University Daily Kansan / Friday, February 19, 1988
Sports
11
Kansas defeats K-State, 64-63, in final seconds
By Flaine Sung
Kansan sports writer
MANHATTAN — Kansas guard Mit Newton stood in front of his locker in the visitors' locker room at Ahearn Field House, holding a score sheet from a game that was played a little less than three weeks ago.
"This was my motivation, right here," he said, shaking the sheet. "Mitch Richmond, he scored 35 points last time."
"And now, I can throw it away," he said, grinning.
Newton crumpled the sheet and tossed it aside.
The Jayhawks had much to celebrate last night, after posting a 64-63 victory over Kansas State in Ahearn Field House.
Richmond, the one person the Jayhawks expected to see more of, turned out only an 11-point performance.
He was one of the keys to the game the last time the two teams met, Jan. 30 at Allen Field House. Richmond, a 6-foot-5 forward who is averaging 24.4 points a game, scored a then-season high of 35 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.
H,
He (Richmond) took shots earlier on and they didn't fall, and it kind of gave me confidence.'
Kansas forward
Newton remembered those facts vividly. But last night, all Richmond could hold on to was a single rebound. He shot four for 13 from the field.
"I feel great right now," said Newton, who scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds. His three-pointer at the end of the first half gave the Jayhawks a 38-34 lead at halftime.
Milt Newton Kansas forward
"He took shots earlier on and they didn't fall, and it kind of gave me confidence," Newton said. "At first, I thought he wasn't as offensive-minded as last time. I don't think he felt as confident."
The victory put Kansas in sole possession of third place in the conference with a 6-4 record and 17-8 overall. The Wildcats, struggling with their third defeat in four games, are 15-7 overall and 7-3 in the Big Eight Conference.
It all came down to the last minute and a half. With the score tied 61-61, Newton had the ball and attempted a jump shot. The ball bounced off the back of the rim, falling toward guard Jeff Guelderon on the right-hand side.
Gueldner stretched for the rebound, tipping it to guard Kevin Pritchard.
Pritchard hit a three-point shot with 29 seconds left in the game, breaking the tie. K-State coach Lon Kruger called a timeout. Richmond, usually the Wildcats' premier scoring threat, landed his first successful jump shot of the second half, putting the score at 64-63.
After another K-State timeout, the ball wound up with Kansas forward Keith Harris, who finished the night in 23 points. He was called by Wildcats guard Steve Henson.
K-State forward Charles Bledsoe stood at the baseline and whipped the ball to midcourt, where forward Fred McCoy and Gueldner were waiting.
Harris missed the front end of his one-and-one, and K-State took possession. The Jayhawks had to go through another agonizing K-State timeout and anticipate what the Wildcats would do with only 4 seconds left.
McCoy dropped the ball, turning the situation into a free-for-all. He
and Gueldner scrambled for the ball, but it was Gueldner who emerged from the tangle, hugging the ball to his chest and running to the opposite end of the court as the final buzzer sounded.
McCoy later insisted that Gueldner had fouled him during the confusion, and although Gueldner acknowledged that there may have been some contact, he denied it was a foul.
"It was more or less a loose ball," he said. "It was down on the floor, and I was lucky to get to it. I didn't think I fouled him. That's not the kind of foul a ref is going to call at the end of the game."
Guelderon was surprised that it was McCoy and not Richmond who got
"Maybe if Richmond had gotten it, he could have打 a miracle shot," he said.
The only miracle that Kansas coach Larry Brown knew was Gueldner's tip-in with less than 2 minutes followed by Fritchard's three-pointer.
While Pritchard was negotiating his shot, however, Brown stood frustrated on the sidelines, screaming at him to shoot.
"I've been yelling at him to shoot it the whole game," Brown said. "You need people to step forward, and he was reluctant to shoot."
Pritchard did not remember exact-
ly what had shouted to him on
the bible.
"I don't think it was the nasty kind of shouting," said Pritchard, who finished with 12 points and six assists. "You know, they beat us on our home floor. They embarrassed us, so we wanted to beat them."
Neither team let the lead get larger than two points after that. Danny Manning, held to 18 points and eight rebounds with the expected zone defense, tied the score at 59 with slightly more than 3 minutes left in the game.
Guelder tipped in a basket with 1:59 left, but Harris fouled K-State's center Ron Meyer, who completed both his free throws and tied the score at 61.
