Fans at KU basketball game, all 68 of them, did ‘terrible job making noise,’ Self jokes
In years prior to the pandemic, Kansas men’s basketball players could count on 16,300 fans for some major assistance during close games contested in Allen Fieldhouse.
That homecourt advantage was nonexistent Saturday in KU’s tradition-rich, 65-year-old building, which, leading up to this COVID-19-plagued season, had been full for the past 306 games dating to the 2001-02 campaign.
A headcount by reporters indicated KU fans outnumbered North Dakota State supporters 49 to 19.
It was eerily silent in Allen as the Jayhawks battled back from a seven-point second-half deficit to nudge the winless Bison (0-4) of the Summit League, 65-61.
“We’ve played a ton of games since I’ve been here just like today,” said 18th-year KU coach Bill Self, whose KU teams are 266-14 in Allen Fieldhouse. “For some reason, when it gets kind of dull (and) your energy level is low, the crowd will do something to make a quick 5-0 run a 10-0 run or 10-2 run — just because you are kind of playing off the energy and adrenaline. Of course we don’t have that right now.
“I was going to say the parents in attendance and coaches’ families in attendance did a terrible job making noise today. I say that as a joke, because there’s only 100 people here,” Self added.
KU Chancellor Douglas Girod made the decision in conjunction with KU’s Pandemic Medical Advisory Team and other university leaders. to have just family members and close friends of parents and coaches attend the first two home games in response to the pandemic.
In all, 95 fans attended Thursday’s 89-54 home opening victory over Washburn.
Things are going to change for No. 7-ranked KU’s next three games. Girod said Thursday that up to 2,500 fans will be allowed for Tuesday’s 4 p.m. game against Creighton, Friday’s 6 p.m. game against Omaha and Sunday’s 1 p.m. game against Tarleton State.
“I think having 2,500 people in the stands will make a difference,” Self said. “It’s going to be harder to win at home and certainly easier to win away from home for everybody just because of the crowd situation.”
North Dakota State certainly didn’t feel uncomfortable playing in a near-empty fieldhouse.
The Bison jumped to an 8-0 lead and after trailing by two points at halftime, led by seven points with 12 minutes left and three points at the 3:57 mark.
NDSU actually grabbed that late 61-58 advantage following a free throw by Dezmond McKinney, a freshman guard out of Raytown South High School, who finished with six points and three rebounds in 18 minutes.
KU scored the final seven points of the game. Five of the seven came at the free throw line.
The late Jayhawk rally prevented NDSU from a win over its highest-ranked opponent in school history. The Bison beat No. 8-ranked Marquette on Dec. 2, 2006.
“They are good,” Self said of the 0-4 Bison who entered following losses to Nebraska, Creighton and Nevada. KU improved to 4-1. “I don’t know if we can defend them any better than we did the first three possessions and they came away with eight points.
“That was the thing about them. They played great. It was good for us to play against a team that played that well. I bet you they scored 15, 20 points in the last seven seconds of the shot clock and probably 12 to 15 with less than two to three seconds left on the shot clock.
“Our defense was pretty good. We just didn’t close out some possessions. They made some hard shots,” Self stated. “I thought we grinded great. I thought situationally we played really well down the stretch. We competed hard. Not a lot of guys made a lot of offensive plays. Jalen (Wilson, 14 points, 15 rebounds) made a couple. Tyon (Grant-Foster, eight points, eight boards, two blocks, two steals) was great down the stretch. There were some good things about the win. We’ll look back and probably be a better team for it.”
Wilson’s 15 rebounds, by the way, were the most by a freshman since Andrew Wiggins totaled 19 rebounds against Iowa State on January 13, 2014, in Ames, Iowa.
“He has no fear,” Self said of 6-8 Denton, Texas native Wilson.
