THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2008
SPORTS | 3B
Five games to watch this week
Wednesday, Feb. 6
Texas at Oklahoma 6:00 p.m., ESPN2 Oklahoma needs this home win to pad its NCAA tournament resume. Texas needs it to stay within striking distance of Kansas.
Nebraska at Kansas State 7:00 p.m., FSNMW K-State followed its victory against Kansas with a clunker at Missouri. How will the Wildcats respond back at Bramla Coliseum?
Saturday, Feb. 9
Texas A&M Missouri 12:30 p.m., ESPN Plus Texas and K-State have already been casualties of Mizzou Arena this season. Can the Tigers take down the Aggies as well?
Baylor at Kansas 7:00 p.m. Jayhawk Television Network
Has Baylor arrived in the upper echelon of the Big 12? We'll find out on Saturday.
Kansas at Texas 8:00 p.m., ESPN
Monday, Feb. 11
This game has been circled on the calendar for months. Can it live up to last year's thrillers?
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
No.18 Texas A&M 69, Iowa State 51
AMES, Iowa — Bryan Davis scored 16 points and Josh Carter added 12 for Texas A&M, which secured the win with a 31-9 run that stretched from the end of the first half until midway through the second.
Texas &M (19-4, 5-3 Big 12) which started 1-3 in conference play, snapped Iowa State's ninegame home winning streak and picked up just its second road win
Jiri Hubalek scored 18 points to lead the Cyclones (13-10, 3-5), who lost for the fourth time in five games. Wesley Johnson, playing with a sore left ankle, added 13.
No. 6 Georgetown 63,
South Florida 53
WASHINGTON — Dujuan Summers had a career-high 24 points, and No. 6 Georgetown used a 12-0 run late in the first half to overcome a horrendous start and beat South Florida 63-53 Tuesday night.
Summers made eight of 13 field goals, including 4-of-8 3-pointers, and had nine rebounds to lead the Hoyas (19-2, 9-1 Big East) to their sixth straight win and 18th in a row at home.
No.15 Drake 73 Illinois State 70
NORMAL, IL. — Josh Young scored all but one of his 18 points in the second half, and Drake used a 17-2 run to secure its 20th straight victory, the second longest-winning streak in the nation.
Illinois State had a chance to tie in the closing seconds, after Jacob Barycnebh hit one of two free throws with 11 seconds left.
But Levi Dyer missed a long 3-pointer, Osiris Eldridge missed a putback, and Drake escaped.
the HIGH/LOW
Coaches, players noticing freshmen talent across the Big 12 this season
BY RUSTIN DODD
dodd@kansan.com
Michael Beasley had just played the biggest game of his life. The 6-foot-10 freshman had just led Kansas State to its first home victory against Kansas in 24 years, and now, Beasley's mouth was full of chicken. For two hours against Kansas, Beasley looked like a grown man on the basketball court. Now, off the court, he finally looked like an 18-year-old. Beasley – who turns 19 on Saturday – could hardly contain himself. He smiled, giggled and nibbled on the chicken fingers in front of him.
"These are good," he said to fellow freshman Bill Walker.
Just watch the player that Bill Self called "maybe the best player in the country" for a few moments off the court, and one thing is apparent: In the Big 12, youth is being served.
Freshmen are dominating across
the board in the Big 12 this season, and with half of Kansas' conference games complete, Self has taken notice.
"You can just go down the line on these guys that are stepping in and making an impact," Self said on Monday during his weekly conference call.
It starts with Beasley. The Wildcat freshman is leading the conference at 24.9 points per game, and leading the country with 12.3 rebounds per game. Together with Walker - who is averaging 15.8 rebounds - Beasley has led K-State to their best Big 12 start since the inception of the league in 1996.
In any other year, Oklahoma freshman Blake Griffin would be getting most of the headlines reserved for Beasley and Walker. Griffin is $11^{\mathrm{th}}$ in the conference in scoring at 14.3 points per game, and $4^{\mathrm{th}}$ in rebounding at 8.7 rebounds per game.
Baylor's Scott Drew witnessed Griffin in action last week. Griffin's sooners beat Drew's Bears 77-71.
