JAYHAWK
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
March Madness
NCAA Tournament Brackets
It's that time again. Fill them out, stick them on your refrigerator and hope for the best. Men's and women's pairings inside. SEE PAGES 8B, 9B AND 16B
Yesterday's game - Kansas vs. Oklahoma
KANSAS
34-3
RANKED NO.3
SECTION B, PAGE 11
72
WWW.JHAWKBBALL.COM
OKLAHOMA 58
22-10
UNRANKED
MONDAY, MARCH 9, 1998
Jayhawks intend to keep focus on upstart No.16 seed from Texas
By Tommy Gallagher
tgallagher@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As expected, No. 3 Kansas was named the top seed of the Midwest Wrap of the NCAA Tournament yesterday and will play first and second-round games in Oklahoma
City
Williams: not surprised with the No. 1 seed
After the Jayhawks watched the tournament selection show on television in Kemper Arena, Kansas coach Roy Williams said he had a hunch about the team's fate all along.
"There was no suspense. We knew we would be a No.1 seed, probably in the Midwest," Williams said. "What I like is that
we have the Friday and Sunday games, so we can rest our players and get some people healthy."
The opponent for Kansas Friday will be Prairie View A&M, a team that went
13-16 this season. The Panthers are led by 6-foot-3 guard Tamaroon Sharpe, who averages 17.1 points and 5.1 rebounds. Prairie View A&M, located in Prairie View, Texas, placed seventh out of nine teams during the regular season in the SWAC. The Panthers finished 6-10 in conference play.
Robertson: looking forward to possibly playing in St. Louis.
matic berth to the NCAA Tournament when they won the conference tournament, rallying from a 20-point deficit to defeat Texas Southern last week.
For Robertson, the NCAA Tournament potentially could serve as two homecomings.
Guard Ryan Robertson said that the Panthers, despite having the lowest power rating of anyone in the 64 team field (No.263), could not be overlooked.
"They may be a team below .500, but they are a hot team because they won their conference tournament." Robertson said.
He was born in Lawton, Okla., which is less than two hours away from Oklahoma City. Before his freshman year in high school, Robertson's family moved to St. Charles, Mo. a suburb of St. Louis.
St. Louis is where the Jayhawks would play their regional games, should they advance past the first and second rounds.
Robertson said he was eager to make a trek to St. Louis, but he emphasized that the team could not look beyond this week.
"Iwas hoping we'd be in the Midwest Region so we could go to St. Louis," Robertson said. "But we have to win two games to advance there, so we have to take care of that before we do anything else."
Also in the Midwest is No. 9 seed Murray State, which lost to Duke by three points in the tournament last season. The Racers will take on Rhode Island, the No. 8 seed in the region. Should they and the Jayhawks win, the teams will meet in the second round.
Either Texas Christian or Florida State could present some coaching connections, should the Jayhawks reach the Sweet 16. TCU is led by former Oklahoma coach Billy Tubbs, and former Williams assistant Steve Robinson coaches the Seminoles.
Florida State finished 17-12 overall and 6-10 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and is the first team ever with 10 conference losses to make the tournament.
Two other former Williams assistants qualified for the NCAA Tournament, though one is guaranteed to make a quick exit.
In the West Region, No. 8 seed Tennessee will play No. 9 seed Illinois State, as Jerry Green and Kevin Stallings will meet each other for the first time as head coaches. Both men were assistants
Kansas forward Paul Pierce does a reverse dunk after a fast break against Nebraska. Photo by Steve Puppe/KANSAN
'Hawks in history books after back-to-back titles
All-Big 12 Conference Tournament
Territory
Team:
Corey Brewer, Oklahoma
Evan "Hootie" Wiley, Oklahoma
Kansas Paul Pierce, Kansas
Tyron Lue, Nebraska
by Tommy Gallagher
tgallagher@kansan.com
Kansas sportwriter
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Top-seeded, No. 3-ranked Kansas became the first team in Big Eight/Big 12 Conference history to successfully defend its tournament title by defeating Oklahoma 72-58 yesterday in Kemper Arena.
