Kansas Notebook: KU focused on Wyoming

Players not nervous because of possible milestone

Sure, Kansas University’s basketball players want their coach to claim career victory No. 400 tonight at Allen Fieldhouse.

But the Jayhawks don’t seem to be dwelling on the issue heading into an 8:05 p.m. nonconference clash against Wyoming.

“I’m fired up to help him get any win,” KU sophomore forward Keith Langford said of Roy Williams, who has compiled a 399-96 career record in 15 seasons at KU. “Obviously I want him to get his 400th, but also 401, 402, 403.”

With a victory in his 496th game, Williams would become the fourth-fastest coach in Division I history to hit the 400 mark. Jerry Tarkanian reached the plateau in 492 games, Clair Bee in 483 and Adolph Rupp in 477.

“Coach has had a great career, winning games faster than most people,” KU senior forward Nick Collison said. “It’s another honor for him. He’ll get a few hundred more.”

¢

Coaching comrades: Williams has known Wyoming coach Steve McClain “a long time.”

“When I first got here at Kansas, he was the assistant at Hutchinson juco under Dave Farrar, and I thought he was a heck of a good guy. And then all of a sudden he took over the head coaching job at Hutch, they won the national championship and had one of the players I coached in Ben Davis. I thought he did a great job for that club,” Williams said of McClain.

“I’ve followed his career because he’s been a friend, but he’s also a coach I have a lot of respect for. I was very happy to see him get the Wyoming job (five years ago), and I knew when he got there they were going to get better and better and bring back some of the glory days.”

McClain led Hutchinson CC to the 1994 title.

¢

Timeouts: KU’s pressure defense forced trapped Nebraska players to call several timeouts in the first half of last Saturday’s 92-59 rout of the Huskers at Allen Fieldhouse.

The surge of timeouts made some people wonder how many a team can call if a player is tied up by aggressive guarding.

The answer is as many as a team wants, as long as it has timeouts to call.

Teams are allowed five timeouts in TV games. Four of them are 30-second timeouts. Four timeouts can carry over to the second half.

While allowing such timeouts seems to penalize the defense, it does force a squad to use a timeout that might be needed late in the game.

¢

This, that: Langford has been wearing his protective mask at practice this week and is expected to wear it in tonight’s game. Langford broke his nose in practice on Dec. 27. … Wayne Simien, whose dislocated shoulder will be examined by doctors again next week, shot jump shots at practice Tuesday. … A limited number of tickets are available for tonight’s game. The seats, which are Wyoming’s team turnbacks, cost $30 and are available at KU’s ticket office. … The jerseys of former Jayhawks Gale Gordon, Al Peterson, Fred Pralle and Tus Ackerman will be retired in ceremony at halftime tonight. Drew Gooden’s jersey will be retired on Saturday. … KU is No. 1 in the country in scoring offense at 88.3 points a game. Duke is second at 88.2.