Section:
B
Our heads are spinning.
The University Daily Kansan
Yevgeny Pluschenko ended Alexei Yagudin's reign as men's figure skating champ with a quad and eight triples to Yagudin's quad and six triples.
Sports
Inside: Scoring has been a problem for the men's basketball team lately. The problem? A number of things.
SEE PAGE 5B
Inside: Going, going, gone.
As expected, Ken Griffey Jr.
was dealt to the Cincinnati
Reds yesterday.
SEE PAGE 4B
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2006
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
Jennifer Jackson chases down a ball that was batted away from a Texas opponent. Jackson returned the ball and scores two points. Photo by Aaron Lindberg/KANSAN
Jayhawks soar past Longhorns
Guard overcomes illness to lead team to 64-52 victory
By Chris Fickett sports@kansan.com Kansan sportwriter
Suzi Raymant was not feeling 100 percent. But her three-point shot was.
Raymant, the Kansas women's basketball team's senior sharpshooter, nailed a three-pointer deep into the heart of Texas and propelled the No. 23 Jayhawks to a 64-52 victory against the Longhorns last night in Allen Fieldhouse. That basket, which she followed up with a key steal, fortified a 13-4 'Hawks run that ended the game.
Before the game, Kansas women's basketball coach Marian Washington wasn't sure if Raymant, a senior guard, would be able to play. She has had the flu since last week.
"I was truly worried," Washington said. "She really wanted to play, and this is her senior year, so I thought I'd take a chance." Washington said.
Raymant saw limited action in the first half because of foul trouble. But that might have been a blessing. Raymant, who finished the game with 11 points and two three-pointers, said she might not have had enough energy at the end of the game if she hadn't been on the bench at the start.
made nine steals. The Longhorns average a league-best 12.2 a game. The Jayhawks, now at 17-5 and a game behind the league's top spot at 8-2, has now held 20 of its 22 opponents to under 40 percent shooting.
"I was really hoping I wouldn't lose my
wind because I hadn't been practicing for a couple of days," she said. "But I felt OK by the second half. Maybe if I had played a lot more minutes in the first half I might not have been able to stand up as much in the second half."
As advertised, there was plenty of defense in the game. Texas, which dropped to 15-8 and 7-3 in the Big 12 Conference,
Washington was encouraged to see her team defend the Longhorns' slashing guards effectively. The Jayhawks limited
"I was really hoping I wouldn't lose my wind because I hadn't been practicing for a couple of days. But I felt OK by the second half."
Texas senior Edwina Brown, the Big 12's No. 1 scorer, to seven points, her lowest total in more than a year.
Suzi Raymant
"Tonight we had to defend the drive, and I'm really pleased with that," Washington said. "We really had to rotate."
And even though the Jayhawks didn't shoot much better than the Longhorns — 40.4 percent to Texas' 35.5 percent — their defense made all the difference.
"Coach pounds it in our head everyday," said junior forward Jaclyn Johnson, who scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds. "Defense wins games. And if we're having a poor shooting night like tonight, then we just have to make them shoot worse."
Senior guard
The Jayhawks will be in Lincoln, Neb., on Sunday to face the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The 'Huskers won the teams' first meeting this season 81-69 on Jan. 11 in Lawrence. Kansas' continues its road trip on Wednesday at Iowa State.
Jayhawks determined to end road slump
"We're off to our toughest stretch of anyone in our conference with four games on the road and only one at home," Washington said.
By Shawn Hutchinson
Kansan sportswriter
The Jayhawks aren't the happiest camers these days.
They've been blasted four consecutive times on the road, have dropped to sixth place in the Big 12 Conference standings and are fresh from their third worst loss in school history.
drop to 17-6 overall and 6-3 in the Big 12. "Things aren't going well," Kansas coach Roy Williams said. "Things aren't happy or cheerful, and people don't have a smile on their face. I'm human, I feel sorry and I'm ready to jump off a building sometimes, but that's not going to do any of us any good."
Kansas also has witnessed its record drop to 17-6 overall and 6-3 in the Big 12.
However, what would do the Jayhawks good is picking up that elusive road victory. Kansas' four-game losing streak on the road is its longest since Williams' first season in 1988-89.
