SPORTS
Wednesday, January 15,1992 / University Daily Kansan
13
Cyclones' newcomers fortify defense
By Lyle Niedens
Kansan sportswriter
Victor Alexander averaged 23.4 points and nine rebounds a game last season for Iowa State. He was named to the All-Big Eight Conference team and was first round NBA draft choice of the Golden State Warriors.
Despite the 6-foot-9 center's senior leadership, the Cyclones finished with an overall 12-19 record, fifth in the Big Eight.
Kansas coach Roy Williams said at his weekly news conference yesterday that the Cyclones might be better off only without Alexander in the middle.
This season, without Alexander, the Cyclones are 17-5 and 3-3 in the Big Eight, and they are coming off a 96-82 overtime victory against Colorado on Monday.
"I think they're light years better defensively than they have been," Williams said. "I didn't mind playing against Big Victor."
"Big Victor was the kind of guy that Johnny loved, and he should, but he's also the kind of guy ... It's easy to see why Johnny doesn't have any hair." Williams said. "These guys may make him grow hair if they keep playing this well."
The 6-11 Michalik, who is from Czechoslovakia and played on the international level before coming to Iowa State, leads the crew of newcomers with 13.9 points and a team-leading 6.2bounds a game. Hioberg, a home-town boy from Ames, Iowa, is averaging 13.4 points a game and tops the Cyclones with a 58-percent field goal percentage.
The guys Williams is referring to include junior newcomers Howard Eaton and Ron Bayless and freshmen Julius Michalik and Fred Hiberg. All four are starting with the lone returning starter from last season, junior guard Justus Thigpen, who leads the Cyclones with 16.5 points a game.
"Michalik adds a new dimension to their team," Williams said. "It also gives them a five-men offense with guys who can do different things, as opposed to last year when Victor was there, when four guys were doing one thing and Victor was doing his own
thing."
The Jayhawks, who fell from No. 3 to No. 4 after Saturday's 64-56 loss at No. 2 Oklahoma State, needed a few days off to recuperate from the physical contest with the Cowboys, Williams said.
"Playing that game Saturday was like playing two or three games," he said. "It was a laar war."
"We were horrendous," he said.
"Our free-throw shooting killed us."
Kansas freshman center Greg Ostertag said the Jayhawks, who shot just 30 percent from the free-throw line against Oklahoma State, would try to put their free-three shooting problems behind them.
Senior forward Alonzo Jamison, who sprained his left knee in the first half of the Oklahoma State game, will play against Iowa State, Kansas trainer Mark Cairns said. The injury does not involve any ligament or cartilage damage.
"I don't know what happened. We just have to practice more and on it."
Injury update-
Kansas Basketball Game 20
(4) KANSAS JAYHAWKS Coach: Roy Williams Record: 17-2, (5-1)
IOWA STATE
CYCLONE
Coach: Johnny Orr
Record: 17-5, (3-3)
Game time: 7 p.m. at Allen Field House
Probable Starters
Player/Position Ht. PPG RPG
24-F Alonzo Jamison 6-6 10.7 4.4
34-F Richard Scott 6-7 10.6 4.4
51-C Eric Pauley 6-10 8.1 2.9
23-G Rex Walters 6-4 16.1 3.1
30-G Adonis Jordan 5-11 13.3 3.6
Player/Position Ht. PPG RPG
24-F Justus Thigpen 6-2 17.0 4.0
4-F Ron Bayless 6-1 8.8 1.6
42-C Julius Michalik 6-11 15.8 7.2
43-G Howard Eaton 6-6 6.6 4.0
32-G Fred Hoiberg 6-4 11.6 4.6
Game notes: ■ Kansas has beaten Iowa State in the last three meetings at Allen Field House by an average of 36 points. ■ The Jayhawks' 40-percent field goal percentage was the team's lowest since they shot 38.6 percent against Oklahoma on Feb. 3, 1990. ■ Freshman Greg Ostertag already has more blocked shots (22) than any Kansas player had last season. ■ KU leads the series 138-46, including a 20-12 mark in Lawrence. ■ Kansas has a five-game winning streak against the Cyclones dating to 1989. ■ Tonight's game will be televised on channels 3 and 14 in Lawrence, and it will be broadcast on KLZR 105.9 and JKHK 90.7.
