That shaky guard and that skinny forward Marvin Branch once played with in high school have grown up and out.
Lee Coward and Nathan Buntin were sophomores when Branch was the starting senior center for Murray-Wright High in Detroit, Mich., a few years back.
“Lee has really improved a lot,” says Branch. “He handles the ball better, and he’s more of a pure shooter. Nathan was real thin back then, but he looks a lot better now.”
Coward and Buntin now play for Missouri while Branch, of course, is a starter at Kansas, and that means the former Detroit prep teammates will be on opposite sides when the two schools start the Big Eight basketball season on Saturday.
Tipoff is 1:10 p.m. in Allen Fieldhouse. It’s a complete sellout, but a live telecast will be available on Channel 9.
“On the court, it’s going to be all business,” said Branch about the reunion with his high school teammates. “After that, we can all be friends again.”
Branch played pick-up games with both Coward and Buntin last summer in the Motor City.
“They kinda bragged on their Big Eight championship rings, and said they’d repeat,” Branch reported. “And Lee mentioned how those shots fell for him last year.”
Those shots…meaning the two that won games against Kansas.
A year ago in Columbia, Coward swished a three-pointer from the corner to give the Tigers a 63-60 victory. Then, in the finals of the Big Eight tournament, the 6-2 guard popped in a 12-footer to give Mizzou a 67-65 win.
All three meetings between the two teams last season were decided in the last five seconds. Coward’s shots cacme at :03 and :04 respectively while Chris Piper’s free throw at :05 gave Kansas a 71-70 win in Allen Fieldhouse.
“They’ll be just as close as ever,” Piper said of this year’s meetings. “In fact, I think it’ll be more intense. I think it gets more intense every year. I see a game that’s gonna go down to the wire.”
Piper, a fifth-year senior who started every game last season, hasn’t started one this year, mainly because of a groin injury that won’t heal.
“It’s a torn muscle and something I have to correct once the season is over,” said the Lawrence High product. “Some days I’ll play 20 minutes and it won’t bother me. But lately it’s been hard to move.”
That isn’t good news for Kansas coach Larry Brown because Piper usually spends quite a bit of time guarding MU’s Derrick Chievous, even though KU really doesn’t have anyone who can keep up with the TIgers’ scoring machine.
“I don’t think anybody matches up with Chievous,” Brown said. “I can see Keith (Harris) playing him, and Pipe. One thing with Missouri is they have a lot of people who can score. Every matchup is a challenge in itself.”
Chievous and Buntin start up front for Norm Stewart’s team with Coward and junior Mike Sandbothe – subbing for the ailing Lynn Hardy (back) – in the backcourt. Doug Smith, a 6-10 freshman from Detroit – but not Murray-Wright – is the center.
However, sixth man Byron Irvin, a transfer from Arkansas, is the Tigers’ second-leading scorer behind Chievous.
“From what I hear,” KU’s Branch said. “Missouri is great.”
In danger, most certainly, is the Jayhawks’ Big Eight-record 53-game homecourt winning streak.
“It’s definitely in more jeopardy,” Piper conceded, “than it has been in a long time.”
Kansas will travel to Iowa State next Wednesday, then take a two-week break from conference play to meet Hampton here next Saturday, then go to Notre Dame the following Saturday.
Notes
In three games against KU last year, Chievous averaged 27.0 points. Meanwhile, KU’s Danny Manning averaged 25.8 against the Tigers…Murray-Wright basketball coach George Duncan is expected to attend Saturday’s game…MU’s Hardy has missed the last four games and is expected to be out at least two more weeks.
