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UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN, LAWRENCE, KANSAS
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1942
Before departing for Norman this morning, it was a welcome surprise to see that someone else was doing a little worrying about the game tonight. This worry, however, was in reverse to that of most Jayhawkers. Quoting from The Daily Oklahoman concerning Sooner chances against Kansas, "After all, it's hard to have enough faith to believe the Sooners are 22 points better than they were on the ill-fated night of Jan. 6. Especially when it's pretty obvious that the Jayhawks are at least five points better themselves.
"If it's a matter of brainwork, Bruce Drake will hold his own with the famed doctor. Allen has never beaten Drake at Norman, and last year Drake, who had only a mediocre ball club, beat Kansas twice. What he is cooking up now we don't know, but whatever it is, you can be sure it will surprise Allen and everybody present, as much as anything can surprise someone who is expecting something of a jolt.
"Allen has a truly great ball club, and a Sooner victory would be a true test of Oklahoma's own greatness. The Jayhawks are a great long shot club, and if they are cold or the Sooners find some way to break up their shooting attempts, the Drakemen may turn the trick."
It seems strange that anyone sitting in an Oklahomaan's shoes would sound so pessimistic and yet it doesn't look as if the writer David Wood would be willing to bet his monthly allowance on the Sooners chances tonight.
Perhaps if the Oklahoma fans are really doubtful about the outcome then our Jayhawkers may stand more of a chance than most critics give them. One thing is assured that it will be a battle of two powerful teams that rate at the top of the heap with ranking Valley quintets. In true Kansan spirit this column takes the Jayhawkers by five points.
A SCORING-CRAZY SEASON
This season has produced many outstanding scorers but the one to top them all is Stanley "Stutz" Modzelewski, a softspoken Polish youth who shoots baskets accurately and easily for Rhode Island State. The 21-year old senior smashed the great Hank Luisetti's four-year mark of 1,596 points for Stanford by scoring 18 points 10 days ago against Holy Cross to boost his total to 1,598.
With six games remaining to be played at that time, Modzelewski has a chance to set a record that may withstand the onslaughts of high-scoring basketteers for many years. In four years of college competition against big-time opponents, the Rhode Island flash has averaged 21.6 points a game for 74 contests.
But all of the high scoring is not confined to the East. In the Southwest the West Texas State Teachers have a team that tallies anywhere from 60 to 80 points a game and has even gone over the 100 mark this season. Wednesday night the Teachers came through with another 80-point performance and the remarkable part of it was the 44 points which All-American forward, Price Brookfeld, tallied for his club.
Nearly as sparkling a performance was turned in this week by Bob Hunt, towering Kansas Weselyn center, wh countered with 36 points in a Kansas Conference game. Besides Rhode Island State and West Texas as high scoring teams, Colorado of the Big Seven ranks with the best. In nine conference games the Buffaloes have averaged 57 points a game and the highest scorer on the team, Leason McCloud, has only a plus-15 average a game.
A RIGHT PERTINENT IDEA
With the knowledge that summer school sessions will have tremendous increases in enrollment this summer, Northwestern's athletic director, K. L Wilson, comes up with an excellent idea.
He advocates the extension of intramural sports into the intercollegiate field during the summer months as a war-time conditioning measure. Wilson feels that since most schools will be in regular session because of the accelerated educational program, some form of mass athletics would be beneficial in fitting young men for the armed services.
"Most schools will carry on an intensified athletic program during the summer," the Northwestern athletic director pointed out. "The emphasis will be on intramural sports, but I see no reason why we could not continue baseball by arranging schedules with near-by service teams."
Something of this sort it seems could be worked out for students that will attend the University this summer. With the tremendous increase that is expected, there are going to be students galore who will have hours and hours of leisure time with nothing to do but jelly-and-coke about.
FROM COAST TO COAST. IT'S ALL THE SAME
The Big Six is not the only conference in the country that has its little squabbles and bickerings between member schools. After Purdue had beaten Wisconsin the latter school's publication, The Daily Cardinal, became quite outraged and burst forth with, "The Badgers were not given much chance to upset Purdue on their home floor prior to the game, and was apparent early in the first half that even the officials were going to do their best to prevent such an upset.
