photo by: Sarah Buchanan/Special to the Journal-World

University of Kansas students cheer on their basketball team as they face off against North Carolina on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, in Lawrence.

Ahead of a rare blue-blood battle between Kansas and North Carolina on Friday night, KU coach Bill Self said he was expecting Allen Fieldhouse to be “on fire.”

Sure enough, the building, and its crowd, rose to the occasion. After the game, Self said its atmosphere was “a 10.”

“I don’t know that it can be turned up much more than what it was for 40 minutes tonight,” he added.

The new-look arena, even with a capacity 1,000 seats smaller than its previous iteration, matched the intensity of big games in years past and then some. So packed was the building that students overflowed into the back row of the southwest corner of the stadium, behind the media seating area, right in front of the brand-new corner video boards.

It all made for an atmosphere that players said undoubtedly impacted the results on the floor.

“All the credit goes to the student section, the crowd,” point guard Dajuan Harris said after KU’s nail-biting 92-89 victory. “They was lit tonight, and they gave us the juice in the first half — and then the last five, four minutes, they gave us some juice. All the credit goes to them.”

Harris hit on a point that teammate Hunter Dickinson also emphasized: The energy in the crowd didn’t lapse, and so the energy on the court didn’t lapse either. KU went from up 20 in the first half to down four in the final minutes and had to muster a series of stops late.

“Like Juan said, we don’t win that game without the fans,” Dickinson said. “They could have easily been down when (UNC) came up in the game late. But they really gave us that energy. I think we really fed off it. Obviously we got stops when we needed to, and we executed when we needed to.”

The KU faithful managed to get loud with the Jayhawks trailing 86-83 with 3:28 to go, and even louder by the time Dickinson’s layup had given their team a two-point lead with 1:07 to go.

“I think it’s really hard to lose confidence when you’re playing in Allen Fieldhouse,” Dickinson said. “No matter what the score is. Even when we were down three and (UNC forward Jalen) Washington was going to the line and we were in the timeout, guys still felt confident because we’re playing in Allen Fieldhouse.”

Even the highly competitive, ninth-ranked visitors could appreciate the ambiance.

“You run through that tunnel, and you see that crowd and you see Kansas across the court,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said, “if you can’t be fired up to compete and play in this type of atmosphere against that type of team, then something is wrong with you.”

Self also praised the camaraderie between programs, as expressed by the fans: “Total class on both sides. It was cheer your team, but not get after the other team. I think there is a mutual respect because North Carolina and Kansas (don’t) exist without the other one.”

Importantly, the moment did not become too big for KU’s players who were unaccustomed to such an environment.

Namely, while Lawrence native and South Dakota State transfer guard Zeke Mayo said, “The entire game was honestly just something I’ve never been a part of,” he also added that it was ultimately a game like any other for him.

“Everybody (wants) me to say no just because I’m from here, but it’s hoops at the end of the day,” he said.

He certainly didn’t appear perturbed in any way by the intensity of the crowd or the caliber of the competition — an improvement from when he looked rather out of place at Arkansas in an exhibition two weeks earlier. Mayo finished with 21 points and made one of the most important shots of the night from within a crowd of UNC defenders to tie the game at 89 late.

“He met (the moment) with flying colors,” Self said. “He was great. He was fantastic.”

Mayo, Self and the rest will get their next chance to play at Allen Fieldhouse against Oakland on Saturday, Nov. 16, but first they will take on Michigan State in Atlanta on Tuesday.