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12A
The University Daily Kansan
Afternoon delights
Sports
At the Cincinnati Reds' spring training, 2,000 people watched Ken Griffey take batting practice — while most of the local high school students were mysteriously absent from class.
Inside: The Kansas women's soccer team has a new philosophy this season: Be selfish.
SEE PAGE 11A
Inside: More coverage of the men's victory against Nebraska and women's loss to Missouri.
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 24, 2000
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
Forward Drew Gooden shoots over Nebraska's Steffon Bradford. A second-half rally helped the Jayhawks cruise to a win. Photo by Matt Daugherty/KANSAN
Second-half romp secures 83-58 win
By Shawn Hutchinson
Kansan sportswriter
LINCOLN, Neb. — Eventually Nebraska was destined to fall onto its own knife. It was just a matter of when.
Nebraska committed 14 turnovers in the first half, 14 more in the second half, and that was plenty for No. 23 Kansas to cruise past the Cornhuskers last night in the Rob Devaney Center 83-58.
Nebraska's turnovers ranged from errant passes, to fumbled passes, to shot clock violations, to rudimentary travels. Those gifts helped the Jayhawks improve to 20-7 overall and 9-4 in the Big 12 Conference.
"We felt like we had to pressure them to get the turnovers," said Kansas coach Roy Williams, after his team came away with 15 steals on the night.
"Defensively it was a good effort for us, especially in the second half."
The Jayhawks needed an explosive second half because of their sluggish first half. The Cornhuskers, 10-16, 3-10, made a game out of it by shooting a blistering 54 percent from the field in the opening half.
Luckily for Kansas, Nebraska was in a turnover funk. Nebraska committed six turnovers in the first four minutes of the game, and Kansas jumped out to a 10-4 lead. That was enough to prompt Cornhusker coach Danny Nee to call a timeout and give his team an earful.
Nebraska rebounded for a 30-25 lead, primarily because Kansas couldn't find the basket. The Jayhawks eventually made a run and pulled even at halftime, 34-34.
"I think in the first half we did a horrible job on the offensive end," Williams said, referring to his team's 39 percent shooting from the floor. "But we kept after it and after it."
The Javhawks kept after it all right.
Kansas forward Nick Bradford scored 12 of his team-high 19 points in the second half, when the Jayhawks opened with a 9-9 run. Kirk Hinrich started the scoring with a three-pointer that eventually
bounced in, Nick Collison hit a bucket and Kenny Gregory added two lay-ins.
"The way we play we try to get in the passing lanes and get the ball."
The Jayhawks weren't even close to finished. They stepped on the defensive accelerator, kept after the ball on the offensive and defensive backboards, and finished the job with a 13-4 run late in the second half
Collison said. "In the second half we kind of bucked down and not where we needed to be."
The victory helped the Jayhawks reach the 20-win plateau for 11th straight season, and tied them for fourth place in the Big 12 with Missouri and Oklahoma.
"I think we kept the intensity up, and we executed," said Kansas forward Drew Gooden, who poured in 13 points to go with six rebounds. "The difference was our shot selection in the second half and our defense."
The Jayhawks' next game will come Saturday, when they will take on the Baylor Bears in Allen Fieldhouse at 7 p.m.
"We still have some tough games coming up," Bradford said. "We're going to celebrate this tonight, take tomorrow off and try to prepare for Baylor."
KANSAS (20-7)
KANSAS 83. NEBRASKA 58
Collison 5-11 1-2 12, Gregory 6-13 1-2 13, Johnson 2-5 0-0 4,
Hinch 3-2 3-10, Boschee 1-7 4-5 6, Gooden 6-12 1-2 13, Earl 0-3 2-0,
Nooner 0-0 0-0 0, Crider 0-1 0-0 0, Bradford 8-12 3-4 19,
Carey 0-0 0-0 0, London 0-1 0-0 0, Chenwhit 2-7 2-3 6, Totals 33-7
14-12 83.
NEBRASKA (10-16)
Florence 6-15 0-3 12, Truscott 2-9 2-2 6, Friend 5-8 1-6 11, Walker 0-3 2-2 2, Fields 3-8 0-2 6, Cochran 5-7 0-1 14, Bradford 1-4 1-3 3, Davison 1-2 1-2 4, Totals 23-56 7-20 58.
Haltime—Kansas 34, Nebraska 34, 3-Point goals—Kansas 3-9 (Hinrich 2-3, Collison 1-1, Earl 0-1, London 0-1, Bosche 0-3), Nebraska 5-12 (Cochran 4-6, Davison 1-1, Walker 0-1, Florence 0-2, Fields 0-2). Fouled out–Fields, Rebounds—Kansas 43 (Bradford 7), Nebraska 46 (Friend 15), Assists—Kansas 18 (Hinrich, Bosche 6), Nebraska 16 (Cochran 7). Total fouls—Kansas 21, Nebraska 17. Technique—Florence A.—10.969.
