Jays Thump Arkies 81-52 in Opener
By Walt Jayroe
In a reversal of the old Bible story, Goliath slew little David last night in Allen Field House. But it wasn't with a sling-shot. It was with a basketball.
The KU basketball team, posing as Goliath, was hesitant at first but finally, after a thunderous urging by some 9,500 partisan fans, went on to route a smaller Arkansas team by a score of 81-52. It was the season opener for both teams.
THE WEAPON KU employed was a simple one. Brute force in the personage of Walt Wesley, Bob Wilson, Ron Franz, Roger Bohnentheil, Al Lopes, and Riney Lochmann simply over-ran the Razorbacks from Arkansas with a height advantage of two inches a man.
It was Wilson and Wesley who were the most impressive. Wesley, bottled in the middle by two and three men the entire evening, still managed to connect for 20 points and gather seven rebounds.
game late in the first half, he managed to hit three of four field shots and two free throws before the half-time buzzer sounded.
THE SOLID. 6-7 junior seemed to be at the right place at the right time on every play. He always had position on rebounds, scoring twice from under the basket without moving a step. On defense he blocked several shots and tiring of this, he would take the ball away from a bewildered opponent. Wilson ended his first varsity appearance with an impressive 17 points and eight rebounds.
Goliath moved slowly at first as if waking from a winter's sleep. With 12:01 remaining in the first half, KU held only an 18-15 lead and it seemed as if the baskettrading would continue indefinitely.
IT WAS THEN the giant made its move. Wesley was fouled and quickly added two free throws. Within a minute he was fouled again and added another. Arkansas, finding the tough man-to-
man defense impossible to penetrate, gave up the ball once more. This time it was Lopes who drove around his man for an easy lay-up and followed it seconds later with a tip shot.
Wesley again scored on a short jump shot with 8:25 left and Arkansas decided to call time-out. As the smoke and dust cleared from the court, KU had forged ahead 27-15. Arkansas was never in the game from then on.
Arkansas connected for only three field goals during the last 13 minutes of the half and when the two teams walked off the court at intermission, KU held a 15-point lead, 43-28.
It was apparent when KU started play in the second half it was going to be a long, sad evening for the visitors. Wesley hit two fielders in succession and Franz followed him with one more, upping the score to 49-30.
ARKANSAS, STILL UNABLE to move inside on the KU defense, resorted to long shots from the outside, with J. D. McConnell, 6-5 Arkansas forward, finding the most success, hitting for three long ones during the second half.
KU controlled the boards. Occasionally Arkansas would get two or three shots in a row, but not often.
KU made another surge with a little under 13 minutes remaining. From this time until the starters were relieved with about four minutes left, KU outscored a now disheartened Arkansas crew 22-9 and pulled to an insurmountable 77-48 lead.
THE KU VICTORY was reminiscent of the 1956 opener when KU looked so impressive against Northwestern with Wilt Chamberlain scoring over 50 points. But unlike the Chamberlain era, the KU team of last night appeared well-balanced with eight or nine outstanding players.
McConnell led Arkansas scorers with 16 points, followed by John Talkington with 12. Orval Cook, 6-5 Arkansas center, pulled in 10 rebounds.
KU hit 45 per cent from the field compared to the Razorback's poor 28 per cent, which can be attributed to an excellent defense posed by the Jayhawks. KU also out-rebounded their opponents by a wide margin, 66-44. Lopes led Jayhawk rebounders with 10. Franz had nine, Wilson and Lochmann each had eight.
Lopes followed Wesley and Wilson with 14 points. Bohnen-stiehl had nine and Franz eight.
8 Daily Kansan
Thursday, December 2, 1965