Fans Ring In Hoops Season At Late Night In The Phog

Oct. 12, 2012

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Basketball season officially opened for both the Kansas men’s and women’s basketball teams Friday evening with the 28th annual Late Night in the Phog in a packed Allen Fieldhouse.

The 2012 edition of Late Night in the Phog began at 6:30 p.m., with the KU Cheer team taking the floor to perform a dynamic routine. Big Jay and Baby Jay then took part in an obstacle course skit that had Baby Jay coming out as the winner.

Kansas track and field star Diamond Dixon was honored for her Olympic gold medal performance before the women’s basketball team took the court for their skit. The Jayhawks were divided into three different dance groups with the quartet of Tania Jackson, Bunny Williams, Carolyn Davis and CeCe Harper winning a gold medal from Dixon for their performance to Usher’s `Yeah’ on a vote from the boisterous crowd.

The women’s basketball team then came back out to James Naismith Court for a 12 minute scrimmage. The Crimson team, featuring senior All-America candidates Angel Goodrich and Carolyn Davis, defeated the Blue team, 21-12. Davis led all scorers with six points off of 3-of-4 shooting from the field, while sophomore Asia Boyd added five points and Goodrich had two points, two steals and two rebounds for the Crimson team. Sophomore Natalie Knight and junior Markisha Hawkins each chipped in four points for the Blue team.

Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self addressed the crowd before his team took the court for their turn at showing off their dance skills. The Jayhawks performed in three separate groups before the entire team made its way to center court to show off their individual skills. The highlight of the dancing for the men’s basketball players was the four-member senior class dancing to `Gangnam Style’ by Psy. Individually, freshman Rio Adams stole the show.

Following the dancing portion of the evening for the men’s team, the Jayhawk senior class of Kevin Young, Elijah Johnson, Travis Releford and Jeff Withey delivered the Jayhawk Top 10, which concluded with the number one reason to attend Kansas being the amazing fan support.

Before the Jayhawks closed the evening with a 20 minute scrimmage, the 2012 Big 12 Conference Championship and Final Four banners were dropped for the fans in Allen Fieldhouse.

It was a tight battle early in the scrimmage as the Blue team held a four-point lead at the midway mark, but the Crimson team came back behind 11 points from Johnson and 10 points from Withey to take a 36-28 win. Withey pulled down seven rebounds and also grabbed two steals for the winning team, while freshman Perry Ellis added six points and three boards.

Young led the Blue squad with nine points and four caroms, while redshirt freshmen Ben McLemore and Jamari Traylor each chipped in six points.

The Kansas women will open the 2012-13 season with an exhibition game in Allen Fieldhouse versus Washburn on Sunday, Oct. 28 at 2 p.m., while the men’s team will host Emporia State in its exhibition opener on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m.