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1B
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, JANUARY 27, 2003
'Hawks to mess with Texas
By Doyle Murphy
dmurphy@kansan.com
Kansas sportswriter
Heading into tonight's game with No. 4 Texas, Kansas is floundering in its second difficult stretch of the season and finds itself in a situation not unlike its early season meltdown.
The Jayhawks did their best to prove they weren't the same team that suffered embarrassing defeats in New York and Oregon. They won 10 consecutive games and dismantled Big 12 opponents Iowa State, Kansas State and Nebraska while clawing their way from a No. 20 national ranking to No. 6.
But after back-to-back losses to Colorado and No. 1 Arizona, Kansas is once again looking to win.
Junior forward Jeff Graves said similarities existed between the season's start and the Ivahawks' last week of play.
The Jayhawks (13-5, 3-1) aren't likely to catch a break from Texas (13-2, 4-0).
"We'll find out if we're as tough as I think we are." Williams told reporters after Saturday's game.
"It shows right there we need to play a full 40 minutes," he said.
One of the players that will challenge
Playing Texas just days after blowing a 20-point lead against Arizona will tell a lot about the Jayhawks, Kansas coach Roy Williams said.
The Longhorns have won eight straight games, including a 76-55 rout of No.21 Missouri Saturday. Texas has beaten its opponents by an average of 18 points per game during that span.
that toughness is Texas sophomore guard T.J. Ford. Williams compared Ford to Arizona senior guard Jason Gardner with a greater emphasis on distributing the ball. Last season, Ford averaged 8.27 assists per game, becoming the first freshman in the history of the NCAA to lead the nation in that category. He also scored 10.8 points per game. Through the Longhorns' first four Big 12 Conference games this season, Ford has still been a strong distributor with 5.5 assists per game, but has become a more effective shooter. In Big 12 play, he has made 51 percent of shots while scoring 17.3 points per game.
Preparing for Ford and the Longhorns should not be a problem, sophomore guard Keith Langford said. The Jayhawks have always been focused on beating Big 12 opponents, he said.
Eric Braem/Kansan
"What matters to me and what matters to the team is the conference," Langford said Saturday.
Williams said Langford's attitude was representative of college basketball players and encouraging to him.
"That's the great thing about young people," Williams said. "They can bounce back. They have to bounce back."
— Edited by Michelle Burhenn
Kansas sophomore guard Michael Lee rejects a shot by Arizona sophomore forward Salim Stoudamire in the second half. Stoudamire led the Wildcats with a game-high 32 points Saturday. Lee scored three points.
Jayhawks take second in meet
By Chris Wintering
By Chris Wintering
cwintering@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
That's not the streak that most people at the meet were talking about, though.
Kansas State continued its streak in the 14th annual KU/KSU/MU Triangular on Friday in the Anschutz Sports Pavilion, winning its fifth straight title.
That honor goes to the man that ran into the meet wearing nothing but an orange hat. He completed a fourth of a lap around the track before being chased outside by a security guard.
The guard didn't catch the streaker but did管理 to confiscate the man's hat.
"That's unbelievable. Did that really just happen?" said Adam Bleser, Overland Park senior and one of many shocked onlookers.
Perhaps more unbelievable was that the Wildcats won their 12th
KU/KSU/MU Triangular in the meet's 14-year history. K-State swept the men's and women's competition with a combined 272 points from both its men's and women's teams. The Jayhawks finished second overall (227.5), with the women's team (113) finishing second and the men (114.5) finishing third. The Tigers finished third overall with the women's team (104) finishing third and the men's team (116.5) finishing second (116.5).
"We had a really good meet from top to bottom," coach Stanley Redwine said. "If we continue to get better, person-by-person and event-by-event, we'll hopefully have a good number of athletes in NCAA competition by the end of the season."
Jayhawk sprinters Robbie Harriford and Leo Bookman were among the eight event winners for the team. Harriford won the women's 60 meter-dash (7.60) and 200-meter dash (24.87). Bookman, last year's Big 12 indoor and outdoor 200-
meter champion, won the 200-meter dash by setting a meet record of 21.38 seconds. Bookman had a busy day finishing second in the 60-meter dash and the 4x400 meter relay.
Other event winners for the men included seniors Benaud Shirley in the triple jump (49-61/2) and Anson Jackson in the 60-meter hurdles. Jackson set a meet and stadium-record with a time of 7.97 seconds.
Sophomore Brooklyn Hann won the women's 60-meter hurdles (8.77) and sophomore Kim Clark won the 600-yard run (1:23:21). Clark and Hann teamed with junior Stacy Keller and senior Shameika McField to win the 4x400-meter relay (3:49.82). Freshman Charisse Bacchus won the long jump (18-11 1/4) and was the only woman Jayhawk to win a field event.
