Louisville’s nice, but Self thinks KC has a hoops leg up

Few cities love college basketball more than Louisville.

With the University of Louisville and University of Kentucky consistently producing strong teams and occasional national champions, the city consistently ranks at the top of all television markets when it comes to ratings, beating out competitors such as Kansas City and Indianapolis.

On Wednesday, Kansas coach Bill Self was asked if he thought Kansas City had as much passion for college basketball.

“When you add up all the history, I think that you can make a case that Kansas City is probably about as knowledgeable and historic a place that our game has,” Self said.

He made his argument based on the proximity of KU, K-State, Missouri and Wichita State, which all care about basketball. Plus, there is the College Basketball Hall of Fame exhibit at the Sprint Center and the NAIA Division I tournament at Municipal Auditorium.

Self also pointed out James Naismith’s influence at Kansas.

“When the inventor of the game is your first coach,” Self said, “I think it definitely gives you a leg up on some folks when you start talking about history.”

You can talk home again – Maryland coach Mark Turgeon answered plenty of Kansas questions during his media session.

On Larry Brown, whom Turgeon played for at KU in the 1980s out of Topeka Hayden: “I was down on my knees begging Coach Brown to take me.”

On Bob Davis, the longtime KU radio broadcaster who started with the Jayhawks during Turgeon’s sophomore year and is retiring after this season: “It is amazing how quickly it’s gone.”

Turgeon also gave a shoutout to his favorite baseball team, the Royals.

“I literally can’t go to bed at night until I get a Royals score,” he said, “unless they’re playing on the West Coast. Then it gets hard. But it’s something I follow pretty closely.”

In his younger years, Turgeon was at then-Royals Stadium when the Royals won their first World Series championship with an 11-0 Game 7 victory over St. Louis in 1985. Last November, he took his two sons, William and Leo, to Citi Field in New York for the Royals’ deciding 7-2 Game 5 victory over the Mets. They moved down in front of the dugout before Wade Davis struck out Wilmer Flores looking in the 12th inning and the celebration started.

“It was a special night,” he said. “I’ve kind of brainwashed my kids into being die-hard Royals fans. I grew up just a die-hard Royals fan, Chiefs fan, Kansas fan.”

Turgeon is 0-6 against Kansas, losing all of his games against his former team while a Big 12 counterpart coaching Texas A&M from 2008-11. Turgeon, who took Wichita State to the Sweet 16 in 2006, has ended Maryland’s 13-year drought from the Sweet 16.

Happy to be back, with a catch — Villanova coach Jay Wright offered one caveat for his team’s trip to Louisville and the KFC Yum Center, where they will face Miami on Thursday evening.

“I’m just glad to be here and not playing against Rick (Pitino) and Louisville,” Wright said. “That can make for an unpleasant trip. Last time we were here it was for us, anyway.”

Villanova last played at Louisville on Jan. 25, 2012, an 84-74 loss when both teams were in the Big East. Louisville is now in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Shocker love — Wright also went out of his way to praise Miami for gutting out a win over Wichita State in the NCAA Tournament last Saturday in Providence, R.I.

“You beat a team like Wichita State, that plays defense like that, it tells me something about you,” Wright said. “Wichita State plays defense as good as anyone in the country and Miami was able to match that intensity and come out on top.”

Miami guard Sheldon McClellan also had praise for the Shockers and was engaged in a lengthy back-and-forth with WSU guards Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker throughout the game.

“I was just telling them to quit flopping, quit trying to get calls because they were really working the refs,” McClelland said with a smile. “(VanVleet) just laughed at me. It was all in good fun. They’re tough players, I’ve got nothing but respect for them.”

Not worried about age – Kansas senior forward Perry Ellis doesn’t think his years of experience give him any advantage against Maryland freshman forward Diamond Stone, a 6-foot-11, 255-pounder who was named Big Ten Newcomer of the Year and could be headed to the NBA after one season.

Mainly because Ellis has never paid much mind to what an opponents’ age is.

“That something that never even comes into my mind,” said Ellis, who is 6-8. “I look at how they play, mainly, and I think that’s what’s worked for me.”

