photo by: Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo

Allen Fieldhouse is pictured at dusk in this file photo.

Lounging on the beach is great. Basking on the beach is even better. Doing so with access to a free beach house . . . come on, what could possibly come next? A mermaid?

No, a nonconference basketball game between KU and the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds.

What? You want us to lug a TV down to the beach?

No, I want you to get in the car, drive 24 hours from Key West, Florida to Lawrence so that I can watch the game in Allen Fieldhouse.

Hmm. Ask the mermaid. Maybe she can drive you.

That’s the type of task that Ben Terwilliger was facing. The year was 2008 and the University of Kansas’ football team had just won the Orange Bowl in Miami. Terwilliger, a KU student at the time, had ridden down to Miami with a group of friends for the game. One of those friends had a family connection that offered up a free beach house in Key West to bask in the glow of victory and soak up some beach vibes.

That was all well and good, but then the calendar started getting closer to Jan. 8, game day for KU’s men’s basketball contest against Loyola Maryland. Terwilliger had a ticket for the game, of course. He had been to every men’s home basketball game since the start of his freshman year in 2006. His attendance streak in Allen Fieldhouse was up to 30 consecutive games.

You didn’t exactly have to be Dr. Naismith to know that this game against Loyola Maryland (record 6-8 heading into the tilt) was pretty meaningless. Indeed, there may be a game or two in the 2008 season that ended up being more memorable. But Terwilliger just had a belief about that game — and every other one in Allen Fieldhouse.

“I just knew these are sacred,” Terwilliger said. “I can’t miss these games at Allen Fieldhouse.”

It is a belief that still holds today. Terwilliger was in the stands for KU’s exhibition game versus Duke last Sunday. It was his 360th consecutive game at Allen Fieldhouse. This next Monday, Nov. 2, will officially mark the 20th year of his streak. Game No. 1 was an exhibition contest against Washburn University on Nov. 2, 2006.

photo by: Submitted

Ben Terwilliger is picture in Allen Fieldhouse in October 2026.

Terwilliger, a professional historian who serves as the executive director of the Eudora Area Historical Society, is big on accurate records, so he explains further. His streak is that he’s been to every KU men’s home basketball game in Allen Fieldhouse in which fans have been allowed to enter since Nov. 2, 2006. There were two games during the COVID-19 pandemic where fans were not allowed in the fieldhouse, so that’s the caveat.

Other than that, no asterisks to this streak — just a lot of as()terisk whoopings, so to speak. During his 20 years of watching games in the fieldhouse, KU has a record of 339 wins to 21 losses. His favorite period was from Feb. 7, 2007 to Feb. 1, 2017 — yes, he has a spreadsheet — when KU went 163-3 during the stretch.

He’s had a seat — front row seats 49 times during his days as a student — to excellence. But it hasn’t just been excellence on the court. It has been excellence all around it.

“You know, if KU was like really, really good but they played in kind of a cold, sterile atmosphere, I don’t know if I would have gone to every game,” Terwilliger said. “And if KU’s atmosphere was electric but they had a sub-500 record, I don’t know if I would have gone to every game.”

In other words, Allen Fieldhouse is a Reese’s peanut butter cup factory. It brings the chocolate and peanut butter together just right. It’s an often overlooked part of Allen’s magic. What is it about the place that causes everything to come together?

photo by: Journal-World photo

Fans file through the doors past the statue of Phog Allen for the 60th Anniversary celebration of Allen Fieldhouse on Monday, Oct. 27, 2014.

Sure, there have been a few stretches where the magic has waned a bit. I used to work with a Journal-World colleague who grew up in Lawrence. She told stories of her youth running around the top rows of the fieldhouse during game days because those seats were empty. But for most of its history that hasn’t been the case. Think of your life and how difficult it is just to get two simple things to come together in a single week. Allen has brought together two things — winning basketball and an electric atmosphere — pretty much its entire life, and essentially nonstop for three-plus decades.

Lawrence, of course, loves Allen Fieldhouse. But I’m not sure we always remember what it truly is: One of the best places in the world. Any serious list of the best places in the world to watch a basketball game will have Allen Fieldhouse on it. Ponder that for a moment: Lawrence, Kansas is home to one of the best places in the world.

Of course, you don’t have to tell Terwilliger that. He’s lived it, and suffered some of the anxieties that come with it. The Key West trip was one of the streak’s closest calls, but there was also the time in 2013 heading to the Baylor game that his ticket — the paper variety — fell out of his pocket. Would unintentional litter end the streak? No, the ticket office gave him a new ticket upon explanation. (I would have lost a FanDuel bet on that one.)

Terwilliger also has learned enough to offer a few tips to newcomers. “I’m not going to tell you where I park my car for free, though.” His biggest tip is to get to the game at least 20 minutes early. You want to be there for the first Rock Chalk chant, which is his favorite tradition of the many that take place every game. There’s also a chant at the end of the game after each victory, though during his 20 years he thinks it has become a little “sloppier” especially against lighter opponents. “I’m sounding like an old man now,” he said.

But his biggest advice is to soak it all in — and not just the current moment but all those that came before it. As a historian, he’s enthralled by the basketball pioneers — Naismith, Chamberlain, Allen and more — who have left their marks on the building. He’s also mindful of how such historic places are becoming rarer in the world of sports. He said he was sad to see KU’s football stadium essentially demolished as part of its renovation and is “heartbroken” about what’s to come for Arrowhead. But that is change in a modern world, and a reminder of what we should do with Allen every chance we get.

“Just cherish Allen Fieldhouse,” he said.

With a willing world, he’ll do so for the 361st consecutive time on Monday when the Jayhawks play Fordham. He’ll take his seat and get a chance for the magic to do its work.

“You feel connected to the whole place,” Terwilliger said. “You feel like, in a delusional way, you can impact the game in some way. Like when we get low in the shot clock, I start screaming down the numbers, and sometimes I think maybe there is a 1% chance they heard me.”

In a world full of shifting sand, you find a solid bleacher that supports belief.

“And then they shoot it,” he said. “You feel connected to it all.”