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Baseball fans grab tickets
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The University Daily Kansan
1B
Kansas 60-Oklahoma State 80
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
Cowboys corral Jayhawks
Kansas falls behind early, never catches Oklahoma State
By Ryan Greene rgreene@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
STILLWATER, Okla. — ESPN color commentator Dick Vitale was blunt, but accurate during his telecast, "Kansas just was not competitive."
The Jayhawks (15-5, 7-2 Big 12) were butchered in hostile Gallagher-Iba arena, suffering an 80-60 loss at the hands of the Oklahoma State Cowboys (18-2, 8-1 Big 12 Conference).
Behind a orange-clad crowd, the game was seemingly over just minutes after it started. The Cowboys started the game nine of 11 from the field. Six of Oklahoma State's first 10 field goals came from beyond the three-point arc. That offensive onslaught, coupled with Kansas' turnover wees, put the Cowboys up by 19 points just minutes into the game. That 28-to-nine burst was keyed an 18-to-2 run.
"We were shell-shocked, and we didn't show too much poise trying to get back," said Kansas coach Bill Self. "I hate to say that was the ballgame, but that is was it played out to be."
Oklahoma State didn't take its foot off of Kansas' throat either. The Jayhawks found some offensive success, not allowing the lead to grow any larger before half time, but they just could not erase a 16 point deficit heading into the locker room.
"I felt extremely confident that we could come back," junior forward Wayne Simien said. "But they stayed on fire, scored on their first three possessions in
the second and that kind of broke our back."
Junior guard Aaron Miles, who was consistently shown up by his counterpart, Oklahoma State's John Lucas, thought his team's problem was more physical than mental.
"You always think you're going to regroup," Miles said. "But you can't think, you've got to make it happen."
The Cowboys pulled ahead by as many as 23 points in the second half but never let the Jayhawks get closer than 16. Oklahoma State's dominance was obvious by the final score, but Kansas' troubles were further highlighted in the final box score.
The biggest sore spot for Self's team was at the free-throw line and under the glass. Kansas hit just five of its 15 free throw attempts — the team's worst performance all season.
What bothered Self more than anything was his players being dominated in the rebounding category. Kansas was out-rebounded 43 to 26.
"The one stat that's most distracting is that they physically dominated us," Self said. "Oklahoma State was so much athletic than us tonight, something that has been a problem for us all year long."
Kansas' only bright spot was Simien. He scored a game high 25 points, hitting 12 of 15 shot attempts.
Individually, the Jayhawks were just as bad. Junior guards Keith Langford and Miles combined to score just 11 points and went three for 17 from the field.
SEE COWBOYS ON PAGE 4B
Oklahoma State's John Lucas dribbled up the court against Kansas' Aaron Miles during the first half of last night's loss in Stillwater, Okla. Kansas will travel to Lincoln, Neb., on Sunday to play the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
KitLeffler/Kansa
Oklahoma State's Tony Allen put up a shot over Kansas' Wayne Simien and David Padgett during the second half of the Jayhawk's 80-60 loss against the Cowboys.
Self returns to Stillwater
Warm welcome overshadowed by loss to Cowboys
By Mike Norris
mnorris@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
STILLWATER, Okla. — Bill Self's return to his former school had the makings of a classic Big 12 Conference matchup.
Then it started.
The Jayhawks lost by 20 points in Self's return to his alma mater.
"It felt good," Self said, after the game, about returning. "For about two and a half minutes."
That was right about the time Oklahoma State turned the Kansas coach's homecoming into a nightmare. A Cowboy's three-pointer sparked a 23-to-5 run and turned a five-to-four game into a 28-to-nine Oklahoma State lead.
The Cowboys eventually finished off Kansas 80 to 60.
"That's how basketball was meant to be played," Self said of the team he used to play for.
Self also said the Jayhawks were shellshocked after OSU hit nine of its first 10 shots, firing up the sold-out crowd of more than 13,000.
"I thought the crowd was awesome," Self said. "Usually crowds get excited after they score. This crowd gets excited even when they get stops."
Even though it's been 19 years since Self played for Oklahoma State, the crowd still greeted him with a warm applause.
After the ovation, the crowd was
happy to cheer against Self, particularly when he registered a technical foul for arguing in the first half.
Reserve guard Mike Lee said Self was excited to return home, but tried not to put too much focus on his return.
"He didn't talk much about it," Lee said. "But you could see it in his face. You could see how much he wanted to win."
Junior guard Keith Langford, who had eight points, six rebounds and five assists, said he wanted to win for Self, but he had other motivations too.
"I know coach Self wanted to win this game," Langford said. "But the bottom line was we had to win this game to stay in the race for the Big 12 championship."
The Jayhawks fall to 7-2 in the Big 12 as OSU improves to 8-1 in the conference. Self not only lost his first game back in Stillwater but a first place tie in the Big 12.
SEE SELF ON PAGE 4B
sports commentary
Kellis Robinett
krobinett@kansan.com
Padgett only better on paper
Finding the right big man to complement Wayne Simien in the starting lineup has been hard. But Kansas coach Bill Self has chosen his starter for the remainder of the season.
SEE ROBINETT ON PAGE 8B
$12 million construction plans in progress
Donation to fund Allen Fieldhouse, new athletics hall
By Joe Bant
jbant@kansan.com
jbant's staff writer
Twelve million dollars richer, the Athletics Department will start putting the money to use in Allen Fieldhouse following the basketball season, said Lew Perkins, Kansas athletics director.
Perkins said he hoped to hire an architect in the next month, at which time the details for the fieldhouse renovations and construction of the KU Hall of Athletics would be put into place.
Both projects are on the drawing board after a $12 million donation to the department, which was announced Sat-
"It's like renovating a
house."
Lew Perkins Kansas athletics director
urday.
The Ward Family, of Russell Stover Candies, donated $5 million. Two anonymous donors combined for the remaining $7 million. The donation is one of the largest in Kansas athletics history.
Perkins said construction would begin as soon as the basketball season was over and would last for approximately 24 months.
Major renovations to the fieldhouse and the construction of the hall are in the works.
The hall will honor the University's past and present student-athletes and will be adjacent to fieldhouse. Perkins
"It's like renovating a house," he said.
said, although he wasn't yet sure what would be in it. He said he hoped to include an academic area, where athletes could study and possibly some entertainment areas as well. He said it could also be used as a place to show recruits.
As for the fieldhouse renovations, they would mostly involve bathrooms, windows, lighting and similar physical improvements, Perkins said.
Schreiner was at the game on Saturday when the donation was announced. She said she was amazed at the amount of money and thought the fieldhouse would benefit from the renovations in the plan.
Improvements wouldn't diminish the integrity, history or tradition of the building, he said.
Taylor Schreiner, Lawrence sophomore, said she thought the renovation plans would be great for Kansas basketball.
"I completely agree with the idea that we will leave the fieldhouse intact but modernize it," he said.
Perkins said larger renovations would be waiting somewhere down the line, but would not take place until after these projects were finished.
Don Green, professor of chemical and petroleum engineering and KUAC member, said the key was combining the improvements with the tradition the fieldhouse already has.
"We definitely have to get a new scoreboard," Perkins said. But even if he had the money, it wouldn't make much sense to put it up and then take it down again for these renovations, he said.
He knows there would be a long timeline for all the improvements that would be made at the fieldhouse.
"We're going to make a wish list, put them in priority order and go from there," Perkins said.
Edited by Louise Stauffer
TALK TO SPORTS: Contact Henry C. Jackson or Maggie Newcomer at SPORTS@KANSAN.COM
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