KJ’s Basketball Newsletter                            November 13, 2000

Early Season Results

JAYHAWKS TAKE NEW YORK!!

Boy, it just doesn’t get any better than this! At the conclusion of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in Madison Square Garden, KU now stands 2-0 and is fourth in the polls after first knocking off UCLA and then home town favorite St. John’s in front of a national audience on ESPN Friday night.  Better yet, Kentucky is 0-2. 

In the immortal words of Jim Zabel.….I love it!  I love it!

After building double-digit leads, both games were too close for comfort in the waning minutes.  KU showed toughness in the clutch, though, holding off both foes.  And they were able to do it without Luke Axtell, who stayed at home with an ankle sprain.

Kenny Gregory won tourney MVP honors with 41 points and 17 rebounds, closely followed by Drew Gooden who poured in 40 points and grabbed 19 rebounds.  The surprise of the tournament was Mario Kinsey, the redshirt football quarterback.  I was really impressed with his quickness and ability to handle the ball at Late Night, and he didn’t disappoint in the Big Apple, with 7 assists, 3 steals and only 2 turnovers in 36 minutes.  It looks like he’s captured himself a place in the regular rotation as the first backup for both Hinrich and Boshee.  This extra depth is good, because it’s real clear that Coach Williams doesn’t want Kenny Gregory in the backcourt.

Look for the Jayhawks to finish November 7-0, as the remainder of the month looks easy as they take on North Dakota on the 17th, Boise State on the 20th, Washburn the 25th, Middle Tennessee State on the 27th and Illinois State the 30th … all at home, before they travel to Wake Forest to take on the Deacons on December 7.  By then, Axtell should be back to add more firepower to the Jayhawks who have averaged 100 PPG in their four outings.

HAWKEYES STRONG IN EXHIBITION

Transfer Luke Recker went crazy during last Friday’s exhibition game against Athletes in Action, scoring 32 points on 12 of 18 shooting (7 for 11 from 3 point range).  Junior power forward Reggie Evans, also playing his first game for Iowa, scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.  Evans and Recker were joined in the starting lineup by senior point guard Dean Oliver and freshman Jared Reiner at center.  Three other Hawkeye newcomers, junior transfer Ryan Hogan, and freshmen Glen Worley and Brady Boyd all scored nine points each.

Iowa finishes its exhibition schedule Tuesday night at 7:05pm against the Hungarian National Team and their home opener is Nov. 19 against Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

BULLDOGS

The Drake Bulldogs started their season with an exhibition game against Denmark with an impressive 81-66 win.  Their final exhibition game will be with the Dream Builders at 7:00pm Tuesday night at the Knapp Center.

Their opener will be against Iowa on November 21, at Knapp Center.

IOWA STATE

ISU opened its season Wednesday night with an 85-72 exhibition win over Global Sports. The 25th ranked Cyclones used a balanced attack led by senior Martin Rancik with 16 points on 6 for 10 shooting.  The backcourt of first-team All-American Jamaal Tinsley, Kantrail Horton and Brandon Hawkins all chipped in with 12 points each, and freshman Jake Sullivan contributing 10.  Senior Richard Evans grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

The Clones play their next exhibition Wednesday night, November 15 at 7pm against a different Global Sports team, and start their regular season against Morningside Tuesday November 21 in Hilton Coliseum at 8:00pm.

Unfortunately, tickets for the ISU-Kansas game on Saturday, February 17 in Hilton are already sold out.