Scott McClurg/Journal-World PhotoAmes, Iowa ? Wayne Simien desperately wanted to play.
But he, his coach, his teammates — heck, even his parents — didn’t know if Simien, Kansas University’s senior All-America candidate, would be able to answer the bell for the first time in five games for Wednesday’s Kansas-Iowa State Big 12 Conference battle at Hilton Coliseum.
“It all came down to the refs’ decision, to see if they approved the cast I was in,” said Simien.
A soft cast, tape and gray Nike glove on Simien’s surgically repaired left thumb received the officials’ seal of approval during warmups just minutes before tipoff.
“It definitely was a relief. It definitely was good to be back. I didn’t know I’d play 37 minutes,” gasped the 6-foot-9, 255-pound power forward, who collected 13 points and nine rebounds in the Jayhawks’ 71-66 victory before 13,009 fans.
Simien may have shown a few signs of rust the first half in scoring four points with four boards in 18 minutes, helping the Jayhawks take a slim 38-35 lead at the break.
He came up big the second half, however, when KU (12-0 overall, 2-0 Big 12) needed it the most against the Cyclones (8-5, 0-2), who have lost just two of their last 27 games at Hilton.
Simien hit a three-pointer and turn-around jumper to open the second-half scoring. The 10-foot jumper came right after his first try was swatted by Jared Homan.
Simien hit another turn-around jumper to bust a 54-all tie with 6:39 left, his bucket following a pair of Keith Langford free throws that answered a 10-0 Iowa State run that had given the Cyclones a 54-52 lead.
The Jayhawks, who especially needed Simien with Christian Moody sidelined with an ankle sprain, never trailed again.
“It’s a bit bulky,” Simien said of the cast on his thumb that he said wasn’t the cause of his 2-of-6 free-throw shooting. “Shooting-wise, it didn’t bother me. I pulled down some boards that I usually grab left-handed. Other than that, it didn’t bother me at all.”
Simien had his thumb whacked more than once.
“No pain at all,” said the player who was out of action 23 days after undergoing surgery on Dec. 20.
The original prognosis called for him to be out four to six weeks.
“I took a few shots on it,” Simien said. “I took a few shots on it in practice before the game to make sure it was OK. It may have startled me, but no pain, no worries.”
All KU backers had fewer worries with Simien back on board helping make up for the absence of Moody, who is expected to be in the lineup Saturday at Colorado.
“It would have been very difficult for us to win without him,” coach Bill Self said, referring to Moody’s absence. “I’m sure it had something to do with Wayne being adamant about playing.”
Simien said that, though the Jayhawks missed Moody, that’s not why Simien suited up.
“I just wanted to try to focus on playing all week,” Simien said. “Christian can do some good things for us, definitely, but that had no effect at all.”
The Jayhawks learned Simien would be playing in the locker room before the game. Self had talked to the doctors and Simien’s parents, receiving the go-ahead from those important parties. The refs got the last word.
“I knew he wanted to play,” said point guard Aaron Miles, who had eight points and five assists on a night Langford led the way with 18 points and helped hold Curtis Stinson to 18 on 6-of-20 shooting.
“When we heard, everybody was like, ‘Welcome back, Dub.’ We needed him back.”
| 13, 9Points, rebounds by KU’s Wayne Simien54.3Kansas’ field-goal shooting percentage18Three-pointers attempted by each team8, 5Threes made by KU, Iowa State |
Simien’s dad, Wayne, Sr., who was sitting in the stands and had agreed with doctors’ prognosis that the player was healthy enough to play, nonetheless was thrilled when his son took the floor for the opening tip.
“We had no idea he’d play. He didn’t tell us for sure,” Wayne Sr. said. “We knew it’d be a game-time decision. We never thought he’d play 37 minutes. It’d been wearing on him. He wanted to get out there to help the team win.”
All four seniors, plus freshman Alex Galindo, played key roles down the stretch Wednesday.
How did Simien make it back in the lineup so soon?
“You know, I’m sure there was some divine intervention. He healed quicker than people thought. We’ve got to thank the man upstairs,” Simien Sr. said.
And Simien himself deserves credit, too. He was hardly winded playing all but three minutes.
“I did a lot of conditioning work at practice, even though I couldn’t play,” Simien said. “It was important to still get a lot of work in.”
KU will travel to Colorado on Saturday for a 3 p.m. tipoff.
A huge, bulging sack of ice failed to soothe Wayne Simien’s sore right shoulder 40 minutes after Kansas University’s 94-87 men’s basketball victory over Colorado Wednesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
“I feel like I’ve got a fork jammed in my shoulder,” said Simien after collecting 21 points and 13 rebounds in one of the gutsiest 20-minute stints in Jayhawk hoops history.
