Gym Cracks By Jim January 31, 2003 HOOPS ELITE Texas-Kansas thriller cracks top 10 list, memories of KU-KSU in the 60's By Jim (Babe) Berryman MissingNebraska.com Western Nebraska I usually do not watch an entire televised men's college basketball game. Monday night was different. This game was a show-down between two nationallly ranked Big 12 teams--the Kansas Jayhawks and the Texas Longhorns. The Jayhawks were ranked 13th and the Texas Longhorns 3rd, when the ball was tipped-off in Lawrence, KS. The Kansas team would not quit. the Jayhawks were down by as many as 11 points in the first half. In the second half the Jayhawks made several "runs" at the Longhorns, closing the margin to a one-point on several occasions, but then the Longhorns would open a six to eight-point lead. A lesser team would have folded. In the final three minutes, the Jayhawks took the lead for the first time since the opening minutes of the game. The Longhorns could have forced the game into overtime as two different players missed three-point opportunities in the closing seconds. Kansas won the game 90-87. Nick Collison played the game of his college career. He scored 24-points while collecting 23-caroms, before fouling out with less than two minutes to play. He came to play! I would rank this game in my top-ten of all-time televised college basketball games that I have watched. In the 1960's I had the opportunity to watch Kansas State play Kansas in Manhattan. This game would rank as the top game I have watched in my lifetime. One of the Kansas State players, Loren Peithman, was a graduate of Hebron High School. When Loren was in high school, I served as the junior-senior principal at Hebron High. Loren had four choice seats for home games. I was invited to fill one of those seats on a couple occasions, including this KS/KU contest. The Jayhawks arrived in Manhattan rated nationally. The Wildcats were not rated. The Wildcats upset the Jayhawks in this game. The atmosphere was unbelievable. A person could cut the tension with a knife. The noise generated was deafening. For those of us who played in small gyms with 100 or so people in attendance, it's hard to imagine playing in a game of this magnitude. Yes, this contest between the Kansas rivals would have to rank number one on my all-time list of watching college basketball. Feedback Previous Gym Cracks: 01-24-03: Nebraska's Super Connection Gym Cracks By Jim 01-15-03: Hometown Hits Big Time Gym Cracks By Jim 12-30-02: Count The Numbers Gym Cracks By Jim 12-18-02: Cream Of Coaching Crop Gym Cracks By Jim 11-28-02: The Big Picture Gym Cracks By Jim 11-18-02: 2 For 2 Gym Cracks By Jim 10-25-02: Sweet On Switzer Gym Cracks By Jim 10-17-02: Best Time Year Gym Cracks By Jim 10-11-02: Odds And Ends Gym Cracks By Jim 10-04-02: The Rating Game Gym Cracks By Jim 09-22-02: Fans Panned Gym Cracks By Jim 09-12-02: World Herald Calling Gym Cracks 09-05-02: Bit By Baseball Bug Gym Cracks 08-29-02: Caring Coaches Gym Cracks 08-22-02: Nebraska "Storm" Hits Colorado Gym Cracks 08-15-02: Cubs Win, Wallet Drained Gym Cracks 08-08-02: To Coors For Cubs Gym Cracks 07-25-02: Major League Madness Gym Cracks 07-18-02: Nebraskans In The Majors Gym Cracks 07-11-02: Kile Death Sheds Light Gym Cracks 07-04-02: Couch Potato Parking Gym Cracks 06-23-02: Top 10 Nebraska High School Nicknames Gym Cracks 06-06-02: Better In The 50s Gym Cracks 05-30-02: Dangerfield of Nebraska Gym Cracks 05-16-02: Baseball Sneak Aways Gym Cracks