Slumped in his seat on the visitor’s bench at Allen Fieldhouse, Pittsburg State’s Gene Iba suffered as the final seconds ticked off the clock in one of the worst losses of his coaching career.

Kansas University’s 103-48 gorging of Iba’s first Gorilla team on Dec. 18, 1995, had the former Baylor and Houston Baptist coach wanting out of the Jayhawks’ tradition-rich basketball building as soon as humanly possible.

“We had three scholarship players. They had Pierce, Vaughn, LaFrentz – NBA players,” the 64-year-old Iba recalled of Jayhawks Paul Pierce, Jacque Vaughn and Raef LaFrentz.

“We were getting drilled, as you might expect. Before we could get out of there, I looked out and noticed our players were having a really good time, and in the stands our parents were having a great time, and our fans were enjoying it, and the Jayhawks were definitely having a good night.

“I said to myself, ‘I’m the only guy in the building who is miserable.’ (When it comes to playing Kansas), I’ve quit being miserable. We try to play as hard as we can and beat them as hard as we can, but there has to be realism, too.

“We can gain from it no matter what.”

Now in his 11th year at Pittsburg State, Iba, who returned for 96-71 (1999) and 105-61 (2001) regular-season defeats as well as an 103-73 exhibition loss in 2003, plans to enjoy today’s 7 p.m. exhibition contest no matter the outcome.

The game will be televised live on channels 13 and 38 (Sunflower Broadband Channel 15).

“I like this as an exhibition game because we have (five) Kansas kids, and kids who have played in Kansas, and going to Allen Fieldhouse is a historic thing they want to do,” Iba said.

“Name one of the most significant fieldhouses in the country over 50 years, and it’s up at the top. I don’t know if Kansas kids understand it – they just know it’s where the Jayhawks play. I watched it when the guy they named it for was coaching there. It’s a significant building,” added Iba, nephew of coaching legend Hank Iba.

Gene Iba tonight brings one of the best players in NCAA Div. II to town.

Eddie Jackson, a 5-foot-11 senior from Clebourne, Texas, is an NCAA Div. II preseason All-American after averaging 21.1 points a game last year, with a school-record 115 threes.

“He shoots as well as anybody I’ve seen in Div. I,” Iba said of the two-time MIAA scoring champion. “He has range. He’s a better defender than a year ago and better passer than a year ago.

“Eddie is three inches away from being a Big 12 player. He is not a big player. It was easier to get Eddie shots a year ago with all that experience we had,” added Iba, who lost six seniors off last year’s 23-7 team and has brought in nine new players. “Now they have to get used to each other.”

Iba was assisted by current KU assistant Tim Jankovich during the 1991-92 season at Baylor.

He said he liked Kansas counterpart Bill Self’s young, but athletic, team.

“Coach Self is doing something a lot don’t have courage to do – taking young players and going with them instead of bringing in junior-college talent on top of them,” Iba said.

“They will probably be pretty good Monday night. They went to the offensive boards hard against Fort Hays State, and Sasha (Kaun, 23 points) did a nice job. I liked him a year ago. He’s obviously developed and has a good future. Rush (Brandon) got seven offensive rebounds. He’s really long.”

As far as his own team?

“With nine new players, I get excited time to time and depressed from time to time,” Iba said.

Remember, though, he won’t be depressed tonight.

No matter the final score.