SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, January 26, 1994
11
Injured Kansas frontcourt faces tough test
Cowboys' center feeds on challenge
By Gerry Fey
Kansan sportswriter
Probably no other player takes more delight in seeing Kansas on his schedule than Oklahoma State center Bryant Reeves. He continually has been a nuisance for the Jayhawks.
In the teams' two games last season,
Reeves averaged 27 points a game.
No. 3 Kansas will face the 7-foot junior tonight at 7:05 in Lawrence. The Cowboys are 13-5 overall and 2-1 in the Big Eight Conference. Kansas is 17-2 and 2-1.
The game will be televised on Prime Sports Network, which is channel 45 for those who have cable service in Lawrence.
Kansas coach Roy Williams said the Jayhawks' defense would try to contain Reeves, who is shooting 59.7 percent from the field. He averages 20.2 points and 9.7 rebounds a game.
"We do start with the big guy," Williams said. "We have to minimize the number of times he shoots, gets his rebound and puts it up again. You can't guard Bryant with just one."
an eight Bryant just one gate.
Even though Kansas will double.
team Reeves on occasion, Williams said that Kansas junior center Greg Ostertag had to play a good game.
"If there is anybody in the Big Eight who is physically equipped to bother Bryant, it is Greg." Williams said. "But he's got to play."
Kansas' injury problems in the front-court could not come before a more difficult game. Kansas senior forward Richard Scott is listed as day-to-day after injuring his shoulder during Monday's practice. Williams said freshman forward Nick Proud would be out for at least a week because of a strained right knee.
The injuries and Reeves' strength inside could give Kansas problems. Williams said there would be a switch in the starting line-up if Scott was
unable to play. Freshman forward B.J. Williams will get more playing time, but he will play behind sophomore Sean Pearson, Williams said.
"He's a pretty tough hombre," he said of Scott. "I would think that if it's possible for Richard to play, he'll play. If he can't play, we'll start Pearson and move Richey down to the four spot."
Reeves has played well recently but struggled until the Cowboys' game against Oklahoma on Jan. 8, said Sean Sutton, Oklahoma State assistant coach.
Reeves scored 29 points and had 16 rebounds against the Sooners.
"For the first four or five games, he played like everyone thought he would the whole season," Sutton said.
"After the LSU game, he lost a little pizzazz. We knew without him, we would not win many Big Eight basketball games. I think right now he's back to his old form."
Although Reeves leads the Cowboys in scoring, senior Brooks Thompson and junior Randy Rutherford make up, arguably, the best back-court in the conference.
"The thing that we're looking at is the play of Thompson and Rutherford," Sutton said. "For us to beat Kansas, those two must play well. Kansas is the kind of team that likes to pressure the ball."
Kansas junior guard Calvin Rayford said he and freshman guard Jacque Vaughn would focus on Thompson at point guard. At 6-4, Thompson has a
decided height advantage over the 5-0 Rayford.
"I think Thompson is their only point guard," Rayford said. "We're going to pressure him and try to tire him out. I'm just going to play him close and pressure the ball."
Sutton said he and the team were looking forward to tonight's game. Sutton played at Oklahoma State from 1990 to 1992 and knows how difficult it can be to play in Allen Field House.
Students stake out Allen Field House to lay claim to seats
"Let's face it," he said. "It's the toughest place to play in the Big Eight. Thompson and the other players always enjoy playing Kansas because it's a challenge. This has been a great rivalry."
By Matt Siegel Kansas sportswriter
Blankets and sleeping bags are strewn across the floor, people are talking about this and that and listening to music.
The scene would resemble a typical slumber party if not for the rhythmic sound of a basketball pounding against the floor of Allen Field House a few feet away.
Kansas senior forward Patrick Richey emerges from the men's locker room and makes his way to the court. No one bats an eye. Maybe that's because many of these students have grown accustomed to seeing the players. They also are used to seeing Kansas coach Roy Williams and occasionally receiving doughnuts aid milk from him.
Yes, the different groups of students who camp out at the field house are regulars not only on game days, but depending on the opponent, on four or five days before games. They spend much of their free time at the field house.
"Originally, we wanted to be on television," said Nate Orr, Kansas City, Kan., freshman, who heads a group of 15 students called Free Slick Rick. "Our No.2 priority is great seats. A lot of the fine women sit up close so it's a big plus to get here early."
Arriving early at the field house is one thing but showing up at 6 a.m. is another. Ron Peny, facilities maintenance supervisor for the field house, said that policy dictated that students could not spend the night in the field house. Students must
pack up their belongings at 10 p.m. and come back the next day at 6 a.m. to reclaim their spot in line. The students determine who is first in line by signing up on a sheet of paper. Every morning, the first group on the sheet conducts roll call. If a group representative isn't present, the group loses its place in line. To help pass the time, students play cards, listen to music, sleep, watch television or play Nintendo, talk aimlessly and, as a last resort, study.
"You can actually get a lot of studying done because it is quiet most of the time," said Ane Taylor, Overland Park junior, whose group, Fu Bar, consists of 20 members.
As for their own academics, the groups work out a system of rotating shifts, usually switching after a couple of hours. Among these people is none other than "Kramer," otherwise known as Jeremy Boldra, Hays sophomore.
"I'll go home a few hours before the game starts and change into my Kramer costume," Boldra said. "I just like having fun with the fans and meeting different students."
And one thing seems for sure, the men's basketball team, win or lose, will see a group of loyal fans patiently waiting for them, even at 6 a.m. in the morning.
"I think we have the best coach and program in the country," said Pat Warren, third-year law student from Overland Park, Kan. "The whole tradition of Kansas basketball is so rich in basketball. I want to enjoy as much as I can while I'm here."
Martin Altstaedten / KANSAN
Mike Kneller, Pratt sophomore, Rudy Gustafson, Liberty, Mo., freshman, Spencer Cernich, Leawood freshman, and Justin Handlin, North Platte, Neb., sophomore pass time by playing video games inside Allen Field House. They have been camped at the field house since Monday to get seats for tonight's game.
/alerie Bontrager / KANSAN
Lisa Schoendaller, Walker freshman, left, plays solitaire while holding her spot in Allen Field House. "It's all worth it," Schoendaller said yesterday. "I hope to be right behind the basket." She and seven friends take turns camping out so they won't be crossed off the list when the spontaneous roll call comes.
Pat Cliff, Detroit, Mich., freshman, works on a paper for American Studies inside the field house while holding a place in line to buy tickets to tonight's men's basketball game. Cliff is part of a group of fans from McCollium Hall's third floor who have been taking shifts since Sunday.
Heather Lofflin / KANSAN
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