Section:
8A
The University Daily Kansan
Sports
Michael who?
Elton Brand became the first Bulls rookie in 21 years to average more than 20 points and 10 rebounds in a season.
Inside: The Chiefs bolstered their roster yesterday by signing five undrafted agents, including two wide receivers.
SEE PAGE 7A
Inside: The Hornets denied Miami Heat coach Pat Riley his 1000th career win yesterday.
SEE PAGE 6A
THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2000
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
Megan Urquhart catches a pop-up at third base against Southwest Missouri State. The Jayhawks dropped both games in yesterday's doubleheader.
Photo by Justin Schmidt/
KANSAN
'Hawks lose doubleheader
Kansan sportswriter
The disappointment could be seen in Tracy Bunge's eyes.
Bunge, Kansas' fourth-year softball coach, had just witnessed her team suffer through two narrow losses against Southwest Missouri State yesterday at Javawk Field.
The Jayhawks lost the first game of the doubleheader, 3-2, after they advanced the tying run all the way to third base in the bottom of the seventh but failed to score. The 'Hawks then lost the second game, 1-0, after Southwest Missouri State's Meghan Brilhart stole home in the top of the seventh.
Overall, the two losses were hard for the Jayhawks to take
"It's obviously disappointing," said Bunge, whose team dropped to 26-27 on the season and is now mired in a three-game losing streak. "You have to give
Southwest Missouri State a lot of credit because they came in here and played with a lot of emotion, and we did not. We were flat and it showed."
The Jayhawks found themselves in a 3-0 hole in the first game after Kansas pitcher Sarah Clopton gave up two runs in the second inning and one more in the third. Clopton then settled down and pitched four scoreless innings while the Jayhawks struggled offensively.
Kansas scored its only runs on the day after a two-run triple by second baseman Amy Hulse in the bottom of the third inning. Southwest Missouri State's Jessica Davis then shut down the Jayhawks, limiting them to only four hits through seven innings.
"Today we did not do a very good job with runners in scoring position," Bunge said. "Overall, it was not a good offensive day for us."
Both teams battled through six scoreless innings in the second game before
Southwest Missouri State finally was able to put a run on the scoreboard in the seventh. The Bears had runners at first and third thanks to a Jayhawk error, and they then executed a double-steal to score the winning run.
Kansas pitcher Melanie DeWinter struck out four in seven innings and gave up only one unearned run, but she still took the loss.
"I thought that Mel pitched a good ball game for us and did some nice things," Bunge said. "Unfortunately, we haven't given her a lot of run support this year, and that was true again today."
The Jayhawks will play this weekend, returning to the Big 12 Conference to take on the Iowa State Cyclones at Jayhawk Field. The first game is 1 p.m. Saturday, and both teams will face off again at 1 p.m. Sunday.
"We have to focus on the Big 12 now and Iowa State this weekend," DeWinter said. "We just can't take any games lightly anymore."
Kansas Relays raises the bar
Kansas junior Andy Morris, right, sprints down the long-jump run.
Kansas junior Andy Morris, right, spins down the long-jump runway at the Kansas Relays in Memorial Stadium. After yesterday's decathlon competition, Morris is in first place after five events, leading by 114 points. On the women's side, Kansas junior Ashley Pyle, above, is in second place, trailing Oklahoma's Lindsey Cobb by 171 points after four events in the heptathlon. Yesterday marked the first time the Kansas Relays were held at Memorial Stadium in two years because of renovations to the restrooms, concourses and press box. Photos
concourses and press box. Photos by Brad Dreier/KANSAN
TODAY'S EVENTS
Men's Decathlon/Women's Heptathlon
9:30 a.m. Heptathlon Long Jump
10 Decathlon 110-meter Hurdles
10:45 Decathlon Discus
10:45 Heptathlon Javelin
11:30 Heptathlon 800 Meters
Noon Decathlon Pole Vault
3:15 p.m. Decathlon Javelin
5 Decathlon 1500 Meters
Hammer and Middle Distance/Distance
Noon Women's Hammer Throw
5 p.m. Men's Hammer Throw
5 Women's 800 Meters (unseeded)
5:12 Men's 800 Meters (unseeded)
5:24 Women's 1500 Meters (unseeded)
5:38 Men's 1500 Meters (unseeded)
5:52 Women's 3000 Meters (unseeded)
6:04 Men's 3000 Meters
Steeplechase (unseeded)
6:16 Women's 5000 Meters
6:41 Men's 5000 Meters
7:01 Women's 10,000 Meters
7:46 Men's 10,000 Meters
LEADERS
Heptathlon leaders
after four events
1. Lindsey Cobbs, Oklahoma,
2747
2. Ashley Pyle, Kansas, 2576
Sports Columnist
3. Holly Wilder, Weste Kentucky 2572
4. Erika Hamel, Kansas, 2534
4. Erika Hamel, Kansas, 2534
5. Heather Robinson, Kansas
Kentucky, 2572
5. Heather Robinson, Kansas State. 2269
6. Megan Wray, Kansas 2153
Decathlon leaders
after five events
1. Andy Morris, Kansas, 3798
2. Justin Conkling, Unattached, 124
3. Pat Pyle, Garden City
4. Jens Lukoschat, Wichita State, 3413
Community College, 36614. lens Lukoschat, Wichita
5. Jon Berg, St. Olaf College,
3400
6. Joe Peppers, Cloud County Community College, 3365
Seth Jones
4. Jens Lukosch,
State, 3413
sports@kansan.com
Alterations on the court would boost college ball
Maybe it's time for a change in college basketball.
