JAYHAWK
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Basketball
Inside Sports today
The women's swimming and diving team finished its home season with a win, but the men lost to Iowa State while competing without one of its top swimmers. SEE PAGE 3B
Yesterday's game - Kansas vs. Colorado
KANSAS
16-6, 8-2
UNRANKED
SECTION B, PAGE 1
86
WWW.JHAWKBBALL.COM
COLORADO
11-12, 2-8
UNRNKED
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1999
80
Commentary
Loving loathing the NBA
Admit it. There's a small part of you that that's not as bitter about the NBA lockout now that the season is finally under wav.
I was one of the masses, 100 percent apathetic about whether there was an NBA season. I didn't care about the negotiations, about who was going to
get what percent of a $2 billion check. Auto racing highlights used to be the only SportsCenter subject that could drive me to flip the channel, but this winter the lockout was added to that list.
Mellinger is an Lawrence junior in journalism.
And as long as it's exciting, as long as it holds your attention, you'll watch. I know I will.
So admit you. You'll stop flipping channels when you see an NBA game on. You might even make plans to have dinner in front of the TV when Raef LaFrentz's Denver Nuggets or Paul Pierce's Boston Celtics are on TNT.
Sam Mellinger sports@ansan.com
But now it's all over. And it's hot
ter. Some of the NBA's biggest downfalls are nonexistent this season.
Michael Jordan was great to watch, but his dominance took away from not actually knowing how the season was going to end. And it was also annoying to listen to Chicago natives every spring. But with Jordan's retirement, there is no clear-cut favorite to succeed the Bulls. New York, Indiana, New Jersey and Miami seem to be the top teams in the East, and you could make a good argument for Utah, San Antonio, Houston, Seattle, Phoenix, Minnesota or the Lakers to win the West.
Heck, nobody ever paid much attention to the pros before about this time of year anyway, so the lockout just saved us all some trouble. And if the opening weekend is any indication, basketball fans have forgiven the NBA for its temporary stupidity.
Another turn-off to the NBA was the ridiculous 82-game schedule. This created extra revenue to fatten the league's pockets, but it also created a drawn-out season that left many fans wondering how much effort the players showed on the court. But with the lockout shaving more than 30 games off the schedule, every game counts.
I conducted a highly scientific study last night to figure out whether the fans were back, and my research indicates they are. I checked out about 10 box scores from this weekend, and I could find just one that listed the attendance at less than 17,000.
OK, so it wasn't so scientific. In defense against alienating the fans, many teams have cut ticket prices significantly and some have even let fans in for free. That surely added to the attendance numbers. But if fans were as apathetic about the BFA as all those ridiculous surveys indicated during the lockout, you couldn't pay 20,143 people to watch the Orlando Magic play the Philadelphia 76ers Saturday.
The only game where attendance wasn't up to par was on opening night, when 7,689 watched Phoenix at the Los Angeles Clippers. That probably has more to do with the Clippers' being the toilet paper of the NBA than it does the lockout.
Much like the bumper sticker, lock-outs happen. The NFL had one in 1982
one year after Major League Baseball ball had one — but the fans of both sports came back. Baseball had another one in 1994 — it even canceled the World Series — but all it took was a friendly home-run derby to cure that.
Sports fans are easy to please. Give them a winner, or even an entertaining product, and they will pay money to watch. That's why the Knicks played in front of a sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden for the 264th straight game yesterday.
'Hawks hold off Buffs' charge
Robertson scores career high while committing no turnovers
By Kevin C. Wilson Kansan sportswriter
BOULDER, Colo. — For the second time in nine days, the Kansas Jayhawks denied Colorado a come-from-behind win and defeated the Buffaloes 86-83 yesterday.
Colorado, which trailed by as many as 17 points in the second half, trimmed the Kansas lead to three, 83-80, when Colorado's Kenny Price hit his sixth three-pointer of the game with 32 seconds remaining.
