KU basketball’s Allen Fieldhouse gains another fan: ‘Place is absolutely rocking’
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- McKillop cites Allen Fieldhouse crowd noise and fan proximity as game disruptors
- Davidson shot 35.8% (24-67) and fell 90-61 as KU hit 57.8% from floor.
- McKillop says Allen Fieldhouse test will prepare Davidson for A-10 play Dec 30.
Add fourth-year Davidson coach Matt McKillop to the list of individuals who have proclaimed Allen Fieldhouse one of the best environments in college basketball.
“I’ve been on the bench and in some incredible environments, and it’s been a while since I’ve been in (Duke’s) Cameron Indoor, but I walked out on the court today and I don’t know that I’ve ever seen something quite like this, in terms of the fans on top of you, how loud it is. And anytime a good play happens, that the place is absolutely rocking,” McKillop said after his Wildcats’ 90-61 loss to KU on Monday night before 15,300 fans in the tradition-rich building.
“I don’t hear anything during games usually, but I felt it and I know our players did too. I think that’s why some of those early shots … sometimes we were ready but we rushed it or we were open but we didn’t take it because we were hesitant,” he added.
Davidson, which trailed 51-30 at halftime, wound up hitting 24 of 67 shots for 35.8%, compared to KU’s 37-of-64 shooting for 57.8%. KU hit 11 of 21 3s for 52.4%; Davidson 11 of 30 3s for 36.7%.
“I think so much of that had to do with the environment, and maybe I’m wrong and not to take any credit away from our players who I think are some pretty good, mentally tough kids, but, I think that the environment made the challenge of playing here against a really good team even more (difficult),” McKillop said.
McKillop, who was an assistant on his dad Bob’s Davidson coaching staff for 14 seasons before succeeding him as head coach at the Davidson, North Carolina, school, actually was part of a victory against Kansas, but not in the fieldhouse.
Davidson defeated KU 80-74 on Dec. 19, 2011, at (then) Sprint Center in Kansas City.
“We had a speaker on (at practice) all week in the gym playing ‘Rock Chalk,’ whatever their cheers are, just to say, ‘Hey, let’s experience it now,’” McKillop said. “So we get there and we’ve seen it, but we saw something quite different than the boom box.
“Hey, this is as challenging as it is going to get,” added McKillop. His team will begin Atlantic 10 Conference play against Duquesne on Dec. 30 with an 8-4 record. “I would imagine we’ll play in some good environments, but it won’t be this. So hopefully this will say, ‘OK, we’ve done it. We don’t have to think about things like that going forward now.’”
Matt McKillop, by the way, played for his dad at Davidson for four years and before that served as a ballboy for the program. Bob McKillop coached for 33 years at Davidson, winning 634 games and coaching the 2008 team to the NCAA Elite Eight. KU defeated those Wildcats 59-57 on March 30, 2008, in Detroit, sending the Jayhawks to the Final Four for the first time in the Bill Self era.
Davidson, the No. 10 seed, finished that 2007-08 season 29-7. KU, the No. 1 seed, went on to win the national title during a 35-3 campaign.
KU was led by center Sasha Kaun, who scored 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting with six rebounds in 20 minutes. Guards Mario Chalmers and Brandon Rush had 13 and 12 points respectively. Stephen Curry scored 25 points on 9-of-25 shooting (4-of-16 from 3) in 40 minutes for Davidson.
“They were playing with house money and we played so tight and we needed a big guy from Russia, from Moscow, to bail us out, and that was Sasha’s game,” Self said before Monday’s tip in his pregame radio interview.
“That was probably the best game (Kaun) had in his career. In a game that there were very few points scored, he was great. And then we got a stop late (on a last-second 3). But I remember us going to Kansas City a couple years later and Davidson beating us in a pre-Christmas game over in the Sprint Center. Better good than not good, but we’ve been on both ends of the spectrum with these guys,” Self added, calling Bob McKillop “a great, great coach.
“This coach (Matt) has been trained by one of the very best who has done it. They are doing a good job there now,” Self stated.
