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University Daily Kansan / Tuesday, April 7, 1992
SPORTS
Blue Devils repeat as NCAA champs
The Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — History did not come easy for the Duke Blue Devils. Nevertheless, history they made, energized at last by their star, Christian Laetner.
They became the first team in 19 years to repeat as NCAA champions last night with a 7-6(4) victory against Minnesota. Ms. White's youngest team ever to vie for the title.
"We won last year, but it's the best feeling to go out in my last game at Duke on a winning note," Laettner said.
After missing six of eight shots and making a season-high seven turnovers in the first half, Laettner finished with 19 points and seven rebounds.
Duke coach Mike Krzewzki said, "He was throwing up bricks and we were still down just one point. I knew if we could turn up the emotion and get him back in the game we'd have a shot."
Laetner said that he did not think they were emotionally drained.
"I missed some shots and Michigan played well," Laetner said. "I was playing really weak and we weren't rebounding. In the second half, we did
a better job. I wasn't physically or emotionally drained."
Not since UCLA ended a seven-year reign as national champions in 1973 had a team managed to win two in a row.
Duke did it the hard way, with national player of the year Laetner struggling for the second straight game.
Laetner, who personally lifted the Blue Devils to two of their five straight Final Four appearances with buzzer-bearing baskets, rebounded from his worst half of the year and led a closing 23-6 Duke charge.
Duke's defensive pressure limited Michigan to only 20 second-half points on 29-percent shooting. The Wolverines, who led 31-30 at halftime, shot only 38 percent for the game and had their lowest point total in eight years. It was also the lowest losing score in a championship game since 1981, when Indiana beat North Carolina 63-50.
Bobby Hurley, who matched his career high 26 points against Indiana in the semifinals, hit only three of 12 shots in the championship game. But he had seven assists with his nine
points and was named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.
However, it was Laettner's long-distance shooting that snarked Duke.
Grant Hill had a terrific all-around game for Duke with 18 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks. Thomas Hill added 16 points and seven rebounds for the Blue Devils.
Laettner's 3-pointer 44 seconds into the second half gave Duke the lead for good, 35-33. Another 3-pointer by Laetner with 11:06 left gave the Blue Devils a 46-39 lead, and they took off from there.
Duke tied the second-largest winning margin in NCAA championship game history, topped only by UNLV's 30-point blowout of the Blue Devil's two years ago and equaled by Ohio State over California in 1960.
In Ann Arbor, Mich., after the game, police fired tear gas to quell a crowd of more than 5,000 Michigan basketball fans who began hurling rocks and bottles.
A student and a police officer suffered minor injuries. No arrests were immediately reported.
Jayhawks improve record before conference break
By Jerry Schmidt
Kansas sports writer
Kansan sportswriter
After two victories over leagueleading and 10th-ranked Oklahoma State during the weekend, Kansas baseball coach Dave Bingham said he felt a little better about his team's chances of making the Big Eight Conference tournament.
"I'm starting to see the focus we had earlier in the year," Bingham said. Kansas started the season 14-overall.
The victories gave the Jayhawks a 48 record in the conference and 18-15 overall. Oklahoma State and Oklahomawere and the conference with 6-2 marks.
Bingham will not have to worry about the conference race for a few days. Kansas' next conference games are scheduled to play host to the Oklahoma Sooners.
The Jayhawks have six non-conference games before the series with the Sooners, including four games with Southwest Missouri State. They will travel to Springfield. Mo. to play the Bearats 4p.m. today and 3p.m. tomorrow. Southwest Missouri State is 16-10 on the
Bingham said he thought the non-
"I'm starting to see the focus we had earlier in the year."
Dave Bingham Kansas baseball coach
conference games had positive and negative aspects to them.
"We had some momentum developed in the conference, and that could be a negative," he said. "But a positive out of it that we need some starts out of (pitchers Chris) Corn and (Curtis) Schmidt."
Bingham said Schmidt's last two starts had been complete games and that they had shown that Schmidt needed to work on conditioning. Schmidt pitched nine innings and gave up nine hits and three runs in a 10-3 victory against Nebraska on March 30. Saturday he surrendered 10 hits and eight runs in a 8-3 defeat to Oklahoma State. Bingham said Schmidt likely
would start tomorrow's game.
"He three a lot of pitches against No. 14.
He's it. It's basically pitching conditioning."
Bingham said Corn had battled a consistency problem this season. Corn has dropped to 3-2 after starting the season in the third series. He is the scheduler startter today.
The Bears will counter with sophorm
Greg Resz. Resz is 2-2 with a 4.22
mor E
Junior first baseman John Wuycheck will be coming off a hot streak after going 6-for-13 with three home runs in the series against the Cowboys.
