U N I V E R S I T Y D A I L Y K A N S A N
Fanatics: the only true fans
Thank goodness for the student section in Allen Field House.
The first half of the basketball season, I had the luxury of flashing my press pass for a court-side seat at Kansas men's basketball games. This semester I'm the average student, frantically paying, begging and waiting in line for tickets.
It's a transition.
After all, who could ask for anything more than a seat a mere arm's-length away from the action? But believe it or not, sometimes I questioned my vantage point.
GUEST
COLUMNIST
As a reporter, I am supposed to be part of an impartial audience. Yeah, right. Jacque Vaughn makes a
beautiful no-look pass to Raef LaFrentz for the back-door slam. Jerod Haase opens the game nailing consecutive three-pointers. B.J. Williams comes out of nowhere for the tip-in, and Greg Ostertag breaks a record with his 229th career block.
The intensity in the air is so thick at times that it's hard to breathe. And through it all, I sat like a statue with a tremendous smile, despite the urge within me to stand on the table top, clap and scream at the top of my lungs.
It's a whole different ball game in the student section of the field house.
Fans at Kansas basketball games are of varied, interesting breeds. They come in all sizes, all ages, all occupations and all degrees of lethargy. I noticed this most at Kemper Arena at the Power Bar Shootout.
"Women can't play basketball," one man said, shaking his head.
"Who's that?" he said when freshman guard Billy Thomas entered the game. "Roy's already putting in his scrubs."
But then, as if on cue, Angela Aycock dribbled down the length of the court, pulled up and drained a three-pointer. Her form from outside the arc was superior to that of some men I've seen crank up a three.
I was seated in the upper level of the arena. It was not exactly press row, but I was certainly not complaining. Kansas students, who normally unite to form a single droning voice in the field house, were dispersed randomly throughout Kemper. I was anxious to find out exactly who would occupy the seats surrounding me.
I was appalled. First of all, anyone who remotely follows basketball can tell you that the word "scrub" and Billy Thomas definitely don't belong in the same sentence. Anyone who has any class at all wouldn't associate the word "scrub" with Kansas basketball.
"I want to be tall but not that tall," he said of Ostertag's 7-foot-2 frame. "Everyone would think you had to be so good."
But my experience wasn't all bad that day. There were five boys and two dads watching the game in the row behind me, decked out in Kansas attire. They cheered unwaveringly, and when Greg Ostertag was called for his third foul, they all sighed. One boy took off his hat, put it on backwards, shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.
His friends nodded in approval. I nodded, also.
When it comes down to it, there are fans at Kansas, and there are fanatics. The fans are the people who come to the games to say they were at the games. They are followers and admirers who like to talk the talk. But wait in lines for tickets? Camp out? Settle for a basketball game played to less than perfection? Be real.
And then we are Kansas basketball fanatics. According to Webster's, a fanatic is someone "marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense, uncritical devotion." I've never considered myself fanatical about anything. But when it comes to Kansas basketball, I think a lot of us would fit into that category.
The man to my left who rambled on in a monotone voice throughout the game obviously didn't deserve the privilege of watching Kansas play.
A fanatic. That sounds rather nice. Thank goodness for the student section in the field house.
Kansas 91
Iowa State 71
Saturday
Oklahoma St. 94 Missouri 77
Colorado 67 Kansas St. 60
Sunday
Nebraska 71
Oklahoma 59
1. Massachusetts (17-2) lost to George Washington 78-75. Next: at Rutgers, Tuesday.
MONDAY. FEBRUARY 6, 1995
AP Top 3 Men's Results
2. North Carolina (18-1) beat North
Carolina State 82-63. Next: at No. 5.
Maryland. Tuesday.
3. Kansas (17-2) beat No. 11 Iowa
State 91-71. Next: at Oklahoma
State, tonight.
Women's Scores
Friday: Kansas 80 Nebraska 62
Sunday: Kansas 90
Iowa St. 63
Paul Kotz / KANSAN
Friday
Colorado 69 Kansas St. 54
Oklahoma 64 Iowa St. 38
Okla. St. 74
Missouri 51
Kansas junior forward Sean Pearson shoots a jump shot over Iowa State forwards No. 21 James Hamilton, and No. 53 Hurl Beechmur in Allen Field House. Kansas won Saturday's game 91-71 and stayed at first place in the Big Eight Conference.
Arizona 69 Colorado 69 Oklahoma 80 OKla. St. 52 Missouri 57 Kansas St. 53 Nebraska 50
Sunday
1. Connecticut (19-9) beat Providence 89-56; beat Georgetown 94-72.
2. Tennessee (21-1) beat No. 14 Florida 76-69; beat No. 16 Alabama 95-
44.
