dream comes true, 66-59

Wake me when it's over . . . "This has been a dream season," smiled Danny Manning. "Hopefully, the dream will last a little bit longer." One game . . . that's how close Kansas - remember when the Jayhawks were wondering if they'd receive an NIT bid? - is to its first NCAA basketball championship since 1952. Read more.

Published on 12:34, March 28, 1988

Jayhawks enjoy net-cutting ritual

PONTIAC, Mich. - Archie Marshall climbed atop a ladder, clutching a pair of scissors in his right hand. Snip, snip ... the injured Kansas senior cut the first cord, inaugurating the traditional net-clipping ceremony following Sunday’s 71-58 Midwest Regional championship win over Kansas State at the Silverdome. In succession, Milt Newton, Lincoln Minor, Kevin Pritchard, Keith Harris, Jeff Gueldner, Mike Maddox (wearing a Final Four hat), Clint Normore and Marvin Mattox followed, leaving the net hanging by one, make that two threads. Read more.

Published on 12:31, March 28, 1988

With Manning covered, Barry knew to shoot

PONTIAC, Mich. - Scooter Barry didn’t want to skip anybody. “Who haven’t I hugged?” the Kansas University junior bellowed in a jubilant locker room, after the Jayhawks’ 71-58 Midwest Regional championship win over Kansas State on Sunday at the Silverdome. “Keith, I haven’t hugged you,” exclaimed Barry, who proceeded to bearhug Keith Harris - the fellow whose steal and dunk gave Kansas a 43-42 lead with 13:41 left. That’s a lead the Jayhawks would not relinquish. Read more.

Published on 12:22, March 28, 1988

Final Four: KU whips 'Cats, 71-58, for berth

PONTIAC, Mich. - Everybody will remember Scooter Barry’s career-high 15 points helping send Kansas to the NCAA Final Four. But it was defense, pure and simple, that enabled Kansas to defeat Kansas State, 71-58, in the Midwest Regional final on Sunday afternoon in the Silverdome. Case in point: Kansas State made only four of its last 22 shots as Kansas turned a one-point game into a runaway in the last 10 minutes. “I don’t think K-State had a good shooting night,” KU coach larry Brown said afterward. “Those things happen ... but I like to think our defense had a lot to do with it.” Read more.

Published on 11:45, March 26, 1988

'Cats' fans cheered for Kansas, vice versa

PONTIAC, Mich. - Mitch Richmond heard the cheers on Friday night. Cheers from Kansas and Kansas State fans alike. “When we came on the court for warmups,” said the K-State standout, who scored 27 points in the Wildcats’ 73-70 Midwest Regional semifinal win over Purdue, “KU’s fans and cheerleaders were out there yelling for us. It made me feel good. We’re all part of Kansas. Even though our schools have a rivalry, the fans backed each other tonight. Our fans cheered for them, too.” Indeed, KSU’s fans rooted for the Jayhawks in KU’s 77-64 win over Vanderbilt. The Sunflower State spectators’ fondest dreams have come true, with KU and KSU meeting at 1:58 p.m. Sunday at the Silverdome with a Final Four berth on the line. Read more.

Published on 11:41, March 26, 1988

Kansas' Manning had the 'feeling'

PONTIAC, Mich. - Chris Piper stuck the proverbial needle into Danny Manning on Friday night in a jubilant winner’s dressing room. “Geez, Danny,” said a grinning Piper, staring at the stat sheet he’d been handed following Kansas’ 77-64 Midwest Regional semifinal win over Vanderbilt at the Silverdome. “What’s with all the shots?” “Hey, you all kept giving me the ball,” chuckled Manning, who cashed 16 of 29 attempts, good for a whopping 38 points. Read more.

Published on 11:38, March 26, 1988

KU, K-State to play for Final Four

PONTIAC, Mich. - One game away from goin’ to Kansas City...who would have thunk it? “There were a lot of times I even wondered if we’d make the NCAA,” conceded Kansas senior Chris Piper. “Now we’re one game from the Final Four. It’s unbelievable.” Unbelievable. That was the buzzword of the NCAA Midwest Regional here Friday night. Not only was Kansas State’s 73-70 victory over No. 1 seed Purdue unbelievable, so was Danny Manning. It was Manning’s 38-point performance - particularly a 25-point first half - that carried Kansas to a 77-64 victory over teh Commodores in the first semifinal.

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Published on 11:35, March 24, 1988

Brown hopes to face 'Cats

Kansas versus Kansas State. For a berth in the NCAA’s Final Four. Gov. Mike Hayden’s wildest dream? Or impending reality? “That would be the greatest thing that could ever happen,” says Kansas basketball coach larry Brown, referring to a possible Sunday Sunflower State confrontation at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Mich.

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