Page 14 University Daily Kansan, December 4, 1980
Tony Guy, junior guard, shoots for 2 of his 16 points last night in Kansas' game against Michigan. Guy has led KU in scoring in each of the first three games. KU, 2-1, was beaten by Michigan 64-52.
'Hawks lose to Wolverines 64-52
By KEVIN BERTELS
Sports Writer
When the Michigan Wolverines arrived in Lawrence Tuesday, they must have headed right for their Allen room, ready to make it like home.
All over the walls they placed signs that urged the team to "Kill Kansas" and "Junk the Jayhawks." One of the most prominent was an enumerated description of what needed to be done to beat Kansas.
"Stop KU's fast break" was the first item. Michigan did that with a full-court press. "Work our fast break" was second. The Wolverines did that, usually by breaking KU's full-court press. In fact, there was almost nothing on that list that the Wolverines didn't accomplish. The result was just as the list said it would be. KU was beaten 64-52. The Jawhavks record is now 2-1.
THERE WEREN'T any names on the list, but the players obviously know that to win they have to get the ball to 6-foot-5 forward Mike McGee. They got it to him for 28 points, many of them on lavens and inside shots.
"we kind of gear our offense to him." "He has to perform well for us to win."
It was not that the Jayhawks didn't try to figure a way to stop McGee. Everybody tried, but nobody had much success. Darnell Valentine, Booty Neal, Tony Guy and John Crawford all guarded McGee at one time or another.
full-court press and an awesome 2-1-2 zone. The result was only 22 points in the first half and a hole that the Jayhawks never got out of.
"It's always that way," McGee said. "Someone's always holding on to me, and then they bring in someone else and then they bring in someone else that is just everybody's strategy."
KU's defensive strategy was not what affected the game most. Michigan's strategy was the one that made the defense vulnerable, and that man-to-man defense. They got a tough
"WE WERE PRETTY impatient, and they did an excellent job," Head Coach Ted Owens said. "When you get behind you get frantic on offense and take bad shots. It makes it tough to catch up.
"We were trying to front him in the first half, but we weren't getting any strong side support. He's a very active player. The man was not very good at all against him."
KU's bad shots led to missed shots, which might not have been a problem had KU been able to pull in a few offensive rebounds. Bad luck was part of the problem, KU's big men, Victor Mitchell and Art Housey, said.
"One of the reasons that we couldn't get rebounds was that the ball was coming off long, *Mitchell* well knew what went the boards, only two or three of us were going. You have to have everybody in there blocking out. Art and I can take care of it, though, if the ball is not on the ground, I will give them credit. They hit the boards."
The statistics were not completely lopsided in favor of the Wolverines. KU outbounded only 44-37., with Housey grabbing 10 to lead KU.
REBOUNDING WAS one item that Owens said at the start of the season would need to be improved. Another was teamwork. In KU's first two games the teamwork was evident. Last month it wasn't, and the Jawayhs admitted it.
"Tonight we just didn't play as a
band. We were playing music."
is it to. Sometimes it ite out of hand.
"It's up to the point guard. He's the man who directs the offense. He's the man who makes sure he runs the show. We need the quarterback so that we can play as a team.
As a team we didn't do a lot of things that we should have."
The assist statistics point out the problem. Against Nevada-Reno, Guy had 10 assists. Against Pepperdine, Valentine had 11 assists. Against Michigan, the entire Kansas team had only six assists. Usually the shots came from outside, which was as close as the Michigan zone would let KU get.
"They took their time and got shots," Crawford said. "We didn't." They took their time on offense and we shot too quick. We weren't patient enough."
He was outscored only by McGee of Michigan. Valentine was the only other player for KU in double figures with 13 points.
IN THE FIRST HALF, Guy may have been too patient. He shot only four times. In the second half, he took matters into hand when the Jayhawks tried to make a late comeback. He hit six field goals and finished with 16 points. Guy has led KU in scoring in all three games.
Owens called McGee one of the best players in the Big Ten, but the Michigan coach, Friede, said that he doesn't have a team impress preseason predictors.
"Right now, we have been picked for
the trip. That's about where I
think we belong.
