Chris Piper was stumped. His memory went blank.
“I can’t remember the last game we won…and that’s the honest truth,” said the 6-8 senior forward after Kansas clipped Colorado, 73-62, on Saturday afternoon.
Who could blame him for failure to recall the Hampton game on Jan. 16?
Saturday’s victory over the Buffs halted a brutal three-week, four-game skid that saw the Jayhawks drop out of national polls and from contention for the Big Eight regular season championship.
“I hate to say it,” Piper added, “but if we lost this one, it was all over. We can’t afford to lose any more.”
During one stretch in the first half, the Allen Fieldhouse crowd of 14,100 – there were 1,700 empty seats – must have wondered if it was indeed all over for the slumping Jayhawks.
Kansas was leading 16-10 and in apparent control with 12:02 on the clock when, all at once, the sad sack Buffaloes – everybody’s favorite for the conference cellar – went on an almost unbelievable scoring binge.
Colorado, the Big Eight’s worst-shooting team, made five shots in a row and seven of eight to plaster 15 unanswered points on the scoreboard. In a mere six minutes, that 16-10 Kansas lead had turned into a 25-16 Colorado bulge.
It wasn’t, however, a knockout blow, and Kansas coach Larry Brown said he knew that at the time.
“Believe it or not,” Brown reflected, “I thought we were doing good. They just shot it so well. We came back so quickly, though. That was the key…that was definitely the key to the game.”
kansas answered the Buffs with a 10-0 lick of its own – two baskets coming off turnovers – and went to the halftime break with a 34-32 lead after outscoring CU, 16-5, in the last five minutes while going seven for seven from the field.
“They’ve been down on their luck a little bit,” noted Colorado coach Tom Miller about the Jayhawks, “but they rise to the occasion. They made some great plays.”
Colorado’s luck went worse to awful at the outset of the second half. The Buffs bricked their first seven shots during the first four minutes and Kansas stormed to a 10-point 42-32 lead.
Colorado did make a run in the next few minutes, but the Buffs couldn’t come any closer than three points the rest of the way, even though some so-so free throw shooting by the Jayhawks in the last four minutes – KU missed seven of 16 charities – left the Buffs a small showing.
Brown continues to be baffled by the Jayhawks’ inconsistent foul-line work.
“The ball looks like it has helium in it when we shoot free throws,” the KU coach said.
Danny Manning paced the Jayhawks with 23 points and nine rebounds despite picking up his fourth foul with 12:17 remaining.
“When Danny picked up his fourth foul so early, it was scary,” Brown said. “But Danny was great. He made some big, big hoops.”
Manning made his first nine shots, and wound up hitting 10 of 13.
“Manning was great,” echoed Miller.
If Manning was great, then neo-point guard Kevin Pritchard and forward Milt Newton were at least nearly great with 17 and 15 points respectively.
“I don’t think today they were a one-man team like I’ve seen them before,” remarked CU center Scott Wilke. “They all worked together, and it wasn’t just Manning.”
Colorado, so accurate in the first half (14 of 28), made only 10 of 32 second-half shots, and finished with 24 of 60 – including seven of 18 from three-point range – for the game. Kansas, meanwhile, shot 59 percent (27 of 46).
Kansas, which plays at Oklahoma State on Wednesday night, climbed to 2-4 in the Big Eight and 13-8 overall. KU returns home next Saturday for a 3:10 p.m. tipoff against Iowa State.
Colorado fell to 0-6 in the Big Eight and 4-15 overall with its sixth straight defeat.
Notes
Manning has made 33 of 37 free throws in Big Eight games and 57 of his last 68 charities…KU counted 22 points off Colorado’s 16 turnovers; Colorado 10 off KU’s 15 turnovers…Wilke collected 15 points, meaning he’s scored in double figures in 38 straight games, one more than Manning…CU has won only twice in its last 27 visits to Lawrence…All of CU guard Mike Lee’s seven points came during the Buffs’ 15-0 first-half sizz. Wilke had the other eight points in the spurt…official Ed Schumer whistled CU coach Miller for a technical with 8:38 remaining.
Box Score
CU3230-62
KU3439-73
Colorado: Dan Becker 5-11 1-4 11, Brian Robinson 3-9 0-2 6, Scott Wilke 7-14 2-5 16, Steve Wise 3-6 0-0 6, Brian Molis 2-4 0-0 6, Michael Lee 3-9 0-0 7, Brent Vaughn 0-3 4-4 4, David Kuosman 1-4 0-0 3, Rodell Guest 0-0 0-0 0, T. Chapmon 0-0 0-0 0, Team 24-60 7-15 62.
Three-point goals: 7-18 (Wise 3-4, Molis 2-3, Lee 1-3, Kuosman 1-4, Vaughn 0-3, Wilke 0-1). Assists: 12 (Molis 4, Lee 3, Becker 2, Robinson, Wilke, Wise). Turnovers: 16 (Wilke 5, Molis 3, Becker 2, Robinson 2, Wise 2, Lee 2). Blocked shots: 1 (Vaughn). Steals: 5 (Wilke 2, Lee 2, Becker).
Kansas: Milt Newton 6-7 3-4 15, Danny Manning 10-13 3-4 23, Chris Piper 1-4 0-2 2, Lincoln Minor 1-6 0-0 2, Kevin Pritchard 5-8 7-10 17, Jeff Gueldner 1-4 2-2 4, Scooter Barry 0-0 2-2 2, Mike Mddox 2-3 0-1 4, Otis Livingston 1-1 2-3 4, Team 27-46 19-28 73.
Three-point goals: 0-1 (Pritchard 0-1). Assists: 16 (Manning 4, Pritchard 3, Maddox 3, Minor 2, Newton 2, Piper 2). Turnovers: 15 (Manning 5, Newton 4, Minor 2, Gueldner 2, Pritchard, Piper). Blocked shots: 4 (Minor, Newton, Manning, Piper). Steals: 8 (Manning 4, Pritchard 3, Piper).