"I didn't think we were going to get Price to miss one of those down the stretch," Kansas coach Roy Williams said. "He got up and made some big-time shots for them."
Kansas guard Ryan Robertson did the same for the Jayhawks, scoring a careerhigh 23 points, including 10 of 12 from the free-throw line.
"You've got to mention Ryan Robertson." Williams said, "Ten of 12 free throws, five of six from the floor, 23 points, two assists, no turnovers. That's a pretty good day."
The 6-foot-4 senior scored the Jayhawks' first five points as neither team could take more than a three-point lead in the game's first 12 minutes.
With the score tied 22-22 with 7:28 to go in
KANSAS 86, COLORADO 80
KANSAS (16-6)
Bradford 1-2-2-4, Pugh 3-9-0-6, Chenwih
5-10-14 9, Robertson 5-6 10-12 23, Boschee
5-8-15 3-6, Gregory 3-11 0-0 7, Carey 1-2-3-4
5, London 4-7 0-0 9, Johnson 1-2-0 1, Janisse
0-0-0 0.0, Tots 28-57 22-35 86.
COLORADO (11-12)
Price 6-17 5-15 23, Smith 1-6 0-0 2, Mosley 4-8 6-7 14, Walls 7-15 5-8 22, Jones 2-6 2-2 7, Winston 0 4 0 0, Carter 0 2 0 0, Grenzach 3-6 1-3
7, Thomas 2-4 1-3 5. Total 25 8-20 28 80.
Halftime—Kansas 40, Colorado 35, 3-Point goals—Kansas 8-14 (Robertson 3-4, Boschee 3-5, London 12, Gregory 13). Colorado 10-29 (Price 6-14, Walls 3-9, Jones 1-4, Winston 0-2). Fouled out—Carey, Moseley, Thomas, Winston. Rebounds—Kansas 47 (Chenowith 12, Carey 12). Colorado 40 (Mosley 18). Assists—Kansas 18 (London 6), Colorado 19 (Jones 7, Walls 7). Total fouls—Kansas 25, Colorado 27. Technicals—Colorado bench. A—9, 22-5.
the first half, Kansas guard Jeff Boschese came alive. The freshman hit two three-point baskets and the freshman the Jayhawks on an 8-0 run that pushed the score to 30-22.
The Jayhawks went into intermission with a 40-35 lead.
Kansas carried the momentum into the second half and, following a dunk by Colorado's Will Smith, went on a 15-1 run. Center Eric Chenowith scored six points in the run that stretched the Kansas lead to 17 points, its biggest lead of the game, at 55-38.
Robertson said that even though the Jayhawks had taken such a large lead, he never counted out the Buffaloes.
"It never got to be a blowout atmosphere," Robertson said. "The crowd got into it a little bit and it was back and forth."
With the Jayhawks up 57-43, the two teams engaged in a free-throw shooting contest as 16 foul shots were taken in the next five minutes. Kansas forward Kenny Gregory scored with 7:44 to go for the first Kansas field goal since the 12:53 mark.
Colorado looked to center Jamahl Mosley for points from the floor, and he responded by scoring nine straight for the Buffaloes.
The Jayhawks countered by going into a two-three zone, but the Buffaloes went on a 13-4 run and closed the lead to 71-65. The run was fueled by two three-pointers from Price and one from Walls.
"Kenny Price and Jaquay Walls made some big baskets for them." Williams said.
The Jayhawks made 19 of 28 free throws in the second half and held off Colorado for their 20th straight win against the Buffalooes.
Kansas (6-16 overall and 8-2 in the Big 12) was bolstered by some much-needed bench play after the Jayhawks got in foul trouble. Fifty-two fouls were called on both teams, and four players, including Kansas' Jeff Carey, fouled out.
Kansas reserves totaled 23 points, and Carey pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds in just 12 minutes of play.
"I was really happy with the way our bench played today," Williams said.
One player who was not on the bench was Lester Earl, who did not make the trip because of a bad ankle.