Jeff Meesev. Daily Kansas
Kansas forward Alonzo Jamison defends Oklahoma State's Cornell Hatcher
Source: Kansas Sports Network
Brian T. Schoeni / Special to the KANSAN
Kansas dives into Big 8 meet
Both teams favored in Lincoln championship
By Chris Jenson
Kansan sportswriter
The diving competition beginstoday and the swimming competition begins tomorrow. The meet ends Saturday.
Pressure is on the Kansas men's and women's swimming and diving teams as they go to the Big Eight Conference Championships this week at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln, Neb.
The KU women's team was picked by Big Eight coaches in a poll to win the competition. The Kansas men and the Nebraska men are co-favored.
Junior Zhawn Stevens said the poll's results would not effect the team's success.
"There's not really added pressure," Stevens said. "We have known all year that we had a good chance to win, so it wasn't a big surprise."
Stevens said the team would be counting on strong performances from the whole lineup, not just its fastest swimmers.
"All we have to do is swim how we
know we are capable of swimming," he said. "That will be the difference in whether we win or lose."
Stevens was named outstanding swimmer at last year's championships after winning three individual events. He said he hoped to have similar results this year.
"I want to get my best times, and if I do that, the rest, the winning, will be it."
Cary Gagli Kempf said he expected a strong influence by the team at the program.
"I feel very confident in our program," Kempf said. "We have an opportunity to do well, and in athletics, that is all you can ask for. We need to take one event at a time and do the best we can in every event. We need an equal distribution of power."
He said the team was confident but that they needed to avoid issues of conflation.
"If we start looking too far ahead, we will get on that roller coaster where we win an event, lose an event." Kemnf
"I feel very confident in our program. We have an opportunity to do well."
Gary Kempf
The Jayhawks, returning with two individual conference champions from last year's squad, seek their first
The Kansas men are ranked 25th, with a 2-1 conference record. The Jayhawks' only conference loss was to Big Eight champion Nebraska, 120-123.
said. "We can't do that and win."
Kansas swimming and diving coach
The women, ranked 18th, will be led by sophomore Krista Cordsen, three-time Big Eight champion, and senior captain, three-time All-American selection.
Joining Stevens as a returning champion is junior Troy Reynolds, who won the men's 500-yard freestyle last year.
conferencetitlesince1979.
The women's team is 3-0 in Big Eight competition this season.
Also sparking the women will be junior Suzanne Ryan, who won the women's 200 breaststroke at last year's meet. She is the only other returning champion for the women besides Cordisen.
Cordsen has the Big Eight's fastest times this season in the women's 100 freestyle, 100-meter breaststroke, individual medley and the 200 freestyle.
Kempaf said he was anticipating the meet and said the completion would be straightforward.
Olympic medals count
"I think it will be a good meet with a lot of surprises," he said. "I hope that it is the best of the year for all four schools."
- Russia, Ukraine, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan
Country G S B T
Austria 2 2 3 7
Unified Team* 3 1 2 6
Germany 2 2 1 5
Norway 1 1 1 3
Italy 1 1 0 2
Finland 0 1 1 2
U.S. **1** **0** **1**
China 0 1 0 1
France 0 1 0 1
Canada 0 0 1 1
Switzerland 0 0 1 1
U.S.triumphs2-0
Knight-Ridder Tribune
OLYMPIC BRIEFS
Not even Craig, the gold-medal goalie in 1980, had a game in Lake Placid in which he stopped every shot. And not even the United States"Miracle on Ice" team won its first two games.
LeBlanc made 46 saves yesterday, posting the first U.S. shutout since 1964, as the United States beat Germany, 2-0, and got off to its best start since the unbeaten, gold-medal team of 1960.
MERIBEL, France — Ray LeBlanc did something that even the flags draped Jim Craig couldn't manage.
