SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2005
PAGE 1B
WWW.KANSAN.COM
BASEBALL
Kansas debuts at home
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After a roller-coaster start, the baseball team brings it home today
BY ALISSA BAUER
abauer@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTS WRITER
A three-game sweep at the hands of the Stanford Cardinal last weekend has the Jayhawks looking to get back on track at the best place possible: Home.
The Kansas baseball team will make its 2005 debut in Hoglund Ballpark against South Dakota State (0-0) today at 3 p.m. The game will be the first of a four-game series that was originally scheduled to finish Sunday.
David Iohnson/Texas Tech Student Media
Because of bad weather forecasts for the weekend, the
Kellv Hutsell/KANSAN
games have been rescheduled. Today's and tomorrow's games will keep their 3 p.m. starting times. The series was supposed to wrap-up on Sunday, after a day off on Saturday. The new schedule will have games three and four set on Friday as a doubleheader, beginning at 2 p.m.
This series will be the first for the Jackrabbits, as they come off of a 12-36 record in 2004.
Kansas (6-3) opened the season on fire last week in Kona, Hawaii, as it took all six games of the series against Hawaii Hilo. Those flames quickly fizzled against Stanford during the
weekend, but did not leave the Jayhawks discouraged, Kansas coach Ritch Price said.
"I was actually really pleased with the progress they made over the weekend," he said of the Stanford series.
Price acknowledged the fact that Stanford has always carried a dominant baseball program. Losing 7-6 in the series finale gave Price good signals of what his ball club is capable of.
Starting today, the Jayhawks can show their ability to bounce back after a tough defeat. Hoglund Ballpark may serve as the ideal place to field such a rebound.
Last season, the Kansas baseball team posted a 20-12 record at home. The 2004 season also marked the second consecutive 30-victory season for the lavhawks.
"We did really well at home last year," Price said. "We're excited to get started again this season."
Kansas junior pitcher Kodiak Quick is scheduled to take the mound this afternoon. Quick (2-0) did not pitch against Stanford, but threw two starts versus Hawaii-Hilo. In 15 innings, he held his ERA to .60.
SEE DEBUTS ON PAGE 3B
Andy Scholl, Albuquerque, N.M., senior, throws home during practice. Scholl and the rest of the baseball team practiced yesterday in preparation for their home opener against South Dakota State this afternoon at 3 p.m.
Texas Tech coach Bobby Knight argues with an official after Kansas junior forward Christian Moody tied the game with a tip-in in the closing seconds of the first overtime period Monday night in Lubbock, Texas.
V MEN'S BASKETBALL
No niceties from Knight
Texas Tech coach not thrilled with his team's play or record
BY KELLIE ROBINETT
krobinett@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
LUBBOCK, Texas — Everyone in Lubbock, Texas, seemed to go wild after Texas Tech's double-overtime victory against Kansas on Monday night — except Texas Tech coach Bob Knight, that is.
Thousands of Texas Tech students rushed the court following their team's victory, and players left the floor high fiving everyone in sight.
But Knight merely shook hands with Kansas coach Bill Self and went to the locker room.
That's all he would say about it.
There was no grand speech or even a smile on his face. He went as far as to complain about his team taking too long to put the game away.
"It's our sixteenth win," Knight said with a harsh tone after being asked how much the victory meant to his team.
If ever there was a time to celebrate, this was it.
With the win, the Red Raiders claimed their eighth conference victory of the year, and all but assured themselves a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Self complimented Texas Tech's performance, and so did visibly heart broken Kansas players.
"We knew they'd be ready to
play," Self said. "They executed well. Give them credit, I think they defended us really well."
Knight would have none of it, though. The only kind word he used to describe his team's play
was "nice."
"Our players did a nice job of staying in the game," he said.
He refused to sing the praises of his three leading scorers — freshman guard Martin Zeno, sophomore
guard Jarrius Jackson and senior guard Ronald Ross -- who combined for 64 points in Monday's match-up.
SEE KNIGHT ON PAGE 3B
WOMEN'S BASKETBALJ
Jayhawks to face Red Raiders
Junior guard Erica Hallman dribbles past Colorado freshman guard Yari Escalera. Hallman scored 18 points and tallied eight assists during the game Sunday afternoon. Hallman and the Jayhawks take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders at 8 tonight in Allen Fieldhouse.
