Thursday, February 24, 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 9
Nick Bradford prompts scoring spark
By Matt Tait
Kansas forward Nick Bradford disrupts the passing lane of Cornhusker Danny Walker during last night's 83-58 Kansas victory. Photo by Matt J. Daugherty/KANSAN
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Last night Nebraska fans learned a valuable lesson. Don't wake a sleeping Jayhawk.
In pregame warmups, several Cornhusker fans were harassing senior forward Nick Bradford about last season's poor shooting performance in Lincoln, Neb. Bradford merely smiled and nodded his head as he continued to shoot and dribble in preparation for the game.
As evidenced by his play, the 'Husker faithful may have struck one of Bradford's nerves. The Jayhawks' senior leader awoke and dropped in 19 points, two shy of his career high, but his offense was only half of the story.
"Nick Bradford was sensational," Kansas coach Roy Williams said. "It gives him credit for six steals,
Bradford did finish with six steals, but he had a hand in so many others — literally.
but we thought it was even more than that on the bench."
"It feels good to go out there and score a little bit, but I'm not going to do that every game," Bradford said. "Personally, I'm more proud of the steals."
Along with his 19 points and six steals, Bradford ripped down seven rebounds — five offensive — committed only one turnover and provided the internal leadership that he has all season.
"For a while, he was the only thing we had on offense and defense," guard Kenny Gregory said. "But in the second half he stepped up, and we fed off of that."
The energy that the Jayhawks got from Bradford turned the game into a feeding frenzy. The 83-58 rout was the type of game Kansas expected from itself all season. And
leading the charge was exactly who was expected to, just maybe not offensively.
"It was a big plus," said Gregory of Bradford's offensive output. "I don't think guys on this team or the opposing team expected Nick Bradford to come out for 19 points."
What then were the reasons for the outstuff? Bradford said that he didn't care as long as the team won. But maybe it did have something to do with the pregame hecklers.
"I've been here for four years, and my first couple years I didn't play that much so I was on the crowd and they remember me," Bradford said. "They were on me for how I played last year, but that's part of college basketball."
The other part is getting wins, and that's exactly what Bradford got for his team last night.
"If there was a star of the game tonight it was Nick Bradford," Williams said.
Kansas guard Kenny Gregory, middle, splits Nebraska defenders Larry Florence, left, and Steffon Bradford.
Gregory scored 13 points in Kansas' 83-58 win. Photo by Matt J. Daugherty/KANSAN
Missouri senior steals game away from Pride in final minute
missouri guard Natalie Albright dribbles past Kansas' Jennifer Jackson yesterday at the Hearnes Center. Lindsay Cummings/MISSOURIAN
By Melinda Weaver sports@kansan.com Kansan sportswritter
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri did not need a crowd of 10,000 or a spot in the top half of the conference standings to disturb Kansas' composure.
What the Tigers, 17-8 overall and 7-7 in the Big 12 Conference, needed was a memory of their recent defeat to Kansas and the hope of an NCAA tournament berth. Before the game, Missouri coach Cindy Stein had only two words for her players — NCAA Tournament.
Her seniors responded to the challenge — they beat Kansas 65-62.
"We had a talk before practice about attitude and how we want this season to end," said senior forward Amy Monsees. "Coach Stein told us that this is the time when champions shine. If we want to make it to the NCAA tournament, we have to play well now."
It looked grim for Missouri with 11:31 remaining in the game. Kansas pulled ahead by seven points after trailing by as many as 10. But the Tigers regrouped.
"We just needed to catch our breath, take a timeout, and get ourselves back together," said senior guard Julie Helm.
Spurred by Helm and junior center Marlena Williams, Missouri began to make a comeback late in the game. With 1:40 remaining, Helm hit the shot that put the Tigers back in the shot 61-60. The teams traded baskets, and with 30 seconds remaining, Kansas had the ball down by only one.
In a turn of events, Monsees — not following her coach's orders — left Kansas forward Jaclyn Johnson wide open underneath the basket. Instead, Monsees went after Kansas' leading scorer Lynn Pride, causing a jumpball and the turnover that ultimately would help seal the win.
"I knew they were going to go to Pride," Monsees said. "I waited to make a move and snuck up on her. Everyone in the gym knew they were going to Pride. It was no smart move on my part."
Stein's initial reaction to Monsees' bold move was worry — she was attempting to do something Missouri had had trouble with all season.
"When one of the kids makes a move
like that, the others are supposed to read off of her," Stein said. "That is something we have done this year, but we haven't always done it well. That's why I was nervous when she went out on Pride like that. I didn't know if the others were going to make the right read."
Against Kansas, Missouri relied on its seniors to make the key plays. Monsees made a key defensive play at the end, and Helm scored 22 points as well as breaking the school's three-point record. In her career as a Tiger, Helm has now hit 117.
"The key word is 'seniors,' and this is what we need from the seniors right now," Stein said. "This is nuts-and-bolts time, and we need the seniors to carry us through this because they've been through the war."
This win brings the Tigers one step closer to their ultimate goal of earning an NCAA berth.
"We set short-term and long-term goals, and the long-term is to go to the NCAAS and eventually win a championship," Stein said. "We've got to show every day now how bad we want to get there. I think this is a good start."
Engineering Expo
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GETTING YOU WHERE YOU WANT TO GO
Events:
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* Door writes will be awarded
- Keynote Speaker - Kyle D. Vann, Sr. VP, Koch Industries
Learned Hall-University of Kansas
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