Edited by Ryan Wood
Chris Lockard, freshman pole vaulter, clears 14-9 on his first attempt during the annual KU/MU/KSU Triangular. Kansas State earned 272 points and swept team titles in the competition Friday. Lockard placed sixth in the event. As a team, the Jayhawks took second place.
Eric Braem/Kansan
COMMENTARY
Ryan Wood
Attention on Wildcats costs victory over Buffs
Jayhawk fans, hope you enjoyed it. It came with a hefty price tag.
kansas' 91-74 defeat to Arizona on Saturday wasn't ugly by any means. In the first half, the Jayhawks looked unstoppable, and against college basketball's most talented team, that's saying something.
But in the end, depth prevailed. Arizona shot lights out, Kansas didn't, and the better team ended up winning. That's life.
It shouldn't be a big deal, but the nonconference match-up Saturday spilled over into the previous game, and that's where the problem lies.
The priorities surrounding Kansas basketball last week were disturbingly crooked. All week long, the media attention, the fans' attention and apparently, even the team's attention, was on Saturday's battle with No. 1 Arizona.
That's all fine and dandy, except for one little problem: Kansas was scheduled to play Colorado first.
Meanwhile, Colorado, a potential mismatch, did something it had no business doing: it outplayed, it outhustled, and it outscored the Jayhawks, 60-59. It was a joke.
The Jayhawks“A” game seemed to be saved for a superior Arizona team, which ended up kicking Kansas’ butt anyway.
"If we play like that," coach Roy Williams said, "we're not even a mediocre basketball team."
What was the reason? Excuse-makers can always think of something, but it seemed pretty obvious to the most casual of observers. The Jayhawks had an awful hard time focusing on a little Big 12 Buffalo when a big Pac-10 Wildcat was looming just days afterward.
"I think some of us were looking ahead," junior Jeff Graves told The Wichita Eagle on Wednesday.
That's crap.
No matter the media attention, no matter the hype, no matter the talent matchups that Arizona and Kansas bring to the table, the Colorado game, the Big 12 rival, is a whole lot more important.
In fact, KU is in the midst of a 15 game stretch between Jan. 18 and March 9, and the Arizona game was the least important one for KU to win.
The Jayhawks seemed to forget that last week, opting to save themselves for the glory of a big-time national show-down rather than a critical Big 12 match-up against a team that had fallen to them 27 straight times.
Swimming team splits home dual
SEE WOOD PAGE 7B
By Jason Hwang
jhwang@kansan.com
Kansan sportwriter
The Kansas swimming and diving team split its dual matches Saturday in Robinson Natatorium. The Jayhawks defeated Colorado State 174-125 but fell to Minnesota 189-110, giving them a 7-4 dual record this season.
"We would like to win at home to make it more exciting for the crowd," sophomore Amy Gruber said, "but Minnesota is a really good team and we're glad we raced against them."
Scott Revnoids/Kansan
The lavhawks captured the 200-
Sophomore Andrea Becker competes in the 500 freestyle event. Becker placed sixth out of twelve competitors.
yard medley relay with a time of 1:47.99.
Senior Gwen Haley had runner-up finishes in the 200-yard butterfly and in the 200 individual medley.
"Right now we are in a hit and miss," Kansas swimming coach Clark Campbell said. "One week somebody will hit, the other will miss. Everyone's going through all sorts of transitions."
Senior Beth Schryer's 10:20.75 time in the 1000-yard freestyle earned her first place. Gruber took first place with a time of 24.31 in the 50-ydar freestyle.
In diving, senior Patti Stringham took fourth-place in the three-
meter flight and fifth place in the one-meter.
Senior Kristi Misejka finished in fourth and fifth place in the one-meter and three-meter competitions, respectively.
The Jayhawks go back on the road to compete against Arkansas at 1 p.m. Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark.
—Edited by Ryan Wood
Ticket prices to rise next year
By Chris Wintering
winteringkensen.com
Korean writer/producer
The University of Kansas Athletics Corporation vouned 7-6 to raise the student all-sports combo ticket prices from $100 to $125 Friday. This is the first increase in four years for the package.
This year, the University sold Approximately 6,300 all-sports combo tickets said Susan Wachter, athletics department chief financial officer. The increase will likely bring in more than $150,000 and will go to pay for the expected increase in athletics-budget costs next year said Jonathan Ng, startup body president and KUAC board member.
Ng said he valued against the new price because students already had to deal with an increase in tuition and housing.