Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
Friday
January 29,1999
Section:
B
Page 1
Check out the poster of KU men's basketball leaders Eric Chenowith, Jeff Boschee, Ryan Robertson and T.J. Pugh.
Pro Basketball
SEE PAGES 4-5B
With Michael Jordan retired, who will be the new scoring king of the NBA?
SEE PAGE 8B
Pro Football
The Kansas City Chiefs hired Keith Rowen, former offensive line coach of the Oakland Raiders, as their new tight coach.
SEE PAGE 2B
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
Contact the Kansan
Sports Desk:
Sports Fax:
Sports e-mail:
(785) 864-4810
(785) 864-0391
sports@kansan.com
'Hawks hope to end losing streak
By Kevin C. Wilson
Kansan sportswriter
For the first time in the three-year history of the Big 12 Conference, the Kansas men's basketball team is on the outside, looking in.
When Kansas takes on Colorado at Allen Fieldhouse tomorrow at 3 p.m., the Jayhawks will be looking to avoid back-to-back home losses for the first time since 1988-89. By dropping three out of its last four games, No. 22 Kansas risks falling out of the Associated Press top 25 for the first time in 144 consecutive weeks.
"We're not used to losing," Kansas guard Kenny Gregory said. "We're not used to any of this, so I didn't know how we'll react. I know we still think of ourselves as contenders for the championship. A lot of teams have a chance and we are one of them."
Texas, with its only conference loss to the Jayhawks on Jan. 18, sits atop the Big 12 standings at 7-1, while Kansas, Oklahoma State, Missouri and Nebraska are tied for second place at 5-2.
I think Texas is heads and shoulders above everybody else as far as the games they have left to play." Kansas coach Roy Williams said about the Longhorns relatively easy remaining schedule. "But everybody who has two losses is still in the pack. We're still in it, but I think Texas has a leg up on everyone else."
Although Kansas has claimed four consecutive conference championships, including the final two years of the Big Eight conference (1995, 1996), the rest of the Big 12 teams are not ready to simply hand over the title to this year's squad.
"They're not as good a team as the Kansas of the past." Nebraska forward Andy Markowski said. "That's obvious. They lost two NBA draft picks, and they didn't have a recruiting class that replaced all of the points they lost. They're not as good as they have been, but Kansas is still Kansas."
Despite the Jayhawks uncharacteristic record, Kansas coach Roy Williams remains optimistic.
"Our goal is to always be champions,"
Williams said. "And we're going to have that goal as long as I'm coaching. But you make it difficult if you don't step up on game night."
The Jayhawks face a Colorado team on Saturday that is coming off a dominating 64-44 win against Iowa State on Wednesday night. Win against Kenny Price scored 23 points and committed a meager seven turnovers in the win.
The high-flying Buffaloes, 11.9 overall and 2.5 in the Big 12, rank first in the conference in scoring offense by putting up 74.4 points per game. Reserve guard Tyron Manlove leads the team in scoring with 13.1 points per game while Price adds 12.5 points per game.
Saturday's game will be the first of two meetings in eight days between the two teams. Kansas, who has won the last 18 meetings against Colorado, plays the Buffaloes in Boulder, Colo., one week from Sunday.
The Starting Lineup
KANSAS
JAYHAWKS
5-2 Bite 12, 13-6 overall
G RYAN ROBERTSON 6-5 Sr.
F NICK BRADFORD 6-6 Jr.
G JEFF BOSCHEE 6-1 Fr.
F KENNY GREGORY 6-5 So.
C ERIC CHENOWITH 7-0 So.
COLORADO
BUFFALOES
5 2 Big 12, 13 6 overall
Allen Field House • Lawrence
TV: Ch. 3, 13 and 29
Radio: KLWN, 1320 AM
5111111
Kansas center Eric Chenowith soars above Nebraska's Venson Hamilton and scores a bucket. Chenowith scored 20 points, pulled down 12 rebounds and blocked three shots against the Cornhuskers in the Jayhawks 84-69 loss on Wednesday. Photo by Matt J. Daugherty/KANSAN
Kansas sophomore Jaclyn Johnson muscles for position in the paint against a Texas Tech defender. Photo by Jay Sheperd/KANSAN
Women will use their defense to tackle'Cats
By Matt James
Kansan sportswriter
The rock-solid Jayhawk defense put the clamps on two Texas offenses in less than a week's time, holding the Longhorns and Lady Raiders to 20 and 30 points below their season averages, respectively.
Head coach Marian Washington said she hoped that her team could continue the resurgent defense during the upcoming home-stretch, which lands the Jayhawks in Allen Fieldhouse for five of their next six games.
The Kansas women's basketball team hopes its impressive record and near unstoppable defense will help stimulate fans to attend their upcoming game against K-State.
"Communication is the key to great defense, and our team has really gelled in that area of late," she said.
The Jayhawks' next test comes from instate rival Kansas State at 2:05 p.m. Sunday at Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks will be defending an 18-game home court winning streak when they face the Wildcats.
The Wildcats will be looking to rebound from a disappointing conference defeat to the last place Texas A&M Aggies in Manhattan Wednesday night. The loss dropped K-State to an even 4-4 in the Big 12 Conference, but the Wildcats are a highly improved team from last season.
In only her third year as head coach, Deb Patterson has led her team to an 11-7 overall record with wins against the 24th-ranked Santa Clara and then 19th-ranked Nebraska.
The Starting Lineup
Kansas State starts an undersized, but experienced frontcourt, by led forward Nicky Ramage. The 6-foot-1 forward aver-
See JAYHAWKS on page 2B
KANSAS
JAYHAWKS
5-3 Big 12, 15-6 overall
G LYNN PRIDE 6-2 JR.
