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SPORTS
1B
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2003
Eric Braem/Kansan
With sophomore forward Wayne Simien out because of an injury and junior forward Jeff Graves fouled out with 1:27 left in the game, sophomore guard Michael Lee had to defend 6-foot-8 Colorado senior forward Stephane Pelle in the Jayhawks' 60-59 loss Jan. 22. The Jayhawks will have an opportunity to avenge their loss tonight against the Buffaloes in Allen Fieldhouse.
Out to even a score
No longer benched Simien prepares to help Hawks beat Buffaloes
By Doyle Murphy
dmurphy@kansas.com
Kansan sportswriter
Dislocating his shoulder caused the worst pain sophomore forward Wayne Simien had ever felt, he said shortly after the game against the University of Missouri-Kansas City. That was before he had to watch the Buffaloes shock his Jayhawks, 60-59, in Boulder, Colo.
Simien agonized on the bench as Buffalo senior forward Stephane Pelle overpowered the Jayhawks, scoring a game-high 27 points. The magnitude of Simien's absence was made crystal clear when junior forward Jeff Graves fouled out with 1:27 left to play, and 6-foot-3 sophomore guard Michael Lee was left guarding the 6-foot-8 Pelle on the final possessions. Pelle responded by draining the winning basket over Lee.
"Sitting on the bench and watching your position," Simien said after Sunday's game. "You're like 'Maybe I could have gotten that rebound or maybe that putback.'"
"The hard foul scared me." Williams said.
But all Simien could do was watch and wonder whether things would have been different. He was enduring the fifth of what would be an 11-game absence, and his shoulder was in no shape for Colorado's punishing style of play. The loss ended a streak of 27 consecutive victories against the Buffaloes.
It may have given Simien confidence,but Kansas coach Roy Williams was not thrilled.
Tonight, Simien can finally stop wondering 'what if.'
He and No. 6 Kansas (19-5 overall, 9-1 Big 12 Conference) will meet Colorado (15-8, 5-5) at 6:50 with an opportunity to even the score.
Simien will play in just his second game since the injury. He had 7 points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes during the Jayhawks' 70-51 victory against Iowa State Sunday. The most encouraging part of his performance, Simien said, was his ability to escape two hard fouls and a brief scuffle without reinjuring the shoulder.
Williams' fears were unwarranted, and Kansas avoided any consequences from the skirmish when Big 12 officials announced that the league wouldn't suspend Kansas sophomore guard Aaron Miles for his role in the altercation. Miles shoved Iowa State sophomore center Jared Homan in the head as he separated Simien and Cyclone junior forward Jackson Vroman. Vroman had pushed Simien after Vroman picked up his fifth foul. Big 12 officials said the situation was resolved adequately by giving Miles and Vroman technical fouls.
"It helped my confidence, taking some hard contact like that," he said.
KANSAS VS. COLORADO #6 KANSAS (19-5)
6KANSAS(19-5)
PNo. Player Ht. Yr. PPG RPG
N 4 Niek Collikon 6-9 Sc. 18.7 8.6
G 5 Keith Langford 6-4 Sc. 16.2 5.0
G 10 Kirk Hinch 6-3 Sc. 17.9 3.6
G 11 Aaron Miles 6-1 Sc. 8.7 3.6
F 42 Jeff Graves 6-1 Jr. 5.3 5.8
F 23 Wayne Simien 6-9 So. 15.9 8.7
G 25 Michael Lee 6-3 So. 4.5 2.7
G 23 Brvent Nash 6-6 Jr. 3.1 2.2
COLORADO (15-8)
P No. Player Ht. Yr. PPG RK
43 Bair Wilson 6-6 Jr. 27.0
G 30 Moriandles 6-5 Jr. 17.5
G 42 Antone McGee 5-10 Fr. 3.2
F 34 Stephane Pitt 6-8 Sr. 12.5
C 13 David Harrison 7-0 So. 13.6
    12.7
F 1 Glean Eddy 6-5 Jr. 3.5 2.9
F 44 Lamar Harris 6-7 Jr. 4.9 5.2
G 5 Jayson Obazuyeau 6-2 Jr. 3.0 1.0
Opponent: Colorado
When: 6:30 p.m. today
Where: Allen Fieldhouse
TV: Channel 13
Radio: KLZ 105.9
— Edited by Leah Shaffer
Jayhawks aim for a second victory against Nebraska at tonight's game
By Ryan Greene rgreene@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
For the Kansas women's basketball team, history repeating itself would be the preference for tonight's game at Nebraska.