The Jayhawks' next game is against Nebraska Wednesday night in Lawrence.
Freshman guard Morgan London takes a shot over Colorado's Will Smith. Kansas built a 17-point lead and held on for a 86-80 win at Colorado yesterday. Photo by Dane Elsavoy/KANSAN
Sanford leads Kansas women in defensive defeat of Tigers
Kansas center Nukia Sanford raises her arms to the crowd after the 48-37 victory against Missouri. Sanford led the team with 16 points and pulled down six rebounds before fouling out in the second half. Photo by Jay Shepard/KANSAN
By Matt James
Kansan sportswriter
Colombia, Mo. — It was Nakia Sanford's last game at the Hearnes Center, so she decided to go out with a bang.
The 6-foot-4 center scored a game-high 16 points and grabbed six rebounds, leading Kansas past border-rival Missouri in a 48-37 defensive struggle yesterday.
Sanford said she remembered losing at Missouri her freshman year and was determined not to let it happen in her final season.
The victory pushed the 22nd-ranked Jayhawks' winning streak to five games.
"This is my last time playing on this court, and I'm so glad I get to go out with a win," she said.
Kansas' defense was the deciding factor in yet another game for the Jayhawks. Missouri shot 30 percent from the floor, and its 37 points marked the program's lowest scoring output since it managed only 33 points against Grand View College in 1974.
"You have to credit their defense for our lack of scoring," said Missouri coach Cindy Stein. "They force you to take quick shots. And it's hard to get a mismatch when they switch on picks because they're so much bigger than we are."
On the other hand, the Jayhawks (18-6,
8-3) found a mismatch.
Missouri forward Julie Helm, the Big 12 Conference's fifth-leading scorer with 18.8 points an outing, was limited to 10 points on 4 of 10 shooting because of another strong defensive performance from junior Lynn Pride. As she has done in several games of late, coach Marian Washington neutralized the opponents' best outside scorer with the taller, more athletic Pride.
See WINNING on page 8B
Tensions run high at Coors Center
By Marc Sheforgen
Kansan associate sports editor
BOULDER, Colo. — The tension at Colorado's Coors Event Center yesterday was at least as high as the arena's elevation.
Both Kansas and Colorado had engaged in a war of words through the media since their last meeting Jan. 3, and yesterday each squad looked determined to back up what it said.
"It was very emotional out there," said Kansas guard Jeff Boschee. "We heard all of the hype in the paper. Coach gave us a few quotes from them from their last game. It was extra motivation."
The game warmed up for about 16 minutes before reaching its boiling point.
No technical fouls were called.
With 6:03 remaining in the first half, Colorado guard Jaquay Walls was called for charging after running into Kansas' Ryan Robertson. Walls stood over the fallen Robertson and complained to officials, Boschez ran to help Robertson up and tried to move Walls away from his teammate. Walls responded by putting a finger in Boschez's face, and Kansas coach Roy Williams ran onto the floor to separate the players.
'He (Walls) just kind of got
frustrated and he threw a back hand and poked me in the eve. "Boschce said."
During the confrontation, Kansas forward Kenny Gregory and Colorado forward Jamahl Mosley stood face to face and exchanged words.
"It was just a little trash talking," Gregory said. "Tad to stand up for my teammate, basically."
The Colorado players were not available for postgame comments.
The game continued to be very physical and trash talking remained prevalent. Fifty-two fouls were called in the game and many of those hacks resulted in a player being knocked to the floor. Three Colorado players and one Kansas player — Jeff Carey — fouled out.
Colorado coach Ricardo Patton agreed that his team played aggressively, but said he did not encourage the squabbles.
"I just want us to come out hard," Patton said. "I don't ever want physical confrontation. The game's physical."
Kansas forward T.J. Pugh said the pregame and on-the-court trash talking made yesterday's 86-80 Kansas victory even more satisfying.
"You never want anyone to talk bad about you." Pugh said. "Especially when you beat them."
(   )
---