If Mark Turgeon could, he certainly would suit up for Wednesday night’s basketball battle at Oklahoma.
“I miss playing,” said the former Kansas guard, now a graduate assistant under KU coach Larry Brown.
“But I’m happy to still be part of it all. Coach Brown has given me the opportunity to be here and that means a lot to me. My main goal is to be a coach. I’ve wanted that since I was a freshman. I want to be a head coach by the time I’m 31 or 32.
“I’d kinda like to be like Lon Kruger at K-State. He worked for coach (Jack) Hartman, then became a head coach at Pan American,” Turgeon added.
Turgeon keeps vivid memories of his playing days, especially KU-Oklahoma confrontations. What better time to recall the rivalry, with Kansas set to visit Lloyd Noble Arena at 6:05 p.m. Wednesday.
The game will be televised live on ESPN.
“I enjoyed the Oklahoma games. They always were intense games,” said Turgeon. “Oklahoma’s players are athletic. They do so many things well. To beat them, you have to play your kinda game. You can’t give them second shots.
“When they come here, you’ll see us run with them some, but when you play there, you have to control the game. It’s a hard thing because at times Oklahoma doesn’t send five guys back on defense. You can get the easy basket.
“They were great last year, but I think they’re playing a lot better this year. They’re a lot deeper. Six, seven of ’em can score. They’ve got two big men inside in King (6-10 Stacey, 20.3 average) and Grant (6-8 Harvey, 21-6). One of ’em can’t help but hurt you. Grant is so unselfish. He doesn’t force shots. He lets King do his thing.”
Turgeon faced those two in the KU-Sooner series last year. The Jayhawks won two of three contests, losing only in Norman, 76-74. Tim McCalister’s 15-footer with nine seconds left gave the Sooners their margin of victory.
Turgeon fired up a possible game-winning three-pointer at :02, but Ricky Grace (6-1, 15.4 average) skied, seemingly out of nowhere, to block Turg’s shot as time expired.
“The thing that sticks out in my mind is the last shot. I had an opportunity to take it,” said Turgeon, whose only field goal that game was a three-pointer. “It was on the right side and we were going for three to win the game. He jumped out and got the ball. I never saw him. I never looked at the film to see where he came from. I didn’t want to see it.
“I hit a three-pointer earlier and felt I could make it,” Turgeon noted. “It was really disappointing.”
Turgeon believes Kansas, 17-9 overall, 6-4 in the Big Eight, can pull off a win in Norman Wednesday. The Sooners, 12-0 in Noble this season, have won 76 of their last 78 home games. OU owns a 24-2 overall mark, 9-1 in the conference.
“Oklahoma is playing so well,” said Turgeon. “But we can beat teams if we don’t give up second shots. We’ve been talking about that a lot lately. Teams are shooting 41 percent against us. If we weren’t giving up second shots, it would be something like 33 percent. If we play defense and hit our shots, we’ll be in the game to the end.”
The Jayhawks, it goes without saying, must break OU’s active, full-court press.
“Oklahoma didn’t stay in their press too long here (in OU’s 73-65 win at Allen),” said Turgeon. “It all depends on how well we handle it early. They’ve always been a pressing team. We’ve been able to beat it in the past.”
As far as what the future holds for Turgeon? “I’m learning a lot,” he said. “This year, I’m not as involved as much as when I was a player. But next year, if I’m around, I’ll be another step up the coaching ladder. I’ve got a good thing here, learning under coach Brown.”
Notes
Danny Manning needs 27 points to pass former OU star Wayman Tisdale as the Big Eight’s all-time leading scorer. Tisdale scored his 2,661 points in a three-year OU career…OU has scored 100 or more in 11 of 12 home games and hit the century mark in 15 games overall…The Sooners have scored 109 or more in four of their last 10 wins…