Ellis leads Kansas in scoring at 16.9 points and is second on the team with 5.9 rebounds. Stone is second on Maryland in scoring and rebounding at 12.7 points and 5.4 rebounds.

“We’re both on the same court, we both have to compete,” Ellis said. “The age is just not something I have to think about. (Stone) is a skilled player so it’s going to be a big challenge.”

Maryland coach Mark Turgeon was also more focused on what Kansas’ posts could do on the court — not how close they are to graduation.

“I have good bigs, but they’ll be challenged (Thursday night),” Turgeon said. “Obviously. I worry about Kansas’ speed inside. They’re big guys, a little bit faster than ours. So we’ve worked on some things to try to prepare our guys. Should be a great matchup.”

Reserves to the rescue – Kansas appears to have a noticeable advantage over Maryland when it comes to depth.

The Jayhawks used 10 reserves in their opening-round victory against Austin Peay and then four reserves against Connecticut. Maryland used four reserves against South Dakota State and three against Hawaii.

But that will only be an advantage if Kansas can properly defend Maryland’s starting five.

“They’re a great group,” KU’s Jamari Traylor said. “One through five, they can score the ball.”

When Maryland dips into its bench, guard Jaylen Brantley, wing Jared Nickens, and forward Damonte Dodd are the main contributors. The Jayhawks hope to wear them down with numbers.

Balanced scoring – That’s what you get from both of these teams. All five of Maryland’s starters average double figures, ranging from point guard Melo Trimble’s 14.8 to backcourt mate Rasheed Sulaimon’s 11.1.

Four of KU’s five starters are in double figures, led by Ellis’ 16.9.

“That makes them hard to defend,” KU junior guard Frank Mason said. “Just like we are hard for others to defend. Any one of us can have a big scoring night.”

Backcourt height – Mason comes in at 5-foot-11, the shortest of the guards for both teams. Maryland’s Trimble is 6-3 and Sulaimon 6-4.

No problem, Mason said. He’s used to being the shortest guy on the court.

“I usually don’t pay attention to height,” he said. “I pay attention to what we can control as a team. I focus on the scouting report, pay attention to details. That usually works for me.”

No cell service – Since Maryland lost its regular-season finale to Indiana – the Terrapins’ fifth loss in eight games – Turgeon has taken his players’ cell phones away each night after their team dinner.. They don’t get them back until the next morning.

In between, no texting, tweeting, Snapchatting or Instagraming.

“That hurts our hearts,” Sulaimon said, “especially being college students.

“But at the same time, it gives us time to relax before we have our curfew. Really, it helps us focus. Just one of those necessary sacrifices. We appreciate it.”

Really?

“Of course,” Sulaimon said with a grin.

That looks familiar – Sulaimon has taken over as the Terrapins’ pregame hype man, with the team forming a circle around him.

Sulaimon asks “Who’s got my back?” and the Terrapins reply, “We got your back!”

And if that seems familiar, it’s because Sulaimon got the idea from watching the reality television show “Friday Night Tykes” about pee-wee football in Texas.

“Yeah, I saw them doing it and how much enthusiasm and love they had for the sport and playing with each other,” Sulaimon said. “So I thought it might work for us, too. I think it gets us hyped up.”

Worth noting – The top-seeded Jayhawks have won 16 straight.

KU’s resurgence has come with improved interior defense, as opponents have made 40 percent of their two-pointers in the Jayhawks’ last 15 games. Maryland should test KU there, ranking seventh nationally in two-point percentage.

The last time the two teams met was in the 2002 Final Four, where the Terrapins took a 97-88 victory.

Maryland, which rose to as high as No. 2 in Feb. 8’s Associated Press poll, struggled down the stretch, losing five of its final eight regular-season games.

The Terrapins have two starters projected by DraftExpress to go higher than any KU player in the NBA Draft. Stone is ranked 22nd, and 6-3 point guard Melo Trimble is 33rd.

Chris Fickett of the Kansas City Star

This story was originally published March 23, 2016 at 6:31 PM with the headline "Louisville’s nice, but Self thinks KC has a hoops leg up."