When Larry Brown is happy, Kansas’ basketball players are happy.
It’s as simple as that.
“It makes me feel good to see him pleased. It’s something we play for,” senior forward Archie Marshall said after the Jayhawks’ 110-72 rout of Rider College on Saturday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
Giddy Kansas coach Brown flashed more teeth than a pit bull during the second half of the convincing win – KU’s sixth in eight tries. The fifth-year coach, livid after Monday night’s 73-62 win over Appalachian State, had reason to finally lighten up and show off his pearly whites.
Thirteen Jayhawks played and 13 scored. Eleven recorded assists. KU, in fact, doubled Rider in assists (30-15) and rebounds (54-27). The 110 points proved to be the most of any Brown team at KU.
“It’s nice to see coach like this,” said Marshall, who scored seven points and tied a career-best mark with four assists. “Speaking for myself, I don’t feel comfortable going out and having a good time after we have a bad game. I’d like to take advantage of that, go out and have a good time.”
Turning brown from a lion into a lamb might have been reason enough for the Jayhawks to dance Saturday night away. Brown promised and delivered grueling practices after Monday’s Appy State fiasco.
“We went a little longer than usual and played more intense this week,” said guard Lincoln Minor, who scored a career-high 12 points from the off-guard position. “One practice (Tuesday) went four hours It was intense. The duration was long.
“Everybody was relaxed tonight. The game was fun. By the way the score went, coach had to be happy.”
Even happy with guard Otis Livingston, who Brown banished to the locker room Monday for talking back to Brown. The two met Tuesday and Livingston returned to practice like nothing had happened.
“I talked to caoch Brown the next day, it went well and it seemed like everything was behind us,” said Livingston, who scored nine points and totaled four assists. “I think the talk we had wet everything straight. He told me everything was fine and I could play.
“We tried to execute and play hard in practice this week and make him happy. It showed tonight,” he added. “Everybody was loose. I even saw coach Brown smile. That was real nice.”
The Jayhawks’ game plan was to feed the ball inside to Danny Manning. The 6-10 senior hit nine of his first 11 shots and scored 20 points, helping KU to a 52-36 advantage. Manning finished 14 of 16, good for 30 points with 14 rebounds. Not bad for 26 minutes of work.
“Danny worked hard to get open. That was one of the keys,” said Marshall. “The guards, everybody did a good job of getting it to him.”
