Men’s basketball briefs

Moody’s staph infection potentially serious

The ailment in Christian Moody’s left knee in mid-February was no ordinary staph infection.

It was the MRSA bacteria that has killed more than one athlete in the past year — the bacteria that was the subject of a recent Sports Illustrated piece warning sports teams of the seriousness of the staph.

“Wasn’t that a crazy article?” Moody said of the story he read a week and a half after a floor burn he suffered at Texas Tech became infected. “You can get really sick if you don’t catch it right away. I took some major antibiotics that knocked it out.

“It was extremely painful,” he added of the infection that forced him to miss two games. “I couldn’t bend my knee, but my leg didn’t look nearly as bad as pictures in that article. It (article) definitely scared me.”

Moody’s knee is not 100 percent entering tonight’s game against Bucknell.

“The infection doesn’t affect me now. I’ve got bursitis in my knee because of the infection, which is bothering me,” he said.

Proud of home state

KU freshman C.J. Giles, a native of Seattle, spoke with Washington guard Nate Robinson before the Huskies’ victory over Montana on Thursday.

“I know all those guys,” Giles said.

If KU can’t win it all, does he want Washington to win it all?

“Truthfully, yes,” he said with a grin. “They’re good guys, and they have a really good team.”

Seniors’ last chance

It’s now or never for KU’s four seniors.

“This is the season we’ve all been waiting for since the loss to Georgia Tech last year,” point guard Aaron Miles said of an Elite Eight loss to the Yellow Jackets. “I’m excited. I’ve been excited since watching the Selection Show on Sunday. My heart was pounding. I was anxious, excited, ready to go because this is the last opportunity.”

Native Kansan Wayne Simien, who has dreamed of following in Danny Manning’s footsteps and winning a national title — the school’s first since 1988, when Simien was 5 — has been counting the days to tonight’s tipoff.

“It all set in on Selection Sunday when I saw the brackets and how it was laid out for us. It hit me you can play one more game or six more games,” Simien said. “We definitely want to continue to be out there as long as we can.

“For the seniors, it’ll mean a little more because it’s our last go-around. Freshmen, sophomore, juniors have another one. We’ll take advantage the best way we know how, to go out on a win streak.”

Stingy zone

For KU to advance to Sunday’s 3:50 p.m. game against either Wisconsin or Northern Iowa, the Jayhawks must get past a Bucknell team that uses a matchup-zone and man-to-man defense.

“It was no fluke they won at Pitt and no fluke they won at St. Joe’s. They are good,” Kansas coach Bill Self said, adding, “it’s going to be a grind-it-out game.

“They don’t play it 50 percent of the time. I’d say against us they will play it at least 50 percent or more,” Self said of the zone. “They hang their hat on being a good man-to-man team, but they play zone. It’s a benefit we had a chance to see it against Iowa State, but all zones are a little different.”

Confident

J.R. Giddens, a hometown hero out of Oklahoma City’s John Marshall High, thinks KU can make a major splash.

“I think the Jayhawks will win the national championship. You’ve got to believe,” he said.

Focused group

KU junior center Moulaye Niang says the Jayhawks enter the postseason focused after being tapped a No. 3 seed by the NCAA Tournament committee.

“It will encourage us to play better, show we’ve got something to prove,” Niang said. “We’re definitely ready. Everybody is excited.”