'Tis the season: 'Late Night,' exhibition play heighten hopes for men's basketball

Fans packed Allen Field House Oct. 11 for Late Night, the 18th annual celebration of the first basketball practice. Following tradition, silliness preceded the scrimmage. Players flashed back to the 1970s, when shorts were short and hair was huge; sophomore Aaron Miles displayed feminine fashion flair; and coach Roy Williams busted a move or two on the floor.

After a dunking display, the Jayhawks got down to business in the scrimmage. Sophomore guard Keith Langford led all scorers with 15 points as Blue beat Crimson, 40-26. Langford was 7-of-10 from the field-including 1-of-3 from three-point range-to go with four rebounds, an assist and a steal. Senior forward Nick Collison chipped in seven points on 3-of-8 shooting for the Blue, while sophomore guard Michael Lee led the Crimson team with seven points.
Kansas, 33-4 overall a year ago, opens the regular season Nov. 19 against Holy Cross in first-round Preseason NIT action in Allen Fieldhouse. In exhibition play, sophomore Wayne Simien led all scorers with 26 points as KU defeated EA Sports, 111-94, Nov. 4 in Allen Fieldhouse.

Following last year's NCAA Final Four appearance, this year's team, chosen by Big 12 coaches and the media to take the conference title, has its eyes set on New Orleans, site of the 2003 Final Four. The Jayhawks are led by seniors and preseason All-Americans Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich and fellow starters Langford, Miles and Simien. Williams also will look to junior forward Bryant Nash, impressive in early-season workouts, and Jeff Hawkins, who had a productive redshirt season. Newcomers Moulaye Niang and Jeff Graves could also provide some much needed backup minutes inside. In the Late Night scrimmage, freshman walk-on Christian Moody was solid on both ends of the court, finishing with six points and six rebounds in 14 minutes for the Blue team.

For far-flung fans who want to listen to Internet audio broadcasts of KU men's and women's games, KU athletics and ESPN+ (operator of the Jayhawk Radio Network) have set up a subscription service through Yahoo! Sports for live and archived Internet audio broadcasts. Season listeners also will be able to tune into weekly press conferences, coaches' shows for Roy Williams and women's coach Marian Washington, and The Jayhawk Report with Athletics Director Al Bohl. The pay-to-listen service is $5.95 per month or $29.95 per year and allows unlimited monthly usage. Fans can access the broadcasts via www.kuathletics.com or sports.yahoo.com.

#top#