I. S. Who? 'Hawks pound Cyclones
3. Stanford (17-2) be Oregon 70-57; lost to Oregon State 78-73.
SECTION B
Iowa State loses fourth consecutive
By Christoph Fuhrmans
Kansan sportswriter
Iowa State's shooting difficulties came down to a simple case of cause and effect.
The No. 3 Kansas Jayhawks' stingy defense caused the No. 11 Cyclones to shoot 35 percent from the floor. But even when the Cyclones did get good looks at the basket, they had to deal with the effect of Kansas' Greg Ostertag.
The senior center blocked five shots Saturday and became the all-time leading shot blocker in the Big Eight Conference as the Jayhawks defeated Iowa State 91-71.
Kansas improved to 17-2 overall and 6-1 in the conference, and Iowa State fell to 17-3 and 3-4.
Every time Iowa State had the ball in the first half, it seemed as if the capacity crowd in Allen Field House wanted the Cyclones to pass the ball inside, so Ostertag could block a shot.
A Jayhawk fast break with 4:25 left in the first half readied the crowd for Ostertag's record-breaking block.
Kansas sophomore guard Jacque Vaughn gave freshman forward RaeF LaFrentz a no-look pass, and LaFrentz threw down a vicious one-handed dunk which ignited the crowd.
But the crowd noise increased on Iowa State's next possession when Ostertag blocked two consecutive shots, the first of which broke the record.
"I always wanted to break it at home," Ostertag said. "That made it feel that much better."
Ostertag was a large part of the Jayhawks overall defensive effort which held the Cyclones to their lowest shooting percentage of the season.
Although Williams said he was impressed with Ostertag's record, he said the second of Ostertag's consecutive blocks wasn't too difficult.
"When Greg's in there and if he's alert, which that's a question you have to ask every game, Williams said. 'He's a great defensive rebounder and takes up a lot of space at the same time. I
"I might have been able to block the second one," Williams said jokingly. "I think probably he might have been holding the guy with his other hand."
think that he had a lot to do with some of their shots that didn't go in."
The rest of the Jayhawks had something to do with it, also.
Williams said that he had worked with his players to focus on the mental aspect of playing good team defense. One reason for that was Iowa State senior guard Fred "The Mayor" Hoiberg, who had scored 32 points Jan. 14 against the Jayhawks in a 69-65 Cyclone victory in Ames, Iowa.
"I think it was more of a team thing," Williams said of the Jayhawks' defensive plan against Hoiberg. "But you've got to have somebody willing to take him at first. Jerod really accepted the challenge. He understood that Fred was sensational at Ames, and we couldn't afford that kind of performance."
KANSAS (17-2, 6-1)
Player ftgm /a ftm/ a tp
Pearson 7.19 8.9 24
LaFrentz 4.5 2.2 12
Ostertag 3.4 1.2 7
Vaughn 5.10 3.5 13
Haase 5.11 3.5 13
Pollard 4.5 2.4 10
Thomas 1.5 0.0 2
Williams 2.6 1.2 5
McGrath 2.6 1.2 0
Gurfey 1.1 0.0 2
Whattie 1.1 0.0 0
Branstrom 1.1 1.1 3
Novosel 1.1 0.0 0
| DWASTATI /2/3,6-4 | |
| :--- | :--- |
| Hamilton 0.0 | tp 3 |
| Hamilton 0.0 | tp 3 |
| Holberg 5.12 | 7.10 19 |
| Meyer 1.10 | 0.1 2 |
| Kimbrough 0.4 | 2.2 2 |
| Beechum 7.12 | 2.4 21 |
| Hayes 0.2 | 0.0 0 |
| Mitchell 5.13 | 2.3 13 |
| Milchall 5.13 | 1.2 21 |
| Holloway 0.0 | 0.0 0 |
| Hickman 1.1 | 1.1 3 |
| Modermann 0.0 | 1.3 2 |
| Herbert 2.3 | 1.1 5 |
| Herbert 2.3 | 1.2 2 |
| Harris 0.0 | 0.0 0 |
| Totals | 22.32 73 |
Halftime Kansas 41, Iowa
St. 28 | 8膝 goal Kansas
4-11 | (Lafontz 2, Pearson
2-3, Vaughn 0, Hase 3,
St. 7.1 | 8(Beechman 5-9,
St. 7.1 | 8(Beechman 5-9,
Michalki 1-4) | Rebounds
Kansas 41 (Ostertag 12,
St. 32 | Hoiberg 6)
Assistants 15 (Vaughn
6), Iowa 12 (Kimbrough 5)
Turnovers Kansas 17, Iowa
St. 17 | Attendance 16,300
Neither Hobbern nor the Cyclones other two starting seniors, center Loren Meyer and forward Julius Michalik, had performances similar to their last game against Kansas.
