| Kansas has won 24 straight in Manhattan
The last time Kansas lost a men's basketball game in Manhattan, Kan., was 25 years ago today, when KU coach Bill Self was a sophomore guard at Oklahoma State.
The last home game Kansas State won against the Jayhawks was Jan. 29, 1983, and it wasn't by much — 58-57. Since then, the Wildcats have a much better record against KU in Lawrence (4-20) than they do in Manhattan (0-24). Kansas has never lost inside Bramlage Coliseum, which opened in 1988 and is undergoing its second renovation. Had KSU not upset KU two years ago in Lawrence, the Jayhawks would be riding a 36-game winning streak against the Wildcats into Wednesday night's battle of the Big 12 unbeatens in Manhattan. "We're gonna beat KU at home,” KSU super freshman Michael Beasley said last summer at a Catbacker function. "We're gonna beat 'em at their house. We're gonna beat 'em in Africa. Wherever we play, we're gonna beat 'em.” Self's response? "It would be hard to get the whole traveling party to those places,” Self joked of Africa. "That doesn't bother me. I'll be honest with you. My guys have confidence.” The Jayhawks are now being reminded of Beasley's remarks. "He talks some trash. I'm fine with it. I don't listen to it, really,” said KU sophomore Darrell Arthur, who was teammates with Michael Beasley on last year's USA Basketball Under-19 team. "He always says some funny things. He did last summer, too, on the USA team.” Jayhawks sophomore guard Sherron Collins said of Beasley's guarantee, "It's funny to me. He's just basically putting a little more on it (the game's importance). It'll make us get after them. To say something like that … we'll take it all in and not respond. We try to let our game talk for us.” During Big 12 Media Days, Wildcats freshman forward Bill Walker also predicted a KSU victory, and did so with a Mike Gundy flavor. "I'll predict it. I'm not scared to say it. I'm a man,” Walker told the Lawrence Journal-World. "I can live up to my words. I'm saying we'll beat 'em. Both places. "Ah, don't print that, I'm playing,” Bill Walker added. "It'll be a great game this year.” Self said he would discuss Beasley's remarks with his team. "But when a guy is averaging 24 and 13, I think he has the right to talk a little bit,” Self said. [More at newsok.com]
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