Southwest Missouri State coach Keith Guttin said his team was sound defensively until the series with No.1 Wichita State. The Shockers beat the Bears 22-7 Sunday and 16-2 Saturday.
"It was a combination of playing a hot team on their field, and we just didn't play well. "Guttin said. "We had a lot of errors this weekend."
In its first season in the Missouri Valley Conference, Southwest Missouri State finished fourth last year behind Wichita State, Creighton and Indiana State. The Bears were 40-22 last season and 14-10 in the conference.
Kansas racquetball club member wins national championship in No.2 singles
Racquetball club president, Lou Montulli, returns a hit during practice.
By Lyle Niedens
Kansan sportswriter
Lou Montulli began the Kansas racquetball club all by himself in 1989.
Just three years later, the club has 30members who compete for12 spots—six men and six women who play both singles and doubles—on a traveling team that has competed in eight collegiate meets and 12 open meets this season.
Stephanie Munger, Anchorage,
Alaska, freshman, won the No. 2
singles championship at the World
Intercollegiate Racquetball
Championships in Canton, Ohio,
Alabama, freshman, team finished
11 out of 83 teams. Southwest Missouri State won the team
championship.
"We're very proud of Stephanie," said Montulli, Orlando, Fla. senior and president of the club. "I'm very pleased. In the Central Region, we're second only to SMSU."
That Central Region, which is made up of teams from Iowa, Kansas and Missouri, had only one team, SMSU, when Montull began the club, he said. Now, there are nine teams in the region, including Kansas State and Wichita State.
"In the Central Region, there has been an explosive growth in teams," said Montulli, who added that racquetball was much more popular on the East Coast. "There has been sort of a resurgence of racquetball. I think it's because of the health generation. Racquetball is really good for you."
It also is expensive for the members of the club, which receives just $3,000 from the Kansas Recreational Services budget, Montuli said. The bulk of that goes to pay for entry fees, which range from $30 to $40 a person at each tournament.
The rest of the expenses for the team, including traveling money, comes out of the members' pockets, Montuli said. These costs usually total about $500 to $1,000 a semester.
Despite the expenses involved, members of the club said there were several benefits to playing raucquetball competitively.
"Itimproves your hand-eye coordination," she said.
Monica Dueringer, Olahe freshman, said that going to nationals was great and that playing helped her in the summer, when she played fast-pitch softball.
Chuck Keena, Lawrence senior, said that he had become a better player as a member of the club because he was able to face some of the best competition in the country.
"It's a lot of fun just to go out with the guys, too," he said.
SPORTS BRIEFS
Frank McGuire has stroke
Frank McGuire, the basketball Hall of Famer who led North Carolina to the 1957 NCAA championship over Kansas, was in stable condition yesterday in Columbia, S.C., after suffering a stroke.
McGuireunderwent tests and evaluation Sunday after being admitted to Baptist Medical Center Friday.
The 78-year-old McGuire underwent an angioplasty to clear his arteries three years ago, and in December, he had a pacemaker implanted.
From The Associated Press
He coached seven teams that went undefeated in the Atlantic Coast Conference. McGuire ranks second in conference wins, surpassed only by his successor at North Carolina, Dean Smith.
Sacramento Kings sold
Controlling interest in the Sacramento Kings finally was sold yesterday to a group of developers led by Los Angeles developer James Thomas.
The NBA gave its formal approval Friday to the $140 million sale of a 53 percent interest in the Kings and their arena to Thomas' group.
The group of owners that bought the team and moved it from Kansas City to Sacramento in 1985 retains a 47-percent share of the team.
The agreement names Thomas managing partner and chief executive officer.
Rising ranking may mark softball team
By Cody Holt
Kansan sportswrite
If the No. 18 Kansas softball team breaks into the top 10 rankings this week, its stock as a marked team could rise.
After sweeping two games from two Big Eight Conference foes, Nebraska and No. 6 Oklahoma State, during the weekend in Stillwater, Okla., the Jayhawks, 27-5, could be poised to make a move in the poll.
Junior outfielder Shanna Cole said that Jayhawk opponents currently were motivated to beat them because of the athletic tradition at KU. If Kansas climbs in the粉s today, opponents will be shooting for the Jayhawks even more so, she said.
"Other teams use your success to motivate themselves against you," Cole said. "As we move higher in the poll, it will become a factor."
Whether or not Kansas moves up in the polls this week, Coach Kalum Haack said he isn't going to place too much faith in the rankings.
He remembers two years ago when the Jayhawks finished No. 13 in the final poll of the season but didn't win the conference tournament. As a result, Kansas got neither the automatic bid that goes to the tournament champion nor an at-large bid to the NCAA regional tournament.
"I was shocked," he said. "We're not waiting on that this year."