"There's a reason he projected a lottery pick whenever he comes out." Drew said Monday during his weekly conference call. For someone as strong as he is with his athleticism, it makes it very tough to guard."
The list goes on.
Iowa State freshman Craig Brackins scored 33 points earlier this season against Baylor. Baylor's own freshman, LaceDarius Dunn has been a key contributor to its turnaround. Texas A&M's 7-foot freshman, DeAndre Jordan has caused match-up nightmares for opposing coaches. And then there's Oklahoma State's James Anderson - who averaging 14.8 points per game. Texas coach Rick Barnes said he spoke with former Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton earlier this season. Barnes said that Sutton told
him that he thought Anderson had a chance to be one of the best players in Oklahoma State history.
Drew said that the influx of talented youngsters has made the league stronger.
"You can go down the list to every team." Drew said. "Most have a freshman having a major impact on their team."
Self watched former Texas Longhorn Kevin Durant light up Kansas twice last season as a freshman. Durant's teammate, D.J. Augustin, had an good season as well. And at times last season, then freshmen Sherron Collins and Darrell Arthur were the best players on a Kansas team, which advanced to the Elite Eight.
Still, Self said this year's freshman class might top last year's group.
"This year, I would rank right up there with last year." Self said.
Edited by Matt Hirschfeld
The High/Low's Big 12 All-Freshman Team
LaceDarius Dunn, 6-foot-4 Baylor guard
Kansas fans get their first look at Dunn this Saturday when Baylor visits Allen Fieldhouse.
Dunn
Oklahoma State guard
James Anderson, 6-foot-6
Oklahoma
State
The Junction City, Ark., native is a tremendous talent plaving
Anderson
on a sinking ship at Oklahoma State.
Bill Walker, 6-foot-6 K-State forward
He played a few games last year. But he's a freshman, eligibility wise, and makes a
Walker
case to be a First-Team All-Big 12 selection.
Michael
Beasley, 6-foot-10 K-State forward
Let the debate begin, who's better:
Beasley or Kevin Durant?
Blake Griffin, 6-foot-10 Oklahoma forward
Beasley
The Sooner freshman is back from injury and primed to lead Ola-homa back
Griffin
Big 12 Standings
to the NCAA tournament.
Team / Big 12/Overall
**Kansas** 7-1 22-1
K-State 5-1 15-5
Texas 4-2 17-4
Baylor 4-2 16-4
Texas A&M 4-3 18-4
Oklahoma 3-3 15-6
Texas Tech 3-3 12-8
Iowa State 3-4 13-9
Missouri 3-5 13-10
Nebraska 2-4 13-6
OSU 1-6 10-11
Colorado 1-6 9-12
Listen Up
"We make too many mistakes, little plays in the last few minutes that keep you from winning. We made four or five on Saturday against Tech where we just turned the ball over for no reason."
— Oklahoma State coach Sean Sutton on his teams 1-6 Big 12 record
"Every time we step on the floor we need to get better, a lot of our progress, unfortunately, won't always be reflected in wins."
— Colorado coach Jeff Bdzelik on improving after Saturday's loss to Kansas
"I don't know if it's a roller coaster, you know, we lost. The day you step into the arena of sports, it's something you're going to have to deal with."
— Kansas State coach Frank Martin on his team's loss to Missouri following its win against Kansas
"No matter what conference you're in, sometimes it's not who you play, but when you play them."
— Iowa State coach Greg McDermott on playing a Big 12 schedule
>> NBA
Cavaliers 114, Celtics 113
Ex-Jayhawk Vaughn scores 16 in win
CLEVELAND — LeBron James scored 33 points and barely missed a triple-double as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat Boston for the second time this season, downing the Celtics 114-113 on Tuesday night.
James added 12 assists, nine rebounds and five steals to pace the Cavaliers, who improved to 15-4 since Dec. 25 and handed the NBA's best road team just its fifth loss away from home. Cleveland also beat the Celtics in overtime on Nov. 27.
Zydrunas ligauskae added 21 points, Larry Hughes had 18 and seldom-used Ira Newbie had 15 for Cleveland.
