Monday March 28,1988
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Published since 1889 by the students of the University of Kansas
Vol. 98, No.121 (USPS 650-640)
'Hawks are Final Four bound
Newton, Barry play hero roles fuel team to KC
By Anne Luscombe
Sports editor
PONTIAC, Mich. — Right after the game, Milt Newton and Scooter Barry put on their hats with the logo "Goin' to Kansas City." It was an appropriate phrase for the Kansas Jayhawks, who had just earned the honor of becoming the third team to win for the 1988 NCAA Final Four.
The Jayhawks defeated arch-rival Kansas State 71-58 yesterday in the Silverdome in the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship game. The regional had turned into an all-Sunflower State match-up once the Wildcats eliminated top-seed Purdee 73-70 and the Jayhawks knocked off up-set-minded Vanderbilt, 77-64, in the first round.
The game started with Kansas and K-State exchanging leads for much of the first half before the Wildcats took over at No. 24-24, with 44 seconds left in the half.
Coach Larry Brown gives Kevin Pritchard a hug after the victory and teammate Lincoln Minor gives his congratulations.
K-State had a 2-1 season record over Kansas going into today's game. They had broken KU's homecourt winning streak and put an end to any Big Eight conference championships the Jayahaws might have had.
However, Kansas guard Scooter Barry made a three-point shot with 2 seconds left in the half. The score at halftime was K-State 29. Kansas 27.
The Wildcats opened the second half with a three-pointer from guard Steve Henson and center Rony Meyers in the game, increasing their lead to 34-7.
assists and pulled down five rebounds.
After the Wildcats' spurt, the Jayhawks came to life. Their defense, though good in the first half, soon proved why the Jayhawks are ranked fourth nationally in field-goal percentage defense.
K-State shot 55 percent from the field in the first half, held to 34 with the serious sacrie injury.
The turnaround came with 13:43 left in the game, when Kansas forward Keith Harris stole the ball, drove down court and scored on a slam dunk.
"So many unlikely kids, who I wasn't smart enough to play earlier, stepped forward," Kansas coach Larry Brown said. "They were supposed to beat us. Our kids wanted to redeem themselves."
Especially Barry, who had a rough time filling in for an injured Pitchard in the Big Eight tournament game against K-State.
His basket put Kansas up by one, 43-42. The Jayhawks never relinquished their lead.
Twenty seconds later, KU guard Lincoln Minor also came up with a steal and sprinted downcourt only to have his shot blocked by Henson.
But Barry wasn't through. He helped give Kansas a little breathing room with a 16-foot jumper off an airplane. He pitted Pritchard. The Jayhawks led 51-46.
Barry finished the game with a career-high 15 points. He added three
"I had incentive after playing so poorly against K-State earlier in the Big Eight," Barry said. "I shot the ball in the middle of their zone. The first half I was reluctant to shoot it in. The only shots I was shooting were moved to go in. Today, when I went in, I had open shots and I took them."
With Barry's shot pushing Kansas up by five, the Jayhawks called a timeout. After the timeout, Milt Newton fired in a three-pointer with 6:56 left in the game, giving Kansas a 54-48 lead.
Newton scored 18 points, second only to Danny Manning's 20. He also had seven assists, grabbed a steal and pulled down nine rebounds.
Despite several comeback attempts, the Wildcats soon realized that it would be the Jayhawks who needed to catch the coveted Final Four — not them.
The last 5 minutes belonged to the two new heroes of the Kansas team — Barry and Newton . . . two that K-State, in their efforts to shut down Manning, seemingly overlooked.
"I think it was obvious that Kansas was the better ball club," K-State coach Lon Kruger said. "It was a pretty good game for about 35 minutes. Kansas shot well and we didn't. Danny Manny was outstanding, and give the others credit, too. Larry Brown had them ready."
See GAME. p. 12
"Obviously Danny Manning is the leader of our team. He's proved it for four years," Newton said. "No one in the nation can stop him one-on-one. But he realized that he has four other players out there. I really enjoy it when the press keeps calling Kansas a one-man team because then the other teams forget the four other players, especially me. I like that."
Manning was voted the outstanding player of the regional tournament. He was joined on the all-tournament team by Newton, Pritchard, K-State's Mitch Richmond and Will Scott, who was the high scorer for the Wildcats with 18 points, including four three-pointers.
Lottery system used for allocating tickets
By Tom Stinson
Kansan staff writers
Kansas' ticket allotment for the Final Four already has been decided through the lottery system which was used for the other NCAA Tournament games and for the Big Eight Tournament, a Kansas Sports Information official said.
distributed to players' families, the University of Kansas Athletic Corporation staff, the basketball traveling party, the basketball band, cheerleaders and requests from the chancellor's office.
Each of the Final Four teams were allotted 1,625 tickets for the games in the final round.
Three groups will share the remaining tickets. KU students will receive 20 percent of the tickets, which will be distributed under the lottery system policy that was devised two years ago.
percent of the tickets, with members of the Williams Fund donor group receiving the largest share at 65 percent.
