JAYHAWK
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Basketball
Kansas State players arrested
Kansas State quarterback Michael Bishop was arrested Saturday night on battery charges. K-State guard Manny Dies was arrested on drug and alcohol charges in an unrelated incident. K-State officials had no comment on the situations.
Saturday's game - Kansas vs. Iowa State
KANSAS
29-3, 13-1
RANKED NO.4
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SECTION B, PAGE 1
IOW STATE
12-15, 5-9
UNRANKED
WWW.JHAWKBBALL.COM
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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1998
For the fourth consecutive season, and the seventh time in eight years,the Jayhawks are
Conference Champions
Kansas forward Paul Pierce salutes the crowd after making his cut on the net. Kansas defeated Iowa State Saturday and clinched the big 12 Conference title. Photo by Steve Pauke/KANSAN
By Tommy Gallagher
tgallagher@kansan.com
Kansas sportwriter
No. 4 Kansas weathered a rough first half storm and won another Big 12 Conference title.
The Jayhawks, who led by one point at halftime, used a 31-19 second-half run and cruised to a 71-54 victory against Iowa State on Saturday in Allen Field House. Afterwards, the Jayhawks cut
Kansas forward Paul Pierce drives around Iowa State forward Stevie Johnson. Pierce scored a team-high 19 points, 16 of them in the second half. Photo by Steve Puppe/KANSAN
down the nets and hoisted the trophy.
Forward Raef LaFrentz, who had 12 points and 18 rebounds, said that the win was the only the beginning of what the team hoped to accomplish this season.
"It's something that I've grown accustomed to, but I'm looking forward to cutting down some nets that I haven't had the opportunity to cut down." LaFrentz said. "We set a lot of goals at the start of the season. This is just one of them."
The Jayhawks have won four consecutive conference titles and seven in the past eight seasons. But the Cyclones put the celebration plans on hold with a tough first-half performance.
After Kansas raced to an 18-9 lead eight minutes into the game, Iowa State closed the half with 16-8 run. The Jayhawks were cold during that stretch and failed to make a field goal for more than 10 minutes late in the half.
The Jayhawks shot 40.9 percent from the floor in the first half. Though Iowa State shot just 38.5 percent, the Cyclones outrebounded Kansas 16-15 while controlling the game's tempo.
In the second half, forward Paul Pierce and the Jawhaws took control.
Pierce scored 16 of his team-leading 19 points in the second half after his mother, Lorraine Hosey, arrived to watch the game. She became lost while driving to Lawrence, going as far west as Topeka, in what was just her second trip to the field house.
Pierce said his mother made a tremendous difference in his performance in the second half.
"Coming out after halftime, I saw my
mom, and she said I had to get it going," Pierce said. "And that inspired me to pick it up the second half."
The Jayhawks built a 31-9 run late, extending their lead to as many as 24 points. The Cyclones' storm had subsided into a gentle breeze as Kansas players, coaches and fans finally could
start the postgame celebration.
Guard Billy Thomas said he was part of a senior class that accomplished a feat that would be hard to equal.
"We've won the conference four years in a row now, so we have a place in the record books," Thomas said. "I welcome my teammates to do the same, and I wish them the best of luck, because it's hard to do that."
Kansas defense dominates Iowa State freshman talent
Marcus Fizer held to 13 points, despite strong first-half play
By John Blakely Wilson Kansan sportswriter
Iowa State freshman Marcus Fizer glides down the lane in Allen Field House, past T.J. Pugh and his Kansas
team mates,
and flips a soft
jumper a few
feet from the
basket.
Floyd: saw his star freshman foul out of the game.
Fizer, the Cyclones' first McDonald's All-American, burned the Kansas defense six times in the first half with these penetrating abilities, which helped
keep his team within a point of Kansas at halftime. 26-25.
"We were taking our time on offense, and running the clock down
to 17 or 18 seconds before running special plays to work for one-on-one situations," Iowa State coach Tim Floyd said. "Marcus got some open looks off drives and knocked them down."
But in the second half, Kansas shut Fizer out and eventually pummeled the Cyclones 71-54.
"In the second half, they just flat-out denied me the ball." Fizer said. "Even though I didn't play as well in the second half, I think we can all take confidence in the way we kept the game close early in Allen Field House."
"Sometimes it takes kids a while to get things into their heads," Williams said. "Td like to say I made some great coaching move on him at halftime, but the kids just flat-out played better."
Fizer, who finished with 13 points and four rebounds, was the only offensive threat for the Cyclone team that hit just 39 percent of its shots while only scoring 54 points.
Kansas coach Roy Williams said he had warned his team of Fizer's driving abilities in practices.
"We had to make it a possession game," Iowa State coach Tim Floyd
"I think we can all take confidence in the way we kept it close early in Allen Field House."