Also, guard Daniel Gibson made a big steal in the final minute to help the Cavs hang on. Ray Allen scored 24 points and Paul Pierce 19 for the Celtics, who were again without Kevin Garnett. The All-Star center missed his fourth straight game with an abdominal strain sustained on Jan. 25.
INDIANAPOLIS — Tim Duncan dominated the middle and San Antonio's stingy second-half defense turned a close game into a rout.
Danny Granger led the Pacers with 16 points, not nearly enough to halt Indiana's season-high seven game losing streak.
Duncan had 19 points and 15 rebounds, and backup guard Jacque Vaughn scored 16 points off the bench.
By the time it ended, the Spurs had outscored Indiana 18-2, building an insumountable 77-61 lead with 4:18 to go.
Indiana shot 67.6 percent from the field in the first half, but settled for a 59-all tie.
Indiana opened the third quarter shooting 1-of-11, a lapse that allowed San Antonio to open the quarter on an 8-0 run.
Lakers 105, Nets 90
Whether you are preparing for a future in computer programming, software development, structural/civil engineering, software support, marketing or sales, include Design Data in your job search endeavors. We require your talent and determination to remain the premiere software in the industry.
in our industry. Contact us today.
DeShawn Stevenson scored 19 points and Brendan Haywood had 18 for the Wizards. Caron Butler left in the third with a strained left hip flexor, the same injury that kept him out of three games last week.
Derek Fish matched a season high with 28 points to lead the Lakers, who improved to 3-1 on their nine-game road trip. Bryant shot 3-1 from the floor but had eight assists in his lowest-scoring effort since an eight-point game against Denver on Jan. 5, 2007.
The Sixers trailed by 12 early in the fourth before Rodney Carney's open dunk off a turnover tied the score at 90. Iguodala's layup at the 4 minute mark put the 76ers ahead 92-90. They would never trail again.
PHILADELPHIA — Andre Iguodala scored 20 points and Philadelphia stunned the Wizards with a 17-0 run late in the fourth quarter, handing Washington its fourth straight loss.
Design Data Corporation 1501 Old Cheshire Road Lincoln, Nebraska 68512
Gasol had 24 points and 12 rebounds, and the Lakers beat New Jersey despite a season-low six points from Bryant, his first single-digit effort in more than a year.
800.443.0782 • sds2.com
Email: careers@dsndata.com
Vince Carter scored 27 points for the Nets, who trailed by only three points midway through the fourth quarter.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Pau Gasol was a winner in his Lakers debut, without even much help from Kobe Bryant.
76ers 101.Wizards 96
Bioentrepreneurship Symposium
Saturday, February 9th, 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
KU Alumni Center, 1266 Oread Ave.
Featuring keynote speaker KU Graduate Randy Scott, Ph.D. Chairman and CEO Genomic Health, Inc.
FREE to KU Students Lunch included*
The symposium will introduce KU students in any academic field to bioscience entrepreneurship.
To pre-register for lunch, email ksupre@ku.edu with the message I WILL ATTEND.
w/ALVIN
YOUNGBLOOD
HEART
TUES FEB 19
NORTH
MISSISSIPPI
ALLSTARS
BUY TICKETS ONLINE www.pipelineproductions.com
131 Mass St * Lawrence Kansas
The Bottleneck 723 Mass St. Louis, KY
Wednesday,January 23rd The Lee Boys with John Statz
Saturday. Januarv 26th
Waka Winter Classic Robots ve Diaosaurus, 77 Jefferson Billy the Squirrel, Cosmopolitics Boot Miner's Union
Friday, February 1st
Tea Leaf Green
w/Freekbass
Saturday, February 2nd Liars
Saturday, February 9th
Grace Potter
& the Noturnals
Friday, February 15th Wade Bowen w/Roan County Split
Saturday, February 16th JosephIsrael
Wednesday, February 20th
Stoney Larue
w/ Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights
Saturday, February 23rd
HorrorPops
w/ The Pink Spiders,
Steve E Nix & the Cute Leper
Coming Soon!
Bang Camaro, High on Fire,
Darkest Hour, Lotus
Perpetual Groove