JAYHAWK
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Basketball
Inside Sports today
Yesterday's game - Kansas vs. Oklahoma State
The Kansas track teams competed at the Big 12 Indoors this weekend. The men finished ninth and the women finished 10th. SEE PAGE 3B
71 OKLA. STATE 21-5, 11-5 RANKED NO.25
WWW.JHAWKBBALL.COM
SECTION B, PAGE 1
MONDAY, MARCH 2, 1998
Kansas coach Roy Williams talks to guard Kenny Gregory. Gregory scored two key free throws in the final minutes to help beat Oklahoma State yesterday afternoon. Photo by Steve Puppe/KANSAN
Regular season comes to close
Kansas' pride saddles Cowboys for 71-67 victory in Stillwater
By Tommy Gallagher
tgallagher@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
STILLWATER, Okla. — Never had a meaningless game been so intense. No regular-season titles, no conference tournament seeds and no postseason honors rode on yesterday's game against No. 25 Oklahoma State. Just pride.
No. 4 Kansas saddled the Cowboys in the Big 12 Conference regular season finale, beating them 71-67 yesterday in Gallagher-Iba Brea.
Kansas guard Ryan Robertson said the atmosphere was perfect for the Jayhawks to enter postseason play.
"This game was really about pride," Robertson said. "We wanted to show everybody that we're the best team in the conference."
After protecting its lead throughout the game, Kansas had to withstand a late surge by the Cowboys in the final minutes.
Kansas had extended its lead to 25-
The Jayhawks shot 7-for-10 from the floor, racing out to a 16-4 lead barely four minutes into the game as the emotion from Senior Day and pregame festivities had quelled.
"We knew that wasn't going to last," said Robertson, who scored all 12 of his points in the first half. "We knew that it was Senior Day and that they were fired up to play us, but we were just happy to get off to such a good start. We knew we wouldn't kick them that bad the rest of the game."
Robertson: scored 12 points against the Cowboys
But the Jayhawks thawed out and forged a 39-26 halftime advantage, their largest
15 midway through the first half when its hot shooting suddenly froze. O k l a h o m a State went on a 7-0 run during the next five minutes.
Kansas forward Shandy Robbins pulls down a rebound against Missouri. Robbins scored five points as the Jayhawks finished the regular season by defeating Missouri Saturday at Allen Field House. Photo by Kansan staff.
That was just half the story.
The Cowboybys pulled to within lasse's reach in the second half, chipping away at the lead through a series of small runs.
The tempo had slowed, and Oklahoma State drew closer as the game neared the final minutes. The Jayhawks' lead had narrowed to 65-61 with less than three minutes to play when they received a much-needed boost.
Guard Kenny Gregory, a 40 percent free-throw shooter this season, made two free throws with 1:42 left to play, giving the Jayhawks a 67-61 lead. And forward Raef LaFrentz added some tough rebounds down the stretch.
Kansas coach Roy Williams said he had lashed out at Gregory earlier in the game because he appeared to have lost his confidence.
"I had gotten on Kenny because he dropped his head when he committed a turnover," Williams said. "I told him he was too good to do that, but then he knocked those (free throws) in."
But the Jayhawks' bench produced just four points — Gregory's free throws and a dunk by forward Nick Bradford in the game's final seconds. Williams said he was not concerned about the bench's play as much as he was pleased about the team's overall performance.
All five Jayhawk starters scored in double-digits against the Cowboys, led by LaFrentz, who recorded a team-high 17 points and game-high 14 rebounds. Forward Paul Pierce added 13 points, six rebounds and fivesassets.
KANSAS 71, OSU 67
Kansas (31-3)
Pugh 5-6 2-3 12, Pierce 5-8 3-4 13,
LaFrentz 7-16 3-1 37, Robertson 4-1 1
0 1-12, Thomas 5-9 1-1 37, Earl 0-1
0 0, Gregory 0-1 2-2 2, Bradford 1-2
0 0, McGrath 0 0 0 0, Chenwish
0 1 0 0 0, Totals 27 56 11-16 71.
Okda. St. (21-5)
Peterson 51-5 6 1 6 18, Mason 13-2 2 4,
Robich 6-1 5 6 1 2, Alexander 24-0 0 6,
Warner 0 0 0 0 0, Montanatil 0 0 0 0,
Ackins 41-5 6 1 6, Gattelle 3-4 0 37,
Weber 12-1 2 1, Total 22 59 15 2 1 6
Oklahoma State guard Adrian Peterson, who scored a game-high 18 points, said he anticipated another game between the two teams in the Big 12 Tournament.
Half - Kansas 39, Oklahoma St.
26. 3-point goals—Kansas 6-16
Oklahoma St. 8-25 B-rebounds—
Kansas 39 (LaFrentz 14), Oklahoma St. 34 (Robisch 9). Assists—
Kansas 17, Oklahoma St. 14.
"A week from today, it's a rematch. So we'll see what happens in Kansas City," Peterson said.
Raymant marches Jayhawks past Mizzou, toward madness
By Kevin C. Wilson Kansan sportswriter
Sizzling Suzi Raymant sc corched the Missouri Tigers for 31 points and lifted the Kansas women's basketball team to a 76-6 home win on Saturday.
The victory clinched an undefeated season at home, ensured a third-place finish in the Big 12 Conference and a first-round bye in the conference tournament.
"I'm really pleased that we were able to win that ballgame," said Kansas coach Marian Washington. "It's been a great day."
Raymant, a junior guard from Australia, came off a 35-point explosion against Oklahoma on Wednesday night and continued her hot shooting Saturday.
