Iowa State basketball fans booed Raef LaFrentz mercilessly during his four trips to Hilton Coliseum.
Cyclones boosters never forgave the Monona, Iowa, native for choosing Kansas over Iowa State and others in recruiting.
Now that LaFrentz is in the NBA, the current targets are Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison, two native Iowans who will play for Kansas in today’s noon game at Hilton Coliseum.
“There were a few boos last year. I didn’t think it was anything outrageous,” said Hinrich, a 6-foot-3 sophomore point guard from Sioux City.
Coming off the bench, Hinrich scored eight points with one assist and three turnovers while logging 18 minutes in last year’s 74-66 loss to Iowa State in Ames.
Collison, a 6-9 forward from Iowa Falls, scored 15 points and grabbed six boards while starting and playing 28 minutes before the home folks.
“It wasn’t too bad,” Collison said of last year’s reception. “Hilton Coliseum is as tough as any place to play. They have very loud fans, very intelligent fans who know when their team needs a boost. They are kind of like our fans. They know the game of basketball.”
Both Hinrich and Collison have friends who attend Iowa State.
One of Collison’s former Iowa Falls High School teammates ISU student Luke Brunkhorst threw some support Collison’s way a year ago.
“Some people made T-shirts for me when I went to the McDonald’s (All-America) game my senior year in high school,” Collison said of the game that was played at Hilton.
“Luke had my shirt on in the Iowa State student section. The TV cameras focused on him. Some kid threw him down so it (shirt) wouldn’t be on TV. So he tried to defend me the best he could. I’m proud of him trying to stand up for me. A lot of them (former classmates) wear KU stuff to the game.”
Thus far, Collison and Hinrich are 0-3 versus Iowa State. No. 6-ranked KU (19-4, 8-3) has lost four straight to the No. 7-ranked Cyclones (21-3, 9-2).
“It’d be great to beat them. They are a heck of a team,” Collison said. “They are on top of our league right now. Anybody who has a chance to play the top team has a great opportunity in front of them.
“We could tie for the conference lead if we beat them. It’s a huge game, the biggest we’ve had.”
It’s perhaps the biggest of Collison’s career, considering KU dropped a 79-77 decision to ISU on Feb. 5 at Allen Fieldhouse.
A victory today is vital if KU hopes to win the league.
“There’s none bigger except NCAA Tournament games,” Collison said. “You lose those and you are done. For regular season, this game is as big as it’s been.”
Hinrich agreed.
“It’s a huge game in the conference standings,” Hinrich said. “There’s a little extra incentive for me and Nick with a lot of our friends and family being there. The first time we played them we felt they outworked us and that’s not a good feeling.”
Iowa State’s Jamaal Tinsley and Kantrail Horton hit a combined seven threes in the first meeting. As a team, ISU hit 11 of 17 threes to KU’s five of 11.
“It’s going to be a tough job defending them,” Hinrich said. “They are good shooters and penetrators. It’s tough to get up where they can’t get any shots off and also contain the dribble penetration.
“If we play off them at all, we still have to get a hand up when they shoot. They have proven they can step out and shoot the long three. We have to get a hand up.”
“Horton hit a 50-footer against Missouri,” Collison said. “It’s what they do and have done all year. They can hit the long NBA three. They also have good inside players in Shirley (Paul, 10.7 pgg, 7.0 rpg) and Rancik (Martin, 13.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg). They’ve got a great team, one of the best I’ve ever played against.”
KU will return home to meet Colorado at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Allen Fieldhouse.