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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
1B
Victory over Tech a must for title run
By Doyle Murphy
dmurphy@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Tonight's Big Monday match-up between Kansas and Texas Tech could be huge for the Jayhawks.
Seventh-ranked Kansas (22-6 overall, 12-2 Big 12 Conference) could earn a share of the conference championship with a victory against Texas Tech (16-9, 6-8) in Lubbock, Texas. Kansas leads Oklahoma and Texas by one game with two more league games to play. If the Jayhawks beat Tech tonight and Missouri on Sunday, they will win sole possession of the Big 12 regular season title.
Kansas sophomore guard Keith Langford was a part of last year's team that went 16-0 in the conference, setting a Big 12 record. The back-and-forth nature of this year's conference race has made a championship this season even more appealing. he said
"I think it's going to be a lot more appreciated by the guys on the team," he said after Saturday's 79-61 victory against Oklahoma State.
Before they make plans to cut down the nets, Langford and the Jayhawks will have
to figure out a way to stop Tech junior guard Andre Emmett. Emmett averages a league-leading 22 points per game, including 20 against No. 5 Texas on Saturday.
Emmett's performance along with Tech senior guard Will Chavis' 21 points and eight rebounds, was almost more than Texas could handle. Despite having four players reach double-digit scoring, Texas needed last-minute free throws to escape from Lubbock with a 76-71 victory.
The Jayhawks can expect a similarly spirited effort when they walk into the Red Raiders' United Spirit Arena for Tech's Senior Night. Kansas senior guard Kirk Hinrich said Saturday.
"We have to realize how tough it's going to be," he said.
The game will also mark the first time Kansas has been to Tech's campus since coach Bob Knight took over for current Oklahoma State assistant coach James Dickey before the 2001-2002 season. Knight has 803 career victories, but only one of those has come against a team coached by Roy Williams. Williams has won seven of the eight meetings between the two.
In the team's last meeting, the Jayhawks
KANSAS VS. TEXAS TECH
7 KANSAS(21-6)
Pno. Player. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG
F 4 Nick Collison 6-9 Sr. 18.8 9.8
G 5 Keith Langford 6-4 Sc. 15.3 4.9
G 10 Kirk Hinch 6-3 Sd. 18.1 3.8
G 11 Arold Miles 6-1 So. 8.8 3.4
F 42 Jeff Graves 6-9 Jr. 5.0 5.9
F 01 Jeff Hawkins 5-11 Ft. 1.4 0.7
G 25 Michael Lee 6-3 So. 4.4 2.4
F 33 Bryant Nash 6-6 Jr. 3.0 2.4
TEXAS TECH (16-9)
P No. Player Ht. Yr. Sr. PPG RG
G 10 Will Chavis 5-10 Sr. 8.5 2.9
G 10 Pawelovicznyk 6-8 Sr. 5.0 3.1
G 14 Antoin Fritzman 6-8 Jr. 22.0 3.9
F 22 Kasib Powell 6-7 Sr. 15.2 5.4
F 22 Robert Tomaszek 6-7 Jr. 7.5 4.7
G 12 Nathan Doudney 6-4. So. 3.5 1.3
G 24 Ronald Ross 6-2. So. 4.8 2.0
G 32 Nick Valdez 6-6. Sr. 5.6 3.5
Opponent: Texas Tech
When: 8 Tonight
Where: Lubbock, Texas
TV: ESPN
Radio: KLZR 105.9 FM
beat the Red Raiders in a 90-50 victory in the quarterfinals of the 2002 Big 12 Conference Tournament in Kansas City, Mo
Edited by Michelle Burhenn
Sophomore guard Aaron Miles leaps for a shot over Oklahoma State junior forward Ivan McFarlin during first half of Kansas' 79-61 victory over the Oklahoma State on Saturday. Kansas faces Texas Tech at 8 tonight in Lubbock, Texas.
Eric Braem/Kansan
Women lose lead in opening minutes
By Ryan Greene rgreene@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
Defensively, Missouri (14-12 overall, 8-7 Big 12 Conference) forced 25 Jayhawk turnovers, including seven by freshman forward Tamara Ransburg.
COLUMBIA, Mo. — It took the Kansas women's basketball team more than four minutes to score its first points Saturday at Missouri. But by the time Kansas was on the board, Missouri had already built a 10-0 lead that the Tigers would never relinquish on their way to a 73-52 victory.
Offensively, senior guard Kerensa Barr,
junior guard Tracy Lozier and junior center
Stretch James scored 15 points each. Barr
and Lozier combined for seven of Missouri's eight three-point field goals. Three-point shooting not only plagued Kansas (10-16,3-12) in the first Border War meeting Feb. 15 but Saturday night as well.