Rachel Seymour/KANSAN
BY PAUL BRAND
pbrand@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
The Kansas women's basketball team's fourgame home stand continues, but the confines of Allen Fieldhouse will become a little less hospitable tonight with a showdown against Texas Tech.
The 7 p.m. tip-off is the second game of the home stand for the Jayhawks and the beginning of a stretch when they play four of their remaining games against ranked opponents.
Coming off a 76-54 beating of Colorado on Sunday, Kansas will find a much tougher test in No.13 Texas Tech, 17-5 (8-3 Big 12 Conference).
"We understand how good they are and how good we would have to play to beat them," Kansas coach Bonnie Henrickson said.
masters against teamed opponents.
"In this league, you've got great competition,
and we've got staring us in the face a little run,"
Henrickson said. "Right now, the most important one is Texas Tech."
one is Texas Tech.
The game is equally crucial for the Raiders, who find themselves in a dead heat for the lead in the Big 12 standings. With their 8-3 conference record, the Raiders can jump into first place if they win and the Baylor Bears lose.
Texas Tech is coming off a 64-43 setback at
Texas. The defeat dropped the Raiders into a fourway logjam for second place in conference.
During the final stretch of the regular season, Kansas will face three of the top five other teams that are fighting it out with Texas Tech.
A recent victory for Kansas has buoyed the spirits of a team that stands at 11-11 (4-7).
Even with the adversity of the late season schedule, Henrickson said her team's confidence was where it needed to be at this point in the year. However, that does not change their views of the Raider team that will invade the fieldhouse.
"This group is hungry and they love to compete." Henrickson said. "But they go into the game with a tremendous amount of respect for Texas Tech."
Junior guard Kaylee Brown echoed her coach's sentiment;
"We have to play together and play well." Brown said. "They're very,very good."
In order to hang with the Raiders, the Jayhawks will need a repeat performance of their last game, their most lopsided Big 12 victory of the season.
Against Colorado, the inside presence of junior forward Crystal Kemp was paired with two potent scoring performances from guards Erica Hallman
SEE RAIDERS ON PAGE 3B
DANCING NACHOS
MICHAEL PHILLIPS
mphillips@kansan.com
Bring back overnight camping for students
Allen Fieldhouse has one of the richest basketball traditions in the country.
Camping at the fieldhouse should happen 24 hours a day. You know, actual camping.
So why does that tradition take a break between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.?
Jeff Bollig, co-author of "Beware of the Phog: 50 Years of Allen Fieldhouse," said that camping was done sporadically for both Wilt Chamberlain's and Danny Manning's teams, but the first large-scale camping efforts happened after the 1988 NCAA Championship season.
"It makes for a more normal student life while keeping the tradition of camping alive," he said.
At the start students pitched tents on the lawn outside the fieldhouse. Campers had to hold their ground all day and all night.
Brad Nachtigal, assistant athletics director, emphasized that the students would have to make the first move.
Jim Marchiony, associate director of athletics, said that the current staff was not around when the change was made and has never discussed the issue. He said he supported the system in place.
Curtis Marsh, who was a freshman in 1987, said the conditions helped keep camping groups to a minimum.
Twenty-four-hour camping would be a party, a celebration of everything we've come to love about Jayhawk basketball combined with the student body's insatiable appetite for air mattresses.
If this brings to mind images of Duke and Krzyzewskiville, Duke's camping village, it should. Except the Jayhawk version would blow Duke away.
"You really paid the price if you wanted those seats," he said.
Looking beyond the obvious (Duke students get told how to cheer before the game), remember that they only get to camp out for two games a year.
But it wasn't all electric blankets and 3 a.m. roll calls. Players came down from Jayhawker Towers to hang out, and televisions were hooked up to extension cords that came from the fieldhouse.
"On occasion, the pizza places would stop by with the extra pizzas they had from the night," Marsh said.
"Camping is a student-run organization," he said. "If they approached us, it would be something we would talk about internally."
Bollig said the students' well-being had to be considered before such a system was approved.
"It is an issue of safety and security," he said.
Keep in mind this is the Athletics Department that keeps tabs on the priority points system. Extra fieldhouse security would be easy for the department to figure out.
Allen Fieldhouse is one of the most recognizable images on the campus. It would be even better if the yard in front was dotted with tents full of students.
SEE PHILLIPS ON PAGE 3B
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