By Chuck Woodling, Tuesday, December 2, 1980
Kansas University basketball player Darnell Valentine defends a teammate in practice in this 1980 file photo. The 1980 Jayhawks registered the program's 1,200th victory, defeating Pepperdine in a runaway December victory.
Neal was hitting this time, but coach prescribes caution
Box score: Kansas 81, Pepperdine 67
Booty Neal had it Monday night and Dave Magley didn't. But that doesn't mean Kansas' basketball team will follow the same script on Wednesday night.
Neal came out of the bullpen and launched several long-range jumpers -- some seemingly from the parking lot -- to ignite a second half spurt which carried the Jayhawks to an 81-67 triumph over Pepperdine on Monday night in Allen Fieldhouse.
While Booty had the hot hand, Magley watched glumly from the bench. The 6-7 junior started but played just eight minutes of the second half, mainly because he wasn't hitting (two of nine from the field).
Yet Magley had a career-high 18 points in Saturday's 91-73 romp over Nevada-Reno and, to hear him tell it, he'll be ready for Wednesday's 7:35 p.m. tipoff with Michigan.
"Yeah, I've been looking forward to that game for a long time," Magley said. "I almost went to Michigan. That was my second choice. I just hope I have a little better showing."
Magley, who comes from South Bend, Ind., is a good friend of Michigan forward Thad Garner who hails from Hammond, Ind., and he knows Wolverine center Paul Heuerman.
"Thad Garner and I played in summer camp together," noted Magley. "He's really a great guy."
Magley and Garner could be guarding each other in Wednesday's game -- the first time the two schools have met since Michigan won 49-47 in the fifth place game of the 1949 Big Seven pre-season tourney in Kansas City.
The question, however, is who will cover Neal ... or rather, how they will cover him. Or will Booty, whose six buckets -- five from way out -- during a seven-minute stretch of the second half helped boost KU from a 45-43 deficit to a 63-51 lead, cool off?
When you're hot, you're hot and when you're not ...
"Yeah, I can tell when I am," Neal grinned. "It's a spur of the moment thing. I believe as long as I take open shots and concentrate, though, I won't hurt us."
Neal, a 6-5 senior who has made a career of coming off the bench, maintains his goal is, was and will always be earning a starting role. This despite his proven ability to produce in relief.
"The only place I've been coming from," Booty argues, "is the bench, so how can you judge? My goal is to be able to start."
KU coach Ted Owens, who has given Neal a few starts in the past, is like all coaches, however. He knows how important it is to have a sixth man who can come in cold and fill up the hoop.
"It doesn't take Booty much time once he gets in a game," Owens pointed out. "He obviously has good range. He's been shooting the eyes out in practice and he did what I anticipated he'd do."
Neal was torrid and junior Tony Guy was his usual consistent self with 23 points (11 in the first half; 12 in the second), but otherwise the Jayhawks rode a rollercoaster.
For instance, they stormed to a 15-point lead with 6:11 remaining until intermission, then went flat and the crowd of 12,300 watched stunned as Pepperdine came back to knot the score at 33-all with seven ticks to go.
Only a short jumper by Darnell Valentine just before the buzzer enabled Kansas to take a 35-33 lead into the locker room. And some 7 1/2 minutes into the second half, the Waves were in front, 45-43, before Neal started clicking.
When Pepperdine went from 9:46 to 3:11 without a field goal, the Jayhawks had a comfortable 69-57 advantage which they protected by meshing eight of their last nine free throws -- half of them by Valentine.
Little of what happened Monday night surprised Owens who was glad to get the home opener out of the way with a win.
"I expected us to be erratic," Owens said. "and we were, but I think we'll play much better against Michigan. Now we have a victory at home and a victory on the road. There's no reason we can't play much better now."
Michigan is 1-0 after defeating Eastern Michigan, 74-68, last Saturday.
"It looks like they had a normal first game at home and weren't that sharp," Owens noted. "We were playing our first game at home and everybody wanted to show we could really play. I believe that's why we didn't function well as a team in the first half."
NOTES: Kansas was outrebounded, 37-35, by the Waves, although Victor Mitchell grabbed 10 caroms and Art Housey eight ... Guy, like Valentine, had five steals ... John Crawford had five blocked shots to go with his 14 points ... When the game ended, four Jayhawks had four personal fouls each ... Oral Roberts U. comes here on Saturday night, followed by Morehead State on Monday night ... KU's victory was Owens' 300th as a head coach.