A season that started with 305 Division I basketball teams is now down to 16. This time next week, there will be four. But first things first. Here are the notes for the Kansas men's basketball team.

Flakes are people, too: Would you call a 6-foot-10, 250-pound man a flake? Kansas coach Roy Williams seems to have no problem when it comes to junior center Scot Pollard.

"He's a good-natured flake," Williams said. "He's one of those kids you just enjoy being around. He enjoys life and really is a pleasure to be around."

Not to say that Pollard is oblivious to a lot going on around him, but after a 20-point performance against Kansas State Feb. 7, Pollard said, "Twenty? Wow, that's a lot of points."

With a little help from LaFrentz: Along with the 6-10 Pollard, Kansas comes to Denver with 6-11, 220-pound Raef LaFrentz.

"He has the ability to score, and we need him to do that," Williams said. "He's got a good touch and long arms which makes him a force, offensively."

LaFrentz is KU's scoring and rebounding leader. He was named to the All-Big Eight Tournament team after a three-game stretch in which he scored 48 points and used those long arms to pull in 31 rebounds

Trivia Tidbit: LaFrentz gets his first name from a character in the George Peppard movie, "Home From the Hill."

Reg-gie, Reg-gie, Reg-gie: Arizona point guard Reggie Geary was a little upset over the weekend that he wasn't getting the respect he thought he deserved from the media. Perhaps the media should speak to Williams more.

"I love watching him play," Williams said of the UA leader. "He sets the tone for his team on offense and defense. He leads by example."

Coach, what about Reggie's comment that he's the best defensive player in the nation?

"I'd like to have 10 kids like that on my team," he said. "I've never had a kid who played too much defense."

Watch out, they spit: Some athletes are superstitious. Some have odd habits to try and bring them good luck before a contest. Roy Williams likes to spit into rivers. In 1992, Williams took it upon himself to spit into the Mississippi River before a big NCAA Tournament game in St. Louis. With another big game approaching and no rivers in Denver, Williams would seem to have a problem.

"I probably won't do any spitting unless somebody tells me it's good luck to spit on the Rocky Mountains," he said.

This, that, and the other: Kansas was 3-0 this year against a team whose mascot is the Wildcat. All three victories came against Kansas State... Kansas is 2-0 against UA € the last meeting coming in the 1981-82 season.