SPORTS UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, JANUARY 31, 1995
PAGE 5
Respect? Just ask UConn
No.3 Kansas prepares for Colorado
Something tells me that I may have a good chance getting a sportswriting job in this crazy world in which we live.
Why?
For one thing, you obviously don't need a very good memory to write
sports as evidence by the new Associated Press men's basketball poll released yesterday.
SPORTS EDITOR
According to the majority of sportswriters who voted, Massachusetts is the No.1 team in the country. The Minutemen received 53 first-place votes.
Now, I know
that December is a month some would like to forget, what with Christmas credit card bills coming in and all, but didn't the Kansas Jayhawks defeat Massachusetts rather soundly in that month?
In fact, the lone loss the Minutemen have suffered came at the hands of the Javahaws — hum. interesting.
But it is good to see the Jayhawks move up to No. 3 after their pasting of yet another East Coast team on Saturday. It's amazing that Kansas is that high considering Midwest teams get little or no coverage on a national scope.
Paul Kotz / KANSAN
Take the coverage during the Connecticut game Saturday. During the break between the women and the men's game in the PowerBar Shootout at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo., commentators couldn't say enough about the Huskies from the East. CBS did a special segment about how Huskie fans are going crazy for their team in Connecticut.
There's the first problem. Saturday's game was in Kansas City, 35 miles away from one of the better college basketball towns in the country. James Naismith, the inventor of the game, was Kansas' first coach for goodness sake. CBS easily could have come into Lawrence a day before the game to do a, dare I say, balanced piece to contrast with the Connecticut special. But no, instead the network shows Huskie Fever — lai-frickn'-da.
And of all things, ESPN was even guilty of forgetting the Jayhawks. During SportsCenter, the Kansas-Connecticut highlights were like an afterthought. And in these instances, the key is to listen to how commentators describe the game and even the score. On ESPN, it was "Kansas beat UConn 88-59," instead of "Kansas thrashed the Huskies 88-59," which is what the Jayhawks did in no exaggeration of terms.
Maybe this is a turning point for Kansas and the Big Eight Conference. Maybe the Midwest can finally get some name recognition.
It doesn't take a Pulitzer Prize winner to describe a 29-point victory as a thrashing, especially when the game pretty much was decided after the first seven minutes.
The Midwest may never get the recognition it deserves until Kansas City grows by about 4 million people or New York City suddenly loses the same amount.
Maybe not.
At least the AP voters have the right ratio of Big Eight teams in the poll. Six Big Eight teams received votes in this week's poll, compared to four of 10 Big East teams. That's good, but unfortunately when NCAA Tournament time rolls around, those eastern teams always seem to sneak in past a possibly better Midwest team.
So if anything, the Jayhawks were playing for conference respect Saturday, and they earned it in a big way.
"I'm not sure I could have predicted that at all," Kansas sophomore guard Jacque Vaughn said. "What I would predict is that we'd come out very intense. We had to. We didn't want to get embarrassed.
"We want people to know some good basketball is played in Lawrence, Kansas."
Entering the season, I knew as did many others, that Kansas would be the front runner for the conference championship.
But I wasn't sure if the Jayhawks were a NCAA championship contender.
Now I'msure.
Kansas sophomore guard Jacque Vaughn attempts to elude Connecticut's Kevin Ollie in Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo. The Jayhawks beat the Huskies 88-59 on Saturday, but will continue their Big Eight Conference schedule at 7:05 tonight against the Colorado Buffaloes in Allen Field House.
Kansas guard battles the best
Ostertag goes for Big Eight shot blocking record tonight
Kansas senior center Greg Ostertag could become the all-time leading shot blocker in Big Eight Conference history tonight - if he blocks four shots.
The Jayhawks, who climbed to No. 3 in the Associated Press poll after they defeated Connecticut 88-59 on Saturday, will play Colorado at 7:05 tonight in Allen Field House. Kansas is 15-2 overall and leads the Big Eight with a 4-1 record while Colorado is 16-0 and 1-4.
Ostertag blocked four shots on Saturday to bring his career total to 225. Former Oklahoma star and current Minnesota Timberwolves player Stacey King holds the record with 228 blocks. When Kansas defeated Colorado 91-77 on Jan. 21 in Boulder, Colo., Ostertag blocked three shots.
