Rulers of the road

By Gary Bedore     Feb 28, 2007

Nick Krug
Kansas University's Julian Wright (30) puts up a shot over Oklahoma's Longar Longar. Wright scored 18 points in the Jayhawks' 67-65 victory against the Sooners on Monday in Norman, Okla. The Jayhawks improved to 13-3 on the road in the Big 12 Conference during the past two seasons.

Brandon Rush says he thrives on “shutting up” opposing team’s fans who like to toss insults his way.

Julian Wright simply likes the challenge of maintaining “focus” and “looking straight ahead, not left or right,” in enemy gyms.

There may be different motivations for different Kansas University basketball players the past two seasons, but the results have been the same.

KU has been wildly successful out of Allen Fieldhouse, compiling a 13-3 mark in Big 12 Conference road games.

“The secret to winning on the road? It’s simple. Having good players who are tough,” said KU coach Bill Self.

His Jayhawks (26-4) improved to 7-1 in league road games this season after topping Oklahoma, 67-65, on Monday in Noble Center in Norman, Okla.

“I credit the guys. I don’t think we’ve ever had two teams fare as well on the road back to back,” added Self, who also has coached at Oral Roberts, Tulsa and Illinois.

KU’s road record, which is the school’s best back-to-back mark since 2001-03 when Roy Williams’ last two KU squads went 14-2, may be most impressive considering a KU loss on the road normally rates a huge happening, with fans rushing the court.

“Of course being Kansas we get everybody’s best shot,” Self said. “We’ve had a Red Out (at Nebraska), Black Out (at Kansas State) and White Out (at Oklahoma). We’ve had a lot of ‘outs’ on the road,'” he added, referring to promotions where fans are all dressed in one color for the KU game.

“I’m proud of our guys. What we’d like to do is match that 7-1 record on the road with a home win Saturday.”

A win over Texas (11 a.m., Allen Fieldhouse) would give KU a 7-1 home mark and at least a share of the Big 12 regular-season crown.

“Our guys have played well away from home,” Self said. “The thing I’m excited about is our five leading scorers are freshmen and sophomores, and for the most part we go on the road and play well. Even though Russell (Robinson), Darnell (Jackson) and Sasha (Kaun, all juniors) are huge parts of the team, we rely heavily on freshmen and sophomores (for scoring).”

Self said the squad’s road success tells him his team is “tough.”

“It’s not as tough as I think we can be, but we are tough,” Self said. “That shows in loose balls, rebounding, defensive field goal percentage, in a lot of areas. You can also tell toughness by your road record, going in other people’s homes and performing well, hunkering down in a tight huddle. We’ve done a good job in that area. No coach will tell you his team is as tough as he wants it to be, but we’re improving in those areas.”

¢Forget it, Arkansas: KU coach Self on Tuesday scoffed at reports he might be interested in the Arkansas job amid published reports he’d be a leading candidate if coach Stan Heath is fired.

Harry King of the Arkansas News Bureau wrote “that those who are convinced that Self would be willing to listen cite his desire to be closer to Edmond, Okla. (hometown), and his reported disgust with criticism every time Kansas loses early in the NCAA Tournament.”

“I would say obviously he (King) doesn’t know my situation very well,” Self said, not wanting to further debunk rumors considering Arkansas has a coach in Stan Heath.

Suffice it to say Self has no interest in the Arkansas job.

Other coaches mentioned as possible Arkansas coaches in media reports: Doc Sadler (Nebraska), Billy Gillispie (Texas A&M), Mike Anderson (Missouri) and Mark Turgeon (Wichita State).

¢OU revisited: Self spoke in detail about KU’s win over Oklahoma on his Hawk Talk radio show.

“We labored, but played well enough to come out with a win. Maybe it’s good it happened that way. It remains to be seen,” Self said of pulling out a victory after squandering a 17-point lead.

“Our confidence going into that game was an all-time season high. We didn’t play that way. We played tired, to be honest. We looked like a team run-down. I’m not sure it’s unusual this time of year playing back to back (Saturday-Monday) with little rest. If you told me before the game we’d win by two, five, 15, whatever, I’d have sold out for that. The fact we had a 14-point lead at halftime and let them tie and still won … we’ll see if it was a good thing for us.”

¢Galindo honored: Former KU guard/forward Alex Galindo of Florida International has been named to the second-team All-Sun Belt Conference team. Galindo leads FIU in both scoring (13.9) and rebounding (5.9). He scored a career-high 24 points in a 69-67 win over South Alabama on Feb. 18. Galindo missed the squad’s last game with a sprained ankle.

¢No chickens, please: Kansas State’s athletic department has written an open letter to fans in response to KSU fans throwing live chickens on the court before the KU game in Manhattan. Here’s the letter that appears on the school’s official Website:

“Dear K-Staters: Kansas State is known for having the best fans in the nation and the University appreciates the enthusiasm with which K-Staters support their athletics programs. However, at the recent KSU-Kansas basketball game on Feb. 19, there were several instances of the mistreatment of animals. These acts cannot and will not be condoned or tolerated.

“These actions severely tarnish the image of our University, its athletics teams and the majority of our outstanding fans and supporters and while viewed by many as harmless pranks, these acts are likely illegal.

“The University has a long-standing policy that considers live animals (except guide animals) at athletics events to be contraband. Kansas State University forbids fans from throwing any object on the playing surface at athletics contests. Failure to comply with these policies subjects offenders to ejection from the facility and possible prosecution under applicable penalty of law.

“Kansas State has high standards for the behavior of its students, fans and supporters at athletics events and encourages all of our patrons to strive to exceed those expectations and represent the University in a positive manner.”

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