"The thing is that they were really concentrating on Stretch inside, and she was still scoring," Missouri coach Cindy Stein said. "That's what's nice is having that inside presence."
SEE WOMEN ON PAGE 6B
Baseball takes two, continues hot start
Daniel Bork
dberk@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
In cold and wet conditions, the Kansas baseball team rebounded from a loss on Friday to win two out of three games in the Music City Challenge in Nashville. Tenn.
With the two victories, the Jayhawks improved their record to 13-4 on the young season.
Kansas' first opponent of the weekend was tournament host, Middle Tennessee
Kansas did not go quietly in the game. Junior outfielder Matt Tribble led off the seventh inning with a triple to right field. Senior Casey Spanish later singled to drive in Tribble, then catcher Sean Flynn continued his hot day at the plate when he singled in Spanish.
State, who handed the Jayhawks their first loss in six games, 6-5.
"It was a tough game we had on Friday." Price said. "We just couldn't get the clutch hit when we needed it, and that hurt us."
SEE BASEBALL ON PAGE 6B
Jayhawks crush Cowboys
Sophomore guard Keith Langford throws down a dunk from a Kansas fast break. Langford had 12 points and eight rebounds in a 79-61 victory over No. 16 Oklahoma State on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse. It was the final home game of the season for the No. 7 Jayhawks.
Scott Reynolds/Kansan
By Doyle Murphy
dmurphy@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Never let it be said that Kansas can't play through distractions.
The Jayhawks had to contend with Senior Day festivities, the loss of sophomore forward Wayne Simien for the season, and an Oklahoma State team bent on winning a share of the Big 12 Conference title.
No problem.
On paper, it wasn't the Jayhawks' prettiest performance. Kansas committed a season-high 23 turnovers versus 13 assists and spent all afternoon trying to shake a trio of pesky Oklahoma State guards. Seniors Victor Williams and Melvin Sanders and junior Tony Allen combined for seven steals and 52 points. The three were also a major factor in holding Kansas to 24-of-61 (39 percent) shooting. It marked just the fifth time Kansas has shot worse than 40 percent this season and the first time it had done so and won.
"I don't think we've ever shot a good percentage against them," coach Roy Williams said.
A low team percentage didn't keep Nick Collison from enjoying his last game at Allen Fieldhouse.
SEE CRUSH ON PAGE 6B
Historic play makes football gender-neutral sport
Last Dec. 25, Katie Hnida broke down barriers. Hinida, a kicker on the University of New Mexico football team, became the first female to appear in a NCAA Division I-A game, attempting an extra point in the Lobos' 27-13 loss to UCLA in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Hnida's presence on the field made it official football is no longer a men's sport. As long as women are allowed to compete on the gridiron, football has a gender-neutral playing field.
Hnida's extra-point attempt was blocked, but it will never be forgotten. Other women will certainly follow suit, citing Hnida as an inspiration.
The ugly debate of Title IX is centered
At many schools (including Kansas), there are more women's teams than men's teams because of football's 85 scholarships coupled with Title IX's requirement for equal opportunity in college athletics regardless of sex. Scholarship distribution is the way to assure it.
around the mess created by "men's" football's 85 scholarships. Because of men's" football, other men's sports are cut right and left at big universities.
But hypothetically, if a Title IX-compliant school were to give one or two football scholarships to females (and it could happen in the future), then, suddenly, it's not Title IX-compliant anymore. It's discriminating against men.
SPORTS COMMENTARY
Ryan Wood
rwood@kansan.com
So two solutions exist to the inevitable problem of women playing football: Don't count football scholarships in the Title IX equation or don't let women play football.
Luckily, Hnida hasn't caused the law any problems. She is a walk-on for New Mexico and has never received a scholarship for her work.
Three weeks before Hnida's historic play, CBS's 60 Minutes investigated the Title IX issue.
But if she does earn a full ride for her powerful right leg next season, by rule of football being a "men's" sport, it would count as a male scholarship in the Title IX equation. Is that fair?
"What, there are three genders?" she said. "Men, women and football?"
Among those interviewed was Nancy Hogshead-Makar, a former Olympic swimmer and a proponent of Title IX. When asked of the idea to take football scholarships out of the equation, Hogshead-Makar laughed.
Well, things changed on Dec. 25. Hnida, a female, made a once male-only sport no more. She wasn't the first woman on a Divison-I roster and she won't be the last. She simply proved that females are capable of taking the field.
That being said, the 85 scholarships that go against males should be taken out of the Title IX equation, because football allows both genders the chance to compete and earn its scholarships.
Otherwise, a fluctuation could exist, which would result in discrimination against males — a violation of Title IX.
■ Wood is a Lee's Summit, Mo.
senior in journalism.