Who’d have figured Kansas State’s basketball team would draw the biggest cheer of the night Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse?
Unlikely as it might seem…the 15,450 Fieldhouse fans saved their heartiest roars not for the Jayhawks, who whipped NCAA Div. II Hampton, 95-69, but for Lonnie Kruger’s Wildcats, who dropped No. 3 Oklahoma, 69-62, in Manhattan.
The K-State final was revealed with 5:27 left…just as Kevin Pritchard was exiting with foul No. 5.
“I was thinking, ‘This is the highlight of my career. All of these people cheering for me,'” joked Pritchard, who scored eight points while playing 11 minutes because of foul problems. “Then I looked up at the scoreboard and saw the K-State score. I said, ‘Wait a second, this is funny.'”
Seems the fans’ response didn’t surprise the sophomore a bit.
“If K-State was ranked in the top 20, people would hate K-State more and be cheering for OU, don’t you think?” asked Pritchard.
Probably so.
It was that kind of night at Allen Fieldhouse.
The Jayhawks’ romp over the Pirates was certainly convincing, but so one-sided the subject switched quickly to the Big Eight race immediately following the blowout.
Just like Oklahoma, highly-regarded Missouri came up empty Saturday, falling to Nebraska, 70-68, in Lincoln.
“I was shocked,” said KU coach Larry Brown, referring to the day’s events. “I watched the Missouri game on TV. They were in complete control, then next thing they lose the game.
“I saw Oklahoma play four times and I truly thought they were not only the best team in the conference, but the best I’ve seen. They are so confident, so loose. Confidence is so big with them. Wehn they lose a game (OU fell to LSU on Monday)…it’s tough. For a free-shooting team, I can’t believe they scored only 62 points. I heard him (coach Billy Tubbs) say they were gonna get 100 in a half and I was starting to believe him.”
The Jayhawks, now 12-4, nearly scored 100 on outmanned Hamption. Nice comeback after Wednesday’s 88-78 road loss to Iowa State.
“I thought we were great, unselfish, we ran the ball well,” said Brown. “We were as unselfish as we’ve been. That was fun, cause in a game like that, kids could be selfish.
“Otis and Lincoln were super,” Brown added. “We got to play a lot of people tonight.”
Guard Otis Livingston totaled seven assists, while Lincoln Minor had six steals and scored 10 points on four of five shooting.
“They had a good couple of days in practice,” Brown said of his juco transfers. “I was encouraged by Lincoln’s play at Iowa State.
“Tonight Kevin was in serious foul trouble,” he continued in assessing the team effort. “Milt did not have a good shooting night, but he hustled and played well. I was scared when Milt went down early. I thought, ‘Oh no, waht else.'”
Newton, who scored 12 points on six of 15 shooting, went down with a twisted right ankle with 15:54 left in the first half. He returned to a big ovation at 11:25.
“We’re still weak on the boards. I was really disappointed in Masucci’s rebounds,” Brown noted. “He had one in 16 minutes. That’s what we need from him. He’ll be all right.
“Mike Maddox (two points, two minutes) has been doing well in practice, but he has severe blisters. He’s hurting with the worst case of blisters (on feet) I’ve seen.”
The Jayhawks led just 27-21 with 5:32 left in the first half. KU then went on a 14-5 run and led 41-26 at 1:47.
Leading 43-30 at halftime, Kansas outscored the Pirates, 13-2, to open the second half, wrapping up their 55th consecutive home court win rather early.
“I don’t think so,” Brown said when asked if his team was sluggish early. “You don’t step on the court and blow people out, not the teams I’ve coached. After the first five minutes, we were pretty damn good.”
As usual, Danny Manning led the way with 22 points. He hit six of nine shots and 10 of 11 free throws.
“I hope they don’t think we tried to rub it in,” Brown said. “We took Danny out with 14 minutes left.”
KU faces Notre Dame next Saturday in South Bend, Ind.
Notes
KU missed all six three-point field goal tries. The Jayhawks have now bricked 13 consecutive bonus shots over the last two games…Archie Marshall sat on the bench for the first time since ripping his knee against St. John’s. Redshirt Mark Randall also returned to the bench. He’s coming off jaw surgery…Manning blocked three shots and becacme KU’s career leader with 157, surpassing John Crawford’s 155…
Box Score
Hampton3039-69
Kansas4352-95
Hampton: S. Hartfield 2-4 0-0 5, Peitre Williams 3-4 0-0 6, Derrick Dunson 0-2 2-4 2, Raymond Lee 5-10 7-9 17, Stacy Clark 10-20 4-5 25, Charles Battle 0-4 1-3 1, Jay Lane 1-2 0-2 2, Tony Woods 1-2 2-2 5, Deon Lewis 2-9 0-0 4, Ishmael Morley 0-2 0-0 0, Greg Ford 0-4 0-0 0, M. Draughon 1-1 0-0 2, A. Blackman 0-0 0-0 0, Team 25-64 16-25 69.
Three-point goals: 3-11 (Hartfield 1-3, Clark 1-3 Woods 1-1, Lee 0-3, Ford 0-1). Assists: 9 (Ford 2, Woods 2, Dunson, Lee, Clark, Smith, Williams). Turnovers: 24 (Clark 5, Lee 4, Battle 3, Williams 2, Dunson 2, Lane 2, Hartfield, Woods, Lewis, Ford, Smith, Blackmon). Blocked shots: 1 (Williams). Steals: 9 (Clark 3, Dunson 2, Woods 2, Lewis, Battle).
Kansas: Milt Newton 6-15 0-0 12, Chris Piper 4-4 1-1 9, Danny Manning 6-9 10-11 22, Kevin Pritchard 4-9 0-0 8, Otis Livingston 2-2 0-0 4, Scooter Barry 1-1 0-0 2, Keith Harris 4-7 4-7 12, Lincoln Minor 4-5 2-2 10, Mike Masucci 3-5 0-0 6, Mike Maddox 1-3 0-0 2, Clint Normore 1-2 2-2 4, Jeff Gueldner 2-4 0-0 4, Team 38-66 19-23 95.
Three-point goals: 0-6 (Newton 0-3, Pritchard 0-2, Manning 0-1). Assists: 23 (Livingston 7, Minor 4, Manning 4, Harris 3, Barry 2, Maddox 2, Newton). Turnovers: 15 (Minor 3, Normore 2, Newton 2, Pritchard 2, Livingston 2, Manning, Harris, Maddox, Gueldner). Blocked shots: 5 (Manning 3, Masucci, Normore). Steals: 14 (Minor 6, Livingston 2, Harris 2, Newton, Piper, Manning, Barry).