Kansas forward Paul Pierce, who won his second consecutive MVP title, scored a game-high 26 points and had five assists.
*Most Valuable Player
Coach Roy Williams said Pierce needed to have that sort of performance.
"We have three scorers on this team — Billy, Rae and Paul," Williams said. "Without Billy, that left Raef and Paul, and Raef has been slowed for the past few days. That meant it was important for Paul to score more than he had at any other time this year."
The Jayhawks, who appeared solemn after Friday's 68-61 quarterfinal win versus Kansas State, smiled and laughed yesterday during the game's final minutes.
Pierce said that this year's team was not taking anything for granted going into the NCAA tournament.
"This team is just enjoying the moment," Pierce said. "We didn't enjoy those moments as much as we did last year, and maybe that's because we have a younger team. But we will take this win, celebrate and move on."
For a while yesterday, the Jayhawks had nothing to celebrate.
Scoring proved to be a challenge in the first half, when neither team shot better than 36 percent. The Sooners led 25-24 at halftime, which marked the first time since the Dec. 30 loss to Hawaii that Kansas trailed at intermission.
The game eventually reached a fevered pitch five minutes into the second half, courtesy of a couple of
missed shots.
First, Oklahoma forward Ryan Humphrey blocked an attempted dunk by Pierce. Humphrey then flashed a wide grin toward Pierce while running down the court, where Kansas forward Lester Earl rejected a dunk attempt by Sooner center Evan Wiley.
The Sooners started running on fumes one minute later, when the Jawhayks peeled off a 33-12 run.
Included in that run were three consecutive three point shots by Kansas one by Pierce and two by guard Ryan Robertson.
By the end of the run, Kansas had its largest lead of the day, at 67-50, with less than three minutes to play. From there, Kansas cruised to victory.
Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said that the Kansas bench was the difference.
"We needed to play good defense for a full 40 minutes," Sampson said. "We played it for 28, maybe 29 minutes, and that's not enough against Kansas. They had fresh legs while ours were shot toward the end of the game."
KANSAS 72, OKLAHOMA 58
OKLAHOMA(22-10)
KANSAS (34-3)
Humphrey 3-6-2-38, Allison 4-10-0-9, Wiley 6-9-1-12, Johnson 3-8-2-8, Brewer 4-13-6-15, Najera 2-9-2-26, Stone 0-2-0-0, Spauling 0-0-0-0. Totals 22-57 12-14-58.
Pierce 10-18 5-52, LaFrentz 3-11 3-49, Pugh 6-10 0-12,
Robertson 4-7 0-10, Gregory 4-8 1-4 10, Earl 0-1 0-0,
Nooner 0-0 0-0, Bradford 1-2 0-03, Janisse 1-0 0-0,
McGrath 0-1 0-0, Martin 0-0 0-0, Chenwith 1-3 0-0.
Totals 29-61 9-13 72.
Halftime — Oklahoma 25, Kansas 24. 3-Point goals — Oklahoma 2-14 (Allison 1-5, Brewer 1-5, Johnson 0-1, Najera 0-3), Kansas 5-14 (Roberson 2-4, Bradford 1-1, Gregory 1-3, Pierce 1-4, LaFentz 0-1, McGrath 0-1). Rebounds — Oklahoma 33 (Wiley 11), Kansas 38 (LaFentz 9). Assists — Oklahoma 8 (Johnson 3), Kansas 16 (Pierce, Robinson 5).
Jayhawks drown in sea of Red Raiders
Kansan sportswriter
By Kevin C. Wilson
KANSAS CITY, Mo.—The Kansas women's basketball team became the last vlc-
Johnson: led Kansas with 17 points.
tim of the Texas Tech train that ran through the Big 12 Conference this season.
this season.