The Jayhawks (9-13 overall, 2-9 Big 12 Conference) are looking to end a four-game losing streak tonight in Lincoln by facing the team whom their last victory came against. Kansas beat Nebraska (8-14, 1-10) on Jan. 29 at Allen Fieldhouse, 67-64. Coach Marian Washington's team will know what to expect, and knowing that they are capable of winning could boost the team's morale going in.
"If you saw the game here, you know they're really physical," Washington said. "We'll go in there with a lot of confidence."
After having a week to recover from a 42-point loss at Texas on Feb.8, the Jayhawks returned to the floor Saturday by losing to Missouri, 61-55. One bright spot Kansas takes out of its latest loss
into the Nebraska rematch is its revamped defense.
"I think if we can keep playing the defense we're playing right now, we'll have a shot at them on the road," Washington said.
Another Jayhawk who had a big night in the first meeting with Nebraska was freshman guard Erica Hallman, scoring 10 points. Despite the solid outing, Hallman's teammates would still like to see the freshman take more of a vocal role when she comes off the bench.
"Me, personally, I think Erica needs to come out of her shell," freshman forward Tamara Ransburg said. "She's a team leader, but she's not as vocal as she needs to be."
Tonight's game will also be a second test for sophomore guard Blair Waltz after she was slowed for two games with back pain. Waltz returned to the starting lineup against Missouri, scoring 10 points in 32 minutes on the floor.
In their trip to Lawrence, the Cornhuskers provided a close game that the Jayhawks won behind two free throws from Aquanita Burras with 4.7 seconds
KANSAS VS.NEBRASKA KANSAS (9-13)
PNu. Player Ht. Yt. PPG RPG
F 3. Waltz Waltz 8-0. So. 74.2
F 3. Crystal Ramage 9-4. Ft. 10.9 4.9
F 22. Ramage Burbank 8-4. Ft. 10.3 7.6
F 21. Loa Menguc 5-6 Jr. 2.9 2.3
F 24. Amurra Burras 5-9 Jr. 1.09 5.9
F 41.
Top Reserves
G 23 Erica Hallman 5-8 Fr. 8.6 1.7
F 33 Nichelle Roberts 6-1 Fr. 4.4 1.7
F 32 Stacoy Becker 5-9 So. 4.7 0.8
NERRASKA(8-14)
P No. Player. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG
C 22 Margaret Richards 5-8 -6, Gr. 19, 5.7
G 23 Sco 5-7 -5, Su. 5, 1.7 5.9
G 53 Kate Mosey 6-4 Jr. 12, 7.9
F12 Amanda Cleveland 5-10 Str. 8, 1.4 7.0
F12 Alexa Johnson 6-1 Gr. 18, 5.8 6.8
F 23 Laura Pilakowski 6-2 Su 4.7 5.0
F 1 Grechikai Cepero 6-2 Jr 5.0 5.2
F 1 Shadira Robarts 6-2 Sr 7.0 3.9
Opponent: Nebraska
When: 7:05 p.m. tonight
Where: Lincoln, Neb.
Radio: KLWN 1320
left. Knowing that they have already beat Nebraska once this year, the players are more confident than usual as
Kansan file photo
freshman forward Tamara Ransburg, coming off a 19-point, 12-rebound game against Missouri, will face the Cornhuskers tonight with her teammates in Lincoln, Neb. Nebraska is tied for last place in the Big 12 with one conference victory.
they hit the road.