Kansas 64
Kansas State 63
Kansas
Manning 40 M FG FT B A R F T18
Piper 40 8-15 0-1 F 8 A 1 F 18
Newton 21 1-2 0-1 1 1 5 2
Pritchard 34 6-13 0-2 1 1 5 4
Pitcher 34 6-13 0-2 1 1 5 4
Minor 30 4-5 1-1 5 5 3 10
Minor 8 0-2 1-1 5 5 3 10
Masucci 9 0-1 0-1 1 0 2 0
Harris 23 1-2 1.5 1 3 2 5
Virginson 13 1-1 1.3 1 2 5
Nvergess 7 1-1 1.0 1 2 0 3
Totals 40 26-54 0-7 1 2 17 6
Percentages: FG: 481, FT. 573. Threepoint goals: B-18 (Pitchhard 3), Blocked Shots: 0. Turnovers: 12 (Piper, Manning, Pitchhard 3), Steals: 5 (Newton 2). Technicals:
Kansas State
| | M | FG | FT | R | A | T | P |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Richmond | 39 | 4-17 | 2T | 7 | A | 7 | 11 |
| Biedsoe | 38 | 1-10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Dobbins | 1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Dobbins | 4 | 1-1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Henson | 40 | 1-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Henson | 10 | 1-2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| McCoy | 10 | 5-10 | 2-4 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
| Scott | 22 | 2-3 | 2| 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Scott | 22 | 2-3 | 2| 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| McCoy | 40 | 24-58 | 9-12 | 30 | 14 | 14 | 1 |
Percentages: FG: 436, FT. 750. Three-point goals: 6- (Henson 3-3, Blocked shots: 0. Turnovers: 9 (Meyer, Henson, McCoy 2), Steals: 2. Technicals: None.
Half: Kansas 38-34. Officials: Spitzer, Wulk-
wan, Tanco.
ow, Tanco.
A: 11,220
Kansas guards Kevin Pritchard and Otis Livingston celebrated after the Jayhawks avenged their Jan. 30 loss to Kansas State.
Jayhawks seize opportunities,beat K-State
Ry Anne Luscombe
Kansan sports editor
MANHATTAN - Being in the right place at the right time - a fitting phrase for three Kansas players.
Guard Jeff Guelderw was at the right place to grab a loose ball away from Kansas State's Fred McCoy in the game's final seconds. His gaining possession of the ball insured the Jayhawks a victory.
Guard Kevin Pritchard was right on the money when he took a top-of-the-key three-point shot that sailed through the net. That shot put the Jayhawks up by one, 64-63, the three points they needed to grab the lead and win the game.
And forward Milt Newton was always at the right place — all over K-State's star forward Mitch Richmond. The same Mitch Richmond that scored 35 points in the game that ended the streak. The same Mitch Richmond that scored only 15 points in the game that avenged the ending of the streak.
Along with forward Danny Manning, these three also proved that Kansas can be a viable three-point threat. The four of them combined for seven of the Jayhawks' eight three-pointers.
"Coach has been begging for us to take three-pointers," Newton said. "The last time, they (K-State) really packed it in and we weren't looking for three-pointers. This time, we stepped back and took them."
But it was Guildner, Pritchard and Newton being at the right place at the right time that will be remembered about this game. That, and that Kansas won.
Pritchard's 21-foot three-pointer was what swung the last 29 seconds in Kansas' direction. Up until that
moment, he was two for seven from the three point range.
"I missed a couple of three-pointers early in the game." he said. "Coach said that if I got the chance to go ahead and take it. He was yelling at me to shoot it. I was aware that time was running out. I definitely looked at the clock, but I don't remember if it said 27, 21 or what. I didn't really look until after I shot."
Gueldner, who has just recently moved into the starting line, suddenly became the game's unexpected winner. "It's State's plans for a last-second score."
"It was a great feeling," he said.
"They made a long pass, and I really don't know how they lost control of it. We were more prepared for Richmond coming to the ball. Maybe they were trying to run a decoy (going to McCoy instead). I was surprised McCoy lost the ball."
K-State opted for a long inbounds pass that sailed over Manning toward McCoy, where Guelderner was waiting. Guelderner and McCoy scrambled for the ball after McCoy lost control of it.
"I wasn't going to do anything drastic," Gueldner said. "But I saw the ball on the floor, and it's as much mine as his. I'm not going to let somebody else get it. They (the officials) may have called it a foul earlier in the game, but I don't think they're going to decide a game on a foul like that."
McCoy said after the game that he had been fouled
"He hit me once and I dropped the ball and I got it back. Then he hit me again," McCoy said, "I thought there was a problem, obviously, the refs didn't see it that way."
Mitch Richmond, Kansas State forward, is shut down by Kansas guard Mitl Newton and Chris Piper, Kansas forward.
