PONTIAC, Mich. – Archie Marshall climbed atop a ladder, clutching a pair of scissors in his right hand.
Snip, snip … the injured Kansas senior cut the first cord, inaugurating the traditional net-clipping ceremony following Sunday’s 71-58 Midwest Regional championship win over Kansas State at the Silverdome.
In succession, Milt Newton, Lincoln Minor, Kevin Pritchard, Keith Harris, Jeff Gueldner, Mike Maddox (wearing a Final Four hat), Clint Normore and Marvin Mattox followed, leaving the net hanging by one, make that two threads.
For the piece de resistance, Danny Manning and Chris Piper scaled the steps and co-clipped the final strings, the net claimed as a prize by the Jayhawks’ deserving All-American.
Only Scooter Barry, busy being interviewed on national TV, failed to join the celebration.
“It felt great, just to have the opportunity to be up there with Danny,” said Piper, who scored six points and grabbed four rebounds in 36 minutes.
“It’s unbelievable. Nobody imagined we’d make it this far. In the tournament, this team realized what it could do. We never let up, especially on defense. That’s why we’re going to Kansas City.”
Defense … relentless man-to-man defense has indeed, become the trademark of this team.
On Sunday, defenders Milt Newton and Keith Harris made life miserable for KSU standout Mitch Richmond, who scored 11 points on four of 14 shooting.
“Coach Brown told me to force him to the help, into Chris Piper,” said Newton, who finished with 18 points, seven assists and nine boards.
“I think Mitch got tired. We tried to break him down. Keith did a good job on him, too, getting a big steal and dunk. I think Mitch got a little frustrated. He missed a few shots and didn’t have his usual game.”
Newton came out smoking, after chatting with KU coach Larry Brown on Saturday.
“Yesterday, coach Brown said something to me that got me thinking,” Newton said. “I said, ‘Coach, who do you think will win between Oklahoma and Villanova? He said, ‘I’m not worried about that game, just the University of Kansas and what we have to do to get to the Final Four.’
“We went to the Final Four in ’86. Coach said, ‘In ’86, you just came along for the ride.’ I had nothing to do with us making it and he told me that. I thought about what he said all night. I don’t think he meant it in a bad way, but it made me think.
“When I thought of Rich (Richmond) and what I had to do today, I thought about him being the one person that could keep me from the Final Four. Now I can say I am on a team that made the Final Four. I don’t wear the ring we got in ’86. I can wear this one.”
A Newton stickback proved as pivotal as the junior’s defensive work. He snatched the rebound after Chris Piper missed a free throw miss and heaved in a straight-on, six-foot bank shot at 2:53, upping KU’s lead to 59-52.
“Coach Brown tells me to get the rebound and throw it out,” Newton said. “I got the rebound and thought I had a pretty easy shot. I banked it off the board. A lot of people think that’s a lucky shot, but I bank those a lot.”
Do-it-all Newton also hit two vital three-pointers. One upped a 45-44 lead to four points, another upped a 51-46 advantage to eight points.
“I had a lot of confidence in my shot tonight,” Newton said.
The Jayhawks, trailing by as many as seven, never lost their confidence against their rivals, hence will be playing at Kemper next weekend.
Duke is the Jayhawks’ first foe, just like in ’86.
“It’ll be great to play before a lot of our fans,” said Manning. “I remember the last time, it was great to make it to the Final Four, but it felt terrible losing. We have to do the best we can.”
Piper said: “There’s no place I’d rather play it than Kansas City. K-State is a great team. It’s too bad just one of us can go.”
“It’s great to know we came together and made it this far,” Keith Harris said. “We’ll do the best we can. I thought it would feel even better beating K-State, but now I kind of wish they could go with us. They really have a bunch of good guys on their team.”