Sophomore pitcher Stephani Williams said that the team's main
"It's hard not to be confident when you look at how well we hit and how well we play defense," she said. "The all-around effort is there."
Williams, who didn't mention the strength of Kansas' pitching staff, is a big reason for that confidence.
Williams was named Big Eight pitcher of the week for the second time this season. She gained two 1-0 victories against Oklahoma State this weekend and two saves against Nebraska. She has a 16-2 record, including 15 complete games. Williams also has struck out 144 batters this season and thrown 10 shutouts, including 3 no-hitters.
goal was to improve in each game and to gain confidence with each game.
Cole said the team was very confi.
"With a pitcher like Stephani we know that if we get a run or two early, she'll take care of everything else," she said. "She does an outstanding job."
Haack said that after defeating Oklahoma State during the weekend, the Jayhawks had an inside track to winning the regular-season conference title. He said that Missouri still was a concern for Kansas, but that the Jayhawks should have an advantage.
"We're so strong in pitching and depth that if Missouri is stronger than us, they'd have to have a very strong team," he said.
Kansas will play today against Creighton University at Jawhayk Field. The first game of the double-header will begin at 3 p.m.
OPENING DAY 1992
American League
Mike Bordick's two-run, bases-loaded single capped a three-rung eight inning that carried the Oakland Athletics to a 5-3 victory against the revamped City City Royals in Oakland, last night in the season opener.
Athletics 5. Royals 3
dent with Williams on the mound.
Kansas City starter Kevin Appier, who won 10 of his last 13 decisions last season, held Oakland to one run and led Dallas to a leading 2-1. Appier faced seven hitters runners in scoring position during his first opening day assignment.
Orioles2, Indians0
The Baltimore Orioles moved into their new stadium in style viedeard
Blue Jays4, Tigers2
by beating the Cleveland Indians 2-0 behind bunting, baserunning and brilliant pitching by Rick Sutcliffe.
Camden Yards, with its modern-day amenities and an old-time flavor, was the focus of the day, rather than the team. But Sutcliffe gave the fans more to look at than the city skyline beyond center field, the bricked, 94-year-old warehouse beyond right and the 25-foot scoreboard built into the right-field wall.
Jack Morris, who finished last year
with one of the most memorable
shoutouts in World Series history, started
this season in Detroit with eight
more scoreless innings.
He made his debut for Toronto a winning one, pitching a five-hitter and leading the Blue Jays past Detroit.
Twins4, Brewers2
Chuck Knoblauch's fourth single of the game scored Greg Gagne with the go-ahead run in the ninth inning as Minnesota opened defense of its World Championship in Milwaukee by beating the Brewers. The loss spoiled Phil Garner's debut as Brewers manager.
Twins reliever Carl Willis pitched one and one third hitts innings for the victory and Rick Aguilera got the last three outs for the save.
National League
Giants8. Dodgers1
Bill Swift, who came to San Francisco from Seattle in the Kevin Mitchell trade, made his first start after 88 relief appearances a winning one as the Giants beat Los Angeles 8-1 on opening day yesterday in San Francisco.
Swift, who relieved in 71 games for the Mariners last season, blanked the Dodgers until the eighth inning. Making his first start since Aug. 22, 1990, Swift allowed seven hits and one run in 72-3 innings.
"It was a great opening day for us," said Giants manager Roger Craig, whose team hasn't been tabbed by most observers as a contender in the
Cory Snyder, Robby Thompson and Darren Lewis had three hits each, highlighting the Giants' 17-hit attack. Padres 4 Reds 3
Riage, 16-5 last year, gaveuptwostcostly homers in nine innings: a solo homer by Fred McGriff that put the Padres ahead 3-2 in the sixth, and Jackson's leadoff home after the Reds had tied it in the eighth.
Darrin Jackson's ninth-inning homer off Jose Ripper snapped the Reds' streak of nine consecutive opening day victories yesterday in Cincinnati.
NL West. "These are the kinds of game that are easy to manage."
Pirates2.Expos0
Doug Drabek pitched like the Cy Young Award winner of 1990 with eight shutout innings as the Pirates beat
Montreal yesterday in Pittsburgh.
Drabek, winner of just one of his first seven decisions last year before finishing 15-14, allowed five singles and also drove in a run in the Pirates' two-run second inning.
Mets 4. Cardinals 2
Bobby Bonilla, the Mets' $29 million man, hit two home runs, including a shot in the 10th innning, lifting New York past the Cardinals in St. Louis.
The victory made Jeff Torborg a winner in his managerial debut with New York, and gave the Mets their triumph in the last 18 season openers.
Jeff Innis worked one inning for the victory and John Franco pitched the tie.
From The Associated Press