JAYHAWK
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Basketball
Texas A&M reassigns Tony Barone
The Aggies' men's basketball coach will become a special assistant to the school's athletic director after this season. Officials cited "a lack of wins" as a reason.
Yesterday's game - Kansas vs. Colorado
KANSAS
28-3,12-1
RANKED NO.4.
81
SECTION A, PAGE 8
WWW.IHAWKBBALL.COM
COLORADO 72
12-11,6-7
UNRANKED
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17. 1998
'Hawks stampede past Buffs
Kansas bench key to win after LaFrentz, Pierce falter
By Tommy Gallagher
Kansan sportswriter
BOULDER, Colo. — No. 4 Kansas clinched a share of the Big 12 Conference regular season title with an 81-72 victory against the Colorado Buffaloes last night at the Coors Events/Conference Center.
Guard Ryan Robertson said the Jayhawks were content with winning despite off nights from forwards Raef LaFrentz and Paul Pierce.
"We were happy about just getting the win," Robertson said. "It's a game where you look up at the scoreboard and give a sigh of relief that you had more points in the end. We didn't play all that well, but we overcame some hurdles and won."
There were 10 lead changes and three ties in the first 12 minutes of the game. The Jayhawks went on a 15-6 run and led 34-26 with less than three minutes to play in the first half. But the Buffaloes rallied and trailed just 36-33 at the half.
LaFrentz picked up his fourth foul three-and-a-half minutes into the second half. The foul prompted Kansas coach Roy Williams to remove his suit coat and throw it to the floor.
Then came trouble. Foul trouble.
Chenowith had 15 points and four rebounds, and Earl added four points, three rebounds and two blocked shots.
"I just got so frustrated," Williams said. "I didn't like what was going on out there. That was the first time in two years I've taken my coat off."
Colorado had an opportunity to take the lead with LaFrentz out for 13 minutes, but the Kansas bench took the Buffaloes out of the game.
Center Eric Chenowith and forward Lester Earl helped spur an 11-2 Kansas run that gave the Jayhawks a 61-49 lead.
Guard Billy Thomas said the bench needed to fill the roles usually played by LaFrentz, who had 13 points and six rebounds, and Pierce, who had just 11 points and seven rebounds.
"We didn't play great, but everyone
"I just got so frustrated. I didn't like what was going on out there. That was the first
time in two years I've taken my coat off."
Roy Williams Kansas Basketball Coach
had to step up tonight," Thomas saan.
"The guys who came off the bench gave us quality minutes, and you need that when some of your go-to guys aren't having the nights they usually have."
The Buffaloes made a late surge, but it wasn't enough. Down 75-64 with 2:10 left, Colorado pulled within six points when guard Kenny Price hit his fifth three-point shot and guard Marlon Hughes made two free throws. But the Buffers missed three straight shots, and Kansas hit six free throws to clinch the win.
"Like Coach (Ricardo Patton) says, all you can ask for is a chance." Colorado forward Howard Frier said. "We had our chances. We just didn't cash in."
Thomas led the Jayhawks with 16 points, seven assists and four rebounds, and Price led his Colorado with 23 points and seven rebounds.
Robertson said the Jayhawks now looked toward Saturday's home game against Iowa State.
"Four of our last five games have been on the road, and we won all of them," Robertson said. "Now we have a chance to go home and cut down the nets because we will win the Big 12 title. That was one the goals we set at the start of the season, and there are more we haven't reached yet."
The Associated Press contributed information to this story.
KANSAS 81 COLORADO 72
KANSAS (28-3)
Pugh 3-5 0-0 6, Pierce 3-9 5-1 6, Lafrentz 6-1 1-2 13, Robertson 2-5 3-4 6,
BThomas 6-10 1-2 16, Earl 1-2 1-2 3, Gregory 4-0 0-0 9, Bradford 0-2 0-0 0,
McGrah 0-0 0-0 0, Chenowith 4-8 7-7 15. Totals 29-58 18-23 81.
