If Larry Brown takes extra delight in beating Kansas State…he’s sure not letting the world in on his little secret.
“I’ve had better teams than they’ve had. We’ve been better. It’s as simple as that,” shrugged the Kansas basketball coach, who has compiled a perfect 10-0 mark against the Wildcats.
That’s eight wins against no losses in head-to-head matchups against veteran K-State coach Jack Hartman and two tries against successor Lonnie Kruger.
Brown, whose favorite movie just might be “The Color Purple,” hopes for a rerun on Saturday.
Tipoff is 3:10 p.m. before the usual sellout at Allen Fieldhouse. Live telecasts are available on channels 9 and 27.
Brown isn’t so sure Kansas boasts greater talent than its in-state rival this season.
“At the beginning of the year, I’d say that,” said Brown whose Jayhawks fell to 1-2 in conference play by dropping a 70-68 decision at Nebraska Wednesday.
“We’ve changed so much since then,” Brown added. “We’ve got guys who were not even in our program last year playing a lot of basketball. Last night I was looking around at all the new guys. At the beginning of the year, we had Joe Young, Archie Marshall, Mark Randall, Marvin (Branch) and a healthy Chris Piper. Now all of a sudden, those kids are not around. A lot of kids haven’t been there before. We’re constantly adjusting to new personnel.”
The only constant this season, really, has been KU’s performance at home. Kansas, 7-0 in Allen Fieldhouse, will put its 55-game homecourt win streak on the line Saturday. Winners of a Big Eight-record tying 23 consecutive conference home games, KU can pass K-State, which also won 23 straight from 1949-53.
“Our fans have not allowed us to get beat,” Brown said.
K-State, leading the Big Eight with a 3-0 record, won, 68-60, at Colorado on Wednesday.
“Any time you go into Lawrence, winning is almost impossible,” noted Kruger, realizing K-State’s last win in Lawrence was a 70-63 verdict during the 1982-83 season, Ted Owens’ final year at Kansas.
K-State just might not be intimidated by the Allen throng this time. Kruger’s Cats have beaten Oklahoma at home and won at both Colorado and Oklahoma State.
“They have two great road wins. I don’t care who it’s against, and they’ve beaten Oklahoma and not many can say that,” said Brown. “They are in good shape. People say, ‘Are you surprised?’ They’ve got a great team. They’ve been in every game but one. They’re a darn good team.”
K-State has dropped a pair of two-point decisions to Southern Mississippi and has also fallen to Purdue, 101-72, and to Southwest Missouri State, 82-80.
KSU’s main threat, of course, is 6-5 senior forward Mitch Richmond, who takes a 22.8 scoring mark into the contest.
“If Richmond scores, which he obviously will, we’ll have to make him earn his points,” Brown said.
The coach also respects sophomore guard Steve Henson, who averages 6.8 points and 5.8 assists.
“I look at K-State in the huddle and they all listen to Henson,” said Brown. “I’m sure he listens to Lon and pulls ’em together.
“We’ve gotta find somebody to pull our kids together, to step forward as leader. We’ve had it in Mark and Cedric before (Turgeon and Hunter who have graduated). It doesn’t have to come from guard,” Brown added.
Coach-on-the-floor Henson is joined in the backcourt by 6-2 Will Scott, who is averaging 11.1 points. Other Wildcat starters are 6-7 junior Fred McCoy (11.6) and 6-7 senior Charles Bledsoe (8.4).
“I heard he’s improved a lot,” said KU forward/center Mike Masucci, of McCoy, a former Moberly (Mo.) Juco product, along with Richmond.