Perhaps you have stood near the stage at a U2 show. Maybe you were at Wrigley Field for Kris Bryant’s Game 5 bomb.
Still nothing can prepare you — and nothing can top — the noise level at Allen Fieldhouse when Kansas is in a tight game with a top-five team, fighting to stretch two unreal winning streaks.
"A lot of people claim they have it, and I’m sure they do," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "But I don’t know that anybody has what we have. That is a ridiculously great home court."
A home court where the Jayhawks never — check that, almost never — lose.
Three days after Kansas sent then-No. 2 Baylor back to Waco with a defeat, Iowa State bombarded the Jayhawks on Feb. 4 with a school-record 18 3-pointers. The 92-89 loss ended Kansas’ 51-game winning streak at "The Phog" — which had been the nation’s longest.
"They played with house money," Self said, meaning the Cyclones had nothing to lose because they were at a venue where nearly every opposing team loses.
The third-ranked Jayhawks are 217-10 at home under Self, who left Illinois in 2003 after three excellent seasons. Self went 78-24 in Champaign, shared two Big Ten titles and won six NCAA tournament games.
He left for more money and prestige, to be closer to his Oklahoma roots and to gain obvious recruiting advantages, calling Kansas his "ultimate job."
Illinois fans didn’t like it then, just as many are disgusted by a program likely to miss the NCAA tournament for a fourth consecutive season.
Self, meanwhile, has re-established Kansas as a destination job after the previous two coaches left for other gigs. (The nomadic Larry Brown went to the Spurs, and Roy Williams took over at his alma mater, North Carolina.)
Self’s success goes beyond the astounding numbers — 12 straight regular-season Big 12 titles and a 95.6 home winning percentage. He has both the fire and folksy charm that play well to some of college basketball’s most passionate fans.
"OK, fellas," he opened his news conference after the 73-68 victory over Baylor. "Have at it."
Kansas’ Frank Mason after a win over Baylor
Kansas’ Frank Mason III after a home win over Baylor on Feb. 1, 2017. (Teddy Greenstein/Chicago Tribune).
Kansas’ Frank Mason III after a home win over Baylor on Feb. 1, 2017. (Teddy Greenstein/Chicago Tribune).
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Part of the session was a bit uncomfortable — as it should have been.
Legal issues and questions of conduct have dogged this Kansas team, most notably the news that police are investigating an alleged rape at McCarthy Hall, which houses the men’s basketball team and other students. No suspects have been identified, but five members of the team are listed as witnesses.
Forward Carlton Bragg Jr. was reinstated to the team Monday after a three-game suspension likely stemming from a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. Bragg was granted diversion and had to pay a $300 fee and $63 in court costs.
Guard Lagerald Vick has not missed a game despite a Kansas City Star report that a university investigation determined Vick "likely" hit a female student multiple times in 2015.
Athletic director Sheahon Zenger declined to address any of the charges in a Tuesday interview with the Associated Press, saying merely that Kansas’ athletic department "will forever be committed to its core values."
Said Self: "We don’t have anything to do with how the police do their job, nor would we interfere."
Five minutes into his news conference after the Baylor game, Self unfolded a piece of paper and read a handwritten statement regarding Vick that essentially said he could not comment on whether a university investigation had taken place.
Zenger told the AP that donors have not been asking him about the team’s legal issues, and there were certainly no signs of discontent in the gym Feb. 1.
One fan in the student section took a shot at the alleged rape culture involving Baylor football, holding up a sign that served as a modern-day "Catholics vs. Convicts": Kansas Big 12 "VICTORS" and Baylor Title IX "VIOLATORS."
Another sign read, "BAYLOR RHYMES WITH FAILURE."
Hmmm …
The best sign in the building is a permanent banner that hangs near tributes to the school’s five national titles: 1922, 1923, 1952, 1988 and 2008.
It reads, "Pay Heed, All Who Enter: Beware of ‘THE PHOG.’"
Lagerald Vick, Devonte’ Graham, Josh Jackson, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk,Frank Mason III Reed Hoffmann / AP
Lagerald Vick and teammates Devonte’ Graham, Josh Jackson and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk watch as Frank Mason III shoots free-throws near the end of their win over Baylor on Feb. 1, 2017.
Lagerald Vick and teammates Devonte’ Graham, Josh Jackson and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk watch as Frank Mason III shoots free-throws near the end of their win over Baylor on Feb. 1, 2017.
(Reed Hoffmann / AP)
The writing looks as if it was done by hand, an ode to the original sign that was constructed from dormitory shower curtains by a group of Kansas students before a 1988 game against Duke.
That one is displayed at the Booth Family Hall of Athletics, steps from the basketball court. The spectacular museum is worthy of a program for which Wilt Chamberlain played and Phog Allen coached. Allen learned basketball from Kansas’ first coach, Dr. James Naismith, who invented the game in 1891.
Self’s style, meanwhile, is not authoritarian.
Normally loyal to man-to-man defense, he used a 2-3 zone to upset Kentucky on Jan. 28 at Rupp Arena. Late in the Baylor game, Self huddled his players and asked which style they preferred.
"They said, ‘Guard ’em!’" Self said, "so we went back to man-to-man."
Right answer.
"At his core, Bill loathes to play anything other than tough man-to-man," said Chase Buford, who played three seasons for Self and is now the Bulls’ coordinator of player development.
Buford has played in or watched ball in dozens of gyms but believes "nothing compares" to the Allen Fieldhouse vibe.
"The students create an atmosphere, and Bill ignites the fans with his energy and passion," Buford said. "He likes to get on the officials from time to time. Other coaches feel they have never gotten one good call."
And even that is putting it mildly.
Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg went 2-2 against Kansas in home games at Iowa State but could not win in Lawrence, coming excruciatingly close in 2013.
"It’s the hardest loss I’ve ever had in the regular season," Hoiberg said. "We were up by three with eight seconds left. They come down and (Ben) McLemore banks in a 3. The shot looked so far off that I started to go down to shake Bill Self’s hand. It banked in, and I’ve never been in a louder place. Then they obliterated us in overtime."
Good fortune helped the Jayhawks that day. What else, other than talented players, explains their home dominance?
"Well, you’re playing against eight guys," Hoiberg said, including the officials. "Just kidding."
Yes, that is the generally unspoken opinion from just about every opposing coach.
After his team lost in the final minutes, Baylor coach Scott Drew was asked what makes it so hard to win at Allen Fieldhouse, which is near the center of Kansas’ campus.
Drew paused and looked at the box score.
Free throws …
Baylor: 4-for-6.
Kansas: 20-for-27.
"Well," Drew said, grinning, "they have a great crowd. Everybody feeds off the home crowd."
tgreenstein@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @TeddyGreenstein
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