Norman — Being the No. 1 overall seed in a tournament full of upsets can be scary. Even after Kansas dispatched Lehigh Thursday with only slight trouble, the Jayhawks were in vigilant mode thinking about their next test.
Before Kansas takes the floor against Northern Iowa at 4:40 p.m. today at the Ford Center, coach Bill Self will do all he can to keep Cinderella from striking … beginning with an attempt to debunk Cinderella altogether.
“To me, you know, they’re not Cinderella,” Self said. “Northern Iowa can beat anybody in the country on any night. That’s not a Cinderella team. Our guys won’t look at it that way at all.”
Self’s attitude is shared by senior point guard Sherron Collins. He knows the perils that lay ahead, and the heartlessness with which the Jayhawks must play.
“You know, that’s been something we stressed all year … the killer instinct,” Collins said. “But I just think when we’re challenged and know it’s a good team, we come better prepared to play. Our energy level is unbelievable in those games.”
Panthers rising
The state of Iowa has a rich basketball tradition. Northern Iowa does not. Still, it’s the Panthers going at the NCAA Tournament.
Not Iowa. Not Iowa State.
“I can’t say what’s going on there,” UNI’s Ali Farokmanesh said. “I mean … I know they’re struggling lately, but I’m sure they’ll turn it around eventually.
“As far as our program goes, we recruited good kids and kids that want to play basketball. I think that’s the biggest thing. We’re a bunch of kids that love to play the game.”
Yet, senior forward Adam Koch believes UNI’s success is no fad. He sees the program becoming a fixture atop the Missouri Valley Conference.
“It’s definitely satisfying … the four years I’ve been here,” Koch said. “(We’ve) had a lot of success in the Valley, been to a lot of tournaments, won a couple of Conference Championships now. It’s definitely nice to be at a point where the program is kind of at a high point. I feel like it’s been on the rise now and I think we’re just kind of peaking right now.”
Marked man
When BYU’s Jimmer Fredette went for 37 points against Florida Thursday, the junior guard had some interested onlookers.
The Kansas State Wildcats.
“He’s a very good scorer,” KSU’s Jacob Pullen said. “He scores the ball in a variety of ways. He does a great job of reading the defense, so we just have to keep him uncomfortable.”
Pullen will get the primary job of covering Fredette, who averages almost 22 points. But the key piece of the Wildcat’s defense could be Curtis Kelly, patrolling the paint.
“So what I’m going to try to do is let Jake or whoever guard him, lead him my way and try to smack it as far as I can,” Kelly said. “Smack it out of there.”
Fredette said he has no plans to shy away from the physical confrontations that await him.
“I try to be aggressive, go to the basket, and use my body control to create contact and make referees try to call something,” he said. “And you know, in the NCAA Tournament, it’s pretty physical. So they’re going to let some things go.
“I realize that, but I’m still going to draw contact, try to draw fouls and get to the foul line.”
Michael Kinney 366-3537 mkinney@normantranscript.com
