Kansas senior Danny Manning and coach Larry Brown were scheduled to fly to Los Angles this morning for Wooden Award festivities.
Manning is one of four finalists for the player of the year award named in honor of former UCLA coach John Wooden. The other finalists are Hersey Hawkins of Bradley, Danny Ferry of Duke and Sean Elliott of Arizona.
All four were to be recognized at halftime of tonight’s L.A. Lakers-Seattle SuperSonics game. The winner will be announced at a 2 p.m., Lawrence time, press conference on Wednesday, then honored at a dinner Wednesday night at the L.A. Athletic Club.
Brown was scheduled to depart after arising at 5:30 a.m. to appear on the three network morning programs.
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Think Larry Brown didn’t use all his coaching intuition and ability in KU’s 83-79 NCAA title win over Oklahoma Monday night? Kansas — how’s this for a stat? — totaled 42 substitutions to Oklahoma’s 12.
OU’s first substitution came with 7:16 left in the first half — Terrence Mullins for Ricky Grace. Just six Sooners played compared to 10 Jayhawks (everybody on the active roster except Marvin Mattox.) Mookie Blaylock, Harvey Grant and Dave Sieger played 40 minutes, Stacey King 39, Ricky Grace 34 and Mullins seven.
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Oklahoma’s 29 points in the second half was the lowest second half total in the Final Four since Georgetown scored 30 versus North Carolina in 1982.
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A reporter from Long Beach, Calif., asked Brown about the UCLA coaching vacancy. The reporter said his sources indicated Brown was a lock for the Bruins’ job, barring unforeseen difficulties.
“Man, this is…I don’t know what to say. I’m part of a national championship and I’m gonna enjoy it with these guys. That’s not fair,” Brown said softly…
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Brown relayed a comment from TV announcer Billy Packer to the media throng: “Billy said it might have been a blessing Danny picked up two fouls early,” said Brown, noting the fact Manning sat out three minutes of the first half with two fouls. “Billy said he (Manning) was well-rested at the end.”
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Manning on ending his career a champion: “It feels great to close out my career in Kansas City, in front of the people who have supported us all year.” . . .
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Manning hugged dad Ed after the game: “We congratulated each other. He said something like, ‘You guys deserve this. It’s something you worked for,'” Danny said.
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Brown, superstitious in the past, will finally watch a Final Four rerun on his tape machine. “I’ve never looked at any NCAA games I’ve been involved in,” Brown said. “I’ll enjoy this one and I’m sure I’ll be entertained. That was a great game. I’d look at the refs and they were shaking their heads. It had all the drama, it was a close ball game with great individual plays.”
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OU guard Mookie Blaylock barked at Scooter Barry as the KU junior hit one of two free throws, upping an 78-77 lead to two tallies with 16 seconds left.
“He says some things to distract me. He said, ‘It’s on you,'” said Barry. “He wanted to make me nervous. Pipe and Kevin said something back to him.”
Barry on the winning feeling: “I just want to get back to Lawrence and see it if hits me that we have no games left.”
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The injured Archie Marshall was elated with the nation championship.
“You can’t give me credit. Give it to the players and Larry Brown,” said the fellow the Jayhawks have looked to for inspiration. “We’re No.1,” he bellowed into a TV lens.
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Danny Manning completed his college career with 2,951 points, ranking him sixth on the all-time NCAA Division I scoring chart. He played in a record 127 NCAA games.
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The 100 points in the first half was a championship record.
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KU finished the year with 15 wins in its last 18 outings. KU’s only losses in that span, all at home, were to Duke, Kansas State and Oklahoma. Coincidentally, KU avenged those three defeats in its last three NCAA Tournament games.
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Another coincidence: Ed Hightower, one of Monday’s three officials, also worked the Kansas Oklahoma game in Lawrence on Feb. 3. Hightower, from Alton, Ill., worked both Big Eight and Big Ten games during the regular season.
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The media voted Manning the most outstanding performer during the Final Four. Also on the mythical all-tourney team were KU’s Milt Newton, who averaged 17.5 points in the two games; Oklahoma’s Stacey King and Dave Sieger; and Arizona’s Sean Elliott.