That losing streak started at Missouri, continued at Iowa State and Iowa, and was topped off last Monday at
Oklahoma State with an 86-53 butchering by the Cowboys.
In that game, the Jayhawks set season lows for points (53), field goals (20), field goal attempts (53), field goal percentage (.339), free throws (6), free throw percentage (.462), defensive rebounds (22), total rebounds (32) and steals (4).
"That game in
Tomorrow's game at Bramlage
Williams: Says things are not going well
Oklahoma was embarrassing", Williams said. "This team was never able to make a run the entire game. We've lost several games, but most of the time we could at least make a run. We haven't had many like that."
"They can say that Kansas is vulnerable, but they can't be that confident themselves."
Roy Williams
Kansas men's basketball coach
Coliseum against the Kansas State Wildcats at 3 p.m. in Manhattan may be just the cure the Jayhawks are looking for.
Kansas has won 16 straight games in Manhattan, which includes an 11-10 lifetime mark at Bramlage. The Jayhawks also have tripped up the Wildcats once already this season — an 87-79 victory on Jan. 8 in Allen Fieldhouse.
The Jayhawks held off a late Wildcat rally in that game before eventually pulling away for the win.
"I can really respect them as a team," Kansas guard Kenny Gregory said. "The way they came to the Fieldhouse
and played us to the wire makes me respect them."
The Wildcats may look at Kansas' recent road woes and smell blood, but the fact remains that K-State hasn't exactly been lighting up the scoreboards itself.
The Wildeats have lost nine consecutive games, have dropped to 1-9 in the Big 12, and stand 8-13 on the season.
"There's a couple trains of thought," Williams said. "They can say that Kansas is vulnerable, but they can't be that confident themselves."
So, at least on paper, the Jayhawks have the table set to end that four-game road skid.
"It all starts with how ready you are for the beginning of the game," Gregory said. "We have to be ready to play better and play through team's emotions. We have to play together and play with composure during the last five minutes of the game."
Tennis team boasts native Kansas duo
By Brent Wasko
sports@kansan.com
Kansas sportwriter
The Kansas men's tennis team is using some homegrown weapons.
On a roster typically dominated by foreign athletes and players from warm climates, two players hail from the state of Kansas this season. Fifth-year senior and team captain Bryan Maier, a Winfield native, and Pete Stroer, Salina freshman, are making mark on Kansas tennis.
"It is a really rare occurrence, especially being not very close to the coast where there are lots of better tennis players," Maier said. "This might be the last time it ever happens here at Kansas."
Maier and Stroer make up the first Kansas duo to compete on the team since the 1995-96 season. During the past few years, the squad has had an abundance of foreign athletes. In fact, this spring only four players on the eight
"Sometimes it's a little difficult because we'll spill up into little groups, but it's really not that bad," Maier said. "Most of the foreign players speak pretty good English."
"There's the hick stuff that comes out every once in a while." Maier said. "They also think we're going to be on the front row of every basketball game with our faces painted just because we're from here. On this team, everyone kids around a little, though."
man roster are from the United States. Three are from Mexico, and one is from Argentina.
Because of their Kansas roots, Maier said players on the team often teased Stroer and him during practice.
Maier said that being in the minority sometimes was hard.
During his first five practices, Stroer said he felt a little uncomfortable being one of the only athletes
See NATIVE on page 3B
Track team aims for top spots at invitational meet in Nebraska
By Sarah Warren
Watch out Lincoln, Neb. Here comes Ashley Feinberg.
Feinberg, a junior, will be vying today for a top spot in the women's pole vault at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational in a field that includes fellow Kansas junior Andrea Branson, an All-American. The invitational, which will
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
The invitational, which will include more than 50 teams, is just her type of meet.
"I'm one of those athletes that'll compete better in a bigger meet setting," Feinberg said. "I'm really excited to compete."
Because of severe tendonitis in her knee, Feinberg has had two knee operations and had to red-shirt both indoor and outdoor seasons last year. She said a cortisone shot in her knee should sustain her for this weekend's competition and possibly through to the NCAA indoor championships, for which she provisionally qualified.
And she is lucky she can.
"Hopefully, I'll be able to better my mark before the end of the
"I'm one of those athletes that'll compete better in a bigger meet setting."
