SPORTS UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 1995
Believe Shootout build-up
SECTION B
Public Enemy, a popular rap group,
wrote a song called "Don't Believe the
Hype," and maybe Kansas men's basketball coach Roy Williams has been listening to it as he prepares the Jayhawks for their game tomorrow.
I'm going out on a
I'm going out on a limb here by saying that Roy is not a serious rap fan, but his comments about the PowerBar Shootout, which pits the Kansas men's and women's teams against the delegation from Connecticut, show some similarities to Public Enemy's song.
SPORTS EDITOR
The Kansas
THE POWERBAR SHOOTOUT
The women, ranked No. 17, will open the doubleheader at 12:30 p.m. against the No.1 team in the nation. The No.7 Kansas men follow at 3 p.m. against the No.2 men's team in the country.
It is a well known fact that journalists are not mathematicians. But I think the numbers above seem to indicate something — BIG GAMES for both jayawk squads.
When the lowest-ranked team in the twin bill is No.17, the event definitely is special.
Williams has been stressing to the media, the fans and his players that he doesn't give a flip (Roy's actual words) about this game.
From a coaching standpoint, the words make sense. No coach wants one game, especially a nonconference game scheduled right in the middle of a tight Big Eight Conference race, to be unduly important. But saying you don't give a f tip - those are serious words.
That's fine. But the problem is, Roy, the rest of the country is hyping this game, and rightfully so.
Dean Buchan, Kansas sports information director, said that newspapers such as the New York Times, The Boston Globe and The Dallas Morning News would be covering the game. To me, that means big with a capital B.
The Jayhawks already have defeated then-No.1 Massachusetts. It really would make both Kansas and the conference look strong to those who may not have thought much of its standing before this game.
I'm not saying that Kansas should emphasize this game more than any other. But if there is one good thing to play, it's to gain the Midwest some respect in the eyes of these national sportswriters.
I'm sorry, but how can fans get excited about a Kansas-Rhode Island game every season?
I love this PowerBar Shootout idea. I'm already excited anticipating it. The men's matchup with Connecticut replaced the weak Golden Harvest Classic tournament that the Jayhawks usually had played host to every year. Thank goodness.
The only thing I don't like is that this weekend's games are not being played at Allen Field House. Instead, both Kansas teams will play in another state, and the Jayhawk faithful won't be able to display to the nation the true greatness of our basketball university.
Kansas fans need to show these East-Coast bigwigs what real basketball is. There seems to be a feeling next to the Atlantic Ocean that teams in the EAST play a better brand of basketball than Midwest teams.
But I know that Kansas fans will be in the majority at Kemper Arena.
Why? Because many of the nation's big newspapers and cities dot the East Coast. You really can't blame them, though. That is the only basketball most of the writers and fans see.
By the way...Kansas will win both games.
Kansas women win 65-
64...Kansas men win 84-73.
Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, you Big East Conference fanatics.
From the badlands of Connecticut
Source: KANSAN Staff Research
'Hawks are ready to claw No.2 Huskies
The
Jayhal known for their talented frontcourt, must deal with two high-scoring Connecticut guards on Saturday.
By Christoph Fuhrmans Kansan sportswriter
Paul Kotz / KANSAN
The No. 7 Jawahars, 14-2 overall and 4-1 in the Big Eight Conference, will play the No. 2 Huskies, 15-0 and 8-0 in the Big East Conference, at 3 p.m. in Kemper Arena, in Kansas City, Mo.
The Jayhawks have lost only once on national television this season, an 80-61 drubbing by Indiana in Bloomington. Ind.
The national spotlight will be on Kansas for the sixth time this season tomorrow when the Jayhawks take on the Connecticut Huskies.
ana, the Jayhawks played a .500 team backed into a corner trying to protect a 46-game winning streak at home, which at that time was the longest such streak in the nation.
But Kansas also defeated then- and now No. 1 Massachusetts in Anaheim, Calif., 81-75.
Kansas lost at Assembly Hall because of the Jayhawks inability to score inside. Kansas senior center Greg Ostertag, sophomore forward Scot Pollard and freshman forward Raef LaFrentz, were outscored 51-22 by Indiana senior forward Alan Henderson and sophomore forward Brian Evans.
Tomorrow's game against the Huskies resembles the victory against the Minutener rather than the loss to the Hoosiers. Kansas again will be playing a highly ranked opponent on a neutral court, even though Kemper Arena is the Jayhawks home away from home. In di
Against Indi-
Kansas sophomore guard Jerod Haase said that he and his teammates had learned from the loss.
Kansas sophomore guard Jerod Haase attempts a slam dunk over Missouri's Paul O'Neill. Haase said he was looking forward to tomorrow's UConn game.