According to Richard Konzem,
assistant athletic director, only 114
students had filed lottery applications
by the Feb. 26 deadline.
Facultv and staff will receive 15
"At this point, those who went through the lottery will get their tickets," he said. "The application procedure was well-advertised, and now we have 395 students camping
outside "
Konzem said he hoped to determine by noon today the number of tickets still available. The procedure by which the remaining tickets will be distributed still is uncertain.
Despite this, many students camped out in front of Allen Field House's ticket office hoping to get tickets. The students started gathering about halftime of Kansas' Regional Final game, said Michelle Garland, Morton Grove, III., junior.
Thousands of KU students mob Jayhawk Boulevard after the game. This impromptu parade made it difficult to get through campus for a couple of hours.
Fans parade on Jayhawk Boulevard
By Jill Jess,
Kansan staff writers
By Jill Jess,
Keith Stroker
and Jeff Suggs
People crammed into and onto cars and trucks on Jayhawk Boulevard, honing horns and slapping hands of passers-by in celebration of Kansas' second trip to the Final Four in three years.
The boulevard began to fill about 20 minutes after the Jayhawks defeated Kansas State. For about two hours, fans cruised the boulevard in support of the Jayhawks.
It looked like a homecoming parade gone wild.
"This is great. Look at all these people," Scott Hallier, Kansas City, Mo., junior, said. "It's such a surprise this year. No one expected us to go. It's so crazy."
"There is no doubt who the player of the year and the coach of the year should be. Larry Brown is the greatest coach in the NCAA." Mast said.
Paul Mast, Lawrence junior,
commented on the performances
of Brown and Kansas forward
Denny Manning.
Other fans reflected on KU coach Larry Brown and the Jayawhaws overcoming ineligibility and injury.
About 30 minutes before the parade broke up, KU police officers closed east-bound traffic on the boulevard for about 15 minutes. Officers directed traffic at the intersection of Jayhawk Boulevard and Sunflower Road, telling people to get off of hoods of cars and occasionally getting high fives from passers-by.
Cars, filled and topped with cheering fans, jammed the boulevard and occasionally ventured onto sidewalks.
Todd Schnatzmeyer, St. Louis senior, was riding in a jeep with
Sec FANS, p. 12
Thousands of cheering fans welcome KU basketball team at airport, Allen Field House
Bv Elaine Sung
Kansan staff writer
As the crowd rushed out of Allen Field House last night following the homecoming celebration, Kansas guard Scooter Barry found himself surrounded by fans wanting his autograph.
"This is bigger than I expected," Barry said. "It's great with all the fans showing up. I'll let this last as long as I can. I'm just elated right now. We're going to enjoy this time tonight, and Tuesday we'll get back to work."
The celebrating started right after the Jayhawks defeated the Kansas State Wildcats yesterday 71-58 in the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship game in Pontiac, Mich.
The celebration spread all the way to Topeka, where about 1,500 fans invaded Forbes Field to greet the Jayhawks' chartered plane. More than 500 of the chanting fans were waving their hands as their forces pressed against a glass partition that separated the lobby from the arrival walkway.
weekend's battle against the Blue Devils in the NCAA championship game.
The team was expected back around 7:30 p.m., and as the time passed, the crowd started chanting the Kansas fight song and "We want Duke" in anticipation of this
When the Jayhawks finally arrived, the crowd surged forward, hoping to get a glimpse of the players.
a jubilant KU coach Larry Brown stepped off the plane, fists raised above him, punching the air. An ecstatic and united Kansas team followed him off the plane, gathering in a huddle several times and raising their arms in triumph as they waited to unload their luggage.
The crowd erupted in cheers and screams as the players finally walked through the terminal to board the bus that was to take them to Lawrence. People pushed and shoved for a chance to see the players, and the jam eventually flooded outside to the waiting bus. The bus slowly made its way out of the airport with a police escort using a bullhorn to warn the horde of people to get out of the way.
The cavalcade went on Interstate 70. where another group of people
were cheering at the turnpike toll booth
The celebration reached its height at the field house, where thousands of students were gathered and eagerly awaited the team's arrival.
The players arrived at about 9:15 p.m., running onto the basketball court with the crowd screaming and cheering, and playing the Kansas fight song.
University of Kansas users tried to make a path for the team, but still the players were nearly crushed in the first half and pressed and pushed on the court.
“This was wonderful,” Brown said. “It was phenomenal. This is so much bigger than in 1986. We had all those people outside in Topeka waiting for
The players ran back outside to unload their luggage from the bus, but they were called back into the field house for more celebrating.
They stood on center court, while Brown, Barry and the three seniors all took turns with the microphone to hank the fans.
"I'd like to thank you for four great years here," forward Danny Manning told the attentive crowd. "You are the best fans in the world. Thanks for your support and for following us to Kansas City."