SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 21,1995
Oh, you Sooners!' Hawks lose 76-73
SECTION B
Minor's 28 points lead way in upset
Kansan sportswriter
By Christoph Fuhrmans Kansan sportwriter
NORMAN, Okla. — The three-point shot was not kind to Kansas last night at the Lloyd Noble Center.
The No. 1 Jayhawks shot 29 percent from the three-point line and Oklahoma junior forward Ernie Abercrombie made one three-pointer — his only one for the game, but it was good enough to seal a 76-73 victory for the Sooners.
Kansas fell to 20-4 overall and 9-3 in the Big Eight Conference while Oklahoma improved to 20-6 and 7-4. The Jayhawks' loss gave Oklahoma State a one-half game lead over Kansas in the conference standings.
In a game filled with many exciting moments, none was more exciting than when Kansas coach Roy Williams left the Jayhawks' bench during the second half.
Kansas sophomore guard Jerod Haase dove for a loose ball and slid into the Oklahoma student section. Williams ran towards the students, one of which was taunting Haase, to protect him, and the Kansas bench followed its coach.
"I thought that their fans were putting their hands on him," Williams said of Haase's adventure. "It was the dumbest thing I've ever done, but I'm human. I guess I'm entitled to mistakes."
Williams received his first technical foul of the season, a technical foul for leaving the bench.
Before the technical foul was called, Kansas had gone on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 48-43. The foul did not break the Jayhawks' momentum because after making a free throw, Oklahoma turned the ball over on the free possession. Kansas then went on an 8-3 run that tied the game at 51 with 13:50 left in the game.
The Jayhawks had to come back after a sloppy first half because of their slow start. The Sooners went on a 11-0 run that started at the 12:57 mark when Oklahoma junior guard Dion Barnes converted a three-point play and ended with 11:23 left when Barnes hit a three pointer.
Although the Sooners took only two more shots than the Jahawks, Oklahoma shot 50 percent from the floor while Kansas shot 35 percent. Part of that reason was that 19 of Kansas' 34 first-half shots were three-pointers. Kansas rarely got the ball inside in the first half. Kansas senior center Greg Ostertag, sophomore for
ward Scot Pollard and freshman forward R a e f LaFrentz combined for total of 14 points in the first half.
"W we weren't moving," LaFrentz said of Kansas' three big men. "We have to move to get the ball inside."
O kl a h o m a
a junior forward Ryan
Minor was a major reason why
Oklahoma had a 45-35 halftime lead. Minor scored 17 of his game-half. 88
Oklahoma 76, Kansas 73
KANSAS (20-4, 9-3)
Player fgm/fga ffm/fa tp 5
Vaughn 1-0 0-0 0
Ostertag 3-4 1-1 7
Haase 4-1 4-4 14
Pearson 2-5 0-1 6
LaFrentz 5-7 1-3 11
Pollard 8-11 0-1 16
McGrath 1-2 0-1 3
Williams 1-3 0-0 2
Gurley 1-3 0-0 0
Thomas 3-7 0-0 9
Totals 29-63 6-10 73
OKLAHOMA (20-6.7-4)
points in the first half.
OKLAHOMA (20-6, 7-4)
Onties 5-9 1-2 12
Fowler 2-5 0-0 5
Mayden 2-4 0-0 4
Abrombrie 4-11 2-2 11
Minor 11-20 1-5 28
Cury 1-5 0-0 2
Barnes 5-8 1-3 14
Yanish 0-1 0-0 0
Totals 30-63 8-12 76
Halftime Oklahoma 45, Kansas 35
3-point goals Kansas 9-13 (Thomas
3-7, Pearson 2-5, Hasek 2-8),
Oklahoma 8-21 (Barnes 3-4, Minor 2-
6)
Abercrombie 1-1) Rebelman Kansas
35 (Lafrentz 9), Oklahoma 36 (Abercrombie 10) Anistia Kansas 17
(Vaughn 8), Oklahoma 17 (Onstjes 1)
Total fouls Kansas 17, Oklahoma 2.8
Attendance 11, 385
The game changed, however, when Oklahoma called a timeout at 8:39 of the second half after Kansas had gone on a 12-6 run to take a 63-57 lead. But after the timeout Oklahoma went on a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 63-62. After trading baskets the score was tied at 67 with 52-29 left.
Kansas had a chance to build a small cushion with 2:41 left in the game leading 71-69, but the Jayhawks missed the front end of a one-and-one free-throw opportunity, three times before Abercrombie made his shot with 46 seconds left. Kansas turned the ball over on the next possession when Pollard mishandled a pass from Haase.
"The shot was there." Haase said. "It was something I should be able to hit."
Haase had a chance to send the game into overtime but missed his three-point attempt with time running out.
Kansas sophomore guard Jerod Haase fights with Oklahoma freshman guard Prince Fowler for the ball during last night's game in Norman, Okla. The Sooners beat the Jayhawks 76-73.
Paul Kotz/
KANSAN
Jayhawk baseball has cold start to season
By Tom Erickson
Kansan sportswriter
Unseasonably warm temperatures should help the Kansas baseball players improve much more than their farmer's tans this week.
After several days of indoor workouts at Anschutz Sports Pavilion, the team practiced under the sun yesterday afternoon at Hoglund-Maupin Stadium to prepare for the Rice Tournament. Kansas will play Sam Houston State, Rice and Southwest Texas in a round robin format this weekend in Houston.
Two weeks into the 1995 season, the Jayhawks find themselves struggling with a 1-5 record. Slow starts are not unusual for Kansas, but the team is definitely concerned after dropping three games to Arkansas last weekend.
"We didn't expect that poor of a beginning," Kansas junior outfielder Brian Turney said. "We will be a better team once things get rolling."