COLORADO (12-11)
Smith 1-4 1-2 3, DeGray 3-8 1-2 7, Melvin 5-8 7-9 17, Price 9-16 5-11 23, trrier 5-2 2-4, Hughes 3-12 5-6 11, Jones 1-3 0-0 2, Renfro 0-1 1-2 1, AThomas 2-5 0-0, Mosley 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 25-65 17-24 72
Halftime—Kansas 36, Colorado 33. **3-Point goals**—Kansas 5-13 (Pierce 0-2,
Fraltenz 0-1, Robertson 1-2, BThomas 3-6, Gregory 1-1, Bradford 0-1), Colorado
5-19 (Price 5-11, Hughes 4-0, Jones 0-2, ATHomas 0-2). **Fouled out**—Melvin.
Rebounds—Kansas 39 (Pugh, Pierce 7), Colorado 33 (Melvin, Price 7).
Assists—Kansas 20 (BThomas 7), Colorado 14 (Frier 7). **Total fouls**—Kansas
22, Colorado 21. **Attendance**—10,822.
Above: Kansas forward Paul Pierce and guard Ryan Robertson sandwich a Colorado player while they fight for the ball. Kansas defeated Colorado 81-72 last night in Boulder, Colo.
Right: Kansas center Raef Lafrentz guards Colorado's Ernest Renfroza as Renfroze drives to the basket. LaFrentz received his fourth foul early in the second half, which forced him to sit out the majority of the second half. Photos by Steve Puppe/KANSAN
AP TOP 25
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' men's basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through yesterday, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking:
rank team rec pts pvs
1. N. Carolina (68) 26-1 1,748 1
2. Duke 23-2 1,640 2
3. Arizona (2) 22-3 1,605 3
4. Kansas 22-3 1,587 4
5. Purdue 22-4 1,379 8
6. Utah 21-2 1,331 5
7. Connecticut 22-4 1,306 6
8. Kentucky 22-4 1,182 7
9. Princeton 20-1 1,149 10
10. Stanford 21-3 1,128 14
11. New Mexico 19-3 1,109 11
12. UCLA 19-5 972 9
13. S. Carolina 19-4 886 15
14. Michigan St. 18-5 796 13
15. Mississippi 17-5 732 18
16. Arkansas 20-5 660 12
17. Cincinnati 19-5 576 19
18. Massachusetts 19-6 489 20
19. Texas Christian 22-4 479 22
20. W. Virginia 20-5 438 16
21. Syracuse 19-5 401 23
22. Michigan 18-7 283 21
23. Illinois 18-8 137 —
24. G. Washington 20-5 136 17
25. Maryland 15-8 129 24
Others receiving votes: St. John's 44, Xavier 62, Indiana 54, Oklahoma State 54, Rhade Island 52, Tennessee 42, Murray St. 34, Temple 32, Detroit 31, Iowa 13, Clemson 12, Florida St. 9, Ill.-Chicago 4, Coll. of Charleston 3, Santa Clara 2, Ball St. 1, Iona 1, Saint Louis 1, Washington 1.