College basketball is one of my two favorite sports. But that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement. Here's how I'd change college basketball if I were king (or the NCAA).
■ I'd take a rule straight from the NBA and add it to the college game.
No, not a ban on zone defense, and I'm not in favor of allowing multiple steps for a nasty dunk. Instead, notice the dashed circle under the basket in the NBA. If a player is anywhere in that circle, he cannot draw a charge.
The way it is in college ball now, too many unskilled players are getting caught under or very near to the basket and getting dunked on mercilessly by a skilled player. The unskilled players are then rewarded by drawing a charging foul. Guys such as Brian Cardinal from Purdue, and even our own T.J. Pugh made a living off of having slow feet and the ability to get knocked over. But it's time to reward the guys doing the knocking down.
doing the knocking down.
- I'd allow players to accept money from agents. Odys are, they need the money. I know I need the money, and rather than being at some sort of practice all day, I'm at one of three jobs most of the time. But accepting money would have to revolve around some type of IOU system. Players could accept big checks from agents, but they would have to pay them back plus interest after they left school and signed NBA contracts. Sort of like a student loan but with different shady characters writing the checks. If the players accepted more than they could pay back, then the agent could call his mafia friends.
I'd take Bob Knight and Dick Vitale and send them to Europe to scout talent indefinitely. I hear there are some ballers in Siberia.
■ Has anyone wondered why there isn't a trade system in college basketball? The NCAA uses players anyway, so why not let the teams use them as well? Rather than a player transferring and leaving a school empty-handed, there could be trades. Maybe Marlon London could go to DePaul and we could get one of its players. Just a thought.
Any team with a wildcat for a mascot would be fined at the beginning of each season until they came up with an original idea for a mascot.
Wouldn't it be cool if there were running substitutions in basketball? Like in hockey, where players run in and off the court without waiting for a guy at a scoreer's table to check them in. And for that matter, why not a penalty box?
■ John Wooden wants to make the dunk illegal. I say make alley-oops worth three points and a shattered backboard worth 25 points.
For an entire season, I'd make the Duke Blue Devils wear jerseys that said 'University of Southern Colorado.' Then referees would call their games without bias. No other team in all of college basketball gets catered to more than the Blue Devils. Also, I'd put a ban on hugging during games. Duke players hug each other more than they exchange high fives, and frankly, I'm sick of it.
Now I realize that I've come up with a lot of stuff to change, and I'm not even close to being finished with my list of changes. Maybe college basketball isn't the perfect game that I thought it was.
jones is a Mulvane senior in journalism.
Golden Hurricane storms men's tennis team, but tourney bid still possible
By Brent Wasko
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas lost its final home match of the season 4-23. Jayhawk coach Mark Riley said a win by his team would have been very significant.
The Kansas men's tennis team, which has taken pride in winning close matches this season, could not squeeze past the Tulsa Golden Hurricane yesterday at the Robinson Center tennis courts.
"If we would have won today, it would have put us in the (NCAA) tournament." Riley said. "We just didn't get the job done when we needed to."
Though there are no set criteria for
t h e Intercollegiate T e n n i s Association chooses them at the end of the season.
the NCAA Tournament, the Jayhawks are not out of the running. They may still qualify if
Tuisa won the point given for doubles, claiming two of the three doubles matches. The Jayhawks lost at both the No.1 and No.2 doubles spots.
"We got beat 8-2 at No.1 doubles,
which is absolutely ridiculous." Rilvie
--for the Jayhawks.
The 'Hawks got strong performances from their top singles positions. At No. 1 singles, freshman Eleazar Magallan moved his team-best record up to 29-14 by beating Dane McGregor, 6-3, 6-3. Tulsa's senior All-American Nenad Toroman was no match for Rodrigo Echagaray, the Jayhawk's No. 2 singles player. Echagaray defeated Toroman in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1.
"Rodrigo had a great effort today." Riley said. "We played well at the top of the lineup, but the rest of the team didn't step up for us."
Kansas freshman Pete Stroer also provided his team with a point, dominating Steve Timperley, 6-2, 6-1 at No. 4 singles. After that, it was all downhill
"It was hard when I had the pressure
Freshman Alex Barragan fell to 7-11 on the season after losing to Juan Beroldt, 3-6, 2-6 for No. 5 singles. Kansas senior Bryan Maier also lost his singles match, tying the overall match at 3-3.
"I was missing shots that I normally make, and I think I got too frustrated at times out there." Maier said.
With the match tied, all of the pressure was placed upon singles players Quentin Blakeney, Kansas freshman, and Pawel Sebastianski of Tulsa. Sebastianski won the first set 3-6, but he fell behind 5-4 in the second stanza. Blakeney was unable to hold his lead in the second set, eventually losing 5-7 and allowing Tulsa to clinch the match.
Kansas did have some good news yesterday. Its loss against Oklahoma State on April 2 was overturned by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. That means Riley needs just one win to reach a hundred career victories as a coach. His record now stands at 99-66.
Riley and his Jayhawks will be back in action this Friday at noon in College Station, Texas to battle the Texas A&M Aggies.
on me," Blakeney said. "I wasn't as aggressive as I should have been. I tried to attack his second serve, but it caused problems for me."
"We need to win at least one of our last two regular season matches." Riley said. "We are a really good team at the top, but we need to have a good performance from every position."