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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- It's not often anybody gets beat by 31 and feels this good.
"Our purpose was to go out today and get respect. I thought we made them work," North Dakota coach Rich Glas said Friday night in the wake of a 92-61 loss to Kansas (No. 6 ESPN/USA Today, No. 4 AP).
"All my life I've been waiting for an opportunity like this,"
said North Dakota point guard Curtis Munlin. "There's a number of
times I've imagined myself playing in Allen Fieldhouse."
The Fighting Sioux, who lost five seniors and their top four
scorers off the team that finished 23-8 last season, trailed by
only 13 at halftime and wound up with only nine turnovers to
Kansas' 15.
When Tom Jacobson hit a short jumper with 9:42 left, cutting Kansas' lead to 66-48, the sellout crowd that was expecting a blowout fell silent.
But then the Jayhawks (3-0) scored the next 18 points and 23 of the next 25 to put the game away.
"We knew we weren't playing well. But we knew at some point we
would come out with a pretty good run," said Kenny Gregory, who
led Kansas with 19 points.
"It just took longer than expected. They're a real good
Division II team. They've got big guys who shoot the ball. And
they're very well coached. I expect them to have a good season."
Drew Gooden and Nick Collison each had 16 points for the Jayhawks, who beat St. John's and No. 14 UCLA in the Coaches against Cancer tournament last week and are 33-0 in November since 1990. Kansas has not lost a home opener in 28 years.
"It's a dream come true to come here and play this game," said
North Dakota's Kyle Behrens, who had 16 points. "It's a
confidence-builder even though we got beat by 31."
Eight minutes into the second half, with Kansas having nine
turnovers to only two for North Dakota, the Sioux trailed only
59-46 in their season opener after Behrens hit a 3-pointer from the
corner.
Munlin, North Dakota's returning point guard who averaged only
five points last season, had 15 at halftime and finished with 18.
He was 4-of-5 from 3-point range.
In the 18-0 run, Eric Chenowith and Jeff Carey had consecutive
three-point plays and Gooden made a basket, then blocked a shot and
scored off a rebound on the other end.
Kansas, which returns every starter from last season, led by as
many as 15 and went into intermission ahead 44-31 on Collison's
hook shot.
Kansas coach Roy Williams admitted the Jayhawks were sluggish
going against a Division II school everyone expected them to beat.
"But don't make that the full story of the game because that's
not fair to North Dakota," he added. "They're very well coached
and they've got some pretty good players."
Chenowith, Kansas' senior center, scored 14 points and now has
1,000 for his career. He got a huge ovation when he hit a free
throw to reach the milestone and then left the game.
"Coach said I'm the 40th guy to do it and it's special when you
think how many players have played here," said Chenowith. But it's
a team game and I'm just glad I got it over with and now we can go
on."
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