'Hawks headed towards Valentine date with slumping and injured Wildcats
By BRUCE CARNAHAN Kansan Sports Editor
Saturday is Valentine's Day and the KU Basketball squad has a 7:35 date with the K-State Wildcats—but there will be no hearts or flowers extended between the two as the Jayhawks instead hope to spend the evening by putting on their own Ahearn Fieldhouse version of the famed St. Valentine's Day Massacre with a sound drubbing of the league leading Wildcats.
The game will mark the season's first matchup between the two Sunflower state rivals.
The Wildcats, who have dropped their last two conference games, hold a narrow one-game advantage over the Hawks in the loss column. K-State is 6-2 in league play and KU is 4-3 in conference action.
A Jayhawk victory would not only pull KU even in the loss column but it would also make for one of the wildest conference races in history as a possible six teams would have chances to catch the Wildcats down the stretch run.
But a win over K-State in Manhattan isn't an easy thing. The 'Cats have won 13 straight home court encounters and their last loss in Ahearn Fieldhouse was the 73-67 setback that the 'Hawks handed them last year.
To top things off, the Jay-
hawks, who also boast an unbeaten home record this year,
are not fairing so well on the road and are yet to chalk up a road victory over conference opponents.
K-State is feeling the results of its recent combats with Colorado and Iowa State and it is possible that the Wildcats will not be at full strength Saturday night. The 'Cats entire front line of Bob Zender, David Hall and Jerry Venable returned home battered and bruised from the road swing. Although the three are slated to start Saturday, Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons has said that they may just see limited action against KU.
Hall, a 6-6 center, suffered a severely sprained ankle in the Iowa State loss and didn't play in most of the second half. The sophomore star leads the Wildcats in rebounding with a 9.5 per game average and is third in scoring with an 11.9 average.
Venable, who is bothered with a wrenched back, is K-State's top scorer with a 14.1 mark and he also sports a fine 7.2 rebounding average. The 6-6 forward netted
Swimmers host triangular meet
The KU swimmers host Oklahoma State and Northern Illinois in a double dual meet Saturday at Robinson Gymnasium Natatorium. The meet starts at 2 p.m
Seeking to go over the .500 mark in dual competition the Jayhawks will have a jugged lineup for the meet as coach Dick Reamon gives his defending Big Eight champions an opportunity to swim in other events besides their specialties.
"I'm reasonably pleased with our effort," Reamon said of KU's 90-23 win over Iowa State last week. "The kids' times ought to be a little better. I'm not pleased with the entire squad effort, but we're looking better."
Reamon expressed pleasure in the performances of Scott Skultery, who clocked his best time of the season in the 200-vard backstroke (2:03.0), Steve Rice, who finished second in the 200 and 500 freestyle, and Bob Wright, who hit his season best time in the 200 individual medley (2:03.4).
Kansas is 3-3 in dual meets entering the upcoming triangular.
Jerry Venable
Feb. 13
1970 KANSAN 7
26 points in K-State's win over the Jayhawks last year in Allen Field House.
Zender came away from the Cyclone clash with a sore jaw after tangling with an errant Aaron Jenkins elbow. The 6-7 forward has been a pleasant surprise for Fitzsimmons and is boasting a 13.0 scoring figure and a 7.1 rebounding mark.
signments against the 'Hawks. Webb is averaging 11 points a game while Hughes, the only K-State starter not in double figures, has netted 9 points a game. Terry Snider, 6-3 junior, will also log time against the 'Jays.
David Lawrence has come on strong in recent games and Fitzsimmons says the 6-6 forward will see plenty of action in spelling the front-liners. Playing in a reserve role most of the season, Lawrence has still managed 6 points and five rebounds per encounter.
KU coach Ted Owens feels it is vital for the Jayhawks to win against K-State if the 'Hawks are to claim the conference championship.
"We know we can win the championship," Owens points out, "if we win all the rest of our games."
K-State returns a solid back-court duo from last year that promises to give KU plenty of troubles Saturday night. Wheeler Hughes, a ball-handling magician, and sharp shooter Jeff Webb have both nabbed starting as-
He continued saying, "If we
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were to lose this one, it would put us two games behind in the loss column and, at this stage of the race, it would be extremely unlikely that we could make it up."
straight. We've got to stay with those things and let the chips fall where they may."
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Fitzsimmons is fearful of the extremely explosive KU offense that is tops in the Big Eight. He sums up the Jayhawks' outstanding personnel by saying, "Well, they've got four high school All-Americans on the floor along with Pierre Russell, who's a pretty fair country basketball player. In order to win we've got to go back to the things that were good to us when we won six
Dave Robisch, 6-9 center heading for college All-American honors, will lead the Jayhawks into battle at Manhattan. The southpaw's soft jumpers have produced 1.009 points in his two years of varsity action and his conference average of 29.0 is slightly above the record pace of 28.3 that Wilt Chamberlain set in winning the 1958 scoring derby.
Probable Starters
KANSAS
Stall'sh'(th-8)
Russell (6-3)
Robich (6-3)
Kivisto (6-1)
Nash (6-2)
Proof
aide Starters
position START
Position Venable (6-6)
forward Zender (6-7)
center Hall (6-6)
guard Hughes (6-1)
guard Webb (6-4)
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