"We've stressed getting the ball inside, and we're a lot better when we're balanced," he said.
The Jayhawks will need everything balanced to hand the Huskies their first loss of the season. Connecticut also has beaten a then highly ranked team on a neutral court, defeating the Duke Blue Devils, who still had Coach Krzeyzewski, 90-86 on Nov. 29 in Auburn Hills, Mich.
Haase and sophomore guard Jacue Vaugh must contain the Huskies backcourt of senior guards Kevin Ollie and Brian Fair and sophomore guard Doron Sheffer. Ollee, Fair
Ostertag, Pollard and LaFrentz will have to deal with Connecticut sophomore forward Ray Allen, senior forward Donny Marshall and junior center Travis Knight. Allen, Marshall and Knight are averaging a combined total of 45.1 points and 20.4 rebounds a game.
Kansas coach Roy Williams said he wanted the team to learn from the recognition.
and Sheffer average a combined total of 30.8 points and 13.7 assists a game.
"There is no question that they have great guards," Haase said. "It will be great to see how we match up to them. We have a quality frontcourt and a great backcourt, so I'm not worried if we don't get recognition."
"Hopefully, we can use this game to
tell us what we need to continue to work on," he said. "It appears it's going to be an NCAA atmosphere-type game. Hopefully we'll learn something from that."
Ostertag said that he would not take tomorrow's game lightly just because the Jayhawks would not be playing a Big Eight team.
"All games are still important whether we play UConn or St. Mary Sisters of the Blind," he said.
Women's team gets first shot at television victory
By Jenni Carlson
Lisa Perrv / KANSAN
Three out of four isn't bad, but the Kansas women's basketball team wants more.
Kansan sportswriter
The No. 17 Jayhawks have played four ranked teams this season, defeating all but one of them. They beat Virginia, DePaul and Southern Mississippi but lost their November game against Florida.
"When we play teams ranked higher than we are, we come out and play our best," said Kansas junior guard Charise Sampson.
Kansas junior Charisse Sampson attempts a shot as Missouri junior Mandy Broy guarders her, and Kansas' Koya Scott looks for a pass.
If Sampson's statement holds true, the Jayhawks may play their best basketball of the season in tomorrow's PowerBar Shootout. Kansas will meet the undefeated, No. 1 Connecticut Huskies at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo.
The game will be televised live at 12:30 p.m. on CBS, which marks the Kansas women's first appearance on national television.
"Win or lose, we have it a lot to gain," said Kansas senior forward Angela Aycock. "It's just great we get a chance to face the No. 1 team. It's just going to be good for us, good for our program."
The Huskies have played on local and national television in the past. Their national exposure this season included a victory over then-No. 1
Tennessee on ESPN.
In addition to the Huskies' top ranking, Lobo is one of the best players in the country. As a junior, she was honored as a member of the Kodak and USA Today All-America First Teams. She also blocked 131 shots, more than any other woman in Division I basketball last year.
"We were excited to play No. 1," said Connecticut senior center and forward Rebecca Lobo. "It gave us a chance to see how good we were."
"I don't think she can be stopped," Aycock said. "I think it's a matter of trying to contain and limit the others around her."
Kansas will get that same chance tomorrow.
Defending the remaining Huskies will be a tall order as well. Kara Wolters, 6-foot-7 center, is four inches taller than any Kansas player. In all, Connecticut lists seven players six feet tall and over.
Because of Connecticut's size advantage, Kansas will depend heavily on two factors. First, the perimeter play of Aycock, Sampson, sophomore guard Tamecka Dixon and sophomore guard Angie Hallebib is key.
ing averages, respectively.
"We need to play strong defense and try to control people like Angela," Lobo said. "I respect Angela as a player and as a person."
Halbleib averages more than two three-pointers a game, while Dixon dishes out three assists. Aycock and Sampson have the Big Eight Conference's first and fourth highest scor-
Second, Kansas must use its team speed against Connecticut. Sampson said the Jayhawks' interior players could run as well as the guards and would be instrumental in wearing the Huskies down.
"We've got to try to get them to run
*Under those conditions, I think
As Connecticut made their climb to the top, anticipation surrounding tomorrow's game began to rise. Kansas women's basketball coach Marian Washington said fielding questions about the Huskies had been a distraction while playing Big Eight games.
with us," Sampson said. "We have to see if their post players can run with our host players."
the team has done really well, but it has been a challenge," Washington said.
"I really think we have a chance to win—the whole team does," Dixon said.
NOTES: With 1.6 points in Kansas' 82-66 victory against Missouri, Sampson became the 10th player in Kansas women's basketball history to score more than 1,000 points.
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