Arkansas coupled good hitting Friday and Sunday with a strong pitching performance Saturday to sweep the Jayhawks. Turney said the team's competitive side began to come alive after Friday's 12-10 loss.
"I think as the weekend went on, we competed a lot better," Turney said. "In the last game, we had a lot of good at bats."
Kansas coach Dave Bingham was at a loss for words following Friday's game, in which the team committed five errors.
"I really don't know what to say," he said. "That was awful baseball."
Bingham was impressed with the work of freshmen relief pitchers Michael Terry and Robert Keens in Sunday's game. Poor pitching caused problems for Kansas in their open series Feb. 10-12 in Las Vegas.
"I thought our pitching improved considerably with Mike Terry and Robert Keens," he said. "They'll win some important games for us. We need to talk about where we are going to put them in, but they were very effective."
Terry and Keens combined to hold Arkansas to just two runs and five hits in 6 2/3 innings Sunday. Coming into a game when the team is behind eases the pressure and butterflies, Keens said.
"Both times we came in we were already down," he said. "I just went in to see if I could stay in there and give us a chance to come back and win.
"Nobody is discouraged," he said. "Last weekend was a learning experience for the team. Everybody is going to be fired up this weekend and ready to go."
Jayhawks have team 'cheerleader'
freshman's enthusiastic attitude for the game helps fuel the excitement of the rest of the Kansas women's basketball team.
By Jenni Carlson
Kansan sportswriter
This time the chant was not fueled by an Allen Field House crowd but by a small group of Kansas women's basketball followers at the Hearnes Center in Columbia, Mo., on Jan. 25. But the initiator of the cheer in the Jayhawks' 82-66 defeat of boarder-rival Missouri was not a cheerleader or a fan.
The haunting Rock Chalk Chant resounded throughout the gymnasium as the Jayhawks secured another victory.
However, Kansas sophomore forward Shelly Canada said Scott had energy all the time. Scott vocally encourages her teammates in practice and in games while she sits on the bench.
"I don't know what was wrong with me that game," Scott said with a laugh. "I guess I get hyped up for the games, I was just having fun. I had a lot of enervy that weekend."
It was Kansas freshman center Kova Scott
Scott's words might not always be the most eloquent, but she said she knew her enthusiasm helped her teammates. The players sitting on the bench feed off of Scott. Then when they enter the game, the energy is transferred onto the floor.
"She's got a lot of energy, and it spreads," Canada added. "We always make fun of the corv things that Kova says."
That positive attitude has a snowball effect on the rest of the team. Canada said.
Scott had to adjust to contributing from the sidelines during her senior year at East Plano High School in Plano, Texas. In the first scrimmage of the season, Scott tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee while attempting an open layup. Scott went through surgery and six months of rehabilitation to rebuild her knee so she would be able to play this season at Kansas.
"Even if I don't get a lot of playing time in a game, I feel like I've contributed." Scott said.
But there was a time when Scott had to question whether she would become a Jayhawk.
Three days before Scott injured her knee, she informed the Kansas coaching staff she would sign a national letter of intent to play at Kansas. But she had not signed the letter at the time she injured her knee.
"In this case, I didn't." Washington said. "When you know a young person is positive and a hard worker and you know there's every reason to believe that they're going to come back, that usually outweighs the immediate situation."
Kansas women's basketball coach Marian Washington said coaches often question whether they should continue pursuing and sign the athlete when the player has an injury similar to Scott's.
Washington's decision to sign Scott on the day after her injury is paving dividends.
Scott shows no ill-effects from the tear and has improved her game this season, Washington said.
"I've felt the improvement," Scott said, "I have more confidence on the court, even in practice."
In addition to her vocal encouragement, Scott's contributions are apparent in practice, Canada said.
Valerie Crow/ KANSAN
"She'smade a new commitment to really work hard and get us ready for the type of players we're going to face in the postseason," Canada said.
Koya Scott, Plano, Tex. freshman, guards against players in the game against Oklahoma.
Softball team starts strong Pitching needs work, but Coach says the team will only get better
"We haven't seen too much high-quality pitching yet," Haack said. "The Nebraska pitchers tied us up a bit, and we gave up too many walks. Maybe we've focused a little too much on our defense lately, I'm not sure. When our hitting improves, we'll really get this season off to great start."
By Robert Moczydlowsky Kensan sportswriter
"Overall I thought we did really well," Haack said.
"We started out a little slow, but then we seemed to catch fire. We had some players hitting the ball really well. We played much better than I'd anticipated."
The Jayhawk sticks went cold in the semifinal, however, and Kansas lost to Nebraska 7-1.
Kansas is already in mid-season form defensively,
Haack said.
The Jayhawks hit well against Stephen F. Austin and Tulsa, highlighted by home runs from senior Lora Richardson and freshman Michelle Hubler. Kansas' hot hitting continued Saturday, when Hubler and sophomore Heather Richins both went three for three.
"I experimented with our lineup a little," he said. "We're really very strong in the field. I put Michelle Hubler in at shortstop, and she made play after play. She looked like she was born playing Division I ball."
It's too early to tell, but some signs point toward a banner year for the Kansas football team.
The Jayhawks opened their season with five consecutive wins and some torrid hitting, and coach Kalum Haack said that his team would only get better.
Hubler, who played her high school softball at Shawnee Mission North, said that the college softball environment helped her play better.
Kansas won its first five games at the Texas-Arlington Invitational behind pitching from sophomore Tiffany Blood and senior Bet Robinson.
1
Kansas has almost two weeks before its next game.
"This isn't like high school, where some players aren't as good," she said. "Every player is strong, and the intensity is tremendous."
The Jayhawks will play in the Texas A&M Invitational March 3-5 at College Station, Texas.