Larry Brown made not one, not two, but three trips to the hospital Wednesday.
The Kansas basketball coach maintained a vigil at Lawrence Memorial where senior forward Archie Marshall had surgery on the ruptured ligaments in his left knee.
“He was in the recovery room on my last trip,” said Brown, still thinking about the injured Jayhawk after Kansas’ methodical 90-69 win over American University on Wednesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
“It was more badly torn than the last one,” Brown explained. “Dr. (Ken) Wertzberger got it tight. Hopefully he’ll be on the bench soon. His mom and dad were with him and are relieved it’s over. I’m sure he’s relieved, too.”
Marshall, who ripped ligaments in his right knee two years ago at the NCAA Final Four, ruptured both the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee last Wednesday against St. John’s. Following a successful 4 1/2-hour surgery, Marshall faces a minimum of nine months rehabilitation.
He’ll be released from LMH in four or five days. That’ll be a day of celebration for Brown and Marshall’s concerned teammates. Forward Danny Manning, who scored 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds playing 29 minutes against the Eagles, wore a wristband displaying Marshall’s jersey number 23.
“I’ve just now gotten a handle on that situation personally,” Brown said. “You wonder why a thing like that happens. It’s hard to get a handle on it, then you see what happens to Pete Maravich…”
NBA Hall of Famer Maravich died of a heart attack Tuesday at the age of 40.
Brown, whose Jayhawks will take a 10-3 record into Saturday’s conference opener against 9-2 Missouri, also lamented the physical problems of senior Chris Piper after the foul-plagued game. KU, whistled for 17 fouls to American’s 37, hit 35 of 54 free throws to the Eagles’ 15 of 22.
Piper played just four minutes because of a nagging groin injury.
“His groin is really sore and they tell me it’s not gonna get better,” Brown said, noting that Piper would continue to play in pain.
“It’s been a real unusual year. The two kids who give our team character, Archie and Piper, have these things happen. It’s indicative of our season – a struggle. So many have high expectations, but it’s not the team we expected to have.
“I didn’t anticipate Piper’s injury or Archie’s, and Keith’s problem, plus Randall and Joe Young. And still the possibility of other problems. We’ve got some problems. We’ve got to overcome ’em. Hopefully we’ll battle back on Saturday.”
Keith Harris, who scored three points in 11 minutes, has been in Brown’s doghouse all year. Young, a juco transfer, did not qualify and Mark Randall is being redshirted for medical reasons.
Not a stable situation entering league play.
“A lot of positions are unsettled and that’s the scary thing,” Brown said.
Brown’s mood wasn’t helped by Wednesday’s snoozer. Seems nobody likes to watch a game dominated by fouls.
“Was there a curfew on this game?” Brown asked. “It seems like it took forever. I know he (American coach Ed Tapscott) has got to be frustrated coming in here and having a team shoot 54 foul shots.”
Tapscott didn’t want to blame the refs. Yet when prodded, he at least admitted the foul discrepancy was annoying. The crew included two Big Eight refs and one from the Pac-10.
“I’m sure these officials were paid on a regular pay scale,” said Tapscott, whose troops fell to 4-7.
Notes
KU notched its 53rd consecutive Fieldhouse win…Sophomore Randall is recuperating from jaw surgery. KU trainer Mark Cairns said his jaw was broken in a recent operation but was not wired. Doctors drained Randall’s sinus cavities and removed his wisdom teeth. He’s expected back from Denver for second semester, but it is not known whether he’ll be able to practice…Manning tied a Big Eight record by starting his 116th consecutive game…
Will Kansas lose Branch after first semester ends?
Kansas’ basketball team may or may not lose a player to grades at the semester break.
“It’s only one kid, and it’s still up in the air,” KU coach Larry Brown said following Wednesday night’s 90-69 win over American. “I hate to say something and put pressure on people up there (on Mount Oread). Some did extremely well and some didn’t. I don’t want to get into it.”
Brown did not name the player, but center Marvin Branch, asked after Wednesday’s game if he was the player involved, replied with a no comment, then added that he hoped “everything turns out all right. I’m just sweating it out.”
Kansas basketball officials have reportedly petitioned for relief for the ineligible player, ostensibly Branch.
All freshmen and junior college transfers must pass eight hours during their first semester in order to be eligible for the second semester. Branch is a trasnfer from Barton County Community College.
Kansas’ last game of the first semester is here Saturday afternoon against Missouri. The first game of the second semester is next Wednesday at Iowa State.
Box Score
AU2247-69
KU4446-90
American: Mike Sumner 6-9 5-7 17, Daryl Holmes 2-9 2-4 6, Tom Scherer 2-2 3-4 7, Mike Sampson 1-6 1-2 3, Brock Wortman 5-8 0-0 11, Dale Spears 4-14 0-0 9, Anday Bon Salle 1-3 2-2 4, Eric White 2-5 2-3 6, L. Harrison 1-3 0-0 2, Fred Tillman 0-1 0-0 0, C. Broderdorp 2-5 0-0 4, Team 26-66 15-22 69.
Three-point goals: 2-13 (Wortman 1-2, Spears 1-3, Tillman 0-1, White 0-2, Broderdorp 0-2, Sampson 0-3). Assists: 9 (Sampson 4, White 3, Spears, Holmes). Turnovers: 18 (Bon Salle 4, Sumner 3, Sampson 3, Wortman 3, White 2, Spears 2, Scherer). Blockes shots: 0. Steals: 6 (Sampson 2, Sumner, Scherer, Spears, Wortman).
Kansas: Danny Manning 4-7 10-14 18, Milt Newton 5-8 1-3 11, Marvin Branch 4-8 12-16 20, Scooter Barry 1-5 2-2 4, Lincoln Minor 2-7 0-0 4, Otis Livingston 0-0 0-1 0, Chris Piper 2-2 0-0 4, Kevin Pritchard 6-9 3-3 15, Mike Maddox 0-1 0-2 0, Mike Masucci 2-3 0-0 4, Keith Harris 0-1 3-5 3, Clint Normore 1-1 0-0 3, Jeff Gueldner 0-1 4-8 4, Team 27-53 35-54 90.
Three-point goals: 1-3 (Normore 1-1, Newton 0-1, Pritchard 0-1). Assists: 15 (Manning 3, Pritchard 3, Livingston 2, Harris 2, Gueldner 2, Newton, Barry, Minor). Turnovers: 15 (Pritchard 4, Branch 3, Manning 2, Newton, Barry, Minor, Harris, Normore, Gueldner). Blocked shots: 3 (Branch 2, Manning). Steals: 6 (Manning, Branch, Livingston, Pritchard, Masucci, Normore).