"This was a great Michigan victory. We didn't play well in our opener, and we didn't play well in practice. Kansas had a great start, and they have great players. This was just a great Michigan victory."
JAYHAWK NOTES: Ricky Ross, the sophomore guard who quit the KU team earlier in the season, has returned to Lawrence to finish school, just as he said he would when he left. He was at the KU game last night.
KU has yet to fill Allen Field House in two tries this season. Only 12,300 players have been added.
Michigan has a 2-0 record.
and 13,100 were in attendance last night.
Darnell Valentine is within 73 points of tying Wilt Chamberlain for fourth place in KU career scoring. Don't expect him to talk to the Kansan about the record, however. He announced in the locker room last night that he would not be given a chance to play in the future. He would not explain his reasons for the decision, saying only. "You don't want us to win. You can put that in your paper."
An announcement was made before last night's game that Ted Owens had won his 300th career game at KU Monday against Pepperdine. When he was introduced there were a few boos from the crowd, but he compliments, but these were soon drowned out by cheers. A standing ovation followed.
KU graduate Paul Mokeski has started the last few games for the Detroit Pistons because of a recent injury to regular center Kent Beenson.
KU will play Oral Roberts Saturday night in Allen Field House. Tipoff is at 7:35 p.m. Oral Roberts beat KU last season at Tulsa, Okal, when a last second shot by KU forward Mac Stullcup, never graduated, bounced away.
| | FG | RB | REB A | A | PF | TP |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| McGee | 12-21 | 4-5 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 38 |
| McCormick | 12-21 | 4-5 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 38 |
| Heuserman | 1-5 | 0-1 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Johnson | 2-8 | 0-1 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Bodnar | 5-8 | 0-0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| McCormick | 2-3 | 0-0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| James | 1-5 | 0-0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Marty Bodnar | 2-9 | 0-4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Marty Bodnar | 28-57 | 9-14 | 44 | 10 | 10 | 64 |
Kansas stumbles into twilight zone again and suffers first loss
A LANEWS
| | FB | 0-0 | REB | A | PF | TG |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Magley | 5-0 | 0-0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 19 |
| Crawford | 2-0 | 0-0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 19 |
| Mitchell | 7-1 | 0-4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Mitchell | 1-1 | 1-4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 18 |
| Valentine | 6-11 | 1-2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 16 |
| Valentine | 1-1 | 1-2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 16 |
| Neal | 4-13 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 18 |
| Neal | 4-13 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 18 |
| Michigan | 2-16 | 4-4 | 37 | 4 | 32 | -4 |
By TRACEE HAMILTON Sports Writer
Sports Writer
Some fans were amused, more were upset and the majority were stunned and angry. About the only people remaining in the stands as the game ended were Americans delegates from China, who had to be polite to their American hosts.
If the Chinese were familiar with Kansas basketball, they would have known what had beaten the Jayhawks. It was the zone.
Michigan started in a zone defense
and stayed in the zone all the way to a 64-52 victory.
"THE MICHIGAN ZONE was a good one," Head Coach Ted Owens said. "They were quick and active and good at matching up.
" against a game, a good shot is not
just good. We wanted to get the
shot too quick.
The quick-shooting Kansas team shot 38 percent from the field. The team was shooting the ball expecting a blocked shot instead of a basket. Owens said.
"There were things we could have done to make it a fine game, despite the odds."
Owens, who was honored before the game for winning his 300th contest against Pepperdine Monday night, said that he had been expecting the zone, which has plagued the fast-breaking Warriors and Cornell Valentine's arrival four years ago.
MICHIGAN'S ZONE annihilated the KU offense even though the Wolverines normally operated in a man-to-man defense.
"The zone we used was effective," Michigan Coach Bill Frieder said. "We wanted to shut Valentine down. We didn't want his quickness to hurt us.
"We basically did a job on him."
Boot Neal, who came off the bench Monday to spark KU past Pepperdine, was held to 8 points by the Wolverine zone.
"We wanted the zone to put pressure on Valentine and Neal on the outside, and it worked." Frieder said. "They didn't hurt us on the inside."
KU's INSIDE, in the large forms of Victor Mitchell and Art Housey, combined for 5 points, a fact that did not go unnoticed by Owens.
