Kansas-Valparaiso game preview

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?ABOUT VALPARAISO (1-0): The Crusaders opened their season with a 111-65 victory over Indiana Northwest. Valparaiso returns four starters and 10 letterwinners from last year?s team, which went 15-17 and finished fourth in the Horizon League with a 10-8 record. Valpo returns 82.8 percent of its scoring and 91.2 percent of its rebounding. Guard Brandon Wood was the Horizon League?s Newcomer of the Year last season.

?ABOUT KANSAS (1-0): Kansas probably will be playing its second game without sophomore guard Elijah Johnson, who sat the season-opening 113-75 victory over Longwood because of undisclosed disciplinary reasons. The Jayhawks? 113-point effort was their most points scored in the Bill Self era. KU forced 24 turnovers and converted those into 36 points. The Jayhawks got a nice boost from center Jeff Withey off the bench. Withey, who has been recovering from surgery on his right foot, had eight points in 12 minutes.

?BOTTOM LINE: Self clearly had already watched Valparaiso film as of his postgame news conference Friday and was impressed with what he saw. Expect this one to make for a nervous Allen.




P No. Valparaiso Ht. Yr. PPG
F 4 Cory Johnson 6-7 Sr. 17.0
F 45 Ryan Broekhoff 6-6 So. 18.0
G 14 Howard Little 6-3 Sr. 17.0
G 15 Erik Buggs 5-10 So. 0.0
G 32 Brandon Wood 6-2 Jr. 20.0

P No. Kansas Ht. Yr. PPG
F 22 Marcus Morris 6-9 Jr. 18.0
F 21 Markieff Morris 6-10 Jr. 14.0
G 24 Travis Releford 6-6 So. 7.0
G 14 Tyrel Reed 6-3 Sr. 11.0
G 10 Tyshawn Taylor 6-3 Jr. 17.0

 

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'Awe factor' not in play

Crusaders are used to wild atmosphere of high major arena


Cory Johnson won't be intimidated by the noise at Kansas' Allen Fieldhouse. Or the fans. Or even the opposing players.

The memories, on the other hand...

"I played there twice -- both times, they blew us out of the water," said Johnson, the Valparaiso senior who spent his first two college seasons at Iowa State. "They were ranked No. 2 when we took them to overtime at our place, and we really should have beaten them, but Brandon Rush hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer. But their place is extremely difficult to play, they just swept us out of there."

Coming off two exhibition wins and a season-opening drubbing of IU-Northwest, Valparaiso plays its first road game today. Its first game against a Division I team, even.

And it's against the No. 7 Jayhawks.

Gulp.

The last time Valparaiso played at Allen Fieldhouse, on Jan. 2, 2002, the Crusaders were within five points late in the game until Drew Gooden -- mired in a shooting funk most of the game -- drilled a pair of 3-pointers from the corner to put the 81-73 Jayhawks win away.

Homer Drew's lasting memory of that game? The noise.

"At the four-minute timeout, I could not hear myself talk," he said. "We play a lot of the top teams all over, and I've played at Duke and KU before. Those are the two loudest arenas that you'll ever play in."

The good news for the Crusaders? For most of the team, the wild atmosphere at Allen Fieldhouse won't be an entirely new experience. All but two of the Crusaders were at North Carolina and Purdue last season, and others -- particularly Johnson -- have played plenty of high-major competition.

At the North Carolina game last year, broadcaster Mike Gminski -- a star at Duke in the late 1970s -- spoke to the Crusaders and offered up some advice they'll use tonight.

"He was saying, 'Wow, this is place is something, huh? Look at the banners. Michael Jordan, Vince Carter, all those guys,'" Johnson recalled. "But then he said, 'You guys aren't playing against them. You're playing a different team.' And that really put things in perspective."

Of course, any Kansas team is going to be a good one. And this one's no exception. Despite losing Cole Aldrich, Xavier Henry and Sherron Collins to the NBA, and despite arguably the nation's top recruit -- point guard Josh Selby -- stuck in NCAA eligibility limbo, the Jayhawks are still loaded, and still expecting another run at a national championship.

"They are outstanding," VU coach Homer Drew said. "Those two 6-9 guys (twins Markieff and Marcus Morris) will be in the NBA. Their guard play is very quick and they're playing at a much faster pace than they did last year. They've got really good depth, too."

One thing VU might have on the Jayhawks is experience. The Crusaders bring back all but one player from last year (Brandon McPherson), and have two all-Horizon League players in Brandon Wood and Johnson. VU was the highest-scoring team in the Horizon last year, and scored 93, 98 and 111 points in its three wins this season.

Kansas coach Bill Self isn't taking anything for granted against the Crusaders, especially in light of the fact the Jayhawks gave up 75 points to Longwood in a 113-75 season-opening rout Friday night.

"They are good," Self said "This isn't coach-speak, they are good. ... They are great offensively. The way we guarded (Longwood), I certainly would think that (scoring) would be something they probably feel they can do, to be honest with you, because we haven't locked anybody up yet, at least over the span of more than 20 minutes. This will be one of the harder non-league games we have this year.

"They can make 3s, they are athletic. ... These guys can play in our league without question."

High praise, but it remains to be seen if VU's beleaguered defense can keep opponents off the scoreboard and off the offensive glass enough to contend in the Horizon League. Even against IU-Northwest, the Crusaders surrendered 20 offensive rebounds and 17 second-chance points.

With that in mind, the Jayhawks -- with five players on the roster taller than Johnson, VU's starting center -- will present as daunting a challenge as the Crusaders are likely to face this season.

"How we improve on our rebounding is really going to make a difference in how successful we are this season," Drew said.

So while the Crusaders aren't making any bold predictions for their latest crack at a national power, they insist the game will be decided on the court, not in the stands.

"I think my awe factor's kind of gone a little bit," Johnson said. "My freshman year, I'd walk in and be like, 'Oh my gosh! But once the ball gets tipped and you get to that first timeout and you get that second wind, you're playing the same game you play against anyone else. We'll be ready."