KU-OU notebook

By Staff     Feb 26, 2007

¢ Kansas University leads the all-time series, 130-64. Oklahoma has won three of the last five meetings. KU won last season’s meeting, 59-58, on Feb. 5 in Allen Fieldhouse.

¢ The Sooners need five victories to attain a 10th-straight 20-win season. OU and Kansas are the only Big 12 schools that have won at least 20 games each of the last nine seasons. Oklahoma State has eight 20-win seasons in the last nine years, while Texas is next with seven.

¢ Oklahoma made its 25th consecutive postseason appearance last year (20 NCAA and five NIT), good for the longest current streak among Division I programs. The last time OU did not compete in the postseason was in 1980-81. The Sooners have competed in the NCAA Tournament 11 times in the last 12 seasons.

¢ OU coach Jeff Capel’s wife, Kanika, is expected to give birth to the couple’s first child, a daughter, on April 28.

¢ OU has been using three point guards – Austin Johnson, Bobby Maze and Chris Walker – at various times.

¢ OU freshman Keith Clark sustained torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his right knee during first-half action against SMU on Dec. 28. He had surgery Jan. 11. The 6-foot-8, 245-pound forward from Oklahoma City came off the bench in all of his 11 games and averaged 3.8 points and 2.3 rebounds in 12.2 minutes a game. He scored a season-high nine points against Purdue on Nov. 21 and pulled down a season-high four rebounds twice.

KU-OU Notebook

By Gary Bedore     Feb 14, 2006

Former Missouri coach Quin Snyder on a recent radio show indicated the Tigers couldn’t recruit KU’s Brandon Rush because of possible academic issues. The Tigers, Snyder said, were faced with strict standards in recruiting following NCAA probation.

Asked about the matter Monday, Rush said the Tigers recruited him hard.

“They were calling me up until a week or so before I decided to go to Kansas,” Rush said. “I even took an unofficial visit there.”

What he said: A Wichita TV station taped the exchange between Iowa State’s Curtis Stinson and KU’s Russell Robinson in the handshake line after Saturday’s KU victory over the Cyclones.

Stinson said he wanted to play Robinson one-on-one this summer in New York and blurted an obscenity at Robinson. Robinson laughed out loud when told the obscenity.

“He was mad because he lost. He was fired up,” Robinson said. Asked if he wanted to comment on the obscenity, Robinson said: “Hey, we won the game.”

Max on Eddie: Veteran KU broadcaster Max Falkenstien spoke to OSU coach Sutton by phone just after 5 p.m. Monday, shortly after Falkenstien arrived for work in Gallagher-Iba Arena.

“His voice was fine, (but) he’s not feeling well. He’s hurting. He got banged up all around the face (in car wreck),” Falkenstien said. “He said his back has been killing him all season. He’s been under a lot of stress, and it’s been harder for him to coach.”

Sutton on Sunday had told OSU assistant coach James Dickey one of his main regrets was not being able to work Monday’s KU-OSU game and give Falkenstien, who is retiring after this season, a hug. Hearing that story, Falkenstien asked if he could speak with Sutton.

Dickey picked up the phone and made it happen.

“I think the world of Eddie,” Falkenstien said.

Chalmers honored: KU freshman Mario Chalmers on Monday was named Big 12 player of the week. He was the second freshman in Big 12 history to earn the honor, joining Oklahoma’s Drew Lavender (2003).

Chalmers, a 6-foot-2 guard from Anchorage, Alaska, last week averaged 21.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals in victories over Nebraska and Iowa State. He is averaging 15.5 points a game in Big 12 play. Baylor’s Curtis Jerrells was named freshman of the week.

Arthur undecided: Darrell Arthur, a 6-foot-9 high school senior from Dallas’ South Oak Cliff High, tells Rivals.com he plans to take an unofficial visit to KU before choosing a college this spring. He’s not sure which of the three remaining KU home games he’ll be able to attend.

“If I had to decide right now, it would be between Kansas, Indiana and Baylor,” Arthur said. “I am not ready to make a decision now. I just want to finish out the season, and then I will be ready to make a decision.”

Arthur is averaging 18 points and 10 rebounds a game for 20-6 South Oak Cliff.

Self on Eddie: KU coach Bill Self on his former boss, Eddie Sutton, who is taking a leave of absence the rest of the season after suffering injuries in a car wreck Friday.

“The biggest thing is (that) he gets to feeling better,” said Self, who indicated he knew Sunday that Sutton “probably wouldn’t be there for the game” after talking to members of the OSU coaching staff.

Self, who assisted Sutton for two seasons at OSU, said he owed the veteran coach a lot.

“He influenced me in all areas,” Self said. “Game management and preparation : we still do drills identical to what we did at Oklahoma State. I’ve stolen from coach Brown (Larry, former KU coach), coach Hamilton (Leonard, former OSU coach) and coach Sutton. He’s impacted me a lot. He stood for class. He’s been a positive influence for me.”

KU-OU Notebook

By Gary Bedore     Jan 14, 2001

Earl Richardson/Journal-World Photo
Kansas' Jeff Boschee triggers on an uncontested three-pointer. Boschee hit four of eight threes on Saturday.

? Kansas University men’s basketball coach Roy Williams called it a “war.”

Nick Collison would have to agree, showing some battle scars after KU’s 69-61 men’s basketball victory over Oklahoma on Saturday at Noble Center.

“That one came from a crease on the floor,” Collison, KU’s 6-foot-9 sophomore forward, said of a cut below his knee.

“I have this scratch on my arm,” he added, pointing to a foot-long red mark.

“It was pretty physical getting rebounds, things like that,” added Collison, who grabbed five boards to go with 12 points.

