An elderly man wearing a purple jacket called out to Kansas University basketball coach Bill Self as Self headed down a hallway toward the visitor’s locker room late Monday night at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan.
“Hey, Bill … hey, Bill,” the man bellowed, finally catching the attention of Self, who spun around.
For an uncomfortable second or two, onlookers wondered whether the man’s intentions were to instigate an oral fight as a KU fan did with KSU’s Bob Huggins after a Jayhawk victory Feb. 7 at Allen Fieldhouse.
“I think you guys are going to win it all,” the Wildcat booster stated with a smile.
“Thanks,” Self responded good-naturedly as he resumed walking toward the locker room following KU’s 71-62 victory.
As that exchange might indicate, there were no major security incidents at Monday’s rivalry game.
Three KSU fans did tear up an “Allen Fieldhouse West” sign held by two female fans and also yelled insults at KU’s players before and during the game.
Fans also tossed a handful of live chickens on the floor during introductions of KU players and some debris in the second half when Huggins was whistled for a technical foul.
“Their crowd was great tonight,” Self said. “It was great, clean, just the way a rivalry should be. I was totally impressed with the atmosphere. They’ve done a great job here and Bob is the primary reason for that. It’ll continue to get better. We feel fortunate to get a ‘W.'”
KU officials were satisfied with the behavior of the Wildcat fans, as well.
“That was unfortunate,” KU associate athletic director Jim Marchiony said of the KU fans having a sign ripped in half, “and we’re not crazy about having chickens thrown on the court, not just because it’s directed at us, but just from a humane standpoint.
“If you put the entire night in context, it was a great atmosphere. The fans were overwhelmingly enthusiastic. The overwhelming majority were within what you would call the bounds of decency. To be honest, I didn’t think it was much different than last year (at Bramlage). It was just as enthusiastic last year, too.”
One thing was the same as always – the result.
KU stretched its all-time mark in Bramlage to 19-0 and stretched an overall win streak in Manhattan to 24 games.
“The streak is not a big deal to our guys, but they are reminded of it all the time,” Self said. “What the big deal was to us is we still have a chance to win the league. That’s what our motivation was, playing our rival and having a chance to win the league.”
KU, now 11-2 in the Big 12 Conference, is a half game ahead of Texas A&M, which takes a 10-2 mark into tonight’s game at Oklahoma State.
“Just hearing from the past about how much it (streak) means to everyone makes it important,” said Julian Wright, who scored just four points, but held KSU standout David Hoskins to nine on 2-of-15 shooting.
“We may be a young team, but our sophomore class has won a couple here now and our junior class three now, so we feel we are finally part of the tradition of keeping it alive.”
“I feel pretty good about the streak,” said Brandon Rush, who had 11 points on 3-of-9 shooting and 5-of-9 free throwing. “It’s only my second time here, but I feel pretty good about us getting the win and keeping the streak alive.
“What’s more important,” he added, “is we’re still in first place. A&M has got Oklahoma State. We wanted to put some pressure on them going into that game.”
