6B • THEUNIVERSITYDAILYKANSAN
SPORTS
FRIDAY,MARCH 7,2003
Missouri gets chance for revenge against archrival
Possible fourth-place finish and first-round tournament bye at stake
By John Domoney
jdomoney@kansan.com
Kansas sportswriter
The Missouri men's basketball team has been waiting all season for Sunday's game.
The Tigers will finally get the chance to seek vindication against rival Kansas at p.m. in Columbia, Mo. Kansas defeated the Tigers 76-70 in the teams' first match-up in Allen Fieldhouse on Feb. 3.
Missouri's play seemed to be coming together, as the Tigers had won four of their last five games before a trip to Ames, Iowa, on Wednesday night.
One of those victories was a convincing 67-52 defeat of the Oklahoma Sooners at the Hearnes Center on Feb. 26. The Tigers followed the upset victory over the Sooners with a 77-70 road win at Kansas State on March1.
If the Tigers could have gotten by the Iowa State Cyclones on the
road, Missouri would be riding a wave of momentum heading into their Border War with the Jayhawks.
The only problem is, the Tigers might have been too geared up for a visit from the Jayhawks. Missouri suffered a loss on Wednesday to the lowly Cyclones, who stand in ninth place in the Big 12 Conference.
The Cyclones connected on 7-of-18 three-point attempts on their way to a 71-55 dismantling of the Tigers.
Despite the cold shooting night for Clemons, Missouri coach Quin Snyder said he was proud of his junior point guard.
In that game, Iowa State held Tiger center Arthur Johnson to two points and guard Ricky Clemons to five points. Johnson is averaging 15.6 points per game, and Clemons is third on the squad with 15.5 points per game.
"The thing I've been impressed with during the last month is that
his play has improved," Snyder said.
Clemons' improved play has come in the face of recent allegations concerning the eligibility of the junior college transfer over summer credits. Road crowds have been quick to mock and taunt Clemons, who Snyder said has handled the situation with maturity.
"I don't know if I've been around a kid that's faced more adversity. "Synder said.
While Clemons has stepped up his play during the conference schedule, Missouri has also been receiving major contributions from junior forward Rickey Paulding. Paulding leads the Tigers averaging 16.9 points per game.
With the void left by Clarence Gilbert and Kareem Rush from last year's team, Paulding has been thrust into the leadership role for the Tigers. Paulding's teammates and Snyder have
pleaded with Paulding to be more selfish this season in looking for his shot.
"I think he's very aware of the times he needs to make an impact," Snyder said.
Missouri is also very aware of the importance of Sunday's game from more than just a rivalry aspect against the Jayhawks.
A Tiger victory and an Oklahoma State defeat to Texas A&M would give Missouri a fourth place finish in the conference. The top four teams in the Big 12 get a bye in the first round of the Big 12 tournament next week in Dallas.
Either way, Snyder said his team was not worried about rankings or seeds.
"I think we've kind of discounted the rankings from the standpoint that we're really trying to focus that this late in the season we can actually get better," Snyder said.
Missouri's Travon Bryant (center) wrestles with Kansas forwards Bryant Nash (left) and Jeff Graves in the Kansas' 76-70 victory over Missouri on Feb. 3. The two teams will meet again Sunday in Columbia, Mo.
Kansan file photos
Tennis set to play Cornhuskers
By Jonah Ballow
jballow@kansan.com
Kansan sportwriter
The No. 59-ranked Kansas tennis team is coming off its first victory in the Big 12 Conference and will try to earn the second against the No. 54-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers Saturday.
"In the Big 12 there are a lot of teams vying for the top position," coach Kilmeny Waterman said. "We have to beat the teams we think we are capable of beating, which is Nebraska."
The Cornhuskers (7-3 overall, 0-3 Big 12) were able to get a 4-3
victory against the No. 38 Ohio State Buckeyes last Saturday.
The Jayhawks (5-4, 1-1) beat Iowa and Iowa State, but lost to the Buckeyes last weekend.
Kansas owns the all-time series against Nebraska with a 20-9 advantage and a 5-2 victory in Lincoln, Neb., last season.
Sophomore Paige Brown went undefeated in singles play last weekend and is 5-3 when playing at the No.2 singles position.
Junior Emily Haylock has been the most consistent at No. 3 singles with a 7-2 record.
Waterman has shifted the
doubles lineup by moving Brown to No. 1 doubles with junior Courtney Steinbock. Courtney's twin sister, Kristen Steinbock, moved down to No. 2 doubles with Haylock and produced a 3-0 record last weekend.
The match against Nebraska will mark the first of six consecutive Big 12 matches for Kansas
Because they don't have permanent facilities, the Jayhawks will play for the first time at the Kansas City Racquet Club in Mission at 4 p.m.
— Edited by Michelle Burhenn
By Chris Wintering
cwintering@kansan.com
kansan sportswriter
Track looks to add qualifiers
Kansas track and field athletes are running out of time to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championship, which are March 14 and 15.
The Jayhawks compete tomorrow in the Iowa State Invitational. That meet will be the last opportunity for any member to qualify for the NCAA competition.
So far, junior Leo Bookman is the team's only automatic qualifier. He has qualified in the 200-meter dash
The Jayhawks also have four provisional qualifiers for the meet
as well, but provisional qualifiers are not necessarily in the meet. Sometime next week, the NCAA will rank the best provisional qualifiers and invite them to the championships.
The team's provisional qualifiers include senior hurdler Anson Jackson in the 60-meter hurdles, senior Jeremy Hull in the pole vault and sophomore Sondra Rauterkus in the high jump.
The women's distance medley relay team of junior Laura Lavoie, sophomore Kim Clark, freshman Angela Pichardo and sophomore Megan Manthe have also provisionally qualified. Qualifying for the NCAA competition was a
great accomplishment for the team, Pichardo said.
"That says a lot about our distance running at KU"Pichardo said. "We have a lot of depth and a number of very strong girls."
The women's team finished the season 4-1 overall and 3-1 in the Big 12 Conference. Last weekend, the team came in fourth at the Big 12 Championships, the highest the team has placed in the history of the Big 12 Conference.
The men's team finished the season 5-3 overall, 2-2 in conference, and ninth at the Big 12 Championships.
— Edited by Michelle Burhenn
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