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Volume 126 Issue 83
kansan.com
Tuesday. February 25, 2014
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY & ANSAN
COMMENTARY Fans celebrate title their own way
Sitting high enough in the corner of Allen Fieldhouse to reach the rafters, John and Suzanne Cole couldn't help but smile as the lavahawks took the floor.
Sure, the couple had been before here - John went to just about every game as a student before graduating in 1966 - but rare are the games when you wish the clock would just run a little faster.
Monday was one of those games, and despite the fact it would likely be the only time the Coles visited Allen Field-house all year, even they waited patiently for the game's end.
That's when the real festivities began, when Kansas was crowned Big 12 champion for a 10th straight season after defeating Oklahoma 83-75 and wrapped up a decade that started with disappointment and ended in disbelief.
"When Roy [Williams] left I thought it was the end of the world, but Bill certainly changed our minds," Cole said. "It just shows you what kind of a coach he is. This was his toughest test."
Echoes of "10 Straight!" filled the Fieldhouse while the band belted "Hey Jude" and DJ Khaled.
Self, of course, passed with an "A" and nine pluses. And even though he wouldn't let his team celebrate, he couldn't stop the student body.
It's the type of environment that starts with someone like Ellen Waters, a freshman from Cimarron, who anxiously ripped up her newspaper in the student section while the Jayhawks went through their pregame routine.
Waters was in junior high school when her parents took her on a five-hour journey to Allen Fieldhouse for the first time. Before the game even started, Waters was hooked.
I just remember when that first video came on it made my heart race and I had goose bumps," Waters said. "That was it."
She never bothered touring or applying to other schools. Now she waited as the clock wound down again and her Jayhawks would stand on top of the league again - although it's hard for her to remember if that was never the case.
"Sometimes it's kind of expected." Waters said.
If's expected for someone like 9-year-old Pearse Long - named after Paul Pierce, of the phonetically same last name
- who was accompanied by his father Eric. They counted down the minutes with everyone else.
"To be here to see the game they clinch it in would be pretty neat," Eric Long said. "For my son it's just another day in his life. That's all he knows."
Winning the Big 12 is only a birthright if you're under the age of 11.
The truth is, it's a victory that will mean a million different things to a million different people, and yet it's all the same.
It's Ellen Waters watching games on TV with her parents in southwest Kansas. It's the Coles sitting high above court and screaming like it's 1966. It's way past bedtime for Pearse Long.
And for a few in attendance on Monday night it's the only game they'll see in Allen Fieldhouse. For most it's the only game they'll need.
Edited by Nick Chadbourne
KANSAS 83 — OKLAHOMA 75
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
Perry Ellis dunks the ball over an Oklahoma defender Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse. Ellis had 11 points, two assists, one block and four rebounds.
Jayhawks clinch 10th straight Big 12 title
BLAKE SCHUSTER sports@kansan.com
sports@kansan.com
After the heroics, after the final buzzer and after the handshakes, Naadir Tharpe stood alone at center court, conducting a chorus of 16,300 fans who wouldn't leave the building until he did.
Each verse decreased the tension that had built up over the previous 40 minutes. Each verse got louder and louder as the screams sunk into reality.
“10 Straight! 10 Straight! 10 Straight!”
There was no way Tharpe could just walk away from it. Not after knocking down 10 of the Jayhawks last 14 points. Not with the entire building roaring.
No. 5 Kansas 83, Oklahoma 75 and a decade of Big 12 championships solidified.
"Usually we're on the road,"
Playing at home, the Jayhawks had a rambunctious crowd behind them, willing the team to any sliver of a lead and hoping Kansas could hold it.
Even if Oklahoma wasn't playing for a Big 12 title, it didn't mean they wouldn't try to stop Kansas from earning another.
"That was a no-energy, tired team out there," Kansas coach Bill Self said after the six lead change affair.
The Sooners were unrelenting, making the types of plays that allowed them to stay in a game they otherwise had no business being in. The free throws kept falling (15 for 20), the paint was fair game (26 points) and the Kansas
Tharpe said of clinching the title. "To hear the crowd and see all the fans is just a beautiful feeling."
It's also what the Jayhawks wanted. It's what they've harped on all year.
Of course, the Jayhawks have been forced to grind out clinching games before. In 2011, Kansas shot just 43 percent from the field and committed 26 fouls against Missouri en route to its seventh straight title.
No pressure, no diamonds.
The pressure was real and the diamonds were waiting. No one was going to hand them over with four games to play. So with three minutes remaining in regulation and Kansas clinging to a three-point lead, Tharpe went out there and took them.
fouls kept piling up (21).
He forced his way into the lane and danced around defenders until he was sure he had a shot. And when Oklahoma frantically fouled with
time running out, it was Tharpe stepping up to the line and hitting each free throw (6 for 6).
"I think the last 10 minutes of the game that's as good as Naadir has played at KU" Self said. "He closed games the way point guards are supposed to"
And like point guards are supposed to, Tharpe made his teammates more of a threat than himself.
Each Kansas starter finished with at least 11 points: Tharpe led the way with 19 points, 14 of which came in the second half while he played with two fouls.
"The lane was open so I just tried to be aggressive and make plays." Tharpe said.
After the game ended, Tharpe was as open as hed ever been; exposed to the Kansas crowd at center court
and relishing a moment that's not guaranteed to happen again.
When he finally trotted back to the locker room, the rings weren't waiting. There was no trophy. There was no celebration. Assistant coach Jerrance Howard was permitted a dance, but that was about it.
"I told our players we will celebrate whenever we win it," Self said. "Right now all we have done is tie."
Self was too busy with his postgame interview to even notice Tharpe stealing a celebration. If Kansas can win at Oklahoma State on Saturday the Jayhawks can finally dance together.
Edited by Krista Montgomery
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