"As the game settled down to a hacking, slapping, pushing exhibition by the Boilermakers—with the complete approval of everyone concerned but Coach Harold E. "Bud" Foster and the Wisconsin team—the ultimate outcome was only made close by the heroic efforts on the part of Badgers.
"In scoring but three points on one field goal and a free throw, John Kotz' prospects for breaking any scoring records took a decided drop. An unsolved mystery on the part of Wisconsin fans is why the officials even deigned to award the Wisconsin ace that one free throw. The solution may be that he was all but knocked in two by Don Blanken, Purdue guard, on one of the rare occasions when he was allowed to put his hands on the ball.
If Wisconsin thought that its team had two strikes against it when it played Purdue at the latter's campus, then just what are our Jayhawkers up against tonight with 7,960 Oklahomans and 40 Kansans in the crowd?
Jayhawks and Sooners Meet for Title Tonight
NCAA Berth Also Hangs In Balance
With as perfect a set-up as one could possibly wish for, the Oklahoma Sooners and the Kansas Jayhawkers meet tonight at Norman in a game that will not only decide the Big Six title winner for 1942 but also will have a definite bearing on which team will represent the Fifth District in the N.C.A.A. play-offs in Kansas City next month.
The Jayhawks are at present in first place in the league with six wins and one loss but are closely pressed by the Sooners who have a record of seven victories and two defeats.
Much Depends On Outcome
A victory tonight for the Sooners would definitely cinch a title tie for the Oklahoma outfit with a good chance of winning the title undisputed for this is the last conference game for Bruce Drake's team.
Kansas, on the other hand, must win tonight to have a chance at being at the top of the final Big Six standings without any company. A defeat would make it imperative for the Jayhawks to win their two remaining league clashes with Missouri and Kansas State next week if they hope to tie the Sooners for the bunting.
In the first clash of these two teams at Lawrence in January the Jay hawks romped to an easy win, 54 to 32, but this result will have very little bearin gon the outcome tonight. Drake Formed New Team
The first game followed immediately the ruling by the Big Six athletic council which barred Gerald Tucker, outstanding sophomore center, from competing in Big Six games for Oklahoma for the first semester of this year.
Coach Drake did not have a chance to revamp his team and practice them and as a result it was a haphazard group that fell before the Jayhawks. Since that time, however, Drake took his collection of sophomores and two
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In This Corner We Have Oklahoma---
COACH BRUCE DRAKE A.D.ROBERTS PAUL HEAP
These four will do much to carry the battle for Oklahoma and keep victory in the home state. Bruce Drake, sprightly young coach of the Sooners, has an even-up record of four wins and four losses against Allen and will attempt to gain the edge tonight. A. D. "Ug" Roberts and Paul Heap will start the contest at forward berths. Roberts is considered the best jockey in the league when it comes to riding opposing players. Heap has played every position this season but his height and experience seem best fitted for a forward position. Jim Marteny is a junior letterman who has proved very valuable as a spot substitute. He is a tough little defensive player. M
And Down Here We Have Kansas---
C. ALLEN
harlie Black
JOHN BUESCHER
MARVIN
SOLLENBERGER
When it comes either to coaching or players tonight Kansas will not be outmanned for at the helm of the Jayhawker ship is Forrest C. "Phog" Allen and around him, just before game time tonight, will be Charlie Black, John Buescher, and Marvin Sollenberger. Allen hates to have any coach gain a victorious percentage over him and that's what an Oklahoma win tonight would mean. Therefore, he will be all out for victory. In the front line attempting to lead the scoring will be the lanky Black. He only hopes to repeat his first performance against them which netted him 25 points. His running mate will be John Buescher who has proved an excellent feeder. Marvin Sollenberger has been alternating at the guard spot with T. P. Hunter and will see plenty of action.
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