No classes no attendance problem at KU

No students? No problem with the atmosphere at Kansas for Wednesday’s league opener against Kansas State.

Playing the Jayhawks presents three major challenges, Wildcats coach Frank Martin said: Counterpart Bill Self and his staff, the players “and the culture they’ve built and the 16,000 in the stands. They don’t let you communicate with your players.”

Classes at Kansas are out until Jan. 17. With the Big 12 schedule starting earlier than ever with the 18-game league slate, many students will miss early action throughout the conference.

But Martin had just broken down film of Kansas’ victory over North Dakota on Saturday.

“I didn’t see an empty seat,” he said.

There wasn’t one. Tickets made available to that game and one against Howard two days earlier were quickly snapped up.

And there are plenty of students in the student sections behind the baskets and the Kansas bench. You wouldn’t have known classes weren’t in session.

Martin and K-State have been in this position recently. The KU-K-State game in Lawrence opened the 2008-09 conference schedule.

Self knows what good thing he has. Allen Field House has been sold out for every home game in his tenure of eight-plus years. The last time Kansas fell short of a sellout was in 2001 and Wednesday’s game will mark the 172nd straight capacity crowd.

“Our atmosphere is pretty good,” Self said. “When our building is good it’s as good as any place anywhere, and I think this will be one of those times.”

AROUND THE BIG 12

THREE IMPACTFUL INJURIES

*Texas A&M’s Khris Middleton has returned from the knee injury that forced him out of the team’s first seven games, but he’s not 100 percent. “There’s swelling and we’ve had to pull him out of practices,” Aggies Coach Billy Kennedy said of his preseason all-league selection.

*Oklahoma State junior wing Jean-Paul Olukemi torn an ACL in Saturday’s home loss to Virginia Tech. He’s the Cowboys’ third leading scorer (9.4) and rebounder (4.8).

*Texas Tech freshman guard Toddrick Gotcher reinjured an ankle last week and is expected to miss action, Red Raiders Coach Billy Gillispie said. Gotcher started Tech’s first eight games and was averaging 7.3 points.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
(Player)
Thomas Robinson, Kansas. The league's sixth 30-point, 20-rebound performance helped Robinson earn his third award this season. Robinson had 30 points and 21 rebounds against North Dakota on Saturday.

(Rookie)
Jordan Tolbert, Texas Tech. Tolbert averaged 19 points and made 15 of 19 field goals in victories over Cal State Bakersfield and Southwestern Louisiana.

BIG 12 POWER RANKING

1.Baylor
2. Missouri
3. Kansas
4. Kansas State
5. Oklahoma
6. Texas A&M
7. Texas
8. Iowa State
9. Oklahoma State
10. Texas Tech