Ashley Feinberg
Junior pole vaulter
indoor season," Feinberg said. "And hopefully, this cortisone shot can get me through the indoor nationals."
Luckily for Feinberg, she won't have to guess how high her knee will have to take her today — every day she sees how high she has to go to stay competitive.
"Andrea is my biggest competition, so it's nice to train with that every day." Feinberg said.
That's not to say that there won't be any other contenders for the women's pole vault title today. Feinberg and Branson will look to better Kansas State's Erin Anderson, who vaulted three inches higher than Branson's second-place mark last year in Lincoln.
Anderson won't be the only good competition there either. Athletes
"It's one of those limited entry things," coach Gary Schwartz said.
have to qualify for the meet, which narrows the field.
things, coach Gary Schwarz said.
He said the rest of the team would stay at home and prepare for next week's pre-conference invitational.
Of those attending the meet, junior All-American Charlie Gruber is expected to repeat his outstanding performance from last year. Gruber placed second in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:52.67. Gruber, who bettered that mark by three seconds at last weekend's Northern Iowa Invitational, is just one reason why Winberg believes this year's Jayhawks will make a strong showing in Lincoln.
"I think we're making really big improvements," Feinberg said. "I'd definitely say things are looking up. We've got a long ways to go, but I think there's a lot more team spirit this year. I think people are a lot more fired up this year to do really well."
Sports Columnist
Seth Jones
sports@kansan.com
Dunk contest slams back into NBA
Finally, the NBA slam-dunk contest has come back to All-Star weekend.
The biggest slam-masters in the world converge in one place to show the fans such things as the "East Bay Funk Dunk." The dunk-a-thon has been absent since 1997, when Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant won it.
In a sick marketing effort, the NBA replaced the slam-dunk contest with a team-up of NBA players and WNBA players. Instead of crazy dunks, the coed teams took very sane jump shots from various spots on the floor.
The contest returns with the three-point shootout and rookie challenge Saturday night on TNT. This year, the contest offers one heavyweight champion and a bunch of challengers. The odds-on favorite is Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors. Also known as "Vinsanity" and "Air Canada," Carter is a staple on ESPN Sportscenter with dunks that can only be described as ridiculous.
Other contestants this year include Tracy McGrady, also of the Raptors and Carter's cousin. It seems that when God was handing out hops, he got a little out of control with this family and gave them an uncanny amount. Houston Rocket Steve Francis is the smallest contestant at 6-foot-3. The crowds usually like the little guys. Larry Hughes, one of Larry Brown's players at Philadelphia will be there. To complete the North Carolina University connection with Carter, Jerry Stackhouse and Antawn Jamison also will compete.
Now that the dunk contest is back, it has been changed it for better. The skywalkers now can use teammates to assist them with their dunks. Whether that be crazy alley-oops or simply demonstrating how they can jump over grown men, having a teammate will make things even more exciting.
Technologically speaking, TNT will add the "Jump Meter." This amounts to replays showing the trajectory of the players and exactly how high they get off the ground with each dunk. This could be frightening with a guy like Carter, who seems to elevate as much as he wants.
The dunk contest is something every basketball fan can enjoy. What group of street ballers hasn't drifted over to the little kid goals to do their best Dee Brown imitation? Even the Division I kids wanna be like the slam contestants. Last week at practice, I saw the Jayhawks attempting Isaiah Rider's "East Bay Funk Dunk," a viscous slam that involves driving baseline, jumping, switching the ball from one hand to the other through your legs while in midair, and finishing it with a nasty one-handed dunk. And in the Oklahoma State game, if you could call it a game, Desmond Mason got a break away and did his best imitation of Dominique Wilkins with a Three Stooges twist.
My prediction for the dunk contest will be the easy pick of Carter. He's just too nasty not to win it. Battling for second will be Larry Hughes, who wants to prove he's not just a bench player and also has the large ego of Allen Iverson to help throw the assists, and Antawn Jamison, who has the hometown Golden State Warriors to his favor.
Regardless of the winner, one thing is for sure: With the return of the dunk contest, expect to see even more adults on the kiddierms doing their best impersonations of their favorite dunkmasters.
Jones is a Mulvane senior in journalism.