Section:
B
The University Daily Kansan
We all go a little crazy Last year, Riddick Bowe former heavyweight boxing champ, pled guilty to domestic battery. Yesterday he changed that plea, claiming temporary insanity.
Sports
Inside: Eleazer Magallan may look young, but for the freshman Kansas tennis player, looks are deceiving. SEE PAGE 8B
Inside: Statistics fail to tell the story of last weekend's Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships.
SEE PAGE 4B
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2000
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
'Hawks lose, 68-54
By Shawn Hutchinson sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
AUSTIN, Texas — Falling behind by 16 points midway through the first half wasn't the prettiest of sights for the Jayhawks last night at the Erwin Center.
And witnessing a Texas dunk fest first hand was even more ugly. But the most ghastly sight? A stat sheet filled with dubious firsts.
The Jayhawks' six first-half field goals was their fewest in any half in Roy Williams' coaching era, and their first-half field goal percentage — 20.7 — was their lowest in any half in Williams' era. Both factored immensely during Kansas' 68-54 loss to the No. 16 Texas Longhorns.
The No. 23 Jayhawks, 21-8,
10-5 in the Big 12, would
rather forget their lackluster
play in the first half.
They found themselves in a
14-2 hole early on after a 12-0
Texas run. By the time the
first half was over, Kansas
had set its horrid shooting
records and found itself
down, 38-21.
Most of those dunks came via Texas senior forward Gabe Muoneke, who put on a skywalking routine during his last home game at the Erwin Center. Muoneke scored 16 points on six-fornie shooting, including several vicious one-handed and two-handed jams.
"I think the thing that hurt us the most was our hustle," said Kansas guard Kenny Gregory, who finished the night with eight points. "It's not a matter that they scored, it's a matter of how they scored. They were getting a lot of breakaway dunks."
But Muoneke's ability to
defy gravity didn't stop the Jayhawks from making things interesting in the second half. Kansas started the half with a Kirk Hinrich bucket after Texas center Chris Mihm was called for a goal tend. The Jayhawks then pulled within 12 points at the first television timeout of the final period, after Eric Chenowith helped the Jayhawk cause with two buckets and a free-throw.
The Jayhawks kept battling and were as close as 57-47 with five minutes remaining but were never able to get it under ten.
"It was a tough game," Hinrich said, who scored 11 points and was the only Kansas player in double-figures. "I don't know what to say about the first half, but in the second half we battled. I wish we could have come out in the first half like we did in the second."
Coming into the game, the story line centered around Mihm, the All-America candidate. But the Jayhawks did their best at shutting down the 7-footer, limiting him to nine points — nine below his season average.
This was the secondstraight time the Jayhawks had been blasted on the road in front of a national television audience on a Monday night. Three weeks ago, Kansas suffered its thirdworst loss in school history after a 33-point drubbing at Oklahoma State.
Last night, the point total wasn't as absurd, but the Jayhawks felt just as battered and bruised.
"This is definitely a slight bump, but you just can't take a loss and say, 'oh well,'" Gregory said. "It's going to be on our minds for a few days."
NO. 16 TEXAS 68; NO. 23 KANSAS 54
KANSAS (21.9)
0.1-1.2; 21.9-18.26.8
Collison 16 1-3 3, Gregory 17 2-8, Johnson 16 1-3 3, Grethy 15 1-2 11, Bochner 16 1-3 4, Brantley 15 1-2 11, Bocchetti 16 1-3 4, Bradford 30 0 4, London 13 1-3 3,
Chenowri 16 1-3 7, Totals 191 16 12 24
TEXAS (21-7)
Munroe c 6:9 4:5 16, Mhm n 4:8 1:2 9, Wagner
8:1 9:1 29, Clay l 2:0 1 27, Kelly k 1:8 0 3
Owen 5:8 1 3 1, McColpin l 0:2 0, Ogden
Hammett-Texas 38, Kansas 21, 3-point goals - Kansas 0.8 (Gooden 0.1, Boschene 0.3, Hornick 0.4), Texas 4.15 (Wagner 2.9, Kelly 1.3, Clay 1.6, Ingen 0.4) - Foulled out - Bradford, Rebounds - Kansas 37 (Collison), Texas 4.4 (Ingen), Kansas 7 (Collision, Hinrich, Boschsee 2), Kansas 15 (Kelly 6), Total fouls - Kansas 24, Texas 20. A - 13.561
Jayhawk women hope to bounce back
Rv Chris Fickett
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
At this point in the season, the Kansas women can't afford to concern themselves with officiating.
After getting blown out 88-69 at No. 24 Oklahoma on Saturday, junior forward Jaclyn Johnson said that the Sooners had limited her team's ability to move on offense and get in defensive position.
"I guess I'm usually expecting for the refs to call that, but tonight it was different and we didn't adjust," Johnson said.
Johnson shakes have one regular season game remaining — tomorrow night at Allen Fieldhouse against Texas A&M — to adjust and bounce back before the Big 12 Conference tournament starts next week.
Coach Marian Washington has said that Kansas did not have a
problem with physical play; it could be as physical as it wanted. But she said it was challenging for her team to identify what would be called and how to alter its game to avoid fouling out.
"My team has got to find a way to adjust to it," Washington said. "We have to find a way to accept it."
And it better accept that fact quickly. The Jayhawks, who have dropped two straight games for the first time this season and have lost three of their last five games, are in need of a victory against the Aggies to secure a first-round bye in the Big 12 Conference tournament.