Ostertag said that although he wanted to break the record, defeating Colorado was the most important goal.
The Big Eight race also is the most important thing for Kansas coach Roy Williams, who said that he had stressed to his players not to have a letdown after Saturday's highly-publicized Connecticut game.
But because Kansas defeated Connecticut by such a large margin, 29 points, there is a chance that the Jayhawks could overlook the Buffaloes.
"Everyone else in this locker room expected it to come down to free throws at the end," he said.
Ostertag said that he didn't expect the Connecticut game to be such a blowout.
the fact that the game was not decided on free-throw shooting probably was best for the Jayhawks, who now are shooting a conference-low 64 percent from the free-throw line.
like his normal high-scoring self. Although he scored 25 points against the Jayhawks when the two teams met in Boulder, the Buffalo shots a season-low 36 percent from the floor. In contrast, the Jayhawks shot a season-high 55 percent.
Although Colorado hasn't won in the house since 1983, there is a good chance that Colorado senior guard Donnie Boyce will act
Dixon creates for teammates outplays All-America candidates
"I'll put it on these guys' shoulders, and we'll see what they act like on Tuesday night," he said.
By Christoph Fuhrmans
Kansan sportswriter
Kansan sportswriter
But Colorado still kept the game close when it closed to within two points after trailing by 12 at halftime.
"We knew we couldn't back down because of the Colorado game," he said.
By Jenni Carlson
Kansas sophomore forward Scot Pollard said the Jayhawks used the experience against the Buffaloes as a motivational tool against Connecticut in the second half, Saturday.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The women's game at Saturday's PowerBar Shootout featured two of the country's premier players.
Paul Kotz / KANSAN
The Huskies probably wished Dixon's return could have been delayed. After the injury, Dixon scored 12 of her 30 points, and the Jayhawks nearly sent the Huskies home with their first loss of the season.
Not only did Dixon and her Kansas teammates play in front of asell-out Kemper Arena crowd and a national television audience Saturday, but Dixon's father, Russell Bowers, was in attendance. Bowers, a former collegiate standout, sat directly behind the Jayhawks' bench and was able to yell advice to his daughter.
She went to the bench, had her neck iced and checked back in with 11:02 left in the game.
Kansas senior forward Angela Aycock was named a pre-season All-American and is averaging 22.9 points a game. She also leads Kansas in minutes played, assists and steals.
Connecticut senior center/forward Rebecca Lobo earned Kodak All-America first team accolades last season after blocking a Division I-leading 131 shots.
Dixon's 30-point performance was nearly cut short, though, by an injury mid-way through the second half. During a scramble for the ball, Dixon said she was hit by an elbow to the back of her neck, which left her feeling dizzy and light headed.
"I wanted to prove to myself and to the rest of the country I could play with any guard in the country." Dixon said.
Tuesday, January 31
at TollHouse 13.1 on
Sunflower Cablevision
Dixon said going head-to-head against Connecticut junior guard Jennifer Rizzotti was added incentive to play her best basketball.
Both were upstaged, though, in the No. I. Huskies '97-87 win against the Jayhawks. Kansas sophomore guard Tamecka Dixon scored a career-high 30 points, dished out a team-high six assists and blocked two shots.
"It frees you up a lot." Aycock said. "We didn't have to work as hard."
"I just didn't want to lose," Dixon said. "I went out and played hard with confidence."
Dixon also freed up several of her teammates, particularly Aycock. The Huskies' focus on Aycock was diverted because of the sophomore guard. Aycock said she did not have to go one-on-one or fight through a collapsing Husky defense that often.
With that height disadvantage, Kansas had to use its quickness. Dixon said she was able to drive and create offensive opportunities. She could either take a shot herself or dish the ball to a teammate.
The Huskies' height forced the No. 17 Jayhawks to rely on their perimeter play. In addition to the 6-foot-4 Lobo, Connecticut sophomore center Kara Wolters towered above Kansas at 6-foot-7. The tallest Jayhawk to play in the game was Avcock at 6-2.