"We're just going to give them what they got when they came down here," Ransburg said.
- Edited by Leah Shaffer
Swimmers dive into Big 12 Conference
Team works to improve last year's conference rank of fifth place
By Jason Hwang
jhwang@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Coach Clark Campell will have one last opportunity to make his mark on his first season of coaching the Kansas swimming and diving team. The team will compete in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championships this week in Austin, Texas.
The conference championships starts today with the 800-yard freestyle and 200-yard medley relays and will run through Saturday.
"As a coach, I want each of these girls to put extra effort into this meet because this is what we've been training for," swimming coach Clark Campbell said. "If we get season and personal bests from each of the girls, then the points towards the team score will take care of itself."
The Jayhawks finished their regular season with a 7-6 dual record, losing to Iowa State in Lawrence 118-126 on Feb.
8. Kansas' dual record against conference foes this season is 1-3.
Campbell said he could see some of the swimmers doing well in the conference championships and advancing to the NCAA Championships in March.
The Jajhawks finished fifth place in last year's Big 12 Championships in College Station, Texas. The team finished with 487.5 points, leaving them 568 points behind meet winner Texas, which won its fourth consecutive conference title.
Seniors Gwen Halley (4:21.61) and Heidi Landherr (4:23.12) took fourth and fifth place in the 400-yard individual
"As a coach, I want each of these girls to put extra effort into this meet because this is what we've been training for. If we get season and personal bests from each of the girls, then the points towards the team score will take care of itself."
Clark Campbell Swimming coach
medley last year at College Station.
Sophomore Amy Gruber finished fifth in the 200 freestyle in a time of 1:50.25. In the 100 breaststroke, sophomore Miranda Isaac took fifth (1:04.43), junior Kristen Johnson placed sixth
(1:04.54), junior Whitney Sondall was tied for seventh (57.43) and sophomore Jackie Krueger finished in eighth place (1:05.18).
Isaac finished in fourth place in the 200 breaststroke at 4:19.19, while junior Kristen Johnson was sixth. Gruber took seventh in the 100 freestyle (50.94) while Haley finished the meet with an eighthplace in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:05.50. Landherr got eight place and reached her personal best time of 2:03.91 in the 200 backstroke.
Krueger said she hoped the team would improve on last years conference and finish in the top two or three.
"We all need to concentrate on the race itself, but also get more excited because of the crowd and the whole championship atmosphere," Krueger said.
- Edited by Leah Shaffer
SPORTS COMMENTARY
Andy Samuelson asamuelson@kansan.com
'Pretty cool to be lil' bro of Jayhawk
Pretty cool?
How cool would it be to be Nick Collison's kid brother?
The 11-year-old Iowa Falls, Iowa native is like a mini celebrity when he comes to the University of Kansas' campus.
Just ask Michael.
"It's pretty cool," the sixth-grader says shyly.
Before Sunday's game against his home-state Cyclones, Michael was in the midst of all the Jayhawk mania.
If he wasn't slapping skin with former Kansas players,such as Nick Bradford,he was handing out highfives to Phanatics after any of Nick's highlights.
"Chaos Collison," as his friends, the Phog Phanatics — who he sits with at every home game — call him, was creating his own carnival.
Nick grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and tied for game-high honors with 19 points with fellow Iowan and another one of Michael's men, Kirk Hinrich. The pair played their final game against Iowa State, the school who sought them both.
And lil' Mike was just as calm chatting with friend Raef LaFrentz as he was calling out to one of his ball boy buddies.
"Everyone always says I must be the luckiest kid in the world to be able to come here and watch all of this," Michael said.
But he doesn't look much different than any of the other young dreamers whose eyes light up in awe when they enter Allen Fieldhouse except for his height.
Yeah, he his.
"I was 5-foot-4 the last time I
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SEE LIL' BRO ON PAGE 8B
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