THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2012
PAGE 3B
TENNIS
Women's tennis seeking first Big 12 dual win
CORBIN MIHELIC
cmihelic@kansan.com
After competing against two top 25 teams over spring break, the Kansas tennis team has yet to win a conference dual match.
The Jayhawks fell to No. 13 Baylor, 4-3, and No. 18 Texas Tech, 6-1, in their final home matches of the season. Both opponents took the doubles point and mathematically put the match out of reach before any Jayhawks got any singles wins.
"We're performing," coach Amy Hall-Holt says. "It's not like [oppo
nents] are walking in the park. Matches were close, and I was very pleased with the majority of our matches."
Sophomores Dylan Windom and Claire Dreyer both notched singles victories against Baylor at No. 4 and 5 singles, respectively, and Kansas' third point came via default at No. 6 singles. Dreyer and Victoria Khanevskaya took down Baylor's Megan Horter and Abby Stainback, 8-5, at No. 3 doubles.
The lajayhawks' only singles win in their 6-1 loss to Texas Tech came for Monica Pezzetti in a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Elizabeth Ullathorne
at No. 1 singles. Paulina Los and Maria Belen Ludueña defeated Nikki Sanders and Caroline Starck at No. 2 doubles, 8-5.
"My win was a pretty good one," Pezzotti said. "I think I can play better than I did today, so it gives me a lot of confidence."
With the victories, Baylor improved to 14-5 for the season and 1-1 in conference play. Texas Tech, meanwhile, is now 13-3 and 2-0 in the Big 12.
Kansas went 2-1 in its three nonconference matches last weekend in Las Vegas, with victories over Houston, 4-3, and Bowling Green,
6-1. The only loss came in a 4-2 decision to Idaho.
Those results combined with this weekend's conference losses put the Jayhawks at 9-7 for the season. The team has won only two of its last nine matches and will play its remaining five matches on the road, starting Friday at No. 9 Texas.
"Our goal is to win them, of course, and for everybody to just fight hard," Windom said. "Coaches are happy with a hard-fought match, and you learn from your losses."
Edited by Taylor Lewis
NO. 13 BAYLOR 4, KANSAS 3
DOUBLES
No. 1: Burgic-Secerbegovic (BU) def. Pezotti-Windom (KU), 8-6
No. 2: Nakic-Novakova (BU) def. Los-Luduena (BU), 8-5
No. 3: Drever-Khanevskava (BU) def. Horten-Stainback (BU), 8-5
SINGLES
No. 1: Nakic (BU) def. Pezzotti (KU), 6-1, 6-1
No. 2: Secerbegovic (BU) def. Los (KU), 6-2, 6-1
No. 3: Novakova (BU) def. Ludueña (KU), 6-1, 6-1
No. 4: Windom (KU) def. Horter (BU), 6-7, 7-6, (12-10 tiebreaker)
No. 5: Dreyer (KU) def. Stainback (BU), 6-3, 6-3
No. 6: Khanevskaya (KU) def. *DEFAULT*
Despite Acy's efforts, Kentucky tops Baylor for Final Four
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Quincy Acy kept his promise and didn't back down as the Bears tried to send the message early that they would not be intimidated by Kentucky.
But the senior's efforts did more to fire up the Wildcats as Baylor's Final Four dream ended with an 82-70 loss to Kentucky in Sunday's South Regional final.
Acy had 22 points but had too little scoring help as Baylor was overwhelmed by Kentucky's talent and depth.
Pierre jackson had 21 points, including five baskets in the final 2 minutes. Baylor had only one other scorer in double figures and couldn't pull closer than 10 points.
Perry Jones III added 17 points for Baylor (30-8), which was denied its bid for its first Final Four appearance in 62 years. The Bears led 10-5 but Kentucky answered with a 16 tnsanswered points never lost the lead.
couldn't shy away from Anthony Davis and Kentucky's other shot-blockers.
Acy backed up his point less than 2 minutes into the game when his hard foul on Terrence Jones, who was trying to score on a fast break, sent the Kentucky forward sprawling off the court into the Bavlor cheerleaders.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist's 19 points led Kentucky (36-2), which will play in-state rival Louisville in the Final Four on Saturday.
After reviewing the play, officials called a foulant flound on Acy.
