In Manning, Kansas Finds the Right Man : North Carolina State’s Latest Run for the Title Ends, 75-67

It is difficult to find fault with Danny Manning, Kansas’ smooth, 6-foot 11-inch, sophomore forward. But nit-pickers have said in the past that he doesn’t assert himself as much as he should.

That’s not a valid criticism now--if it ever was.

Manning got his team to the Final Four Sunday afternoon at Kemper Arena with a 10-point scoring outburst in less than three minutes late in the second half as Kansas beat North Carolina State, 75-67, in a tight, well-played game that was for the NCAA Midwest Regional championship.

Manning scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half after playing only 12 minutes in the first half. He had two fouls early and Coach Larry Brown was saving him.

So Kansas (35-3), the No. 2-ranked team in the country, will play No. 1-ranked Duke next Saturday afternoon in the NCAA semifinals at Reunion Arena in Dallas.

As for North Carolina State, it couldn’t repeat its Cinderella scenario of 1983 when it dodged one bullet after another to win the national championship.

Still, it was a long run for Coach Jim Valvano’s team, which had lost six of seven games coming into the tournament and then got hot to get to the Final Eight.

North Carolina State (21-13) controlled the tempo to its liking most of the game. The Wolfpack kept it close with a 3-2 zone defense, kept the Jayhawks from getting into their transition game and seemingly was in a commanding position with a 57-52 lead with 8:53 remaining.

That’s when Manning, the outstanding player of the Midwest Regional and the Big Eight, took over. He scored Kansas’ next 10 points.

Manning’s run began on a 12-foot jump shot from the side, then he scored on a driving layup, a follow shot, a baseline jumper and four-foot shot in the lane.

North Carolina State could only counter with a free throw during Manning’s surge and trailed, 62-58. The Wolfpack kept it close for a while, but Greg Dreiling, Kansas’ 7-1 center, who hadn’t been much of a factor in the tournament, asserted himself like Manning.

Dreiling scored nine of his 19 points and took some crucial rebounds in the last five minutes as North Carolina State, a previously poised, but young team, just couldn’t stay with Kansas.

When the Jayhawks made their move, the Wolfpack became a little impatient, according to Valvano.

“Our game plan was to keep the game in the 30s at halftime (Kansas led, 35-33) and in the 60s in the second half,” Valvano said. “I was confident when we had a 57-52 lead. I thought we had it.

“But the next three possessions were critical for us. Ernie Myers missed a free throw, Chris Washburn got called for traveling and we then let Manning get loose on the baseline. Then, our zone defense broke down and we didn’t slide enough.”

There was also a charging foul called on guard Nate McMillan that seemed questionable when N.C. State was clinging to a 57-56 lead with 7:54 to play.

Valvano didn’t seem to have many regrets, though. His team which features 6-11 sophomore center Washburn and 6-10 freshman forward Charles Shackleford went farther than anyone expected.

“I always want a game to live up to the expectations of a final game and I certainly thought this one did,” Valvano said.

Brown returns to the Final Four for the second time. He got there in 1980 with UCLA, but that was a young team featuring four freshmen. His Kansas team, which has won 16 straight games, is basically a veteran group and properly balanced.

Guard Calvin Thompson and reserve forward Archie Marshall carried Kansas in its 96-86 overtime win over Michigan State Friday night. Manning and Dreiling were the catalysts Sunday.

“I thought our kids played great in a situation where they had to adjust a lot,” Brown said. “We got into the game that North Carolina wanted us to play (a half-court game). And we got into foul trouble in the first half and my thought was to get out of the half with only one big man with three fouls.”

Dreiling had three fouls in the first half and Brown resorted to a zone to protect him and also ordered his team to rub time off the 45-second clock.

Brown had said at a pre-game press conference that Dreiling, a senior who started his college career at Wichita State, would have his greatest game. If Brown was trying to pump up his big center, who is sometimes maligned, it worked.

Dreiling had 12 rebounds to go with his 19 points, well above his season averages.

North Carolina State is a team with a future. Washburn, who had 17 points and Shackleford, who got 20, will be just that much better next season after their NCAA experience.

Valvano said again that he didn’t believe it was fair that the NCAA regionals should be held where a team virtually has a home court advantage. Kansas only had to travel 40 miles from Lawrence and it was supported by a partisan crowd of 16,800.

“I wholeheartedly support the concept of playing on neutral sites, but that isn’t the reason we lost,’ Valvano said. “We could have won here or anyplace else. Of course, Kansas had that yell of ‘Rock Chalk K.U.’ and I still don’t know what it means.”

Brown didn’t agree with Valvano.

“We’re the No. 1 seed in the Midwest. So where are they going to send us?” he said. “The big arenas all over the country deserve to host a regional.”

Brown said before the game that his team would have to shoot well outside because N.C. State “packs it in inside and plays funny zones.”

Manning took care of the outside as well as the inside and Dreiling got inside in the critical, final minutes of the second half.

“Before today’s game we got a pep talk that really helped us,” Manning said. “I was thinking about getting the ball in low and looking for a three-point play against their zone defense. They sagged on us early, creating perimeter jump shots and then in the second half it balanced out and Greg and I did our share inside.”

Brown on Manning: “Nothing he does surprises me. He’s the best player in the country. He plays the whole court. We’re not a one-man team by any means but he’s certainly an important player.”

Kansas has had a remarkable season with only three losses, one inflicted by Duke (92-86) last December in the finals of the NIT in New York.

But it’s a new season now.

There were no hassles Sunday, such as Brown getting a technical foul by brushing his program against an official’s whistle in Friday night’s game.

And it can reported that the malfunctioning clock of Friday didn’t miss a tick Sunday.