A fan carrying a sign ran onto the court and halted play with 15:12 left. The sign said “Good Luck Seniors” on one side and “Congratulations Roy on 300 wins” on the other side.
The fan, who appeared to emerge from the student section, actually shook hands with KU seniors T.J. Pugh and Ryan Robertson, then headed into the east bleachers, where he was apprehended by police.
“I almost lost it,” KU coach Roy Williams said. “I was going to tackle his butt. If it hadn’t been for Nick (Bradford) I’d have tried to tackle him.”
KU junior Nick Bradford restrained Williams.
“Coach had that look in his eye,” freshman Jeff Boschee said. “I thought he might strangle that guy. I don’t know what that guy was thinking or what he was on.”
“You don’t do that at Kansas,” Williams said. “If you want to go to a carnival, go to a carnival.”
• Okie State guard Doug Gottlieb opened the game wearing his shorts on backward. Oklahoma State actually called time out with 12:40 left in the half so Gottlieb, surrounded by his teammates, could remove his shorts, turn them around and wear them correctly.
“I am so happy he turned them around. It’s the most annoying chant I’ve heard. I didn’t want to hear it 40 minutes,” Ryan Robertson said of the crowd’s chant, “Shorts on backwards.” “Nobody said anything on the court, but I thought it was funny. I didn’t notice it until the crowd noticed. Our crowd can not only cheer, but they catch things like guys wearing shorts on backwards. We have an intelligent crowd.”
“I thought they were chanting, `Shirt on backwards,”‘ Boschee said. “That was pretty funny.”
OSU’s Gottlieb said earlier this year Kansas’ guard play has hurt the Jayhawks in the past couple of NCAA Tournaments.
“His comments are in our locker room,” Robertson said. “I was taken aback by them. Doug Gottlieb is not the foremost winning player in the Big 12 for him to tell me or anybody at Kansas what has kept us from advancing in the NCAA Tournament. I don’t know where he has the formula for that. For him to say it’s been our guard play, I thought it was unfair. I heard Gottlieb wanted to come to Kansas in the first place.”
• Chris Martin, KU’s senior walk-on helped the Jayhawks grab a 4-0 lead. He also was one of four seniors to give speeches to the crowd after the game.
“I wasn’t nervous,” Martin said. “I thought I’d be nervous, but it was like speaking to your family. I thought we played pretty well early. I felt comfortable out there.”
• Pugh on the night: “It was very emotional and a lot of fun. It’s a game I’ll remember a long time. I’m just glad we were able to beat a great team like Oklahoma State. We showed some poise at the end again and it can only help us.”
• KU had its 12th capacity crowd in 13 home games Monday. In the process, the Jayhawks set the school record for home attendance. KU had averaged 16,275 fans through 12 games. The old record was 16,140 set in 1996-97.
• Six NBA scouts attended Monday’s game. OSU’s Adrian Peterson is a possible first-round pick.