ESPN/USA TODAY TOP 25
The Top Twenty Five teams in the USA Today-ESPN college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Feb. 15, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking:
| | lac | ps | ps |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 1.N. Carolina(30) | 26-1 | 750 | 1 |
| 2.Duke | 23-2 | 710 | 2 |
| 3.Arizona | 22-3 | 680 | 4 |
| 4.Kansas | 27-3 | 679 | 3 |
| 5.Utah | 21-2 | 589 | 5 |
| 6.Purdue | 22-4 | 588 | 7 |
| 7.Connecticut | 22-4 | 581 | 6 |
| 8.Brinceton | 20-1 | 523 | 9 |
| 9.New Mexico | 19-3 | 494 | 11 |
| 10.Kentucky | 22-4 | 470 | 8 |
| 11.Stanford | 21-3 | 438 | 13 |
| 12.UCLA | 19-5 | 437 | 10 |
| 13.S.Carolina | 19-4 | 393 | 14 |
| 14.Mississippi | 17-5 | 329 | 16 |
| 15.Michigan St. | 18-5 | 316 | 15 |
| 16.Akansas | 20-5 | 293 | 12 |
| 17.Syracuse | 19-5 | 224 | 20 |
| 18.Cincinnati | 19-5 | 223 | 21 |
| 19.W.Virginia | 20-5 | 208 | 17 |
| 20.Massachusetts | 19-6 | 189 | 22 |
| 21.Michigan | 18-7 | 128 | 19 |
| 22.Texas Christian | 22-4 | 124 | 1 |
| 23.G.Washington | 20-5 | 100 | 18 |
| 24.Xavier | 16-6 | 53 | 23 |
| 25.Rhode Island | 18-6 | 41 | 24 |
Others receiving votes: Maryland 30, Indiana 21, Detroit Mercy 18, St. John's 18, Oklahoma St. 16, Pacific 16, Iowa 15, Illinois 10, Temple 9, Tennessee 8, Murray St. 7, Iona 6, Ball St. 4, Illinois St. 4, Dayton 3, Ill.-Chicago 3, Utah St. 3, Colorado St. 1.
Big 12 freshmen not ready for increased playing time
Coaches troubled by young players' lack of work ethic
By Erin Thompson Kansan sportswriter
With the exception of Kansas, Big 12 Conference basketball this year has been dominated by the play of freshman.
Although this gives the Big 12 an exciting outlook on the future, the work ethic of freshman entering Division I play has become questionable, several Big 12 coaches said yesterday.
Freshman have made an impact this year because of the lack of senior leadership in the Big 12, and the conference has suffered criticism in the media for its lack of experience.
"It's a temporary lapse with so many young players competing," Kansas coach Roy Williams said. "It's definitely not a senior-dominated league. As a conference, we're going to get better, and I don't think we're as bad as we're making ourselves sound."
With so many freshman in the league.
coaches have had to teach basic skills that players already should have learned, said Norm Stewart, Missouri coach.
"The fundamentals in the game have become lost or forgotten," he said. "We need more time or more games to get them into the program so they can get the fundamentals. The ability to pass the ball and
Stewart: Says freshmen need better basic skill.
One of the problems coaches see is the tendency of players to leave their high school teams during the summer and play with AAU clubs.
Floyd: Says high school players lack work ethic.
understand the full
court concept
there's not much of
that left."
"It's helpful for them to gain a lot of valuable experience, but a lot of us want to get better
control of the summer play," said Eddie Sutton, Oklahoma State coach. "We want to move it back in the direction of the high school. Nationally, there's a great concern among coaches of what's going on in summer basketball."
With all the experience players gain from summer tournaments, Division I basketball is not as intimidating to freshman as it used to be, Williams said.
Tim Floyd, Iowa State head coach and a member of the National Basketball Coaches Association, said there was a problem with the lack of work ethic among high school players.
"We've created the first generation of the American athlete that doesn't know what work is. To them, work is walking into AAU practice and then getting on a plane to go play," he said. "This carries over to what we're dealing with at our level and certainly what they're dealing with in the NBA."
"I think freshman are not in awe anymore of big-time college ball or national TV," he said. "They've played so many places themselves. They're not sitting there wide-eyed, bushy-tailed anymore."
The National Basketball Coaches Association presented a proposition to get rid of summer ball and the fall signing date, but
"We need to make high school coaches, principals and counselors a bigger influence in recruiting," Floyd said. "The only way to do that is to get rid of summer ball and the November signing date."
it did not pass.
While other programs are struggling with freshman learning what big-time college ball is about, the Jayhawks will be led by an experienced team down the stretch of the season, Williams said.
1
"With more veterans on the club, they know the tournament is right around the corner, and they can see the big picture," he said. "Kids should have a big picture defensively and offensively. Early in the season, we weren't talking about the big picture. We are now."