Marcus Fizer
Iowa State Forward
"Coach always says to play just as hard no matter how many fouls you have," Fizer said. "I tried in the second half to play hard, but the fouls were probably in the back of my mind."
said. "We gave Lester Earl six transition dunks in Lester but none today. We controlled the tempo better today, and it kept us close in the first half."
Fizer was also slowed in the second half by foul trouble and fouled out with 407 left in the game.
Those fouls, coupled with heightened awareness of Fizer's ability to penetrate, fueled Kansas to a 45-29 second half scoring margin.
"We were more alert as a team to his drives," Pugh said. "We all came to help and knew where he was."
Forward T.J. Pugh puts a shot over Iowa State's Marcus Fizer. Fizer had 13 points for the Cyclones. Photo by Steve Pauke/KANSAN
Women's swimming takes fourth place
Despite a strong showing at the Big 12 Championships, the Kansas women's swimming and diving team could not advance beyond fourth.
Kansan staff report
The Jayhawks were in fifth place after the first day of competition and then moved up to fourth place. Kansas finished the meet with 456 points, behind Nebraska,
Nebraska, who won last year, repeated with 868 points.
Senior co-captain Kristen Nilsen placed second in the 200-yard breaststroke. She broke a school record in the preliminaries with a time of 2:15.37. Nilsen finished fifth in the 400-yard individual medley and the 200-yard individual medley, and she earned NCAA consideration in all of three events.
Texas and Texas A&M.
Kansas coach Gary Kempf was pleased with the progress Kansas made.
"They extremely proud of this team," he said. "They could've laid down and taken it.
Freshmen Adrienne House and Amy Meyer and junior Shelley Hotchkiss finished third, fifth and seventh respectively in the 1,650 yard freestyle.
but they showed a lot of character and poise to finish strong."
Sophomore Rebecca
Kristen Nilsen
Eustice and freshman Kelley Smith finished seventh and eighth in the 200-yard backstroke.
The basketball band plays Fighting joyhawk to countdown the seconds before both halves tipoff.
**Serious students**
join the three basketball players in their last game in Allen Field House.
KU 'big boys' prepare to play last home game
By Tommy Gallagher
tgallogher @kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Big boys don't cry, though Senior Night for the No. 4 Kansas Jayhawks may be an exception.
In the last home game for Raef LaFrentz, Billy Thomas and B.C. McGrath, Kansas will face the
Oklahoma Sooners at 8:35 tonight in Allen Field House, where the seniors are 57-0.
Raef LaFrentz
Kansas coach Roy Williams said Senior Night was tough.
"Every year you think the group of kids you have is one you'll never have again," Williams said. "All three of those kids can melt me with a smile or with something they say."
The seniors may melt under the spotlight after the game, speaking in front of 16,300 fans who will aplaud what they have accomplished. LaFrentz said he was nervous about tonight because he may cry.
"I'm going to try not to, but I don't know what it's going to be like," LaFrenza said. "I'm going to
have a conversation with mom and dad, and if i see tears rolling down their faces, more than likely I'll start crying, too."
Thomas said he was eager for tonight's game so he could focus on the rest of the season.
"I can't help but think about it, because my mom's here, and she was talking about this game when she came for Senior
Billy Thomas
Night last year," Thomas said. "I'm ready to get started with the postseason, so I'm glad we can get all of the emotion out of the way and get down to business."
Pierce said he had thought about the possibility of playing his last game in the field house
Despite the attention placed on the seniors, tonight's events may weigh on forward Paul Pierce, who could decide to forego his senior season for the NBA Draft.
tonight but that no definite answers would come until after the season.
"I really don't know about that right now," Pierce said. "I've thought about it at times, then I've put that in the back of my head."
After Saturday's win against Iowa State, Pierce's mother, Lorraine Hosey, said she wanted Pierce to return next season.
C. B. McGrath
Regardless of who may or not play next season. Oklahoma will be ready to play tonight.
Despite nagging injuries to guard Corey Brewer and forwards Eduardo Najera and Ryan Humphrey, the Sooners are tied for second in the Big 12 Conference.
LaFrentz said tonight should be emotional.
"I think it will be one of those events where you're caught up in the moment," LaFrentz said. "And if my emotions kind of overflow, so be it."
The Starting Lineup
KANSAS
JAYHAWKS
13-1 Big 12, 29-3 overall
G  RYAN Robertson 6-5 JR.
F  BILLY THOMAS 6-4 SR.
F  PAUL PIERCE 6-7 JR.
C  T.J. Pugh 6-8 JR.
F  RAEF LAFRENTZ 6-11 SR.
OKLAHOMA SOONERS 10.4 Bale 12, 19.8 overall
JAMES BREWER 6-2 Sr.
MICHAEL JOHNSON 6-0 Jr.
ROBERT ALISON 6-5 Sr.
RYAN HUMPHREY 6-8 Fr.
EVAN WILEY 6-11 Sr.
Allen Field House • Lawrence TV: ESPN Ch. 18
Radio: KLWN 1320 AM, KJHK 90.7
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