JAYHAWK
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Basketball
Inside Sports today
Take a look at University of Kansas basketball images from this weekend.
SEE PAGES 2B AND 6B
Yesterday's game - Kansas vs. Rhode Island
ku
KANSAS 75
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RHODE ISLAND 24-8 80
SEEDED NO.8
MONDAY, MARCH 16, 1998
Commentary They choke once more. Are we surprised?
Kansas fans have already begun to rationalize.
But there will be no excuses this year, folks.
Not when you have two first team All-Americans. Not when you have Raef LaFrentz. Not when you have "Mn... March."
Mr. March Paul Pierce.
Nope, excuses simply aren't allowed when you have the kind of team that the Jayhawks had this season. They had experience. They had talent. They had Roy. They had the kind of depth that other teams only dream of.
Harley Rattliff sports at kansan.com
In other words, they had it all.
Sometimes you have to chuck the excuses and just sit back and face the sad reality.
Thev choked
The Kansas basketball team did it again.
And thev choked hard.
Rattif is a Norman, Okla., senior in journalism.
For the fourth consecutive year, Kansas was prematurely knocked out of the NCAA Tournament by a lower seed.
If you're looking for positives, at least they're consistent.
The names of the opponents and players change, but the result remains the same — Kansas comes home to Lawrence dejected and empty-handed.
Four years ago it was a scrapy Virginia team — on the floor of Kempen Arena — that finished the Jayhawks season.
In 1995, it was one-man machine John Wallace and his Syracuse Orangemen who sent Roy's boys packing.
Things were supposed to be different last season.
But on a dreary night in Birmingham, Ala. Jayhawk fans watched in agony as freshman Mike Bibby showed up Jacque Vaughn, and an upstart Arizona team wiped the floor with Kansas on its way to the title.
No Final Four. No National Championship.
Maybe next year, when the media are handing out those cute nicknames, they should give Roy Williams one.
Nothing will change the fact that the Jayhawks have become the tournament's perennial chokers.
And now this year.
Behind two guys named Cuttino and Tyson, the Rhode Island Rams not only dismantled the Jayhawks' back-court, they cemented Kansas' place in the tournament's all-time chokers' hall of fame.
The Rams were on point. They played with poise and confidence, never backing down from the vastly superior Javahawk squad.
Each time it looked as if Kansas was going to turn it on, the Rams' jitterbug point guard, Tyson Wheeler, drained another three-pointer. Every time it looked as if Kansas was going to get over the hump, Rhode Island just took it to another level.
It's hard to explain.
During the last four years the Jayhawks have won 123 games, yet each season they have fallen flat in the tournament.
Rhode Island was a team Kansas should have manhandled, yet didn't. The Rams whipped Kansas at almost every facet of the game.
Maybe it was because the Jayhawks were flat. Maybe it was because the Rams got hot at the right time.
Who knows? Maybe it was the dreaded Sports Illustrated Curse.
How about "Mr. Regular Season"?
Expectations were high, and the Kansas men's basketball team had hopes for a Final Four appearance. But in a heartbreaker, the Jayhawks fell to Rhode Island 80-75 in the NCAA Tournament and left the court
Shocked'Hawks
By Tommy Gallagher
tgallagher@kansan.com
Kansas writerwriter
OKLAHOMA CITY - The route to the Final Four was supposed to run along Interstate 35 all the way to San Antonio.
But top-seeded Kansas lost 80-75 yesterday to No. 8 seed Rhode Island in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Javahawks made their unex
pected exit and returned home 343 miles and two weekends shy of their destination.
Island's confidence grew as the game were on
Guard Ryan Robertson said he was angry about the shocking loss.
Kansas led 45-42 with 13:46 left to play when the Rams went on a 13-3 run.
Rhode Island eventually built a 10-point lead, 65-55, with 8:24 left to play, but Kansas rallied.
"In the past I was
upset and crying. But now I'm just hot out mad," Robertson said. "It's the most frustrating feeling in the world to know that you won 35 games during the season and then you can't even string three or four wins together."
"It is too early to tell the effects of this one."
The Rams kept close with Kansas in the first half, as there were three ties and seven lead changes. The Jayhawks still led 30-28 at the half, but Rhode
The Jayhawks mustered a 7-0 run, relying on the inside scoring of forwards Paul Pierce and Lester Earl. Trailing only 65-62 with 6:10 remaining. Kansas shot 1-for-12 from three
Unlike most of its games this season, Kansas never controlled the game's tempo.
Roy Williams Kansas basketball coach
point range for the rest of the game. The Rams then extended their lead and forced the Jayhawks to rely even more heavily on outside shooting to crawl back into the game.
by prince Billy Thomas, a combined 4-for-35 (11 percent) in Kansas' past four NCAA Tournament losses, said the Jawhavas had their chances.
already knows that we'll
ment, and they know
is going to be.
Forward Paul Pierce gets a pat on the head from Rhode Island guard Cuttino Mobley. The Rams
it's not being able to shoot ousted Kansas from the NCAA Tournament 80-75 last night. Pierce led Kansas with 23 points.
that's not for a lack of shoot. Photo by Steve Puppe/KANSAN
ers. We had open looks,but the shots would not fall today."
Thomas was 2-for-
15 from the floor
yesterday, including
2-for-13 from
behind the threepoint line. Overall, the Jayhawks shot a dismal 5-for-28 (17.9 percent) from threepoint range.
