Ralph Willard hopes his second trip to Kansas UniversityâÂÂs Allen Fieldhouse is a lot more enjoyable than his first.

Willard, Holy Crossâ fourth-year menâÂÂs basketball coach, sat on the visitorsâ bench on Dec. 9, 1989 – the afternoon KU scored the most points in school history in a 150-95 devastation of Kentucky.

âÂÂIt was quite an experience. We lost by 50 or 55. It might have been the speed limit,â quipped Willard, at the time associate head coach for first-year UK coach Rick Pitino. âÂÂIt was an interesting plane ride home. When you are hoping for the plane to have an emergency landing so you can get the heck out, you know youâÂÂve had a bad trip.âÂÂ

Willard – his Crusaders will visit Allen Fieldhouse on Tuesday for an 8 p.m. tipoff – remembers that KU-UK game well. The Jayhawks led at half by an improbable 80-61 score. The 80 points is the most KU has ever scored in one half.

âÂÂActually, we had only seven scholarship players suited up,â Willard said of the probation-depleted Wildcats facing Roy Williamsâ second KU team, which won 30 of 35 games. âÂÂIt was a pretty competitive game until the four-minute mark when Reggie Hanson picked up his third foul. We had to take him out of the game.

âÂÂI told Rick, âÂÂ’We need to hold the ball here.â He said, âÂÂ’Are you nuts? WeâÂÂre pressing.â I think it was 22 or 23 at halftime. Naturally he blamed me for that decision: âÂÂ’Why did you tell me to keep pressing?âÂÂ

âÂÂIt was one of those games,â Willard said. âÂÂObviously, Kansas was a very good team. Any time you press, a team will have opportunities to score.âÂÂ

Many Kentucky fans blamed KU for running up the score that day, despite the fact UK kept pressing in the second half. Willard – who finished that contest as head coach after Pitino was ejected for picking up two technicals, including one for throwing a towel on the court – said Kansas didnâÂÂt try to embarrass the Wildcats.

âÂÂIt wasnâÂÂt a matter of Kansas running up the score. It was a matter of us wearing down and them being that good that year,â Willard said.

KUâÂÂs Terry Brown scored a career-high 31 points off 11-of-17 shooting. He made seven of 10 threes. Also, Rick Calloway scored 21 points, Mark Randall and Jeff Gueldner had 19 apiece, Kevin Pritchard added 17 and Pekka Markkanen contributed 16. Derrick Miller had 32 for Kentucky.

Willard left Kentucky after his one season in Lexington, Ky., landing the head coaching job at Western Kentucky, where he worked four years. He ran PittâÂÂs program for five years prior to returning to his alma mater in Worcester, Mass.

âÂÂAfter that game, Rick was trying to get rid of me. He blamed me for everything,â Willard joked.

On a serious note …

âÂÂI think obviously playing in Allen Fieldhouse is a special venue to play in,â he said. âÂÂOur guys have not experienced that. We played at Boston College, at Providence, but no venue that could match Phog Allen. Obviously, itâÂÂs a real challenge for us, especially the opening game of the year.

âÂÂThe fact itâÂÂs on ESPN âÂÂ: obviously I wouldnâÂÂt have gone to Kansas if the game wasnâÂÂt on ESPN. IâÂÂd be nuts to do that. This is big for the program. It helps your recruiting, and the last two years the Kentucky game and Kansas game (narrow losses in NCAA Tournament) have gotten better players interested in our program. They can see we can play at a high level.âÂÂ

Holy Cross fell to KU, 70-59, in a first-round NCAA Tournament game last March in St. Louis. Kentucky edged the Crusaders, 72-68, in the 2001 NCAA Tourney.