"We've got to get the ball to the post more," he said. "Victor did not practice yesterday and had to be substituted for frequently.
"Art has actually had only about two weeks of practice. Victor is new, he needs a lot more practice."
"OUR REACTIONS were not good at all," Owens said. "We were outbounded by eight in the first half, and had four turnovers. That's 12 times
Owens said that, while he did not want to take anything away from Michigan, he thought the Jayhawks were emotionally flat.
we gave the ball to them in the first
"We were lethargic."
Owens is not as worried about KU's mental attitude going into the next game, against Oral Roberts Saturday night in Allen Field House.
"Three days between games are better than a game every other day," he said. "This kind of game is good if you learn from it."
Owens called a time out with 11 seconds remaining and down 12 points, perhaps to make sure the Jayhawks had learned.
Verser named second-team All-American
BvGENEMYERS
Sports Editor
David Verser has moved one stride closer to professional football and a position in the first round of the NFL draft next spring.
Verser, a consensus All-Big Eight flanker for two straight years, was named a second-team All-American yesterday by the Associated Press. While the AP teams were being announced in New York, Verser was running sprints for a pro scout in Lawrence.
The pros are high on Verser, so high that he is expected to go in the first ound of April's draft. Either Verser or the profer will the ceremonial umr will be the first receiver picked.
UNTIL APRIL, Verser will be running sprints for more scouts and teams.
waiting and wondering. Often, he will reflect on his four years at Kansas.
"The last two years I'm going to remember for a long time," Verser said last night. "The first two years, those terrible two years, I'm going to forget."
The best of the good years has come in 1980 when Vaser had 30 reception for 578 yards and five touchdowns. The team-4team All-America honor tops it off.
"I guess it feels all right," he said.
"But I hate two settle for second team."
"I didn't expect to get anything because there were so many other receiverws that had better years and were on better teams that received bowl bids. I guess I got it because of natural ability."
State's linebacker Ricky Young, a second-team selection.
VERSER WAS ONE of only two players who made the first two All-America teams and came from losing teams. The other player is Oklahoma
"My improvement came this year when I improved what I can do," Verser said. "I used to watch the ball go over my head, but now I keep on running and try to get it. And I've discovered that I can."
His best catch of the season probably came against Kansas State. Wearing a two-defender strait jacket, Verser reached out for an overthrown pass. The ball nipped his fingers and froze in the air as he hauled it in.
BEFORE THE DRAFT, Verser will play in the East-West Shrine Bowl in Palo Alto, Calif., Jail. 10. He also will play in the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., Aba.
Jayhawks, Verser, a soft-soplen senior from Kansas City, Kan., was the lone offensive weapon. The pressure was on and so was double and even triple coverage. As freshman tailback Michael Giles, however, the pressure came off Verser.
"How did I do it?" Verser said at the table. "I just have to watch the film and find out."
"I wish I just had two more years left here even though the pros are ahead," Verser said. "This is the first time that I got to play with a quarterback like Frank Seurier and with a running back like Bell, I wish I could stay."
When this season started for the 4-5-2
JAYHAWK NOTES: David Verser was not alone in the Associated Press' All-America honor roll. Verser, a second team flanker, was joined by coach Mike Bell and senior noseguard $zan Gardner. Both were honorable mentions.
Bell was one of 46 honorable mention running backs and Gardner was one of 51.
Birdsong shadows Suns
But when it comes to playing both ends of the court, KC Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons says there's no one better than Birdsong.
It was the Kings' defense that turned the game around. Trailing 51-4 to a team they had lost to seven straight times in regular season games, the team shot 77.3 percent on a 38-19 third quarter that pushed them in front, 82-70.
The Kings finished with a seasonhigh 17 steals.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - When it comes to scoring from the guard position, only San Antonio's George Washington and then Kansas City's Otis Birdsong.
"There's no one in the league on top of his game any more than Otis is right now," Fitzsimmons said after the Kings snapped a three-game losing streak with a 103-100 victory over Phoenix last night.
Birdsong, the fourth leading scorer in the NBA with a 27.3 average, scored 28 points against the Suns, including a game-clinching 17-4 victory. It was the 23rd straight game that he has scored 20 or more points.
By United Press International