Keith Harris could hardly believe he played 11 minutes during Kansas’ 90-69 win over American on Wednesday night.
“It felt great,” said Harris, who has been in trouble with coach Larry Brown and spent nearly the whole season on the bench. “I kept looking over at him thinking he was going to pull me out, but he didn’t.”
That’s not to say that Harris has been absolved. Every Jayhawk played. But certainly the loss of Archie Marshall created a void at forward that Harris hopes to help fill.
“There’s not just one player who can take up the slack for Archie,” Harris said. “What I see is that he’s rotating all the small forwards. We really have to come together.”
In his time on the floor, Harris scored three points, pulled three rebounds and dished a pair of assists.
“I was a little nervous and shaky,” he said. “But after this, I won’t feel it anymore.”
Milt Newton started in the position Marshall vacated.
“I don’t know what coach thinks,” Newton said. “I want to be a full-time player there, but I’m sure he won’t decide until one guy really takes charge.”
Newton said whoever filled that spot when KU hosts Missouri on Saturday needs to display a couple definite attributes.
“You’re going to have to play a hell of a defensive game,” he said, referring to the job of guarding Tiger standout Derrick Chievous, “and think rebound all the time.”
Newton said he thought he could slow Chievous, but that there was probably no one who could stop him.
“It’ll be a great challenge,” he said. “There’s no doubt that he’s a gifted player, but I think I can pressure him enough to make him change his shot.”
Kansas certainly troubled the Eagles, outrebounding them, 42-34. But the Jayhawks dominated only in streaks.
“I think we tried hard,” Newton said. “The execution wasn’t there. The guys playing would do well, and then have mental lapses on defense and they’d come back.”
Likewise, Danny Manning was not overly impressed with KU’s play against the Eagles.
“Tonight we just didn’t play all that well,” Manning said. “It was a victory. It wasn’t our best-played game. Coach Brown wasn’t too pleased, but coach Brown is never too pleased.”
He is looking forward to meeting Mizzou and beginning the conference season.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun. I’m glad they have to come into the Fieldhouse. The fans will be into it, too.”
Manning wore a wristbadn with the number 23 on it in tribute to Marshall, who wore No. 23.
“Losing Archie knocked me down a notch and knocked the team down a notch,” he said. “I think we’re starting to get our confidence level almost back where it was.
“This is when we’ll find out what this team is made of – whether it’ll play or give up. We have a lot of talent, but teams all over the country have talent. If we can play together, we’ll win.”