Late mistakes cost women game, Big 12 lead
By Chris Fickett
By Chris Fickett
Kansan sportswriter
With her team down by one point with 10 seconds left. Pride got the ball again.
But she lost it — and the Kansas women lost their game 65-62 against Missouri last night at the Hearnes Center.
COLUMBIA, Mo. — With her team down by three points with 48 seconds left, Lynn Pride got the ball and scored.
The No. 25 Jayhawks, now 19-7 and 10-in the Big 12 Conference, also lost their share of the conference lead, falling a game behind Iowa State, Texas Tech and Oklahoma. But more importantly, Kansas lacked the composure it showed on the road against Iowa State — something it will need against Oklahoma Saturday in Norman, Okla.
"We just didn't have all cylinders working tonight," said coach Marian Washington. "Every player has to play at a certain intensity level, and we just didn't get it."
Kansas trailed 33-27 at halftime, in part because it committing seven unforced turnovers. Missouri increased its lead to as many as 10 points before the Jayhawks made a 2-36 run that gave them a 50-43 lead with 11:28 to play.
During that run, Kansas pushed the ball inside to junior forward Jaclyn Johnson, who scored 12 points. She made a few off-balance jump shots in the paint that counteracted Missouri baskets from guard Julie Helm, who finished with a game-high 22 points off 10
of-12 shooting.
Helm led the Tigers down the stretch, making a basket with 8:45 left that pulled her team within two points of the Jayhawks. After that point, Kansas' offense was sporadic.
"Offensively, we were out of sync the entire game," said junior guard Jennifer Jackson.
"We had stretches where we were looking for each other well and got the ball to open people. But offensively we just struggled tonight."
Missouri took a 57-56 lead before Pride's layup with 4:56 to go put Kansas ahead by one.
Kansas thought the key to a comeback would be as simple as handing the ball to Pride, who finished the game with 21 points on nine-for-16 shooting. She cut the deficit to one after her layup with 48 seconds remaining.
But the wheels fell off after junior forward Brooke Reves lost the ball after being trapped in a corner of the court and senior guard Suzi Raymant threw away a pass intended for Johnson. Those turnovers helped Missouri take a 63-60 lead with 1:05 left.
"I think we had people try to do to many things instead of trying to do what works, what's simple," Johnson said. "We have to think about what we do best and do that."
Marlena Williams missed a layup on the Tigers' next possession, and Johnson muscled for the rebound, giving Kansas a chance to win the game. But Pride was tied up by the Tigers' Amy Monsees, who
finished with 15 points, and the jump ball gave Missouri possession.
Kansas' press left Williams uncontested underneath the Tigers' basket, and her easy put-in pushed the Tigers' lead back to three with only seven seconds left.
"We were disappointed that we lost that player, yes," Washington said. "But it came when we mishandled our own opportunities in our half-court offense—it was just miscommunication.
"We had no choice to press and see if we could steal something, and we lost the player behind us," she said.
MISSOURI 65, KANSAS 62
KANSAS (19-7)
Reews 28 0 0 4, Raymont 41 1 0 9, Jackson 3 5 2 2, 2 8 4, Pride 9 1 6 2 4, Johnson 6 1 2 0 12, Scott 1 1 2 4 4, White 0 0 0 0 0, Geoffroy 1 5 0 0 2, Fletcher 1 1 0 0 2, White 27 59 7 12 62
Monsees 4 15 7 9 15, Lassiter 2 6 0 0 4, Williams
7 11 1 3 14, Bright 1 1 3 5 5, Heim 10 12 1 2 22, Barr
B 0 2 0 0 0, Franklin 0 2 2 2 2, Smith 0 1 0 0 0,
Akpaffprint 0 1 0 0 0, Statham 0 0 0 0 0, Totals 24 51
15 22 65.
Halftime —Missouri 33, Kansas 27, 3Point goals—Kansas 1-3 (Ramayt 1, Pride 0, Missouri 26 (Helm 2, Monsees 0-1, Williams 0-1, Barr 0-1, Franklin 0-1). Fouled out —None. Rebounds—Kansas 30 (Johnson 6), Missouri 36 (Monsees 9), Assists—Kansas 6 (Pride 3), Missouri 11 (Barr 3), Total fouls—Kansas 17, Missouri 13, A—1.924.