Robertson said the Jayhawks were too eager to cut into the deficit.
that we were down and that threes would help us get back into the game."
"I don't know that we shot too many threes, but I think that we may have tried to catch up too quickly," Robertson said. "We were awfully nervous. We knew
On defense, the Jayhawks could not contain Rhode Island, which shot 49 percent for the game.
Kansas was burned by the quickness of Arizona's guards last season. Yesterday, the Jayhawks were scorched by Rhode Island guards Tyson Wheeler and Cuttlino Mobley, who combined for 47 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds.
Rhode Island coach Jim Harrick said the Rams' guard play was crucial in the game's outcome.
"I felt that if they overplayed us, pressured us, that we could take them," Harrisk said. "We just spread the floor and took them. They couldn't guard us off the dribble, and that was the difference in the game."
The Jayhawks received spectacular performances from All-American forwards Raef LaFrentz, who had 22 points and 14 rebounds, and Paul Pierce, who recorded 23 points, five rebounds and three assists.
For LaFrentz, Thomas and guard C.B. McGrath, their careers ended in Oklahoma City and without a Final Four appearance in their years at Kansas.
On Saturday, coach Roy Williams said his team looked past Texas-El Paso in 1992, when the top-seeded Jayhawks lost 66-60 in the second round. He tried not to let them look ahead since then.
Regardless, Williams said he apologized to his players after the game yesterday.
"I told the kids in the locker room that I was sorry if I had caused them some problems by me openly talking about my desire to win a national championship," Williams said. "If that has put any extra pressure on them, then I apologize."
"It's too early to tell the effect of this one. I sort of get tired of grading those sort of effects, to tell you the truth. Grading the pain that you have is something that I won't enjoy doing right now and down the road," he said.
The road to the Final Four closed for the Jayhawks yesterday.
A 62-58 upset of Iowa by the Kansas women kept one Jayhawk squad alive. For just the second time in the team's history. Kansas is
Headed to the Sweet 16
Guard Suzi Raymont, left, and forward Lynn Pride, right,
embrace after upsetting Iowa 62-58 Sunday to advance to the
Sweet 16. Photo by Geoff Krieger/KANSAN
By Kevin C. Wilson Kansan sportswriter
The Jayhawks came from behind to upset Iowa 62-58 last night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
IOWA CITY, Iowa — For the second time in the last three years, the Kansas women's basketball team is headed to the Sweet 16.
"I just want to thank the good Lord that we can have this opportunity," Washington said. "This win means a lot to me, our program, our university and also the Big 12 Conference."
Kansas coach Marian Washington praised her team's determination in defeating one of the premier teams in the country.
The Jayhawks used balanced scoring and tenacious defense to win.
With the men's loss to Rhode Island, this marks the first time in school history that the women have advanced farther than the men in the NCAA Tournament.
Washington said she didn't tell her players about the men's defeat until after the game, because she didn't want them to lose their focus.
The Jayhawks, 23-8, outscored the Hawkeyes 16-5 from the free-throw line and shot 55 percent from the field in the second half to come from behind for the second consecutive game.
Guard Jennifer Jackson joked that the
In the first half, the Jayhawks trailed by as many as 13 points.
"I don't think we plan to get behind," Jackson said. "I think when we come out we have trouble getting comfortable so we end up behind."
In the first half, Kansas shot 38 percent from the field while Iowa shot 45 percent.
Jayhawks liked to make their coach nervous in the first half of games.
With the score 27-14 and 3:44 remaining, the Jayhawks mounted an 11-5 run and narrowed the Hawkeyes' halftime lead to 32.25.
The Jayhawks two leading scorers, forward Lynn Pride and guard Suzi Rayman, combined for six first half points on 3-of-16 shooting. The Hawkeyes two leading scorsers, forward Tangela Smith and guard Angela Hambilin, combined for 25 first half points on 11-of-19 shooting.
Iowa's Smith fouled out at that time, but the Hawkeyes scored six straight points to pull to 60-58 with one minute to play.
The lead seesawed until Kansas went on 8-0 run to break a 52-12 tie. The Jayhawks led 60-52 with 3:16 remaining.
With Kansas leading 41-40, Iowa's Smith picked up three fouls in the next 1:33 and went to the bench with four fouls.
Kansas outscored Iowa 14-5 to begin the second half. The Jayhawks took a 39-37 lead with 13:04 remaining in the game.
"This win means a lot to me, our program, our university and the Big 12 Conference."
Marian Washington Kansas women's basketball coach
Raymant then hit one of two free throws to put the Jayhawks up by three with 51 second remaining.
The Hawkeyes had a chance to tie the game with two three-point attempts but could not convert.
Jaclyn Johnson was fouled with 7.1 seconds left and hit the first free throw to seal the victory.
Jackson led the Jayhawks in scoring with 15 points. Raymant scored 13, Pride recorded 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds and Johnson had 11 points.
Pride said she was excited to continue.
"It was tough," Pride said. "I guess it goes to show you that we're capable of playing anybody. We all came together as a team with the same goals, the same game plan and really pulled it through."
The Jayhawks will travel to Oakland, Calif., for Saturday's Regional Semifinal against the winner of tonight's Arkansas-Harvard game.
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