It was as if Kansas’ basketball players had lost a close friend.
“It hurts so much. Right now, I feel like the world is over,” said dejected junior Milt Newton.
“I still can’t believe we lost. I didn’t think we’d ever lose here,” added downtrodden senior Chris Piper.
The introspective Jayhawks were in mourning – there’s no other word for it, really – on Saturday afternoon, following their 72-61 loss to rival Kansas State at Allen Fieldhouse.
The home setback – KU’s first since a 92-82 decision to Oklahoma on Feb. 22, 1984, halted the nation’s longest homecourt win streak at 55 games.
You better believe it was a streak the Jayhawks were proud of.
“I don’t remember the last loss here,” said Piper. “I think it was against Oklahoma or Kentucky my redshirt year.
Actually the Jayhawks, 67-3 at Allen under fifth-year coach Larry Brown, lost to both OU and Kentucky that year. Since then, Allen’s been heaven on earth.
“It’s tough to hold a streak. The bottom line is we’ve gotta get better and appreciate what we’ve accomplished,” said Brown. “We beat some great teams in this building and a great team beat us tonight. I’ve been celebrating wins in this same room (interview room) against some great coaches.
“We’ve had some unbelievable victories in that streak,” the proud coach added. “I told ’em (players) to try to do it again.”
Oft-times displeased at his 12-7 squad (1-3 in Big Eight) this season, Brown was content Saturday.
“I had fun. We had a great effort. We played a team that played great,” said Brown, whose Jayhawks led, 27-17, with 5:53 left in the first half. KSU, however, managed to cut the gap to two by halftime, then rolled, 43-30, the final 20 minutes.
“The bottom line is they made the shots and we didn’t. They made nine of 12 three-pointers. Not every team will make nine of 12 three-pointers and 21 of 26 foul shots,” said Brown, whose team managed only five of seven charities.
In all, Kansas hit 26 of 59 shots for 44.1 percent, while K-State, led by senior Mitch Richmond’s phenomenal 35-point effort, cashed 21 of 46 for 45.7 percent. The Cats, as Brown noted, did hit nine of 12 three-pointers, to KU’s four of 16.
“We had our good shooters open,” said Brown, whose squad was forced to bomb away with KSU’s 3-2 zone packing it in on Danny Manning, who scored 21 points on eight-of-12 shooting. The 6-10 senior went two of four and scored six points the final half.
“I thought Milt was really impatient the first half when we had a chance to do some damage. He had five critical turnovers,” Brown noted. “The bottom line is they were able to stay close. We had chances to hurt ’em in the first half. We were 13 of 29 and missed some wide open shots. They got back in it.”
Kansas State grabbed its first lead at 36-35 on a three-point bomb by guard Will Scott (four of six from three-point land) with 16:23 left. Richmond, who scored 23 points the second half, followed with a three-pointer at 14:48 and suddenly KSU led by four.
Aided by a long jumper and three-point missile by reserve Jeff Gueldner, who finished with a career-high 10 points in six minutes, the Jayhawks grabbed a 46-45 advantage at 10:06.
“They were packing it in so it was impossible to get it to Danny,” said Gueldner. “They were packed in so tight, it hurt us on the boards.” KSU outrebounded KU, 36-22.
“At halftime, coach Brown said we had to hit some open shots so they’d get off Danny,” Gueldner said. “I was one of the guys who had the open shot. We took some good shots, but overall we weren’t getting the rolls.”
Richmond – what a day he had – ignored KU’s roaring fans and responded to Gueldner’s three-pointer by canning a 14-footer at 8:55.
Scooter Barry converted from 18 feet to give Kansas a 48-47 lead at 7:54.
After a TV time out, Kansas State went to work. The Wildcats outscored Kansas 11-1 and grabbed a 58-48 lead at 4:56. Richmond scored eight, including two three-pointers, while Steve Henson added a trey in that stretch.
“Richmond works so hard to get open and has the green light,” said Newton. “He’s the best I’ve guarded so far.”
Kansas didn’t abandon its remarkable win streak without a fight. KU trailed 60-54 following a goaltending on a Manning trey at 1:59. But because of errant shooting – Lincoln Minor missed four shots in the last 1:43 – coupled with solid KSU charity work (10 of 10 in last :54), the Jayhawks’ comeback hopes were doomed.
Kansas State, a loser of 10 straight to KU and Brown, simply wouldn’t choke this one away. The Wildcats upped their record to 12-4, a perfect 4-0 in league play.
“Lon’s a class act,” Brown said of second-year KSU boss Lonnie Kruger. “And Richmond’s an All American. He went 11 of 24 (from the field with 12 boards). I can deal with that. But he stepped to the line and rebounded. He did a lot of positive things. All their kids. Steve Henson was 2-2 in three-pointers and Scott hit some big shots.”
Notes
The home loss marked Manning’s first as a Jayhawk. His only other setback at Allen came in the 1983-84 Class 6A basketball finals. Wyandotte stopped Lawrence High, 50-49…Manning would not speak to reporters after the game…Starting guard Otis Livingston did not play. “We played guys I thought we’d win with,” said Brown. Reached in the locker room, Livingston said he was not upset at the demotion and said he’d be ready if called on Wednesday night at home against Oklahoma…KU has lost three straight games for the first time under Brown…The loss prevented KU from setting a Big Eight record for consecutive conference wins at home. KU and K-State share the record of 22 straight…Manning’s eight rebounds give him 1,001 for his career, eighth on Big Eight charts…KSU had last won in Allen, 70-63, on Feb. 26, 1983…
Box Score
K-State2943-72
Kansas3130-61
Kansas State: Mitch Richmond 11-24 10-10 35, Charles Bledsoe 3-8 2-3 8, Fred McCoy 1-3 3-4 5, Steve Henson 2-4 2-2 8, Will Scott 4-7 4-5 16, Buster Glover 0-0 0-0 0, Ron Meyer 0-0 0-2 0, Mark Dobbins 0-0 0-0 0, Carlos Diggins 0-0 0-0 0, Mark Nelson 0-0 0-0 0, Team 21-46 21-26 72.
Three-point goals: 9-12 (Scott 4-6, Richmond 3-4, Henson 2-2). Assists: 12 (Henson 6, Scott 2, Richmond, Bledsoe, McCoy, Dobbins). Turnovers: 17 (Henson 5, Richmond 4, Scott 3, McCoy 3, Bledsoe 2). Blocked shots: None. Steals: 3 (Richmond, Bledsoe, Meyer).
Kansas: Milt Newton 4-7 0-0 8, Chris Piper 0-1 0-0 0, Danny Manning 8-12 3-4 21, Lincoln Minor 5-15 0-0 10, Kevin Pritchard 3-12 1-2 7, Mike Masucci 0-3 1-1 1, Keith Harris 1-2 0-0 2, Scooter Barry 1-2 0-0 2, Clint Normore 0-1 0-0 0, Jeff Gueldner 4-4 0-0 10, Team 26-59 61.
Three-point goals: 4-16 (Gueldner 2-2, Manning 2-2, Minor 0-5, Pritchard 0-4, Newton 0-2, Barry 0-1). Assists: 17 (Pritchard 8, Newton 3, Piper 2, Minor 2, Barry, Gueldner). Turnovers: 9 (Newton 5, Minor, Pritchard, Harris, Barry). Blocked shots: 5 (Newton 2, Manning 2, Piper). Steals: 8 (Pritchard 4, Minor 2, Barry, Gueldner).