She connected on 12-of-20 field goals, including shooting 6-of-10 from three-point range, and established career-highs with 11 rebounds and six steals.
Raymant said she was pleased with her all-around game and would continue to look for her shot.
"Coach tells me to shoot it if I have an open look, and I'm not going to hesitate." Raymant said.
Raymant's 21 second-half points helped the Jayhawks recover from a sluggish first half and 31-30 halftime deficit.
"When Suzi's hitting the three, everyone gets excited, and we step up our game," said forward Jaclyn Johnson, who scored a career-high 24 points.
Raymant scored 31 points against Missouri.
Washington said that Raymant's scoring was essential to her team's success.
"Suzi, all season, has been an offensive threat for us," Washington said. "When she hasn't been."
we've felt it."
Johnson was hot as well.
The freshman forward connected on 6-of-12 shots from the field and cashed in on 12-of-16 free throws.
Forward Lynn Pride, the Jayhawks leading scorer, struggled, shooting .of 14 from the field and scoring only eight points, but added seven assists, six rebounds and three blocked shots.
Missouri, 11-15 overall and 3-13 in Big 12 play, was led by center
Kesha Bonds who had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Guard Julie Helms scored 17 points, and guard Tanisha Johnson added 11 for the Tigers.
With the win, Kansas, 19-7 overall and 11-5 in the Big 12, earned a first-round bye in the conference tournament in Kansas City and will play the winner of the Baylor-Kansas State game at 8:30 Wednesday night.
Also on Saturday:
Pride and Raymant were named to the All-Big 12 Conference team.
Pride, who leads the Jayhawks in scoring (15.0), rebounding (7.0), steals (2.3), assists (3.1) and minutes played (33.2), was named to the first team.
Pride was joined by Alicia Thompson, Texas Tech; Anna DeForge, Nebraska; Phylesa Whaley, Oklahoma; and Stacy Frese, Iowa State.
Raymant was a Big 12 honorable mention selection after averaging 14.9 points and 6.2 rebounds for the Javahawks.
The Kansas women's basketball team had its first alumni
KANSAS 76. MISSOURI 65
Missouri (11-15)
Monsee 3-5 1-1 7, Helm 7-16 0-
1 17, Akpaffiong 3-11 0-0 6, Johnson,
4-6 3-7 11, Williams 0-2 0-
0, Jones 1-1 1-2 3, Weeherr 1-2 1-
1 3, Trundle 0-0 0-0, Bonds 4-6
10-13 18, Totals 23-49 16-25 65
Kansas (19-7)
Scott 1.300 1.202, Pride 134 1.38 1.38
Sford 2.404, Roymant 121 0.131 1.31
Jackson 17, 022, Pruitt 00 000, Robn
birds 2, 05, Johnson 612 12 16 24,
Fletcher 1.001, Totals 726 14 24 476
Half—Missouri 31, Kansas 30.
3-point goals—Missouri 3-8,
Kansas 8-15. Fouled out—none.
Rebounds—Missouri 39 (Bonds
10), Kansas 37 (Rayman 11).
Assists—Missouri 11, Kansas 16
game Saturday morning at Allen Field House. Charisse Sampson's 10 points helped lead the Blue team to a 41-40 win over the White squad. Twenty-eight former Jayhawks played in the game, and Chris Hurley led the White team with 10 points.
Kansas baseball avoids sweep in Stillwater
Freshman pitcher saves 9-8 victory during tenth inning
Redshirt freshman Peter Smart struck out two of three batters in the bottom of the tenth inning Sunday to save a 9-8 victory for Kansas baseball this weekend at Oklahoma State. It was the Jayhawks' first victory in Stillwater in nine games.
By John Blakely Wilson Kansan sportswriter
16 in the bottom of the tenth. That loss made Sunday's game more important.
"We needed that win, especially after yesterday losing a tough one on Saturday," said Coach Bobby Randall. "Today we played a very good ballgame, we had three guys that pitched their hearts out — we also got clutch hitting and good defense."
Smart, who had pitched just two innings in his college career, downed three Cowboys in order: Tony Lucca, Billy Gasparino and Josh Holliday. Lucua had the game-winning RBI on Saturday, and Gasparino already had a pair of home runs in the game Sunday.
Smart had taken over for winning
"Our pitchers did a great job," said freshman shortstop John Nelson. "Everyone wanted to come out with a win. No one wanted to ride home on the bus after getting sweed."
Kansas centerfielder Clint Wyrick snagged Gasparino's third drive of the game in the tenth.
"I was trying to get on base, I wanted to get some runners anyway I could," Nelson said. "We always knew we could come in and compete with this team, this shows we can beat anybody we want."
right center field. That was going to be a triple, which would have hurt in a one-run game."
Nelson slammed a triple in the top of the tenth and later scored groundout by junior infielder Andy Juday.
Kansas was plagued in the loss Friday by Oklahoma State pitcher Jon Adkins, who gave up just one run in eight innings and won his third game of the year. Junior pitcher Chad Shusson slammed out three hits.
Kansas pitchers walked 13 batters on Saturday and allowed 16 earned runs Sophomore pitcher Franco Martine lost the game in the bottom of thenth, and sophomore pitcher Mar Corson was roughed up in two innings allowing eight runs. The batting attac was prolific, smashing out 13 hits an six home runs. Randy Case smashe two home runs, and Case and Cliff Bryson led the team with three RBI each.
Randall said winning the Sunda game by coming back late in the gam was an important confidence boost for a young Kansas team.
"This series, we said from Friday to Sunday," Randall said. "Our tear