Led by freshman sensation Darrell Arthur, who scored 21 points in 22 minutes, the Kansas Jayhawks cruised to a 99-69 victory against the Washburn Ichabods at Allen Field House in Lawrence Thursday night. While Jayhawk forwards Julian Wright and Darnell Jackson combined for 33 points and 19 rebounds, Bob Chipman, Washburn head men’s basketball coach, was most impressed by the play of Arthur, who he referred to in his post game comments as the “freshman of the century.”

Chipman lauded Kansas as “a fabulous group, fun to watch. They play hard on the defensive end, which is a credit to coach Self being able to get players that talented to do all the dirty work. If I wasn’t coaching Washburn, I’d buy season tickets.”

Chipman said that coming in he thought Kansas would get all of their scoring from the perimeter but was surprised by the range and scoring ability of the Jayhawk big men.

“We battled on the boards pretty good and tried to get inside to Frank [Phifer], which I think we did a fairly good job of,” said Chipman. “We’ve been trying to work on our man defense, but when you are trying to guard those guys [Arthur, Wright and Rush], it’s not going to make you look real good.”

The Ichabods led briefly, 6-4, but the Jayhawks went on a 24-4 run and never looked back. Utilizing their speed and athleticism at every position, Kansas built a 49-32 halftime lead. Frank Phifer, Washburn senior forward, paced the Ichabods in the first half with nine points and eight rebounds. In the second half the Ichabods had trouble containing Arthur, who showcased his versatility with a dazzling array of post moves and jump shots.

The Ichabods stayed within 15 points for the majority of the second half but let the game get out of hand late by committing 12 of their 25 total turnovers while shooting only 37 percent from the field. Phifer would prove to be the Ichabods only physical presence inside, tallying a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds, including 12 of 14 from the foul line. Paul Byers, Washburn sophomore forward, scored 10 points, and Brady Sisk, Washburn junior forward, added nine points and five rebounds.

Phifer, who transferred from Kentucky Wesleyan missed all of last season with a broken ankle, acknowledged after the game he still wasn’t 100 percent healthy.

“I was nervous coming back from my injury,” said Phifer. “But the main thing was I wanted to see how I would perform against good competition, and see how my legs would hold up. The competition was at a high level and it was a good experience.”

The Ichabods, who return 11 players from last year’s 10-16 team that was decimated by injuries, were picked to finish fourth by MIAA coaches. Last season marked Chipman’s first sub .500 season in his 27 years of coaching at Washburn.

Ichabod newcomers projected to be impact players this season are Mike Williams, senior guard, who transferred to Washburn from Northern Iowa, and Garret Hargett, junior guard, who transferred to Washburn from Kirkwood County Community College in Iowa.

“Whenever we get to play these guys it really allows us to have a good year,” said Chipman. “The money part of it is nice, and the recruiting part of it is nice, but the actual playing shows you what we can do and what we need to work on.”

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