Rush on Vegas

Brandon Rush, who traveled the country extensively while playing AAU basketball in high school, figures he has been to Las Vegas six or seven times.

“A lot of tournaments, and once I went there to chill,” said Rush, KU’s junior guard from Kansas City, Mo. “I couldn’t imagine going to college there. It’d be crazy. Some of us (Jayhawk players) were talking about that yesterday.

“I love that place,” he added. “It’s always hot there. I love the heat.”

Today, Rush will play the first game of his career against Vegas school UNLV. Tipoff is approximately 5:50 p.m. and will be shown live on CBS.

“I played against Wink (Adams) in AAU. He’s really good,” Rush said of the junior guard who averages a team-leading 16.6 points a game. “They play great defense. They have a good team.”

Collins OK

KU guard Sherron Collins, who said he banged his right knee at practice diving for a loose ball Tuesday, practiced on Friday in preparation for today’s battle against the Rebels.

“I had limited contact because we didn’t want it to get hit again,” Collins said. “It’s a little painful, but it’s OK. It affected me a little on defense (against Portland State). When I get it loose, it’s OK.

“It’s March. You play with pain if you have it. You have to play every game like it’s your last one. It doesn’t matter what teams throw at you. You still have to play.”

KU coach Bill Self says Collins is not 100 percent.

“I don’t think he looked very good yesterday (against Portland State),” Self said. “He made shots, but it may have affected him on defense. Hopefully he’ll wake up tomorrow and he’ll feel better. It won’t keep him from playing or anything like that.”

Bahe visits team

Former KU guard Nick Bahe of Omaha school Creighton stopped by KU’s team hotel Wednesday. “Coach let him come to our team dinner,” senior Jeremy Case said of his buddy.

Case said he, Bahe and Keith Langford recently went to an Usher concert in Kansas City.

“He’s a good friend, a great guy,” Case said of Bahe.

Kruger vs. KU

UNLV coach Lon Kruger was 4-7 versus Kansas during his four years as coach at Kansas State and 5-2 versus KU during his days as a Wildcat guard.

Kruger went 1-0 against KU as coach at Illinois and 0-2 as coach at Florida. In his last meeting with KU, his Illinois squad tripped the Jayhawks, 84-70, in 1999 in Chicago.

Kruger, Self’s predecessor at Illinois, had six-bypass heart surgery last August.

“No symptoms going in. No damage at all, and I haven’t had any pain since,” Kruger said. “They must have done a good job. I feel very blessed by it, fortunate to catch it when we did.”

KU coach Self said: “I talked to him in Vegas when I saw him (recruiting after surgery). I’d written him (after the operation). Anybody who has had health issues you feel for. I think he is a very tough, good man, great professional and conducts his business well.”

Kruger returned the compliments regarding Self.

“Bill’s been a good friend as the coaching fraternity goes,” Kruger said. “He and his wife, Cindy, are terrific. They followed us to Illinois and took that (program) way higher when he got there. And he did a great job. He’s done a great job wherever he’s been. His teams play so hard, so unselfish again. He is terrific in every way.”

Free time

The Jayhawks, who practiced from noon until 1:30 p.m., finished media responsibilities at 2:30 p.m. Friday.

“I’m going to go to the hotel and watch them (Rebels) on tape, get a weak workout in,” Self said. “Our players will chill out.”

The Jayhawks said they’d been watching a lot of NCAA Tournament ball on TV at the Embassy Suites hotel.

“I watched K-State last night,” Rush said of the Wildcats’ victory over USC. “They played great. I was happy for them, happy for the Big 12.”

Rush was asked whom K-State fans would pull for today if they watch the Jayhawks’ game.

“They won’t cheer for us. They want us to lose so bad,” Rush said.

NBA banter

Somebody quoted Rush as saying he’d definitely have returned to KU for his senior season had the Jayhawks lost in the first round.

“I don’t know where that came from,” he said. “I’m not thinking about the NBA right now, just trying to win the national title.”

Rush, who declared for the draft last year, is expected to turn pro after this season, along with Darrell Arthur.

Mario Chalmers and Collins also could be early entries.

“I’m not thinking about that at all,” Arthur said, repeating his common refrain to NBA questions.

Faces in town

Former KU players and good buddies Ryan Robertson and T.J. Pugh are in Omaha for the games.

No mismatch

Self disagreed with a reporter who called today’s game a “mismatch.”

“I don’t see it on paper the way you see it,” he said. “I just see it’s going to be two very good teams playing each other. We’ve got a good record, our seed’s higher. But it’s more about, can we defend them and can they defend us and vice versa. They’ve had great success playing the way they play. Who plays well early will probably be a big key because that will kind of set the tone for how the game will be played, at least the rest of the half.

“Our guys will not see this as a mismatch at all.”

This, that

KU is 3-0 all-time against UNLV. The squads first met in the 1989 Preseason NIT. KU won, 91-77, at Madison Square Garden. KU won, 92-68, in 1997 at Allen Fieldhouse. The teams also met at the 1998 Tip Off Classic in 1998 in Springfield, Mass. KU won, 78-50.