KU’s 6-foot-9, 255-pound sophomore power forward dislocated his shoulder Jan. 4 and missed 11 games, then returned to play 18 minutes in Sunday’s win over Iowa State.
“Big Dub” jammed his shoulder after “getting tangled up and pushed” in the first half Wednesday night.
He ignored the discomfort, scoring nine points and grabbing six rebounds the first half as KU coasted to a 46-38 lead thanks in large part to fellow big man Nick Collison, who scored 15 first-half points off 6-of-9 shooting.
Simien’s pain became unbearable the second half, however, and he left the court with 13:22 remaining and KU leading 66-47.
At that point, he buried his face in a towel on the KU bench and summoned coach Roy Williams, who sent Simien to the locker room with trainer Mark Cairns.
In the locker room, “they pulled on it a little bit, threw some ice on it,” said Simien, who watched the game on TV and became alarmed as the Buffs sliced a game-high lead of 23 points, at 70-47, to 11 points — 71-59 — with nine minutes left.
Simien charged out of the locker room and re-entered the game with 8:26 on the clock, KU up, 73-59. He scored four points before Williams hooked him for good at 5:54.
At that point, KU led 81-64.
“I thought the tank was empty,” Williams said, noting Simien gave “maybe as tough a performance as I’ve ever seen by a kid who has an injury.
“When I took Wayne out the last time, I said, ‘I don’t care if they score 100 points in a row, I’m not putting him back in. If somebody offers me $1 million I’m not putting him back in.’
“The whole team has tomorrow off, and I told him he could have the next day off, too, because what he did tonight was mind-boggling.”
Simien hit 10 of 13 shots. He also finished with six offensive rebounds, seven defensive rebounds, three steals and two assists.
He admits the wise thing would have been to stay in the locker room and continue to ice his sore shoulder the final 13 1/2 minutes.
But his competitiveness took over, and, with assurances from doctors he couldn’t further hurt his aching shoulder — which he says will need to be operated on after the season — he returned to make sure the Jayhawks avenged their one-point loss to the Buffs on Jan. 22.
“I said I was sore, but I saw the game slipping away. I wasn’t trying to be a hero, but I missed 11 1/2 games. I wanted to go in and pick them up again,” Simien said.
He didn’t feel like a hero after the game, instead expressing frustration that his shoulder felt fine one moment and hurt like the dickens the next.
“I mean, I’m sick of it,” he said. “There’s nothing I can do until I can get it fixed. I felt good going into the game. I tweaked it a little at practice Monday and it felt good Tuesday and before the game.
“I hate that word, ‘tweak,”‘ Simien added with a growl. “Man, I’m so tired of hearing that word. I don’t have a better word, but man I’m tired of hearing that word.”
So is Williams, who left Monday’s practice for his radio call-in show, figuring the tweak Simien incurred might be his last of the season.
“I thought he was finished,” Williams said. “I came back from the call-in show, and they told me he was out shooting free throws with the rest of the guys.”
Williams expects Simien will play Sunday at Oklahoma, but OU wasn’t on his mind Wednesday.
Simien’s game against Colorado was.
“If I was one of Wayne Simien’s teammates and I see what he’s doing, there’d be no frickin’ guy who would ever catch the ball against me,” Williams said, a bit miffed after seeing Colorado slice a game-high deficit of 23 points to six at 88-82 with 45 seconds left.
“I’d deny every pass. Hell, I’d deny him going to the bathroom. If you can’t get enthused about that instead of feeling, ‘Woe is me, I’m not playing well,’ … You’ve got to look in the mirror instead of being so frickin’ selfish.”
The coach indicated he had been upset at Jeff Graves for missing a class on Monday and also was on Bryant Nash at Tuesday’s practice for “something else.”
Simien was one of five Jayhawks to finish in double figures Wednesday. Collison hit 10 of 19 shots, good for 24 points with 14 rebounds, while Kirk Hinrich and Aaron Miles had 14 points apiece and Keith Langford 11.
Michel Morandais, who hit a desperation 50-foot shot right before halftime to give the Buffs some hope entering the second half, finished with 28 points on 9-of-21 shooting. Blair Wilson hit three threes the first half and finished with 21 points, but just six the final half. Center David Harrison, who came over to KU’s locker room to check on buddy Simien after the game, had 20 points, but just one rebound in 29 minutes.
Tipoff for Sunday’s game is 3 p.m. at Noble Center in Norman, Okla.