Newton had 14 points, second in the game only to Manning's 18. But it was not enough to win, and he did.
effectively shut down K-State's big scoring threat and in turn
provide the team with the tools to win.
And then there was Newton, who
Newton almost stopped Richmond from scoring at all in the second half. The K-State forward didn't sink a shot until 13 seconds left in the game, when he put up a 5-foot baseline
jumper. In the first half, he completed only three field goals, one a three-pointer, and went twofor two at the line.
"I knew he could catch on fire at anytime," Newton said of Richmond. "I thought he had a tough night."
So was it his best defensive night ever?
"Oh yeah," he said.
'Hawks must prepare for Duke quickly
By Elaine Sung
Kansan sports writer
The Jayhawks have exactly one day to rest up for another game on
Only this time, it's against the nation's sixth-best team.
The game will be televised on CBS. Duke is the second step of a tough four-game stretch that started with last night's game against K-State. The Jayhawks will face fourth-ranked Oklahoma in Norman on Wednesday and No. 15 Missouri next weekend.
The Blue Devils held Danny Mannen, then a sophomore, to only four points that game and beat the Jayhawks 71-67. Duke went to the final round but lost the championship to Louisville.
Coming back from an emotional 64-63 victory over Kansas State at Ahearn Field House in Manhattan, Kansas faces the Duke Blue Devils tomorrow afternoon in Allen Field House.
"This was a big win for us," guard Kevin Pritchard said. "This puts us back in the conference race. We went through a slump before, but now we're showing character."
Kansas was exuberant after its game against K-State.
Kansas has played Duke twice,
losing both contests. The last time
the Jayhawks met the Blue Devils
was at the 1986 NCAA tournament
semifinals in Dallas.
The Jayhawks' record is now 17-4
overall and 6-4 in the Big Eight
Conference. Kansas is in third place
in the conference, behind Oklahoma
Atlantic Coast Conference after beating Virginia Wednesday night 73-54.
The Jayhawks lost much more
Duke is 19-3 overall and 8-2 in the
KANSAN graphic
than a chance for the national title the last time they played the Blue Devils. It was during that game that forward Archie Marshall tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, forcing him to undergo major reconstructive surgery.
Marshall was redshirted last season to rehabilitate his knee. He will not have the chance to play Duke this time, however, because he injured his left knee playing against St. John's in December.
The game against Duke was so painful that Brown has not seen the video tape of it yet.
Duke has a Danny of their own; junior forward Danny Ferry, who averages more than 18 points a game.
"I don't have very fond memories of that game." Brown said. "It was an incredible situation. The thing that upset me in that game was that a lot of people based their opinions on Danny from that game."
"Danny Ferry is the Johnny Dawk of that team," Brown said. "Duke doesn't press as much full-court (as Oklahoma), but their half-court is as good as any other team in the country."
Kansan sports writer
KU women will continue Big Eight battle at K-State
By Keith Stroker
Take heart, Jayhawks fans. The Kansas women's basketball team, despite a four-point loss at Nebraska Wednesday night, is playing well in preparation for the Big Eight Conference tournament, March 5-7, in Salina.
Kansas, 15-9 overall and 5-6 in the Big Eight, was in the game against the Cornhuskers until the end but lost 76-72.
"I think the team has a very positive attitude coming off of the Nebraska game," Washington said. "We are starting to play together as a team and I'm very proud of our effort."
Jayhawks coach Marian Washington said that she was pleased with the effort Kansas displayed against the first-place Cornhuskers and that she hoped play well against the Kansas State Lady Cats at 7:30 tomorrow night in Manhattan.
Jayhawks center Deborah Richardson blocked seven shots
Wednesday to set a Big Eight single-game record. Richardson has 60 blocked shots for the season, breaking Lynette Woodard's Kansas single-season record of 65. Richardson needs just five blocked shots to tie the Big Eight record of 65 in a single season.
Richardson, nicknamed the "Texas flyswatter" by her coach at Kilgore Junior College, Bryan, Tex, said she took pride in being able to block shots because she it boosted the team's confidence and it made opponents take outside shots.
In addition, Kansas forward Lisa Saker saw her first action in two weeks on Wednesday, after injuring her knee against Colorado Washington said that Baker was a little tentative on offense but that she played a solid defensive game.
Kansas State is 8-16 overall and 1-10 in Big Eight play. Washington said Kansas State would not be an easy opponent. The Lady Cats have a 33-18 series record against the Jayhawks. However, they lost at the buzzer to Kansas 52-50 on Jan. 30 in Lawrence.