Myka Townsend, daughter of Kansas University assistant basketball coach Kurtis Townsend sings the Alma Mater before singing the National Anthem prior to Tuesday's tipoff against UC Irvine at Allen Fieldhouse.

Sometimes the best moments at sporting events take place before the main attractions start.

The worst moment of the Kansas spring football game happened when Michael Cummings suffered a career-ending knee injury. The best came on the last play of the annual alumni football game. World War II veteran Bryan Sperry, 89, found the holes and sprinted to glory for a touchdown captured by the KU athletic department’s talented video team. Sperry and brother Kenneth Sperry played Kansas football from 1946-48.

The presence of UC Irvine’s 7-foot-6 center Mamadou Ndiaye made Tuesday night more interesting than the average nonconference basketball game in Allen Fieldhouse. But even he couldn’t steal the show because the show had been stolen before the opening tip by Kurtis Townsend’s daughter, Myka, shown above in a photo snapped by the Journal-World’s Nick Krug.

Myka didn’t miss a note and to the amazement of the customary crowd of 16,300 belted out a really strong version of the Star Spangled Banner. I kept waiting for her dad to break into tears, but all he broke into was a huge smile as his daughter triggered a huge ovation from the crowd and Fred Quartlebaum, director of student-athlete development for the basketball program, pinned a bear hug on the proud father.

“She told me she wasn’t nervous, so I wasn’t nervous,” Townsend said. “She did great.”

That she did. Kurtis bears a facial resemblance to one of music’s most talented stars, peerless guitarist Carlos Santana. Myka is a talented star in the making. Advantage Myka on the music front.