"When I came out of the game, he said, "Tanecka, go straight up on your jump shots," Dixon said. "That was it."
"Her job today was just an example of what she's capable of doing." Avcock said after the game Saturday.
"We knew we couldn't get the ball inside," Kansas junior guard Charisse Sampson said. "Tamecka did a lot of creating. Personally, I think she was a big key."
Kansas sophomore guard Tamecka Dixon goes airborne during Kansas' game against No. 1 Connecticut in the Powerbar Shootout. Dixon had a career-high 30 points on Saturday.
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses and records through Jan. 29.
Men's AP Top 25
rank team record pts. pr
1.UM5 (53) 15-1 1,583 1
2.UC(10) 16-1 1,584 3
3.Kansas (3) 15-2 1,528 7
4.Connecticut 15-1 1,374 2
5.Maryland 15-1 1,327 8
6.Kentucky 13-3 1,231 5
7.UCLA 12-2 1,215 4
8.Akansas 16-4 1,197 9
9.Michigan St. 14-2 1,148 10
10.Syracuse 15-2 1,132 6
11.Iowa St. 17-2 1,026 11
12.Arizona 15-4 963 12
13.Georgetown 14-3 758 14
14.Wake Forest 12-4 685 16
15.Virginia 12-5 618 15
16.Arizona St. 14-5 586 13
17.Stanford 13-3 527 17
18.Missouri 14-3 493 20
19.Villainova 13-5 462 22
20.Aabama 14-5 342 —
21.George Tech 13-6 325 21
22.Oregon 12-4 168 19
23.Cincinnati 15-6 166 19
24.Okiahoma 15-4 144 25
25.Florida 10-6 104 23
Other receiving voice: California 98, Oakland St. 73, St. Louis 74, Minnesota 50, Brigham Young 49, W. Kentucky 32, New Mexico St. 30, Utah 60, Ohio U. 18, Burdure 28, N.C. Charlote 27, Tulane 24, Utah 18, Mississippi St. 21, Penn St. 19, Tuza 14, Penn 13, Louisville 11, Memphis 11, Texas 10, Xavier, Ohio 10, Albums 8, Indiana 6, Clemens 4, Washington St. 4, Iowa 2, Nebraska 4, Santa Clara 2.
Source: The Associated Press
Women's AP Top 25
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' women's college basketball poll, with first place votes in parentheses.
rank team record pts. pts. pr
1. UConn (32) 17-0 801. 1
2. Tennessee 19-1 767 3
3. Stanford 16-1 730 4
4. Colorado 16-2 669 5
5. North Carolina 19-1 649 3
6. Texas Tech 19-2 642 7
7. Louisiana Tech 16-2 605 8
8. Vanderbilt 17-4 583 9
9. W. Kentucky 16-1 583 6
10. Penn St. 15-3 524 10
11. Georgia 16-1 503 11
11. Virginia 15-3 454 12
13. Washington 15-5 372 15
14. Duke 16-2 307 21
(te) Florida 16-4 307 13
16. Alabama 16-4 297 14
17. Mississippi 15-3 256 16
18. George Wash 15-3 248 19
19. Kansas 14-5 245 17
20. Texas A&M 14-4 217 18
21. Purdue 14-6 171 22
22. Arkansas 14-4 128 —
23. DePau 14-2 100 —
24. Southern Cal 11-2 90 —
25. Oklahoma 14-4 32 —
(te) Hensall Hall 14-4 32 —
Others receiving votes: Old Dominion 28, Southern Miss, 22, Wisconsin 17,
Fla. International 15, San Diego St. 13,
Oklahoma St. 12, Virginia Tech 12,
Oregon St. 11, Auburn B, Clemson 5,
Oregon St. 3, Tennessee St. 3, Arkansas
St. 3, Drake 2, Ohio U. 2, Tulane 2,
Harvard 1, Maine 1, Ohio St. 1, St.
Source: The Associated Press KANSAN
Basketball tickets have wrong date
Tonight's men's basketball game against Colorado in Allen Field House was printed wrongly on students' tickets. The game will be played at 7:05 tonight, not tomorrow as the tickets would suggest.
The tickets were printed with the date Feb.1 on them instead of Jan.31, as they should have been.
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