THE UNIVERSITY OF DALY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY MARCH 11, 2000
SPORTS
7B
huge off-st.
2 BA,
your
Ken-
BASKETBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
scorer with 11.4 points per game.
In Kansas' 59-49 loss to Iowa
State on Saturday, Morris scored
eight points and made just three
of 10 shots.
"I'd be more worried if she
After the game, Henrickson voiced her displeasure to Morris.
burr, say any thing to me," Morris said. "Then I'd be like, 'Oh man, what did I just do?' But that's part of playing basketball. I can take that, I'm
The same situation can't unfold in the Big 12 tournament.
"I'm not going to be great every day but I can't be horrible."
not going to be great every day but I can't be horrible. And that's what she's telling me."
"She loves to compete and when she doesn't show up and play like she's capable of, she takes it hard and gets down on herself", McCray said of Morris. "She's not going to let us down. She hates letting teammates
Morris' less-than-stellar performance against Iowa State was more of an aberration than the norm this season. But in the past two games, Morris has scored 10 points and struggled shooting the ball; She made just four of 15 attempts.
settling teammate down."
DANIELLE McCRAY Junior forward
For Kansas to have a chance at qualifying for the NCAA tournament — a tall order for sure, but not imposible. McCauley
and Morris must carry the load offensively.
But, as always, the remaining Jayhawks' contributions play just as pivotal a role in determining Kansas' success.
"This is the time in the season," Morris said, "where players just have to play."
— Edited by Brandy Entsminger
BEECHER (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
Voskui to invoke the spirit of Larry Bird for a night and drain nine-of-14 threes.
But even if you aren't superstitious, the second lesson still applies.
That is, as cliché as it might sound, no victory can be taken for granted in sports. Anyone really can beat anyone else on any given night. It might take the underdog catching fire from downtown while the superior team can't hit anything, but that sort of thing can and does happen.
Reflect on the events of Kansas' loss in Lubbock for proof. It may be easy to dismiss the game as a fluke. And it may very well have been just that. Texas Tech probably couldn't play that well in its next hundred games, whereas Kansas might not play that poorly again for a similar stretch.
Raiders may have been the recipients of some good luck does not mean the game should be tossed out.
But just because the Red
Quite the contrary — it should serve as a reminder to fans and overzealous sportswriters alike that clichés are as often repeated as they are for good reason. Which brings us back to today, and the apparently less-than-compelling Nebraska-Baylor matchup.
Sure, it's not sexy. And yes, Kansas ought to defeat whichever team it ends up facing on Thursday without any real drama.
That's what ought to happen.
That's what ought to happen.
But just because something ought to happen doesn't necessarily mean that it will. I learned my lesson; let's hope that those who actually decide the games did, too.
Edited by Brandy Entsminger
WICHITA ST.
(6-5)
PITCHING
Wichita State has a history of producing great pitchers and
pitching coach
Brent Kemnitz is widely regarded as one of the best in college baseball. He's again grooming a solid young staff, Starting for the Shock-
Flynn
ers is freshman Brian Flynn, who has a 11. 12 ERA through two appearances, but the strength will come from the bullpen in Wednesday's name.
Taylor Brown leads the Shockers with an even.500 batting average. Wichita State, much like
OFFENSE
Kansas early in
the year, has struggled with power at the plate. Through its first 11 games, Wichita State has managed only two home runs,
first baseman Clinton McKeever and catcher Cody Lasslev.
MOMENTUM
Seniors hope to hand defeat to rival Shockers
The Shockers, after winning six of their first seven games, are on a four-game skid, losing at home to Brigham Young and getting swept during the weekend at No. 11 TCU. The Shockers, however, were the only nonconference opponent to win at Hoglund Ballpark in 2008. The Jayhawks haven't defeated them since the two teams met in 2006.
BY JOSH BOWE
ibowe@kansan.com
That's why it's understandable that senior catcher Buck Afenir has a little more invested in tonight's game against Wichita State than the 32 players on Kansas' roster with eligibility remaining after this season.
Seniors are hard to come by on the Kansas roster. In fact, there are only four of them.
Tim Dwyer
"Honestly, I want to win. We haven't beat these guys in a long time," Afenir said. "A win against Wichita State is always a good thing for the program."
"I think it's important that we get this streak stopped and headed in our direction," coach Ritch Price said.
The truth is that victories against the Shockers have been hard to come by for the Jayhawks during the past three years. The Shockers have taken the last five matchups dating back to 2006.
Fortunately for Kansas, this isn't the same Wichita State program it's accustomed to facing. The Shockers enter this evening's game with a pedestrian 6-5 record. They weren't even picked to finish first in the Missouri Valley Conference in the preseason. A program that is used to playing in the NCAA tournament now is hoping just to keep its winning record.
The only record Afenir cares about, though, is the series history between the two teams. He knows that the Shockers are a quality program and should be treated as such every season.
"They're a tough club, always every year," Aftenir said. "They
always roll out somebody that's pretty crafty, so hopefully we can keep the bats going.
And the bats sure are going right now. Kansas clubbed six home runs in its series sweep of Northwestern last weekend. The layhawks didn't hit a home run until sophomore third baseman Tony Thompson went deep in their sixth game. But Price sees potential power in his batting order, even though he isn't ready to make any guarantees.
"Buck has hit double-digit home runs before, and that's our expectation of Thompson." Price said. "There are other guys in the lineup capable of hitting four or five and then we can be OK."
So is Kansas a small-ball oriented team that has to manufacture runs, as it showed in the first six games of the season? Or is it the power-hitting team that roughed up Northwestern pitching?
"I'm hoping the second one — that would be real nice." Thompson said with a smile. "I think we've got the potential to put up some pretty good power numbers."
Regardless of whether or not the power surge continues, one thing is certain. The Jawhaws can pitch.
Kansas has a team ERA of 2.82, a vast improvement on last year's 5.49 mark. It's one of the main reasons why the layhawks (8-3) have a better record than the Shockers entering the two team's first meeting of the season.
"Certainly, our strength is our ability to play defense and our pitching is vastly improved," Price said. "As long as we continue to pitch, I think it's a good mix."
Edited By Andrew Wiebe
KANSAS (8-3)
PITCHING
key stats
A double-dip of five stars this early in the season? It sounds crazy, but this team is clicking on
Ridenhour
OFFENSE
eyes make it right now. Sure, it's against inferior competition but, regardless, this team is leaps and bounds ahead of where it was at this time in 2008 in
terms of pitching, Lee Ridenhour has lived up to his high-school hype and leads the team with two victories and a solid 2.77 ERA.
With Tony Thompson riding a 19-game hit streak, Buck Afenir has
1. 6
Tony Thompson hit streak
Afenir
Lee Ridenhour's strikeout-to-walk ratio
Thompson's walks
advantage of his good fortunes, too.
Afenir is hitting .500 in seven games played with two home runs, seven RBIs and an absurd
David Narodowski's batting average.
slugging percentage of .900. Eight home runs in four games deserves some kudos even if it came against less than stellar competition.
MOMENTUM
Kansas has won six in a row and it's easy to see the confidence in the players. The players are loose, smiling and laughing during interviews and jovial in the dugout. The Jayhawks will be geared up to play their in-state rival and they have a chance to put the Shockers on a five-game losing streak, which hasn't happened since 2001.
Josh Bowe
J. A. VICKERS, SR. AND ROBERT F. VICKERS, SR. MEMORIAL LECTURE SERIES