Acy said Saturday Baylor
The play gave the Bears a temporary boost. A 3-pointer by Quincy Miller capped an 8-0 run that gave Baylor a 10-5 lead.
Kentucky's answer was devastating.
as the Wildcats continued to take advantage of Baylor's misses and mistakes.
Led by Kidd-Gilchrist, the Wildcats took command by scoring 16 unanswered points. Marquis Teague and Kyle Wiltjer had 3-pointers in the run.
A 3-pointer by Doron Lamb stretched Kentucky's lead to 23 points at 51-28 early in the second half. Even as guards A.J. Walton and Gary Franklin were called for their fourth fouls, Baylor stretched its defense to a full-court press as it tried to rally.
Brady Heslip missed a 3-pointer to open the second half, setting up a dunk by Jones. It was a telling start to the final 20 minutes
Kentucky kept up the pressure after Acy's jumper ended Baylor's scoring drought that lasted about 5 minutes. Jones and Davis combined for five blocked shots and three steals and the Wildcats led 42-22 at the break.
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Heslip's first 3-pointer cut Kentucky's lead to 63-50. Teague and Kidd-Gilchrist answered the challenge with back-to-back baskets before Terrence Jones slammed home his missed free throw to quickly push the lead back to 19 points.
There was a scary collision early in the second half. Davis, flying through the air on a drive to the basket, had his left knee hit Perry Jones' hip. Each player went to the floor and needed assistance to his bench, but each soon returned.
Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III attracted a crowd of autograph-seekers before the game as he sat with other Baylor fans.
Kidd-Gilchrist fouled out with 2:38 remaining. Franklin fouled out for Baylor.
Baylor's Quincy Acy (4) and Baylor's A.J. Walton (22) walk by Baylor head coach Scott Drew in the closing seconds of the second half of an NCAA tournament South Regional finals college basketball game against Kentucky, Sunday, in Atlanta, Kentucky won 82-70.
BASKETBALL
Ohio State forward Jared Sullinger celebrates his team's 77-70 victory over Syracuse in the East Regional final game in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament, Saturday, in Boston.
Final Four set, including storied Kentucky rivals
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One game is a grudge match between teams that know each other all too well. The other is a rare rematch between virtual strangers.
The Final Four is set. In one game Saturday, Kentucky will play Louisville in an intrastate rivalry that puts Cardinals coach Rick Pitino against the school he once coached, then later alienated by returning to the Bluegrass to lead its archival.
In the other semifinal, it will be Ohio State and Kansas, meeting for only the ninth time in their history but for the second time this season. The Jayhawks won the first game 78-67 in Lawrence, Kan., back on Dec. 10. Ohio State's Jared Sullinger sat out of that game with back spasms. It was the first time the teams had met since 1999-2000.
Absent from this year's ultimate hoops weekend, taking place at the Superdome in New Orleans, are the longshots and little guys who have made March Madness so special over the years. Although there are no Butlers, VCUs or George Mason's, there are plenty of good stories to tell. That list starts with Pitino vs. his old school.
The winners will play for the national title April 2. Kentucky already has seven national titles but none since 1998, the year after Pitino left. Kansas has three championships, Louisville has two and Ohio State, better known as a football power, won its lone title in 1960 and is making its third trip to the Final Four since 1999.
It was Pitino who restored Kentucky to its former greatness when he arrived there in 1989 and the Wildcat program was coming off the sting of NCAA violations. Pitino took the program to three Final Fours and won one championship, but left in 1997 to take a second shot at the NBA, where he had previously coached the New York Knicks.
He fared far worse in four seasons with the Boston Celtics, and
when the call back to the college game came, it came from Louisville, located only 70 miles up the road from Lexington and very much in the crosshairs of Kentucky fans. It has been 11 years since his dramatic return, and most of the shock has worn off from what was once deemed an unforgivable betrayal. But there's nothing like a Final Four meeting to stir up some old memories.
"It is in our state. They're a great program. We're in two different leagues," Kentucky coach John Calipari said after the Wildcats beat Baylor 82-70 in the South Regional to advance to the Final Four for the second straight year. "The city of Louisville drives our state. The University of Louisville drives that city. So it's a very important thing for our state, and it's important that that school does well."
Maybe just not next Saturday.
The teams play every season, and most recently, they were ranked Nos. 3 and 4 in The Associated Press poll when they met on New Year's Eve. Kentucky won at home 69-62. Now, it's top-seeded Kentucky against Louisville, a No. 4 and the worst-seeded team in the Final Four.
