Youthful Kansas visits Stillwater

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -- Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton's scouting report on Kansas is that the Jayhawks are talented but young. And, it appears, getting younger. <br><br>Coach Roy Williams

Sunday, February 6th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -- Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton's scouting report on Kansas is that the Jayhawks are talented but young. And, it appears, getting younger.

Coach Roy Williams used three freshmen in his starting lineup Saturday for the first time since 1982-93 as the 15th-ranked Jayhawks rolled to an 87-62 victory over Texas Tech. Kirk Hinrich started for sophomore Jeff Boschee at guard, and Drew Gooden took Eric Chenowith's place in the front court.

Nick Collison, another freshman who has been starting at forward, opened at center. "I just didn't want to look back in April and wish I'd done something to shake things up," said Williams, who changed his starting lineup for the first time this season. He said he hasn't set his starting lineup for Monday's game at No. 13 Oklahoma State. He also said the fact Tech had yet to win a conference game had no bearing on his decision to start three freshmen. "If we'd have been playing the San Antonio Spurs, I still would have done it," Williams said. "I wasn't focusing so much on Texas Tech as I was on our state of mind."

Oklahoma State's confidence got a boost Saturday as well with an 87-55 victory over Texas A&M. The Cowboys (18-2, 7-1 Big 12) had been playing uninspired basketball -- losing at A&M two weeks ago, getting outscored in the second half by Baylor a week ago, needingto rally to beat Tech on Wednesday -- and needed to play wellentering the final half of the conference season. "We've had the easiest part of our schedule," Sutton said. "You look at the eight games we have left, in all likelihood five of them will be in NCAA tournament and the other two have a great chance to be in the NIT. So every game from here on is going to be a tough team."

Along with Kansas (17-5, 6-2), the Cowboys have two games with Oklahoma, road games against Texas, Missouri and Iowa State, and home games with Nebraska and Colorado. "Everybody on our team has to be ready to play and step up," said Glendon Alexander, who tied a career high with 25 points against A&M, going 6-of-7 from 3-point range. "It's going to be hard games for us. Whoever has that killer instinct more than likely's going to come out victorious."

Kansas has lost three of its past five games, all of them on the road. Monday's game marks a stretch of three games in five days. The Jayhawks lost at Iowa on Thursday, played at home Saturday and now are back on the road. They are led by Kenny Gregory, who was 8-of-8 from the field and scored 19 against Texas Tech.

The Jayhawks lead the Big 12 in scoring, with 82 points per game, but are going up against the top-ranked defense in the conference. Oklahoma State opponents are scoring just 60 points per game. "I think the two teams are pretty evenly matched," Sutton said. "Dating back to when I played, the two biggest games on our schedule have always been the University of Oklahoma and University of Kansas. It's always been a special game."

Players on both teams are sporting new haircuts. All but one member of Oklahoma State's team shaved his head Friday night. Chenowith, Collison and backup center Jeff Carey took the floor Saturday with buzz cuts that matched Jeff Boschee's. "Some of the guys look pretty good," Sutton said. "I was grading 'em. It went all the way from C to A-minus. "Some of our players need to go to the tanning booth, though, and tan up a little bit on their head. It might look better."