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SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
3B
Rebounding key to victory
Kansas, Nebraska make offensive boards the name of the game
BY MRANDA LERNING
mlenning@hansan.com
HANSAN SCHOOL OF PHYSIOLOGY
LINCOLN, Neb. — The Kansas front line turned in its best performance of the year Saturday, matching Nebraska rebound for rebound during its 78-65 victory.
The Jayhawks pulled down 38 total rebounds,11 on the offensive end,and scored 12 on second-chance points.
"We knew to be successful we had to come in and rebound well," junior forward Christian Moody said after accumulating eight points and six rebounds.
It only took the Jayhawks a little more than 3 minutes to pull down six offensive rebounds.
Kansas coach Bill Self said his team and Nebraska coach Barry Collier's squad both rebounded well.
Fourteen of the Cornhuskers' 33 rebounds were on the offensive end, and they converted 14 put-back points.
"They missed 37 shots and got 14 offensive rebounds, which is too many." Self said. "But we missed 28 shots and got 11, which I'm sure Barry would sav is too many."
It didn't matter how many times either team missed jump
shots. It seemed that every time the ball clanked off the rim, the shooting team regained possession.
Cindy Yeo/KANSAN
The Cornhuskers aggressively went after loose balls, once getting three offensive rebounds on a single possession, and finished the first half with seven offensive rebounds.
"I think it's just scratchy Nebraska," senior forward Wayne Simien said. "They're the number one rebounding team in the conference right now. They did that well in the fieldhouse a couple weeks ago."
Sinien posted a game-high 14 rebounds despite being the focus of Nebraska's defense.
"It's something we're definitely doing better," Simien said of his team's rebounding performance.
Kansas left the Devaney Sports Center with a hard-fought victory.
One of the reasons for Nebraska's offensive rebound numbers was Self's decision to play a zone defense for portions of the game.
"They really hurt us on the offensive rebounds when we went zone," Self said. "I bet they got five of their offensive rebounds."
Keith Langford, senior guard, and Christian Moody, junior forward, flight Nebraska's Wes Wilkinson, junior forward, for the rebound with 8 minutes remaining in the game. The Jayhawks finished with 38 rebounds.
— Edited by Nikola Rowe
A season opening rainout did nothing to dampen the efficiency of the Kansas baseball team Saturday at Simmons' Field in Kona, Hawaii.
Kansas shuts out Hawaii-Hilo in opener
BASEBALL
The team left last Thursday to begin a six-game stint against Hawaii-Hilo. Heavy rainfall forced the cancellation of game one on Friday. Saturday became opening day, and a successful one at that.
Quick
Kodiak Quick, junior right-handed pitcher, threw a three-hit shutout that gave the Jayhawks their first scoreless opponent since the 2003 season. Quick threw 95 total pitches and recorded eight strikeouts in the Jayhawks' first opening day victory since coach Ritch Price took over in July 2003. Hilo's starter, senior John Matson, pitched only 2.2 innings and allowed two runs.
"Kodak Quick was special today. It was really nice for him to come out and set the tone for us," Price said. "This is a great way to start the season." Offending, the Jayhawks did not act as.
though they have been burdened by the cold preseason Kansas weather. Sean Richardson, senior catcher, led the way, going 2-3 with two runs scored, two RBI and a home run. Matt Baty, junior left fielder, went 1-2 with two walks and a run scored.
Alissa Bauer
SOFTBALL
lvhawks lose four of five to open season
The Kansas softball team began its season last weekend at the Arizona Pepsi Classic in Tucson, Ariz. The team lost four of five games, but almost upset nationally ranked Arizon.
The team lost close games to Oklahoma State, 3-2, and No. 2 Arizona, 4-3, Friday at Hillenbrand Stadium.
Later that day, the team nearly came up with an upset. Serena Settlemier made her first start in nearly two years after having surgery on her wrist. She gave up four hits and three runs in the first inning, but settled down and pitched a complete game.
On Saturday, the team split its games, defeating New Mexico State, 8-4, and losing to Northwestern 7-1.
The Jayhawks concluded the tournament yesterday with a loss to Tulsa 3-2.
The softball team will head to Las Cruces, N.M., to play in the Hilton Classic and face Purdue at 4 p.m. Friday.
— Drew Davison
VENGEANCE
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
"I just came out and asserted myself," Langford said. "No one ever gets mad at me for taking a shot or trying to be aggressive."
After trailing by as many as
lead. The Jayhawks just increased the margin from there.
seven points 10 minutes into the game, the Jayhawks went on a 10-1 run that caught fire after back-to-back three-pointers from senior guard Aaron Miles and Langford.
Kansas also moved into a 3-2 zone after Nebraska got away from an early lead, helping it bounce back to take a 36-31 halftime
Missed free throws late in the game were the main reason that the game earlier in the season was too close for comfort. Kansas hit only two of seven shots from the free-throw line in
Langford drilled a pair of threes right after the intermission, and the Jayhawks' 62 percent field goal shooting helped them stretch their lead to 12 with just more than five minutes to play in the game.
Kansas went six of seven from the line in the final two and a half minutes to win by 13.
the last three minutes of the game, giving Nebraska an opportunity at a game-winning shot.
Not on Saturday.
The play of the Kansas seniors, led by Langford, kept the Jayhawks strong even when they were leading by a large margin, something they have struggled to
do all year.
"We were a much more focused team today." Self said.
Perhaps the Kansas seniors wanted to force the coaches to be a little more creative with their coaching tactics next year.
— Edited by Azita Tafreshi