G JENNIFER JACKSON 5-10 So.
F JACLYN JOHNSON 6-1 So.
F BROOKIE REVES 6-0 So.
F NAKIA SANFORD 6-3 $-
KANSAS STATE WILDCATS
4-4 Big 12, 11-7 overall
Kansas track teams split squads for this weekend's meets
Allen Field House • Lawrence 2:05
TV: Sunflower Cable
By Mike Miller
The KU men's and women's track teams will be split this weekend as roughly half of the team will stay in Lawrence to compete in the Jayhawk Invitational at Anschutz Sports Pavilion today.
"There are two things we are trying to do this weekend. One is to
Kansan sportswriter
The rest of the squad will travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to compete in the Mercantile Bank Invitational, held by the University of Northern Iowa.
host a meet for the regional schools in our facility," coach Gary Schwartz said.
Greene, a Kansas City, Kan. native, is making his indoor debut this year at the Jayhawk Invitational. A former U.S. and world champion in the 100 meters, Greene and several other celebrity
The meet also will be highlighted by two special 60-meter dashes, featuring 60-meter dash world record holder Maurice Greene.
Schwartz said the other goal was to prepare the rest of the team for the conference meet.
runners will run a preliminary race at 1:10 p.m. and a finals competition at 1:55 p.m.
The meet is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. with free admission to the public.
"We kind of sacrificed time for place last week, because we just went all out. This week I hope to run a better time, even if it is in a different race," senior Kevin McGinn said.
The overall focus of the team will be different compared to that of last weekend's meet at Kansas State University.
McGinn is just one athlete that will run a different race. The last two meets he ran the mile. This weekend in Cedar Falls, he will run the 3,000 meters for the first time in three weeks.
Caroline Larose won the only title for the women's team at KState, her first victory in the shot put this season.
The injury-plagued women's team will look for strong performances from pole vaulters Shannon Agee, (second last weekend) and Andrea Branson (third last weekend) in Iowa.
The other half of the squad staying to compete at Anschutz will compete against 30 other area schools including: Baker University, Emporia State University, Johnson County Community College, Ottawa University and Wichita State University.
"I would prefer not to split. The hard thing is to leave half the squad behind and some assistant coaches. And, I don't get to see the kids compete." Schwartz said.
Sprinter Tuleshia Rogers also has been consistent for KU this season, with three top five finishes.
Young team should learn from errors
Commentary
Last week, I said that this was a young team and they were going to lose a few, but that
Well, a lot has changed in the last week in the world of Kansas men's basketball. The Jayhawks have fallen from the ranks of the beaten in the conference and have dropped from first into a four-way tie for second.
they were getting better and learning each week. The loss at Nebraska, however, was a huge step in the wrong direction.
The 'Hawks didn't just lose, they were dominated from beginning to end. The same is true of the Missouri game, but that was somewhat understandable because of the rivalry and a good coach, but Nebraska — e'mon
Brandon Jones
sports@kansan.com
T. J. Pugh said, "I don't
think we're learning." This young team needs to continue to improve and learn from its losses.
With the continued losses, the streaks continue to fall. The loss at Nebraska was our first conference loss to any team other than Mizzou since the conference started. It ended a streak of nine straight victories over Nebraska. Kansas suffered its first back-to-back game losing streak since 1994 — a span of 165 games — and our streak of 144 straight weeks in the AP Top-25 looks to be in jeopardy.
One streak that is still alive, however, is our undefeated streak in Bramlage Coliseum. Kansas never has lost a game to K-State in Bramlage since it was built about fifteen years ago. That streak is going to be put on the line Monday night in front of the whole nation on ESPN's Big Monday. I know, first we have to play Colorado on Saturday, but if we lose to Colorado at home, we have more to worry about than the fall of some stupid streaks.
K-State is our next important game. One of my friends, the biggest and most loyal Wildcat fan I know, predicted before the season that K-State would sweep the series this year. I told him it wouldn't happen, but if it were ever to happen, this would have to be the year. Now with Manny Dies reduced to a sixth man and K-State near the bottom of the conference where they belong, I doubt he is so confident
Speaking of talent, some of it seems to be going to waste in Kansas' sophomore class. Kenny Gregory played a great game against the Huskers, but is that the end of his slump? I sure hope so, but it may be that the game in Lincoln was just finally a run-and-gun transition style game that Gregory loves. Gregory has superior talent and looked great Wednesday, but he still needs lots of work on his half-court game. He needs to improve his game in the set offense.
The conference title is still well within our reach. We already have beaten the conference leaders, Texas, have split with Mizzou, and we still have our shots at the Sooners and the Cowboys. It's going to be a tough road, but I think this team has the talent to bring the trophy back to Lawrence.
— unless we watched the Nebraska game. If Kansas can get it back together in the next two games and secure two more conference victories, we will be in good shape for a rematch with the 'Huskers. I don't think we will lose to the 'Huskers in Allen Fieldhouse.
Eric Chenwith arguably has been playing very well in the last several games. He has recorded several double-doubles and is looking pretty smooth, but there is a lot of room for improvement.
The next time you watch Chenowith play, count the number of times he falls away from the basket as opposed to the number of times he goes into the basket when shooting. Also watch how often he squares up with the basket as opposed to how many times he does not.
Eric, you're seven feet tall! Square up to the basket, go up strong and go towards the basket. You're an awesome player with tremendous talent, use it! If Chenowith would play a little tougher (he already has started to when rebounding) and a little more aggressive he would average 20 points a game.
Super Bowl prediction: Denver 31 Atlanta 21.
Jones is an Linden senior in law school.