"We just need to shore up what we've been working so hard on all season long and get it back in place." Washington said.
Despite the Jayhawks' recent slide, Washington remains optimistic that if the NCAA tournament
selection committee recognizes the Big 12's strength — it currently has three ranked teams and two others receiving votes — her team will be in position to make a run in post-season play.
Women's basketball notes
Junior guard Casey Pruitt, who has had four knee surgeries during her four years at Kansas, will not return for her senior season, Washington said. Pruitt, who was a redshirt her freshman year because of an anterior cruciate ligament tear, will graduate this May with a degree in sports management and will seek an internship next year.
"I think that they would be ready to rise to the challenge," she said. "We've got two games, Texas A&M and at least one game in the Big 12 tournament, to get back on track, and I hope that something positive will come out of those games."
"Casey has been very special to our program," Washington said. "She has shown a lot of courage over the last four years."
Kansas senior forward Lynn Pride has been selected as one of 15 finalists for the Naismith Female Collegiate Player of the Year award.
"I am excited for Lynn." Washington said. "I have watched her develop in the last four years, and there is no question in my mind she is one of the elite players in the country."
Junior guard Casey Pruitt will not return for her senior season. Kansan file photo
Jayhawks will try to avoid striking out against Baker
Bv Amanda Kaschube
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
For the Kansas baseball team, three is an unlucky number.
The Jayhawks lost three games to Creighton last weekend, three key players because of injuries in sophomore Jason Appuhn, junior Brandon O'Neal and sophomore Matt Van Alsburg, and the 'Hawks have struck out three more times than their opponents — 81 to 78.
opponents 16-10-10 Bluejays pitcherfanned the 'Hawks 17
"We only had four strikeouts against a good Creighton pitcher," he said. "Earlier in the season we would have had more. We're improving, but we have to make hard contact. We need to cut down on the number of strikeouts."
times in last weekend's series and Southwest Missouri State pitchers struck them out 13 times in one game earlier this season. Coach Bobby Randall said Kansas has had problems at the plate all season.
Juniors Doug Dreher and John Nelson lead the team with 12 strikeouts, and junior
Brandon Smith is a close second with 11. On the opposite end, junior Jesse Gremminger, sophomore Matt Oakes and freshman Kevin Wheeler only have fanned three times.
"At least we're covering the plate, it's a step to improving," Randall said. "The offense has not found its groove."
offense has not Ryan Klocksien said the offense, which has three times as many strikeouts than walks, has been inconsistent this season.
See BASEBALL on page 2B
Sports Columnist
Randall: says team has struggled at plate all season.
Julie Wood
sports@kansan.com
Sportsmanship should be key in intramurals
Another intramural basketball game was reduced to blows.
The two men locked their arms around each other, transforming the intramural basketball game into a wrestling match. The short, stocky blond cocked his arm in an attempt to hit his opponent's face. His opponent responded by hurling the ball at his attacker's genitals. The referee, Luke Bell, Medicine Lodge freshman, blew his whistle and ejected the man who threw the punch.
Bell said the sportsmanship was horrible. Players commonly argue with officials' calls and talk trash to each other. Referees try to control the behavior by using verbal warnings, calling fouls, and in extreme cases, ejecting a player. An ejection results in an unacceptable rating, which disqualifies a team from playing until it has met with Jason Krone, assistant for recreation services.
Incidents such as this prompted recreation services officials to lay down floor mats imprinted with messages such as "Integrity — the right choice" at the Robinson Gym entrances at the start of the basketball season. The mats, along with banners near the scoreboards, are an effort by recreation services officials to increase awareness of sportsmanship. These efforts are a start, but much more needs to be done.
The incidents of outrageous behavior are rare, but that does not mean students always demonstrate good sportsmanship. Krone said seven teams out of 230 had received unacceptable ratings in about 300 basketball games this season.
It is not just men who have been ejected from games. Last year, intramural referee Tyson Kelly, Kansas City, Kan., junior, ejected a woman from a game for slapping another woman. He said games between members of two sororities were especially fierce.
Many factors propel the crude behavior in intramurals. Many players are reliving their high school glory days by playing intramurals. Some players lose sight of the fact that this is just intramurals — not the state championship. Some Jayhawk fans, many of whom participate in intramural games, can't differentiate between an intramurial game and an intercollegiate game. While intensity and competitiveness are encouraged, taking them to the point of yelling at teammates and officials in a game is ridiculous.
If the stakes were lowered, Yetman said an intramural game could more closely align itself to the intensity of a pick up game — a contest where participants seldom remember if they won or lost. Recreation officials are trying to lower the stakes in Jupiter, Fla., where the parents of little league participants must watch a video on sportsmanship before their children are allowed to play.
Now intramural officials provide an incentive for teams with exemplary sportmanship to win free entry into another intramural sport. Krone said that though three teams could win this award, only one or two teams deserved it.
Kansas sociology professor Norman Yetman, who studies sociology in sports, said intramurals could pro-
ing groups such as fraternities. The more recognition involved, the more serious individuals will become to win. He said that especially for males, it was more than just scoring a basket on someone; it was about physically dominating another person.
vide a reward beyond the sheer joy of playing a sport, especially for ivory-wielding players.
4
While putting up banners, setting out inspirational floor mats and providing monetary awards for sportsmanship are positive steps, they aren't enough. Having all players watch a video on sportsmanship would bring the message to the forefront. These are not high-stakes games; they are intramurals. The least players can do is treat other players and officials with respect.
Wood is an Davenport, Iowa senior in journalism and political science.
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