The sixth-ranked Red Raiders, who received a No.1 seed in the NCAA Women's Tournament yesterday, rolled over the Jayhawks 71-53 on Saturday at Municipal Auditorium. Texas Tech (25-4, 18-1 Big 12) won its 11th consecutive game and claimed the Big 12 Conference championship.
Texas Tech coach Marsha Sharp said that her team had reached its peak.
Washington; was pleased with her team's play.
"We played maybe the best 40 minutes o
through the first half.
the best 40 minutes o. basketball that we've played all year." Sharp said. "We needed all of it to beat Kansas."
Kansas played well early in the game. The Jayhawks got six points in the first three minutes from their two leading scorers, forward Lynn Pride and guard Suzi Raymant. But the Jayhawks did not score for the next five minutes, falling behind 14-6 midway
Kansas, 21-8 overall, closed the gap to 23-18 with 6:14 remaining in the half but went cold again. The Jayhawks were outscored 11-2 the rest of the first half, and Texas Tech led 34-20 at halftime.
Texas Tech forward Angie Braziel dominated the first half with 13 points. Kansas shot 28.7 percent, and Pride and Raymant were held scoreless for 17 minutes.
The Jayhawks never got closer than 11 points in the second half.
Kansas coach Marian Washington said that the Red Raiders hurt the Jayhawks in the transition game.
"We did not get back on defense and match-up very well." Washington said. "We didn't find their shooters, and they got some wide-open shots from their three-point shooters.
Guard Rene Hanebutt connected on five of six shots from beyond the three-point are. She scored 15 of her game-high 21 points in the second half. Hanebutt also had six assists and five rebounds.
Tournament most valuable player Alicia Thompson scored 14 points for Texas Tech and was joined on the all-tournament team by Braziel.
"I wanted to come out and prove myself, since I hadn't been shooting well," Hanebutt said.
Forward Jaclyn Johnson led the Jayhawks with 17 points, and all-tournament selection Lynn Pride added 14 points and nine rebounds.
"Texas Tech is a great ballclub," Washing ton said. "They are one of the premier teams in the country."
Washington praised the Red Raiders and wished them the best in the NCAA Tournament.
Kansas forward Lynn Pride tries to keep the ball from going out of bounds against Texas Tech as guard Suzi Raymont watches on. Photo by Roger Numer/KANSAN
Women to rumble with Tulane in Iowa City
By Kevin C. Wilson
Kansas sportswriter
Iowa City. here we come — again.
The Kansas women's basketball team received a No. 5 seed in the West region of the NCAA Tournament and will play Tulane at 6 p.m. Friday in Iowa City.
The Jayhawks played at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in the Hawkeye Classic on Nov. 29-30, where they lost to Washington and beat Cal-State Northridge.
Coach Marian Washington said after the
"This is an exciting time of the year," Washington said. "Three hundred teams start the season trying to get here. For us to be chosen is a credit to our players and our program. I'm extremely proud."
Guard Jennifer Jackson said playing at Carver again would be beneficial.
"We have an advantage because we've played there before, and we know the court." Jackson said. "We're better off than a lot of other teams in the tournament."
Kansas will face coach Lisa Stockton's 21-6 Tulane Green Wave, who have earned their
three seasons and finished second this season in Conference USA with a record of 12-4.
Washington said her staff members knew little about their opponent but that they would waste no time finding out.
The Green Wave had been riding a six-game winning streak before being toppled by Cincinnati 77-62 on Feb. 28 in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.
"I know we match up well with them," Washington said. They have an outstanding point guard and a great post-player. That's about all we know now."
Kansas, 21-8, was one of four Big 12 team selected to participate in the NCAA Tournament.
Barbara Farris chips in 14.2 points and pull down 8.3 rebounds per game.
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Conference champion Texas Tech earne the No.1 seed in the Midwest region. Iowa State received the No.4 seed in the Mideast, an Nebraska was given the No.9 seed in the East.
Washington said she was disappointed the Big 12 Conference garnered only four invitions.
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"I was hoping we'd get five teams in," Wasl
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