“I think we did a good job on him,” said North Dakota University guard Tom Jacobson after Kansas drilled the Fighting Sioux, 92-61, in Allen Fieldhouse. “That was one of our points of emphasis.”

Echoed Curtis Munlin, the other Sioux backcourt starter: “We knew it would be an emotional game for him, and we didn’t want him to come out and kill us.”

North Dakota held Boschee, the Jayhawks’ junior guard from Valley City, N.D., to four points, all in the second half. Moreover, for the first time in his career, Boschee failed to attempt a three-point goal.

North Dakota avoided one poison, but gagged on another. Not a single KU guard scored in double figures, but the Jayhawks’ three big men Nick Collison, Eric Chenowith and Drew Gooden combined for 46 points and 29 boards.

Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photo

“They have tough inside players, but we knew that,” said 6-foot-10 center Kyle Behrens, the tallest Sioux. “They go strong every time and finish efficiently.”

North Dakota, an NCAA Div. II school that lost five seniors off a 23-8 team, hung with the Jayhawks until about 10 minutes remained. Then the Sioux failed to score for 51/2 minutes and a 16-point deficit ballooned to 33.

“They took it at us and showed us why they’re the No. 4 team in the country,” Behrens said.

Coach Rich Glas could only lament the lid on his team’s basket.

“We started missing shots. Fatigue was probably a factor,” Glas said. “And they turned up the screws on defense.”

Glas felt particularly bad for Jeff Brandt, a 6-5 red-shirt freshman who was playing in his first college game.

“He must have been two of 50,” Glas said. “but he’s a guy who can crank the ball.”

A glance at the stat sheet showed Brandt was actually three of 19 from the floor, missing 14 of 17 three-pointers.

“Our purpose in coming here,” Glas said, “was to gain the respect of Roy Williams, his staff and their players, and I think we did. We just didn’t shoot it as well as we would have liked.

“We made them work. It wasn’t a rollover game for them.”

Munlin, a 6-1 freshman from Mishawaka, Ind., led the Sioux with 18 points. He was 4-for-5 from three-point range.

“I had to come out and take it to them,” Munlin said. “It just came easy to me tonight.”

Munlin certainly wasn’t cowed playing his first college game in the noisy hallowed home of the Jayhawks.

“We’ll play in some hostile environments, but nothing like this,” Munlin said. “Once the ball goes up, though, you don’t worry about the crowd at all.”

Behrens, the only other Sioux in double figures with 16 points, marveled at the atmosphere.

“These Division One teams are incredible,” Behrens said. “Seeing their students going crazy was really something. It’s a dream come true to play here.”

For his part, Glas never dreamed his team could defeat Kansas on the road, but the Sioux delivered what he wanted on most counts.

“I told the guys to attack the game,” Glas said, “and they didn’t roll over and die. We played hard and earned respect, but we’ve got to get better.”