"You always want to do like Jim Craig did in 1880 and be a hero," LeBlanc said. "I just wanted to make people believe that these people had never heard of me."
Mantha helped preserve LeBlanc's shutout by sweeping away Gerd Truntschka's first-period shot after the goalie got trapped behind the net.
"I saved him that time, but he saved us a lot of times," said Mahta, who also assisted on Marty McIlnias' tiebreaking goal in the second period. "You can't ask for more. What Ray did was awesome."
"We're riding high, we're riding the tide right now," defenseman Moe Mantha said. "We've got a lot of young guys, and we're riding the emotion."
What Ray did was historic. Patrick Rupp, in 1964, was the last American goaile to record a shutout, also against two United States players and two U.S. sutours since World War II.
LeBlanc's was also the first shutout of these Winter Games.
Today's events
Alpine Skiing
Biathlon
Men's 10km.3 a.m.
Ice Hockey
Canada vs. Norway, 6 a.m.
Unified Team vs. Czechoslovakia,
2:15 p.m.
Freestyle Skiing
Nordic Combined
Men's and Women's moguls, prelims, 4a.m.
Women's single, third and fourth runs, 3.a.m.
From The Associated Press
5km cross country,7:30 a.m.
Winning streaks to clash at Boulder
By Cody Holt
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas women's basketball team takes on the Colorado Lady Buffs at 6.45 p.m. today at Boulder High School, which is Light Conference's hottest team.
Kansas, No. 16 in this week's AP Top 25, began its current seven-game winning streak, the longest in the conference, with a 66-48 victory over Colorado on Jan. 18 at Allen Field House.
Since the loss at Kansas, Colorado has winnereight out of six, including victories in its last five games. Their streak gives them the second longest winning streak in the conference.
Kansas coach Marian Washington said beating Colorado at this point in the season would be difficult.
"They have the momentum going for them, and they have us on their court," Washington said. "It's going to be very tough to beat them, but I don't expect anything less from a conference game."
Washington said the outside shooting of Colorado's freshman guard Shelley Sheetz was a major concern for Kansas' defense.
Sheetz leads the Lady Buffs with an average 13.3 points and 4.4
assists a game. She also has attempted 10 of Colorado's 137 three-point shots. In the teams' first meeting, the Kansas defense had her to her three-point basket on her to one three-point basket on four attempts and only four points.
Freshman forward Angela Aycock and junior center Martha McCloud led the Jayhawks with 12 points each in the first meeting. McCloud is out for the remainder of the season with a knee injury after averaging 7.1 points and 5.6 rebounds through the first 17 games of the season. Senior forcemen replaced her in the Jayhawks' starting lineup and is averaging 8.1 points and 5.7 rebounds a game.
"It seems like after we talk about one important game the next one comes up, and it's just as important." Washington said. "I think that's just a reflection of the strength of the conference."
The Jayhawks have beaten the Lady Buffs in their last four meetings including three times last year. Kansas beat Colorado 75-66 in the second round of last year's Big Eight Tournament.
Washington said that Colorado was a big game for the Jayhawks, but that she was getting used to big games.
Women's basketball probable starters
Game time: 6:45 tonight in Boulder, Colo., and will be broadcast on KJKH 90.7 FM.
Kansas 18-3 (7-1) Position Year Height PPG RPG
24 Danielle Shareef F Sr. 5-10 3.7
10 Jo Jo Witherspoon G Jr. 5-7 2.7 1.3
13 Kay Kay Hart G Sr. 5-7 9.7 3.7
23 Terrilyn Johnson F Sr. 5-11 7.5 9.2
23 Angela Avcock F Fr. 6-2 10.2 4.5
Colorado 13-8, (5-3)
20 Shelley Sheez G Fr 5-6 13.3 4.0
40 Amy Mathern Jr. 5-10 9.0 3.7
40 Abby Wirfs C Jr. 6-2 7.7 6.0
25 Mindy Henry F Jr. 6-2 9.9 2.0
44 Sherrice King F Jr. 6-2 9.6 6.1
Source: Kansas Sports Network