By
Ryan Finley
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Chenowith, Boschee needed to combat IU's Williams, Griffin
SAN ANTONIO -- It's not often that Kansas isn't favored, especially in the month of March.
But when the Jayhawks step on the floor of the Alamodome tonight, head coach Roy Williams and his team will find themselves in unfamiliar territory.
For the first time in recent NCAA Tournament history, the Jayhawks will be underdogs, outmatched by an Illinois squad that is bigger and stronger than KU.
"(Illinois' size) presents problems on the backboards for us," Williams
said. "We are concerned from a rebounding standpoint. They are one of the toughest teams we will play against all season."
Worse yet, the Jayhawks find themselves uncharacteristically shallow off the bench in the 2001 tournament. Williams said that he will deploy only three or four reserves today, though it doesn't seem to worry the 13th-year head coach.
"If you have eight guys who can play, then you're all right," he said. "Once you get past nine (players), it's hard because guys wonder why they aren't playing as much."
KU, the Midwest Region's No. 4 seed, will have its hands full with the physical, often frustrating Illini team.
Illinois is led by Marcus Griffin, a physical 6-foot-9 sophomore forward who could give the Jayhawks problems with his size and explosiveness.
If the Jayhawks are to compete with the Illini down low, senior center Eric Chenowith will have to show why he was once considered one of the nation's top players.
In the past two years, the enigmatic 7-foot-1 center from Villa Park, Calif., has gone from hero to goat during his tenure in Lawrence, Kan. Some fans have taken to calling him 'Eric Chenoworthless'.
The senior isn't backing down from Illinois' challenges.
"They can pound it and go inside or go outside," Chenowith said. "We have to control the boards and play strong inside in order to beat them."
If Griffin and the Illini forwards don't get to the Jayhawks, UI's guards likely will.
The Illini's backcourt is led by guard Frank Williams, who will challenge KU junior Jeff Boschee with his quick moves and willingness to shoot. Williams -- a sophomore from Peoria, Ill., -- can try to take over games on his own, something UI head coach Bill Self said he has addressed with the guard that has sometimes tried to do it all.
"I think what we've tried to do as a coaching staff is call him in and lay down some parameters. He has the best imagination of any player I have ever coached. I think he is playing with a free mind right now and is not abusing the freedom he has been given by us coaches."
