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SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 1941.
9, 1941
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN, LAWRENCE, KANSAS
PAGE FIVE
sports AS WE SEE IT By DON H. PIERCE
Kansas and Oklahoma A. and M., midseason favorites to walk off with their league flags. will be on the outside looking in when the fur begins to fly in the big Six-Missouri Valley playoff battle this year for the right to represent the Fifth District in the Western tourney in Kansas City, March 21 and 22.
Last year the two clubs met in a memorable collision in Wichita for the coveted honor. You know the rest of the story. An under-rated Kansas five slipped by the rugged Cowboys, went on to defeat Rice and U.S.C. in the Western playoffs, and finally beaten for the National championship by a red hot Indiana club.
Until Friday night when a courageous crew of Oklahoma Sooners engineered a stunning 45-37 upset in Hoch auditorium, Red and Blue chances for a return appearanced in Municipal auditorium looked fairly bright. But the Jayhawker fan awoke Saturday morning to find his basketball nightmare still a reality and to the awful realization that his beloved court favorites will answer the cage gong for the last time this year against Henry Iba's five Tuesday.
The Cowboys, who failed to win or share the Missouri Valley crown for the first time since 1935, found their last playoff door closed Friday night as Creighton's Bluejays rolled over Washburn in Topeka to sew up the valley championship.
Dr. F. C. Allen, who early in the season had predicted an easy win for the Jayhawkers over Oklahoma in Lawrence, was quite jovial for a beaten man yesterday. "Phog" reiterated that exactly glad to be relieved of any playoff chance for the sake of everyone concerned.
"Our true place in the final league standings should have been fourth," the Doctor said. "Instead, we finished first. I ask you what have I to beef about. We had the fightesting of kids you ever saw. They did far more than I expected of them and I'm proud to have coached them."
Even though that Kansas-A. and M. tilt may be an anticlimax to a thrilling season, don't get the idea that it won't be a hard-fought affair. It is no secret that Allen and Master Iba are near swords points any time a Jayhawk-Cowboy conclave is in.
Leading Scorers in Big Six Games
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gms. fg ft pts ave.
1. Howard Engleman, Kansas, f 10 63 39 165 16.5
2. Gordon Nicholas, Iowa State, c 10 33 37 103 10.3
3. Bob Allen, Kansas, c 10 33 37 100 10.0
4. Sid Held, Nebraska, g 10 35 37 97 9.7
5. Al Budolfson, Iowa State, f 10 41 13 95 9.5
6. Hugh Ford, Oklahoma, c 10 32 29 93 9.3
7. Don Fitz, Nebraska, g 10 32 22 86 8.6
8. Jack Horacek, Kansas State, f 10 32 15 79 7.9
9. Carol Schneider, Iowa State, g 10 31 13 75 7.5
10. Dale DeKoster, Iowa State, g 10 28 13 75 7.5
11. Herb Gregg, Missouri, f 7 22 8 52 7.4
12. Garnett Corbin, Oklahoma, f 10 31 17 73 7.3
13. A. D. Roberts, Oklahoma, f 10 27 17 71 7.1
14. Chris Langwardt, Kansas State, c 10 25 19 69 6.9
15. Allie Paine, Oklahoma, g 10 29 10 68 6.8
16. and Loren Mills, Missouri, g 10 29 10 68 6.8
17. Al Randall, Nebraska, c 10 24 17 65 6.5
18. Keith Bangert, Missouri, f 4 9 5 23 5.75
19. Larry Beaumont, Kansas State, g 10 22 13 57 5.7
20. Dan Howe, Kansas State, f 10 22 11 55 5.5
"A Stitch In Time Saves Nine"
BUT--offing and you may be sure that both will empty their bags of court trickery in an effort to win the season's finale.
THEY SAY--offing and you may be sure that both will empty their bags of court trickery in an effort to win the season's finale.
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Caught on the Rebound: Oklahoma's victory over Kansas Friday night snapped the Jayhawker's three year old home court winning streak at 27. . . Not since those same Sooners accomplished the feat early in the 1938 season had the Red and Blue tasted defeat in their own bailwich. . . The triumph also broke a seven game losing streak for the southerners who scraped rock bottom last Saturday in absorbing a 61-42 drubbing at the hands of Missouri in Columbia. . .
Sooner center Hugh Ford, who turned in his best game of the year with an awesome rebounding performance and 17 point scoring assault, pulled himself into sixth place among the conference point getters with a final mark of 9.3 . . . Bobby Allen, who needed 11 counters to clinch second place could secure only six to finish behind Iowa State's Gordon Nicholas who had 102. . . Englemar's seven point surge hiked his seasonal total to 165 which betterst the old conference scoring record by 11 points. . . The N.C.A.V.A. fathers have already tentively engaged Kansas City's Municipal auditorium for the probable Iowa State-Creighton playoff, but may shift the contest site in view of the fact that K.C. is a far off point for both schools. . . The proposed date is Monday, March 17 . . . L. G. "Lonnie" Eggleston, best of a classy crop of A. and M. forwards, has recovered sufficiently from a broken hand suffered early in the year to play an active role in the Cowboy lineup in their past four contests. . . He will open at his usual slot against Kansas Tuesday night with Gene Smelser, a methodical ball handler, as his probable running mate . . . It will be the final basketball appearance in Kansas livery for seniors Johnny Kline, Bob Allen, and Howard Engleman.
Ball Hawk...
Gene Smelser, F.
Hardest worker on the basketball court for the Oklahoma Aggies is Senior Forward Gene Smelser. Under the basket he is a fierce scrapper and more often than not comes out with the ball at either backboard.
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Sooner Coach Says---
Strong Pass Defense Is Great Offense Weapon
Norman, Okla., March 8.—The football team that intercepts the most forward passes will usually win the game, other things being equal, contends Dale Arbuckle, University of Oklahoma backfield coach.
Morever, Arbuckle shares the opinion of his chief, Coach Dewey "Snorter" Luster, that a great pass defense can be a formidable offensive weapon.
"If we've got a strong pass defense, we'd lois rather opponents would throw at us, than run," Arbuckle elaborated, with emphasis on the "if".
Arbuckle tabbed Oklahoma's Big Six Championship team of 1938 as a great defensive team against enemy forward passing, and the statistics dovetail with what he claims. They show the Sooners of that season intercepted 21 forward passes, four against Paul Christman of Missouri in the Oklahoma-Missouri game.
"Now, don't get me wrong," he qualified swiftly. "I'm not saying the Sooners will have a strong pass defense this fall. Nor am I chump enough to dare everybody to throw at us. I only say that if we should be successful in building a great pass defense, we'd rather play against passes than runs."
"Here's how it often works out," Arbuckle explained. "An intercepted pass not only gives you the ball and whatever gain you realize off the interception (sometimes you bring 'em back all the way for touch-downs), but you save the 40 yards they got to add into your own punt which is an additional 40 yards, or a total of 80 yards gained on the interception.
"You've got a lots better chance to get the ball when they pass on you, than when they run on you. A ball thrown in the air belongs to whoever can catch it. On the other hand, the team that runs with the ball is less liable to lose it. Even though you don't gain much on the average running play, you've still got the ball and the opportunity to run again."