MISSOURI (17-8)
Missouri's Ekpe Akapaffong fakes a shot on Kansas' Kristin Geoffroy as her teammate Suzi Raymont looks on yesterday at the Hearnes Center. Photo by Lindsay Cummings/MISSOURIAN
'Hawks slam Corpus Christi in third doubleheader sweep
By Amanda Kaschube
Kansan sportswriter
The Jayhawks flew out of the ballpark in Texas yesterday with their third double-header sweep of the season while fighting 30 mph winds and a barrage of hits from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the process.
In both games, the 'Hawks struck early — scoring the bulk of the runs in the first or second inning. With a combination of steady pitching and a consistent offensive effort, Kansas overwhelmed the first-season Islanders, 15-3 and 19-9, in two shortened games.
"I'm glad we won these games today.
The first game of the doubleheader marked the second time junior Pete Smart, 2-1, threw a complete game that was only five innings. The game was suspended in the fifth inning because of the 12-run rule. Smart gave up seven hits and three runs but said he didn't throw to his ability.
that's what's important," said coach Bobby Randall. "We're starting to get on track a little bit. We're getting better all the time."
"I didn't have my good stuff," he said.
"When you don't have your best stuff and you can win, that's a good thing. The defense played solidly."
In previous appearances on the mound, Smart has given up only one run. He said he
"They came out and hit our pitches hard,' he said. "Other surroundings such as the mound and the 30 mph win affected my play, too."
was hampered by a variety of disturbances yesterday.
Junior Brian Hoefer supplied much of the offensive effort — he had both a single and a double and knocked in four RBI. Junior Jesse Gremminger also scored twice, pushing the 'Hawks ahead, 10-2 after two innings.
The 'Hawks scored every inning from then on, highlighted by a two-run home run in the fifth by junior Brenton Del Chiaro, his first as a Jayhawk.
attacked in the second and scored 10 runs off of six walks and four hits.
Scoreless in the first inning, the 'Hawks
Smart said the offense helped the team win despite his sub-par performance.
"The offense hit really well; they got their act together," he said.
See STRONG on page11A
Sports Editor commentary
The best coach at Kansas would never admit that he's anything special.
sports@kansan.com
Mike Miller
Track coach uses humor, work ethic to make mark
His athletes are flat-out good, and though he'd never take credit for it, he's a large part of that.
His athletes come in as freshmen with potential, and they leave as All Americans. Two have gone on to the Olympics, and many stay in the record books.
But Rick Attig, horizontal jumps and combined events coach for the track team, is an unparalleled winner.
The numbers speak for themselves. He's coached 30 conference champions, 31 All-American athletes and two NCAA record breakers — mostly pole vaulters, Attig's bread-and-butter event. That's what puts him at the top of the school's coaching echelon; he's the best coach at Kansas.
He attracts the best talent, and by the time it leaves, it's even better.
Listen to Andrea Branson, a junior pole-vaulter and four time All American. gush about Attic.
He started teaching himself and others, and before he knew it, he was into coaching. Twenty-six years later, he's still teaching.
"He's the best pole-vault coach in the country," she said.
Direct, to the point and probably understated.
Ashley Feinberg, a junior who was the top-ranked pole vaulter in the country in high school, explained that Kansas has pole-vaulting success because the best pole vaulters in the country want to come here to jump for Attig.
More amazing is that Attig taught himself how to pole vault. A gifted athlete who was a four-year letterman in football and track at Southwest Missouri State, the pole vault became Attig's favorite event.
It's not just the athletes because other coaches do the same thing. His jump camps during the summers attract jumpers as well as coaches. He's the author of the USA Track and Field pole vault manual and has served as the jumps coach for the U.S. Olympic Festivals. He's a nationally respected coach and teacher whose success is unquestioned.
"He's crazy," said Candy Mason, former All-American vaulter and current sprints and hurdles coach at Kansas. "He'll crack you up with a joke or some goofy thing."
Like any good coach, Attig not only has success on the field, but he endures himself to his athletes.
But there's another side, too.
His work ethic makes Attig a great story, regardless of his success.
"My stomach hurt, but I ate anyway," he said.
Two days later, he had trouble walking upright because his stomach hurt so bad. He thought he had food poisoning and went to the hospital where he learned his appendix had burst.
Last spring, Attig was eating after a track meet one Saturday when he felt sick to his stomach. The next morning it felt like the food wasn't digesting, he said.
So the doctors took it out, and he was back coaching a day later.
It's the best blend for success — top-notch athletes and a die-hard, knowledgeable coach with an easy-going demeanor. Put them together, and it makes Rick Attig the best coach at Kansas
But you'd never hear it from him.
Miller is a Cheyenne, Wya. senior in journalism.