NEW YORK – Memphis State’s Larry Finch did not resemble the grinch after Monday night’s two-point loss to Kansas.
The second-year Tiger coach was rather pleased with his troops’ showing against the Jayhawks.
Remember, 6-2 MSU is still adjusting following the loss of former starters Marvin Alexander and Sylvester Gray, who a couple of weeks ago were ruled ineligible for at least the rest of the season for accepting money from a sports agent.
“If you could have told me we could play a team like Kansas this close without Marvin and Sylvester, I’d say, ‘Whoa, back up,'” Finch said. “I still think we had an opportunity to win without ’em. I don’t look for excuses, but we shot 28 percent for the game. Early on, if we had made some baskets, we would have had them in our type of game and we could have taken them.
“Still, any time you hold Danny Manning under 20 points, you’ve done your job and should win.”
Manning, hounded by a 2-1-2 match-up zone, scored on just one free throw the final 7:45. He went the last 9:18 without a field goal.
The 6-10 senior wasn’t happy with his overall game, despite his 16 rebounds.
“My shots weren’t falling early and I got frustrated,” said Manning. “As a team we shot bad also and it seemed after a while that nobody wanted to shoot. We were getting good shots, they just didn’t fall.”
Manning was quizzed by the eastern press about not demanding the basketball more during crunch time.
“I guess I have to demand it more,” said Manning, “but when I’m open, my teammates give it to me. It’s frustrating when other teams pack it in on us.
“I have great respect for them,” said KU coach Larry Brown. “They were shorthanded without Gray and Alexander. The kids they had played hard and our kids respect them. They beat Bradley with those same kids, you know.”
MSU, in fact, is 2-1 since the duo’s departure. Most impressive Monday was freshman Elliot Perry, who had 23 points and junior Russell Young, who added nine points and 10 boards.
KU’s next foe, St. John’s, was led in its win by forward Shelton Jones, who scored 15, plus forward Jayson Williams and guard Greg Harvey who added 13 and 11 apiece.
“Let me savor this, for at least 12 hours,” said St. John’s coach Lou Carnesecca, when asked about the upcoming Kansas matchup. “I’ll talk about Kansas tomorrow.”
Marist center Rik Smits hurt St. John’s with a 24-point outing.
