kansas
In a highly charged exhibition matchup on Wednesday night at Allen Fieldhouse, Louisville forward Flory Bidunga faced his former team, Kansas, and left the court with an 89-83 victory. The 6-foot-9 junior from the Democratic Republic of the Congo shared an embrace with former teammate Tre White as the final horn sounded, then received a celebratory hug from current Cardinal DeShayne Montgomery, who was delighted that Bidunga could depart his old arena as a winner.
Bidunga's individual stat line was modest: five points on 2-of-4 shooting (1-of-3 from the free-throw line), three rebounds, one block, and one steal in 28 minutes. Yet his presence was felt far beyond the box score. Before joining the postgame handshake line, Bidunga turned toward the KU student section in the south end zone, waved, and blew a kiss goodbye to the same fans who had booed him during warmups, player introductions, and throughout the contest.
At one point, the students began an obscenity-laced chant that prompted the public-address announcer to intervene at the request of Kansas head coach Bill Self and athletic director Travis Goff. Self, who had hugged Bidunga before tip-off, expressed irritation with the vulgarity. "I actually expected Flory to get booed. Anything beyond that is uncalled for, but I expected him to get booed," Self said. "That's what happens when you transfer — you go back to that place. That's the way it should be. That's what creates interest. Flory knows that. But anything beyond that, I don't agree with at all. Especially when you know he gave us two really good years and he's a terrific kid. If he wasn't any good, nobody would care. People care. That's all part of it. But anything more than that (boos) I wouldn't appreciate."
White described his postgame interaction with Bidunga as a simple sign of respect. "It wasn't like a hug. It was like a dap-up, you know, kind of a good game type of thing," White said. He also offered high praise for his former teammate: "Freak athlete. He had good players around him. I feel like we did a good job on our end tonight, though, making it tough for him. They just capitalized on rebounds and one more play, stuff like that."
Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey commended Bidunga's defensive effort against 6-foot-8 Tyran Stokes and his overall handling of an emotionally charged evening. "With Flory coming back, this place is very special to him," Kelsey said. "It was a difficult week for him because he knew what he was walking into. A part of his heart is here and will always be here, and that made us better. I thought Flory handled it well. He knew what he was walking into, and I think he's relieved to have it over with."
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Kelsey also marveled at the intensity of a game that officially counted as nothing more than an exhibition. The Jayhawks saw their 58-game home winning streak in exhibition play, which dated back to 1993, come to an end. "I can't believe it's the preseason," Kelsey said. "I can't believe that was an exhibition because it sure as heck didn't feel like it. The atmosphere was amazing. Obviously, one of the storied venues in the history of our game. There were storylines and all that stuff in an exhibition game, and when they came out and jumped on us early and went up 10-3 — even if it is an exhibition, that's about as loud as I've heard an arena. We were fortunate to get a win. Big things come out of these, and both teams are healthy." He continued: "There's never been an NBA game in the history of the National Basketball Association that had an exhibition or had an atmosphere in (that) kind of stakes. Stakes is (actually) a bad word because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if you won or lost, but that's what makes college basketball special, and it was really cool."
Originally reported by kansas.