Disappointment in NIT
BC guns down Kansas in first round as Cousy's magicians too fast for KU
By BOB KEARNEY
Kansan Sports Editor
NEW YORK-Kansas made a hasty exit from the 32nd annual National Invitation Tournament-staying just long enough for a 40-minute seminar in BC basketball.
That's Bob Cousy or Boston College, depending on your taste. Both wrote a distasteful ending for KU's Jayhawks in a methodical 78-62 drubbing.
Boston College extended its winning streak to seventeen games with a basketball style so characteristically Cousy's that the uninitiated must have wondered when a Bill Russell or
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John Havlicek would join the romp. Speed and ball handling, speed and sharpshooting, speed and play making—the combination resulted in a classic non-game and another step closer to a fond basketball farewell for the BC coach.
Driscoll; O'Brien hot
Chief tormentor for the Jayhawks was Boston College's Terry Driscoll, if not an All-American in the Alcindor Maravich sense at least a talented all-something. The 6-7" center hoisted the Eagles in to early command, scoring 12 of Boston College's first 20 points.
Three times Driscoll slipped through the back door of the Kansas zone for layups, and his free throw at 17:05, put the Eagles ahead for keeps, 7-6. But Driscoll had plenty of help, before and after fouling out at 11:31 in the second half with 21 points.
Sophomore guard Jimmy O'Brien, celebrating one day ahead of The Day for his clan, popped home nine of 10 field goal attempts and finished with 24 points. O'Brien and ball handling whiz Billy Evans made the Boston College delay tactics successful in he second half, nursing a 58-44 bulge with Driscoll on the bench.
The stall not only frustrated KU's dim hopes of a comeback, but also irked Coach Ted Owens and the Madison Square Garden fans not among the Boston College boosters.
"That's a disgrace to basketball," said Owens in a post game interview. "Now I don't fault coach Cousy, it is the fault of the rules.
"As the rules exist, it's a good strategy," Owens added saying
that he would rather favor a 30 or 35-second clock for taking shots in college basketball. "I'm sure Cousy figured he had the ball handlers and the quickness to be successful with it."
Unfortunately for KU, Cousy had the shooters as well—the stall just held the score down, although the Jayhawks were more of an opponent in the last 20 minutes.
But for those in a nation-wide television audience, the time viewing the second half might have been better spent with a Leonard Bernstein concert or a Bowery Boys rerun. Depends on your taste, remember?
Kansas applied pressure only once, after falling behind, 20-10, midway through the first half. Rich Bradshaw, the scoring spark in KU's last three games, canned two free throws and followed with a jumper from the key, then a layup off on inbounds play. KU had chopped it to 22-19 with 9:14 remaining. Another BC sophomore, 6'7" Frank Fitzgerald, moved inside for a layup and swished a 15-foot jumper before O'Brien connected from the corner. That spread the count to 30-21 at 7:40, and the game's complexion was never changed.
The difference reached 44-30 with a goal-tended O'Brien fielder at 2:36—the third such call against the Jayhawks—and Boston College went to the dressing room with a comfortable 47-34 margin.
Kansas would never breathe closer, although BC gasped a little when Driscoll drew his fifth foul. At that juncture, a 14-point spread would not have seemed an impossible task—except for the Cousy mark stamped on Evans and O'Brien. KU hardly had the ball, even though the Jayhawks were slowly learning what to do with it.
Jayhawk strategy
"You don't have much strategy when you don't have the ball most of the time," understated Owens. "They shot a good percentage (in the first half), but we gave them the good percentage shot.
"Our strategy was to keep the ball from deep inside to Driscoll, but he scored the first three times he had the ball. Obviously we didn't execute very well," said Owens.
Ted Owens Jayhawk coach in familiar scene during yesterday's game.
"Asked how much the Jayhawks missed Jo-Jo White, Owens told an Eastern writer, "considerably." The KU coach explained that Jo-Jo, who
6 KANSAN Mar.17 1969
court, and we thought Natsues could do it."
Bruce Sloan's 10, headed the Kansas scoring. The Jayhawks managed only 41 per cent accuracy compared to Boston College's sharp 57 per cent shooting.
Asked what effect the loss would have toward next season, Owens replied, "It's like life. Everything that happens to you can make you a better person or team. It all depends on how you react.
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Dave Nash, who scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds, was somewhat disappointed in the officiating. The 6'10" KU senior commented: "First of all, the officials are calling to the best of their ability. But I felt the goal tending calls were cheap. If you can jump high enough to block shots in the air, you shouldn't get penalized for it."
"How's that for being philosophical?" returned Owens.
completed his eligibility at mid-semester when the Jayhawks were a formidable 15-3 club, might have controlled the tempo of the game with his quickness.
Bradshaw's 19 points, complemented by Nash's 11 and
"We needed that today," said Owens. "In the first half they (BC) moved it well as anybody we've played, maybe the best."
KU's Tim Natsues, logging more playing time than ever yesterday, was inserted mid-way through the first half because Owens felt "we weren't having any success getting the ball up
Monday, March 17
3:30
Pine Room Union
KU (62)
Robisch
Nasal
Sloan
Bradshaw
Russell
Natsues
Arndt
Harmon
Brown
Lawrence
Totals
FG
2-10
4-8
5-8
7-14
1-3
2-5
0-1
1-4
0-2
1-1
23-56
FG
4-8
6-14
7-10
2-7
9-10
0-0
1-2
0-0
0-0
29-51
FT
2-4
3-5
0-1
5-6
3-4
2-2
0-2
1-1
0-0
0-0
16-23
FT
1-5
2-2
7-11
4-8
6-9
0-0
0-0
0-0
20-36
RB
3
8
5
7
4
3
1
1
0
4
1
35
RB
7
9
14
14
5
5
24
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
18
TP
6
11
10
19
4
3
5
3
0
2
0
2
62
BC (78)
Veronneau
Fitzgerald
Dritcoll
Evan
O'Brien
Downey
Costello
Lafarge
Crosby
Totals
FC
4-8
6-14
7-10
2-7
9-10
0-0
1-2
0-0
0-0
0-0
20-36
RT
7
9
14
14
5
5
24
0
0
0
18
TP
6
11
10
19
4
3
5
3
0
2
0
2
62
KU 47 31-62
BC 34 28-78
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