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Kansas 64, Texas Tech 69 - The Morning After

LAJ's Jeff Walker has his game article and this from Knight:

"The most important thing (Saturday) was the turnout of the students," Tech head coach Bob Knight said. "I think it's the largest turnout that we've ever had for students. ... They were great and they made it a great atmosphere for basketball.

"Playing away with that atmosphere, which is what we do a lot, is really great. Playing here to it is far better. We hope those kids understand

how important they were to the game and the encouragement that they gave us."

Knight obviously has one take on the crowd, and when we visit the Kansas City Star there's obviously a different take, but we'll get to that later. Knight also had this to say about Jackson and his offensive game:

"We hadn't been cutting real well and (Jackson) made a really good cut and got open," Knight said. "We had a really good screen and he hit a shot that's a shot we set up for him.

"I don't think that he's fully understood that when whoever we're playing, the first name they mention in their scouting report is Jackson. We're going to work awfully hard with Jackson on doing some things other than just having the ball in his hands."

When I answered my questions for Rock Chalk Talk here, he asked me if the Insight Bowl victory changed the attitude of the basketball program. You can see my answer in the above mentioned link, but LAJ's Jeff Walker has an entire article about the changing attitude of Texas Tech University. That being said, I think that Coach Pat Knight hits the nail on the head when he talks about the sense of community between the programs, which I believe would be a schools biggest selling point:

"I think what helped us last year was Knight School," Pat Knight said about the reality show that aired on ESPN. "I think that, plus what we've done over the years, really helps. We're still getting a lot of positive publicity this season and that will help us when we go to look at guys this summer.

"The football team helps because of how often they play on TV and the recognition they get. All our guys ask about football because who doesn't like football, and they like watching Coach Leach's offense. It helps when two sports go hand-in-hand like that and it's nice to talk to these kids about something else other than selling your sport."

As I mentioned above, The Kansas City Star obviously had a different take on the crowd and the victory. My favorite part of the article, that Dora's 19 was a defensive "lapse". I always thought a lapse was temporary or slight (which I don't think that 19 points is either) and Mr. Webster confirms that. Nevertheless, the KC Star had this to say about the post-game celebration:

They shot him the bird, pointed in his face and taunted him with insults that aren't fit for publication.

Somehow, though, Kansas guard Russell Robinson kept his composure during the court-storming that followed the Jayhawks' 69-64 loss to Texas Tech at the United Spirit Arena.

"I just sat down on the bench and waited for the security guard to take me to the locker room," Robinson said. "My emotions were running. I didn't want to be on ESPN tonight for the wrong reasons."

I don't necessarily doubt the validity of the story, but why is it that this is only reported at Tech? I would have to think that other schools' students do the same thing after a big win, but maybe I'm completely wrong. Obviously, after a win you shouldn't taunt another team's player and you certainly shoot anyone the bird, hell we just won the game. We don't need that at our university, we really don't.