Notebook: Collison top Big 12 scorer
OKLAHOMA CITY ? Nick Collison is the Big 12 Conference’s all-time scoring leader.
Collison, Kansas University’s 6-foot-9 senior forward from Iowa Falls, Iowa, scored 18 points in Thursday’s 64-61 West Regional opener against Utah State at Ford Center.
He entered the game needing five points to tie Texas A&M’s Bernard King for the all-time lead. Collison now has 2,003 points. King finished with 1,990.
“It’s an honor,” Collison said, “but I’m not thinking about that right now. It’s the NCAA Tournament, my last one, and I’m thinking about trying to help this team win.”
Collison is the third player in KU history to score 2,000 points, joining Danny Manning and Raef LaFrentz.
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Whew: KU junior Jeff Graves, who scored seven points and grabbed seven boards in 29 minutes, said he felt relieved the Jayhawks survived and will meet Arizona State at about 7:10 p.m. Saturday in a second-round game.
“I’m relieved we got an ugly game out of the way. Coach (Roy) Williams was like everybody else. He said, ‘Whew, we got the first one out of the way,’ and wrote the number 32 on the board. There are 32 teams left, and we’re one of them.”
Graves said a loss would have been devastating.
“I would have felt sorrow. I would have been ticked. I would not have believed we lost,” Graves said. “I do not want Kirk (Hinrich) and Nick to go out with a loss. But we didn’t lose. Now my first one is out of the way. Nervousness is out of the way.”
On a personal note, Graves said his dad, Robert, was still in Delaware. A member of the Army reserves, he has yet to be called to Iraq.
“I was thinking about him a lot during the game,” Graves said. “I’m worried about him and want him to be safe, and I’m thinking about everybody over there.”
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Ike is right: Led by freshman Ike Diogu, who scored 22 points, Arizona State beat Memphis, 84-71, in Thursday evening’s opener.
Diogu, 6-8, 250 from Garland, Texas, was recruited by KU out of high school. In fact, he played in the Jayhawk Invitational youth basketball tournament two springs ago at Allen Fieldhouse.
“They had so many big guys, there wasn’t going to be much playing time available,” said Diogu, who wanted to start right off the bat in college.
Diogu hit nine of 11 shots versus Memphis, helping the Sun Devils advance to Saturday’s second-round game against KU.
“Ike Diogu is a beast down low,” Collison said. “They have a good team and we’ll have to play a lot better if we want to move on.”
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You gotta hustle: Aaron Miles slapped the ball away from Cardell Butler, who was streaking in for a layup with 12 seconds left, KU up by three points.
“You gotta hustle, man,” Miles said. “Kirk was hustling back on defense after I turned it over. The dude felt Kirk on the right side, and that allowed me to tip the ball away. He slowed down a little.”
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Case in Colorado, Giddens in OKC: Jeremy Case, a 6-foot-1 KU signee from McAlester High in nearby McAlester, Okla., was on a high school spring break ski trip Thursday in Colorado and thus couldn’t attend the KU-Utah State game.
He should be back in time for Saturday’s second-round contest against Arizona State.
KU signee J.R. Giddens, a 6-5 guard from Oklahoma City’s John Marshall High, did attend Thursday’s game. Saturday, however, he leaves for Cleveland, site of next week’s McDonald’s All-America game.
Giddens averaged 22 points and 10 rebounds for Oklahoma’s Class 5A state championship team. Case averaged 25 points and eight rebounds for McAlester High, which lost to Ardmore in the 5A state semis.