KU fans stay put after wins in Allen: ‘We’re not going to rush the floor here’
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- KU fans stayed in their seats, cheering after KU upset No. 1 Arizona.
- Coach Bill Self credited sustained crowd energy for aiding the comeback.
- Victory was a major home win; KU will next visit No. 5 Iowa State.
The students jam-packed into the north and south end zones stood and cheered loudly, stomped their feet, swayed back and forth and exchanged high-fives and hugs after the final horn sounded in No. 9-ranked Kansas’ thrilling 82-78 men’s basketball victory over previously undefeated and No. 1-ranked Arizona on Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
One thing the delirious fans did not do was storm the court, which actually surprised some social media users who praised the Jayhawks faithful for remaining in their seats.
“No. No. We’re not going to rush the floor here,” KU coach Bill Self said on Wednesday’s “Hawk Talk” radio show. “Plus we don’t have a building that’s conducive to rushing the floor.
“We shouldn’t anyway,” Self quickly added, “but the fact that matters is where our students sit, there’s a railing there, so you can’t just jump over it. There’s people sitting in front of the railings and things like that, but, no, that’s not how we roll at all. I’m not saying it’s wrong anywhere else (to storm), but I just don’t think that you do that at our place.”
Some wondered whether KU’s students have ever stormed the court after a victory at Allen Fieldhouse.
The answer is “yes,” and it was chronicled in a newspaper story after No. 12-ranked KU’s 90-87 victory over No. 3 Texas on Jan. 27, 2003. Nick Collison had 24 points and 23 rebounds while Kirk Hinrich contributed 25 points in the exciting KU win.
After T.J. Ford’s game-tying 3 misfired at the buzzer, it was reported that about 150 students stormed the court. They were quickly asked to leave the floor by Collison and Hinrich, because it’s unheard of for fans to storm the floor after wins at blueblood KU.
It also should be noted that more than 16,000 fans booed the students who made their way onto the court that day.
To put it simply, it was a short-lived storm. And no storming, large or small, has taken place since.
“I was sort of surprised,” then KU-coach Roy Williams said at the time. “I was congratulating Texas’ players. If you are a fan of college basketball you had to love that game. I saw all the people out there. I thought it was interesting. I didn’t put a lot of thought into it. I just wanted to get into the locker room and dance a bit,” he added.
What KU’s fans did do to celebrate on Monday was remain in the building for a good 20-30 minutes after the final buzzer.
They cheered as Self raised his arms above his head and pumped his fists en route to a postgame interview with ESPN. They also roared their approval at the sight of Self hugging standout Jayhawks Flory Bidunga and Melvin Council Jr.
“How many people stayed in their seats?” Self asked “Hawk Talk” host Brian Hanni. “Whatever the number was of people at the game (15,300), there were 12,000 or 13,000 people that were there 20 minutes after the game. And I was just blown away by that, especially on a Monday, when it’s 10:45 at night and people have to go to work and kids have got to go to school the next day.
“That’s the kind of stuff that … you actually believe you coach at the best place, but there are still reminders every now and then that prove it. And that was a reminder. I mean, you just don’t see that in other places. So that was really nice.”
Of hugging his players and some well-wishers, Self said: “If we play hard like that I’ll hug everybody in the building. I was beaming. But they (players) were too. That meant a lot to those kids. To seem them (celebrate) … that was genuine, but it’s easier to tell how genuine it is when the kids are smiling, when the kids are out there playing with joy, when, kids are doing the things that you as a fan say, ‘Well, I can gravitate to that.’’’
Self credited the fans for helping the Jayhawks win on a night when star freshman Darryn Peterson was unable to play because of flu-like symptoms. KU overcame a game-high deficit of 11 points to claim the win and improve to 19-5, 9-2 Big 12. Arizona fell to 23-1 (10-1 Big 12).
“It was great,” Self said of Monday’s atmosphere for the first KU victory against a No. 1 team in the history of Allen Fieldhouse (against five losses).
“The BYU game (90-81 KU victory on Jan. 31) … during the first half when we were cooking (53-33 halftime lead), the crowd was unbelievable, but we didn’t give them a lot to cheer about the second half. The crowd on Monday was the BYU game for two hours and 15 straight minutes. I didn’t ever feel like it let up. It was great and we were exhausted. The crowd pumped energy into our guys. It was a special night. Arizona is good and they’re big and and our guys battled and basically battled them even on the glass, which was great.
“We did some really good things physically. But the biggest thing I thought that we did, I just thought we played so hard, tried so hard.”
Self was asked Wednesday if KU-Arizona 2026 was the biggest home win in his 23 years as the Jayhawks’ coach.
“I personally don’t think it was bigger than some of the other games that actually were, ‘You’ve got to win in order to win the league,’ with conference implications like the Missouri game (KU’s 87-86 overtime win on Feb. 25, 2012) which was the last game of the (Border War) series at that particular moment.
“But this was big,” Self stated. “I don’t think we’ve played a better team at home than Arizona was when we played them. And we can talk about this wasn’t near as well played by both teams as what OU-Kansas was when it was 109-106 in three overtimes (KU winning on Jan. 5, 2016).
“But when you talk about competitiveness and guys playing for the right reasons and playing so hard that you make it really hard on your opponents, I think that’s as good a game as I’ve been a part of in the building,” he declared.
Self went on to compare Monday’s outcome to some other big home wins: “The West Virginia comeback was great,” he said of KU battling back from a 14-point deficit in the final 2:43 to beat Bob Huggins’ Mountaineers 84-80 in overtime on Feb. 14, 2017. “But that game we played (poorly) for 38 minutes. I just thought Monday night the way the guys just kind of hung in there … it was a 15-round heavyweight boxing match down the stretch. I was most proud about that. And those kids try so hard, they need some good things to happen and that was a good thing.”
KU will next meet No. 5 Iowa State at noon Saturday at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa.
