‘Manwich’ front line lifts KU

By Gary Bedore     Dec 17, 2000

Drew Gooden has coined a clever nickname for Kansas University’s tall front line.

“Drew came up with the name, ‘Manwich,”‘ 6-foot-9 forward Nick Collison explained after he, 6-foot-10 Gooden and 7-foot-1 Eric Chenowith combined for 64 points in the Jayhawks’ 92-69 victory over Tulsa on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.

Tulsa 35 34 69
Kansas 49 43 92

Attendance: 16,300.

“You better ask him about it. It’s probably not politically correct,” Collison added with a grin after scoring 19 points with nine boards.

So, Drew, what’s “Manwich” all about?

“One day I was talking to Eric and Nick. I told them they are the two white pieces of bread and I’m the roast beef in the middle,”‘ joked Gooden.

l
KU junior walk-on Brett Ballard played 13 minutes, helping out in a pinch with Kenny Gregory, Luke Axtell and Mario Kinsey out with injuries and ailments.

“I try to go in and give us a spark defensively,” Ballard said. “Coach tells me to go in and pick up the defensive intensity.”

He missed all three of his shots.

“The guys were giving me a hard time in the locker room,” said Ballard, who played at Hutchinson CC the last two years. “They say I make a lot of them at practice, why not do it in the game?

“I was a little nervous on the first one. I got it blocked. After that, I was fine. I just didn’t score any points.”

KU coach Roy Williams said Axtell (left ankle sprain) probably could have played Saturday, but was limping a bit during warmups. Kinsey (flu) also was able to play, but was held out because he didn’t practice Friday. Gregory (stress fracture right foot) has missed three straight games. Williams said he hoped Gregory would play next Saturday at Ohio State.

Chenowith went 10-of-11 from the free throw line. He made his final 10 attempts. The 10 made and 11 tries are his career highs. … Kirk Hinrich hit five threes, tying his career high set this year against Washburn. He’s hitting 64.5 percent of his treys. … Gooden hoisted a career-high 19 field goal attempts. His 21 points fell one off a career-best mark. … Chris Zerbe (four points) has scored in every game he’s played. … Collison tied a season high with nine boards. … Collison, who made a three, has made six threes in his career, one this year. … Tulsa’s seven blocks were a season-high by a KU foe this year.

KU improved to 4-0 versus Tulsa. The Jayhawks are 9-1 for the first time since the 1997-98 season. KU finishes its home nonconference schedule 6-0 and has won 14 straight nonconference games in the fieldhouse. KU is 44-10 all-time against schools from the WAC. The Jayhawks have won eight straight at home.

Everybody knows Roy Williams doesn’t like to schedule basketball games against his buddies.

The KU-Tulsa series (two games at KU one at Tulsa) was set up last spring before former North Carolina player Buzz Peterson left Appalachian State for TU.

“I remember my freshman year we played coach Robinson in New York,” Chenowith said of former KU assistant Steve Robinson’s Florida State team. “It was the most fired up I saw coach all year. There’s nothing worse than losing to a friend.”

KU beat Florida State, 73-58, in the 1997 Preseason NIT finals in New York.

“I really think it’s tough for him to play coaches he’s friends with. You have to put the friendship aside during the game,” Chenowith noted.

TULSA (62) MIN FG FT REB PF TP
m-a m-a o-t
David Hill 21 2-6 0-0 1-3 4 6
David Shelton 25 2-7 4-4 1-5 5 9
Kevin Johnson 21 4-8 1-1 1-4 4 9
Dante Swanson 33 7-16 2-2 2-3 0 21
Greg Harrington 34 3-10 1-2 1-2 2 9
Charlie Davis 14 2-2 2-5 3-4 3 6
Antonio Reed 12 3-5 0-0 0-0 2 7
Jason Parker 10 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 0
Marqus LeDoux 9 0-2 0-0 0-0 2 0
Jack Ingram 21 1-4 0-1 3-5 1 2
Team 2-3
Totals 24-61 10-15 14-30 23 69

Three-point goals: 11-27 (Swanson 5-12, Harrington 2-3, Hill 2-5, Reed 1-1, Shelton 1-3, Ingram 0-1, LeDoux 0-2). Assists: 18 (Shelton 5, Harrington 5, Hill 4, Davis, Reed, Parker, Ingram). Turnovers: 17 (Hill 4, Harrington 3, Swanson 2, Reed 2, Parker 2, LeDoux 2, Johnson, Davis). Blocked shots: 7 (Johnson 2, Ingram 2, Hill, Harrington, LeDoux). Steals: 11 (Shelton 3, Swanson 3, Harrington 2, Davis, Parker, LeDoux).

KANSAS (92) MIN FG FT REB PF TP
m-a m-a o-t
Drew Gooden 31 8-19 4-6 3-8 2 21
Nick Collison 26 8-9 2-2 4-9 5 19
Eric Chenowith 30 7-11 10-11 6-14 4 24
Kirk Hinrich 36 5-8 0-0 0-4 3 15
Jeff Boschee 27 3-10 3-3 0-0 3 9
Jeff Carey 19 0-0 0-1 1-5 0 0
Brett Ballard 13 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 0
Bryant Nash 7 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0
Lewis Harrison 3 0-1 0-0 1-1 0 0
Chris Zerbe 2 2-2 0-0 1-1 0 4
Todd Kappelmann 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0
Team 1-1
Totals 33-64 19-23 17-43 17 92

Three-point goals: 7-14 (Hinrich 5-6, Gooden 1-1, Collison 1-1, Ballard 0-1, Nash 0-1, Boschee 0-4). Assists: 18 (Hinrich 6, Boschee 4, Gooden 3, Collison 2, Chenowith, Ballard, Carey). Turnovers: 16 (Collison 4, Gooden 3, Chenowith 3, Hinrich 2, Ballard 2, Boschee, Carey). Blocked shots: 4 (Chenowith 3, Ballard). Steals: 5 (Gooden, Chenowith, Hinrich, Ballard, Carey).

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