"We think they're excellent. We think they're great. I coached there. It's great. Great tradition." Pitino said Saturday, after Louisville rallied for a 72-68 win over Florida that put the Cardinals in the Final Four for the second time since the coach arrived. "But we want to be Louisville. We have a different mission. They have a different mission. But we both want to get to a Final Four and win a championship."
Led by a group of freshmen who may or may not return for a second year, Kentucky was established as an early 8.5-point favorite in the game. The Wildcats endured a brief scare when freshman Anthony Davis, their leading scorer, went down hard in the second half against Baylor with an injured knee. But it was only a knee-to-knee collision with a Baylor player
and the injury isn't expected to be serious.
Pitino's team does not have as many NBA-ready stars as Calipari's, but they are Final Four material. A series of injuries and starts and stops led to a 10-8 Big East regular season that impressed no one. But the coach kept believing and coaxing. The Cardinals won the Big East tournament and are two wins away from winning the NCAAs, too.
"The guys told me it was knee to knee," Calipari said of the early report from the trainers. "I said, 'Get up, mama's boy,' and he was fine."
"I really didn't have any lofty expectations, because we had so many injuries," Pitino said. "We were just trying to survive during the season. We just wanted to make the tournament and start fresh."
In the other semifinal, Sullinger got what he wanted when he decided to return to Ohio State for his sophomore year — a trip to the
Final Four. The Buckeyes are early 2.5-point picks over Kansas in the matchup of No. 2 seeds.
They finished in a three-way tie for first in the Big Ten, widely viewed as the toughest conference in basketball this year, but settled for a No. 2 seed in the NCAAs after losing the conference tournament final to Michigan State. It wasn't the first or last time critics underestimated Thad Matta's team this season.
"People were asking, are we mentally tough enough, are we physically tough enough, can we do this, can we do that?" Sullinger said. "I relayed those questions back to the team. We did some soul searching, and now we've taken this to a whole other level"
Sullinger scored 19 points Saturday in Ohio State's 77-70 win over Syracuse to make the Final Four.
Tyshawn Taylor scored 22 points Sunday in an 80-67 win over North Carolina to lock in the matchup against the Buckeyes. The
Jayhawks reached the Final Four for the first time since 2008, when they won it all after rallying from nine points late in the title game to beat Memphis (and Calipari, before he moved to Kentucky) in overtime.
Taylor finished with 13 assists in the Dec. 10 game against Ohio State despite playing with an ailing knee.
The Buckeyes, meanwhile, had to do without Sullinger. Playing their first road game of the season, they lost by 11 to drop to 8-1.
Seems like quite a long time ago.
"We caught a break the first time when Jared didn't play, and we were kind of finding ourselves, Kansas coach Bill Self said. "We knew they were a team that could make a run and win a national championship. They have so many pieces that are so good. It starts with Jared."
1
TRACK AND FIELD
Kansas teams score top points at Baker Relays
A large group of Kansas track and field athletes, including several All-Americans, made a short trip to Baker University on Saturday for the first outdoor meet of the season for the Baker Relays.
Both the men's and women's teams finished with the top point totals at the end of the day.
The competition included mostly instate schools from the NAIA division, including William Jewell, Park University, and of course the host Baker University. The Jayhawks, the only NCAA team at the event, enter the outdoor season ranked tenth in the nation in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association women's poll.
On the men's side of competition junior Mason Finley returned in the shot put and discus without competing for seven months because of injury. He seems fresh to start the season, as his throws in both shot put and discus lead the early national leader boards.
Sophomore Jessica Maroszek won both discus and shot put competitions on the women's side. Senior Alena Krechyk continued her success as a second team All-American in the indoor season with an impressive performance in the hammer throw.
In the pole vault sophomore Demi Payne won the women's competition and freshman Greg Lupton finished first in the men's, ahead of sophomore teammate Alex Bishop. The Jayhawks finished in the top four spots of the women's event and the top five in the men's pole vault.
Freshman Alisha Keys and sophomore Timmie Morris were the only Jayhawks to win events on the track. Keys won the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes for her first event titles of her outdoor career.
The Jayhawks will return to full strength for the Texas Relays in Austin, Texas.
Max Goodwin