Scott McClurg/Journal-World PhotoKansas City, Mo ? Whoever thought Kansas University men’s basketball fans would ever cheer for the Tigers?
Not the Missouri Tigers … the Pacific Tigers.
It happened Friday night in Kemper Arena. KU fans, trickling in for the NCAA Tournament nightcap between the Jayhawks and Illinois-Chicago, quickly adopted the plucky Californians during their stirring down-the-stretch victory over Providence.
All the world loves the underdog — not often does a No. 12 seed lead a No. 5 in the late going — and so did the thousands of KU faithful in the announced crowd of 17,500.
When Pacific guard Miah — he prefers that to his given name of Jeremiah — Davis drilled a three-pointer with just two ticks on the shot clock to boost the Bengals’ lead from 58-54 to 61-54 and only a minute and a half remaining, you would have thought Wayne Simien had just crashed a thunder dunk against those other Tigers in Allen Fieldhouse.
These Tigers are from Stockton, Calif., and they are hardly shabby tabbies, not with 16 straight victories and 21 wins in their last 22 outings, including Friday’s 66-58 stunner over the defrocked Friars.
Davis, a 6-foot senior guard from Bremerton on the other side of the Puget Sound from Seattle, looks pretty ordinary in uniform, and he has a quirky way of shooting free throws. He squats at the charity line for several seconds before standing and shooting.
Appearances can be deceiving, though. Davis was named the Big West Conference player of the year, and he showed why with a 19-point, four-assist performance against the Big East Conference club. Seldom does the Big West have an opportunity to make the more prestigious league look like the Big Least, and the Tigers made the most of it.
Pacific, the only private school in the Big West Conference, is located in Stockton, Calif., a city of about 230,000 that is probably better known for its baseball ties to the poem “Casey at the Bat.” Stockton’s minor-league baseball team fashioned itself as the Mudville Nine a few years back.
Yet there is nothing Mudville-ish about the Pacific men’s basketball team. They haven’t struck out since losing to Big West co-champ Utah State way back on Jan. 15.
By the way, in case you’re wondering, veteran coach Bob Thomason does not have anyone named Casey on his roster. Unless Guillaume is French for Casey. I’m referring to Guillaume Yango, the Tigers’ funkily named starting center. He’s a 6-foot-8 native of Paris, France, who transferred to Pacific from the College of Southern Idaho — the same school that sent a player named Ricky Clemons to those other Tigers a couple of years ago.
Yango had 18 points and five boards against the Friars. He’s no superstar, but then again Pacific doesn’t really have a go-to guy. Providence has a superstar in Ryan Gomes, who erupted for 25 points and 13 boards against the Tigers, but he had very little help.
Davis and Yango aren’t on an island. Christian Maraker, a 6-foot-9 sophomore from Sweden who bears a striking resemblance to Chris Piper, the former Lawrence High standout who started on KU’s 1988 NCAA championship team, is the Tigers’ second-leading scorer.
Another solid starter is Tom Cockle, who hails from — of all places — Lincoln, Neb., where he played for a small private high school. Cockle attempted four three-pointers against the Friars and made three of them.
Pacific is one of those teams that lulls you into a false sense of superiority. The Tigers don’t rebound all that well, they aren’t great shooters, and they usually have more turnovers than their opponents. All they do it win.
Way back in early December, Pacific knocked off Nevada, 82-76. Two weeks later, Nevada stunned Kansas, 75-61. I realize this is a long, long way from December, but those scores offer some proof the Jayhawks shouldn’t be fooled by the Tigers’ numerous wins over the likes of all those Cals — Stanislaus, Northridge, Santa Barbara, Fullerton, Riverside and San Luis Obispo — that populate the Big West.
Kansas fans won’t be cheering for the Tigers on Sunday in Kemper Arena, of course, but you can bet every single one of the non-Kansas fans will. Everybody loves Cinderella, and on the Sabbath she’ll be wearing U of P orange and black.
Scott McClurg/Journal-World PhotoDallas ? Hello, Columbus. Shuffle off to Buffalo. See you in Seattle. Meet me in Milwaukee. Or Orlando. Or Denver. Or Raleigh.
Pick any one of those seven sites as the next destination for Kansas University’s men’s basketball team, because the Jayhawks will not be going to the eighth venue on the NCAA Tournament first- and second-round card.
“Kansas City, here I come” is not a song the Jayhawks and their fans will be singing after the tournament seedings are announced this evening.
But is it really that much of a disappointment that Kansas won’t be able to play 40 miles down the road in Kemper Arena?
To the fans, perhaps, but probably not the players.
Or as Texas coach Rick Barnes said following the Longhorns’ 64-60 win over the Jayhawks in Saturday’s Big 12 tournament semifinal at American Airlines Center: “Guys are young. I don’t think they care where they play.”
Barnes was talking about his own players, but it was more or less a generic statement, because once you’re at the arena, wherever it is, the court is the same size, the goals are in the same places, and three men wearing striped shirts will be running around blowing whistles.
No doubt the winner of Saturday’s Kansas-Texas game would have been sent to Kemper Arena as part of a regional pod. Oklahoma State, the Big 12 champion, will be the top seed there, probably a No. 2, regardless of the outcome of this afternoon’s championship game.
Every cloud has a silver lining — or at least a pewter one — and Kansas fans have seen enough of this bench-challenged team to know the more days it has off before playing again the better.
Then there is the history factor. Of the last four KU teams to reach the Final Four, three lost in the league tournament semifinals — including last year’s edition that bowed to Missouri, 68-63, then won five straight in the NCAAs before tumbling to Syracuse in the national-championship game.
In retrospect, no one should be surprised the Jayhawks struggled Saturday. Sure, Texas and its meatgrinder defense had a lot to do with it, but the Jayhawks haven’t been a good short-rest team all season.
In their only other back-to-back outings, the Jayhawks dumped Cal Santa Barbara in Reno, Nev., but stumbled the next day against Nevada. Even with one day of rest, the Jayhawks never were able to sweep. They divided all three of the Saturday-Monday contests on their schedule.
“Back-to-back games for this team,” KU coach Bill Self said, “will be difficult, no matter what.”
The Jayhawks definitely did not need to go into the NCAA Tournament after playing three days in a row. Self may not state it in public, but he has to be relieved his club — injury nagged as well as thin — will have an extra day of rest before plowing ahead.
Self did say something, though, that seemed a little surprising at first.
“We’re playing the best we’ve played all year,” he said following the four-point loss, “although it wasn’t evident today.”
He was right. Sandwiched between Saturday’s defeat and the Feb. 23 loss to the Longhorns in Austin, Texas, were four memorable games. In victories over Oklahoma, Nebraska and Missouri twice, KU shot 55.2 percent, including 45.6 percent from three-point range, and made 76.3 percent of its free throws.
No coincidence is it that each of those four games was played with multiple days of rest in between.
Wherever the Jayhawks are sent tonight, more good news is they would have to go deep in the bracket before facing Texas again. The two previous meetings proved the ‘Horns have the horses to neutralize Wayne Simien, the Jayhawks’ meal ticket. Simien made only seven of 24 shots against Texas in the two meetings and averaged 12.0 points.
Not many coaches can wheel out as many whales as Barnes can — or bodies, period. Texas is the antithesis of Kansas. In the NCAA Tournament, the ‘Horns will rely on their deep bench, while the Jayhawks will advance as far as deep breaths will take them.
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