Earl Richardson/Journal-World Photo
Kansas' Kirk Hinrich drives on the OU defense. Hinrich finished with 13 points Saturday in Norman, Okla.

“It was a physical game, a tough battle,” added KU forward Drew Gooden, who had three rebounds in 20 foul-plagued minutes. “We showed a lot of heart playing good defense and getting some rebounds.”

Indeed, Kenny Gregory grabbed a career-high 13 boards, while Eric Chenowith had 15 rebounds as Kansas won the board battle, 44-40.

“Teams don’t pay much attention to me and I’m able to get in there sometimes,” said the 6-foot-5 Gregory, who scored 10 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including a three-pointer in a key 16-0 first-half run. “Fortunately I was able to get a lot of them today. Eric had a lot of rebounds. The effort on the backboards and our defense was really important. When we want to, we can be a tough defensive team.”

Chenowith had an off game offensively he hit two of nine shots but did grab the 15 boards.

“You’ve got to stick with what you do well. I rebounded well,” Chenowith said. “I thought I was intense on the defensive end. My shots weren’t falling. I missed one where I was wide open.”

Outside, the Jayhawks didn’t let OU outbomb the Jayhawks.

The Sooners hit eight of 20 threes, while Kansas canned six of 13. Junior shooting guard Jeff Boschee made four of eight threes, snapping a recent slump in which he’d hit eight of 43 threes over nine games.

“Everybody goes through slumps,” Gregory said. “I went through one my sophomore year. We all know Jeff is a great threat when he shoots the basketball.”

Fans tough on Boschee

KU’s Boschee was a target of OU’s student cheering section before and during the game. The fans taunted Boschee after he hit a second-half three-pointer well after the whistle had blown.

Boschee appeared to flash a quick gesture behind his back to the students.

“That was misinterpreted,” Boschee said, indicating he made no obscene gesture. “They were on me some, nothing bad. It’s like that in the Big 12 at a lot of places.”

More on Chenowith

KU’s 7-footer has an ongoing friendly “feud” with former Oklahoma State player Doug Gottlieb. The two traded barbs on on Jim Rome’s national radio talk show last week.

Gottlieb said Chenowith was the third best big man on KU’s team, had no chance of being an NBA lottery pick and even made a crack about Chenowith’s girlfriend.

“Gottlieb’s just a cocky idiot,” Chenowith said. “He can’t accept the fact that his career is over and he won’t let go. I love this thing with Gottlieb because I always win.”

Both are longtime pals from Orange, Calif.

Chenowith on persistent fan criticism of his play: “People love to say stupid things about me. I’d probably do the same thing if I was some nobody up in the stands. I’d pick on the big, dumb white guy.”

Stats, facts

OU’s Johnnie Gilbert had five blocks in the first half, tying for the most blocks in a half by a KU opponent in the Roy Williams era. Ken Johnson of Ohio State also had five in the first half this year. Kelvin Cato of Iowa State had five in a half against KU in 1996. The Sooners’ eight first-half blocks were most in a half in the Williams era. Previous high was seven by Missouri in 1999. Boschee made three-plus threes for the first time since Nov. 27 against Middle Tennessee State.

Kansas 33 36 69
Oklahoma 25 36 61

Attendance: 11,183

KANSAS (69) MIN FG FT REB PF TP
m-a m-a o-t
Drew Gooden 20 2-5 2-2 0-3 4 6
Kenny Gregory 34 5-10 3-5 5-13 1 14
Eric Chenowith 26 2-9 4-8 2-15 2 8
Kirk Hinrich 37 4-8 4-4 0-3 5 13
Jeff Boschee 34 5-11 2-4 0-3 2 16
Mario Kinsey 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0
Nick Collison 30 5-8 2-2 2-5 3 12
Bryant Nash 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0
Jeff Carey 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0
Luke Axtell 15 0-2 0-0 0-1 0 0
Team 1-1
Totals 23-53 17-25 10-44 18 69

Three-point goals: 6-13 (Boschee 4-8, Gregory 1-1, Hinrich 1-2, Axtell 0-2). Assists: 13 (Hinrich 6, Gregory 3, Boschee 2, Gooden, Collison). Turnovers: 18 (Hinrich 8, Chenowith 4, Collison 3, Gooden 2, Team). Blocked shots: 5 (Gooden 2, Collison 2, Chenowith). Steals: 6 (Boschee 2, Collison 2, Gooden, Hinrich).

OKLAHOMA (61) MIN FG FT REB PF TP
m-a m-a o-t
Ronnie Griffin 12 1-2 1-2 3-5 3 3
Aaron McGhee 25 0-9 0-0 4-8 5 0
Nolan Johnson 36 6-18 3-6 0-4 4 16
Hollis Price 36 5-14 5-5 0-2 3 18
J.R. Raymond 8 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 0
Tim Heskett 11 1-4 0-0 0-0 0 2
Kelley Newton 28 6-12 0-0 1-6 2 16
Daryan Selvy 30 2-8 0-0 2-4 2 4
Johnnie Gilbert 14 1-2 0-0 3-5 1 2
Team 3-5
Totals 22-69 9-13 16-40 21 61

Three-point goals: 8-20 (Newton 4-9, Price 3-6, Johnson 1-2, McGhee 0-1, Heskett 0-2). Assists: 10 (Johnson 3, Price 2, Newton 2, Griffin, McGhee, Heskett). Turnovers: 15 (McGhee 3, Newton 3, Johnson 2, Price 2, Raymond 2, Selvy 2, Heskett). Blocked shots: 8 (Gilbert 5, McGhee 2, Price). Steals: 8 (Johnson 3, Selvy 2, McGhee, Price, Gilbert).

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