Hoiberg, Meyer and Michalik combined for 33 points and 15 rebounds compared to a total of 59 points and 24 rebounds against the Jayhawks in the first encounter. Unlike the Cyclones, the Jayhawks had an easier time offensively, shooting 59 percent from the floor. Five Jayhawks scored in double figures led by junior forward Sean Pearson's 24 points.
'Hawks enjoy weekend victories
Women's basketball team blasts two Big Eight foes
By Jenni Carlson Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas women's basketball team held no one in suspense this weekend.
The No. 19 Jayhawks dismantled the Nebraska Cornhuskers, 80-62, on Friday night. Sunday afternoon they defeated the Iowa State Cyclones, 90-63. The two weekend victories pushed Kansas' Big Eight Conference record to 6-2 and its overall record to 16-5.
Kansas women's basketball coach Marian Washington said the Jayhawks often lowered their level of play according to their competition. After falling 97-87 on Jan. 28 to No. 1 Connecticut, Kansas has seen it can play with anyone and has set its own goals.
The Jayhawks seemed to do just that as both Big Eight games were decided early. On Friday, Kansas jumped out to a 15-point halftime lead. Nebraska cut the lead to nine before Washington took a timeout.
"If we can focus on us, Kansas, it will help us concentrate on each game." Washington said.
"When something like that happens, teams sort of get tensed up," Kansas junior guard Charisse Sampson said. "That was a good timeout because it gave us a chance to relax and regain ourselves."
Nebraska never cut the lead to single digits again. The Jayhawks went on a 9-2 run after their timeout and extended the lead to 59-43. During that spurt, Sampson had five of her 22 points.
Sampson followed Kansas senior forward
Angela Aycock, who scored 31 points and had a team-high seven rebounds. Aycock came out with guns smoking in the first half, scoring 13 of the Jayhawks first 15 points.
Aycock continued to contribute with 20 points against Iowa State. Three others — Sampson and sophomore guards Tamecka Dixon and Angie Hablebli — scored in double figures.
"When you go out and hit your first shot, it's always easy to throw up the second one," Aycock said. "I was just putting them up, and they were falling for me tonight."
"We must have more than one player score." Washington said. "Defensively, it's more difficult to isolate one player. If you deny one, we've got somebody else."
With the game well in hand, Washington got to take a look at several of her bench players. Freshman guard Tasha King and freshman forward Tamara Gracey both played over 15 minutes. King had five points and two blocked shots, and Gracey pulled down nine rebounds.
The Jayhawks got off the blocks quickly on Sunday. Kansas had a 24-16 lead with 13-22 left in the first half, and led 50-26 at halftime. The closest Iowa State got in the second half was 17 points.
"With the rotation we have, we're able to sub at any given time and keep the flow going," Aycock said.
The improved bench play can be attributed to several quality practices last week, Sampson said. The underclassman saw that they could contribute after Dixon's 30-point performance against Connecticut.
"When they came in they were babies," Sampson said of the bench. "I think they're growing up."
KANSAS (16-5-6-2)
Kansas 90. Iowa St.63
Player fgm/fga ftm/fa tp
Sampson 5-9 4-5 14
Aycock 8-12 2-4 20
Trapp 0-3 0-0 0
Halbleib 5-9 1-3 13
Dixon 8-10 2-3 18
King 1-7 2-2 5
Canada 0-0 1-2 1
Gracey 0-1 4-4 4
Moffite 1-3 2-2 4
Ledet 1-2 2-2 4
Scott 2-2 1-1 5
Dieterich 1-1 0-0 2
Thalmann 0-0 0-0 0
Totals 32-59 21-28 90
IOWA STATE (7-14,0-9)
| Team | 2014-15 |
| :--- | :--- |
| Dedek | 5-9 | 2-4 | 12 |
| Otson | 10-14 | 6-6 | 26 |
| Grimm | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Gunderson | 1-5 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Herbert | 2-7 | 4-8 | 8 |
| Martin | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0 |
| Hand | 2-7 | 3-3 | 8 |
| Lee | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Doten | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3 |
| Hobbs | 1-5 | 0-1 | 0 |
| Hessel | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Totals | 23-52 | 15-24 | 63 |
Haltiitne Kansas 15, Iowa St. 26 3-point goal Kansas 5-20 (Ackley) 2-6, Haliabat 2-6, King 1-5, Sampamor 0-3, Iwaa St. 2.1-1, Hend 1-3, Hobbs 0-5, Gunderson 0-2, Hernd 0-1) Relhoude Kansas 39 (Gracey 9), Iowa St. 29 (Ollion 11) Anastats Kansas 12 (Acyrels 5), Iowa St. 19 (Gunderson 4) Turnover Kansas 19, Iowa St. 23 Attendance 1,233
Valerie Crow / KANSAN
西
Kansas junior guard Charisse Sampson shoots winn Iowa State freshman Janel Grimm and Kansas sophomore forward Jennifer Trapp wait for the rebound.
5