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SPORTS UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Monday, March 28,1994
9
Season ends too soon for coach, players
Amv Solt / KANSAN
Purdue junior forward Glenn Robinson penetrates the ranks of the Jayhawks. Robinson scored 44 points during the Purdue Boilermakers' '83-78 victory Thursday.
Williams says team successful despite losses
Bv Gerrv Fev
Kansan sportswriter
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Only one team in NCAA Division I basketball can end the season with a victory, but some finish sooner than others.
Purdue ended Kansas' hope for a second consecutive Final Four appearance Thursday, as Purdue junior forward Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson led the Boilermakers with 44 points and an 83-78 victory.
"Everybody for us played their hearts out, especially towards the end," Kansas junior center Greg Ostertag said. "We were fighting."
Kansas finished with a 27-8 overall record and a 3-2 postseason record. The Jayhawks defeated Tennessee Chattanooga and Wake Forest in the NCAA Tournament before losing to the Boilermakers.
Kansas coach Roy Williams said that people were beginning to place too much emphasis on the tournament in judging a team's success. The Jayhawks started the season with victories against Western Michigan, California, Minnesota and Massachusetts to capture the preseason NIT Championship. In December, they defeated Indiana 86-83 in overtime.
But Williams said it was hard for him to enjoy the rest of the tournament after losing.
"When you're a college basketball coach and you invest so much time and energy and love for the kids that you have, it's hard to turn around two days later and be a fan," he said. "As a coach, I feel like I'm the luckiest guy in the entire world."
The end of the Purdue game seemed to be a microcosm of Kansas' season — close, but not quite. The Jayhawks were behind 82-78 with 61 seconds to play after freshman Jacque Vaughn made a layup. In the remaining time, Kansas got two steals but could not score.
Kansas senior guard Steve Woodberry was not in the game in the last minute because he injured his back when he landed on it awkwardly after a jump shot.
"It would have made me feel better if he had been healthy and in the game at the end," Williams said. "But that's part of the game. Maybe he would have made one of those shots at the end. If you talk about that, it's an excuse."
Injuries were a problem all season for the Jahawks. All three seniors — forward Patrick Richey, forward Richard Scott and Woodberry — had been bothered by injuries at one time or another. Scott had to sit out a game against Kansas State with a sore
Despite the obstacles this season, Kansas was a rebuilding team that earned respect after each game. The Jayhawks lost four starters from last season and put Vaughn, a freshman, at starting point guard this year.
shoulder, while Richey entered the NCAA Tournament with a bruised lower back and was listed as day-to-day.
The future looks bright for the Jayhawks with Oostertag, Vaughn and freshman center/forward Scot Pollard coming back. Incoming high school star Raef LaFrentz, who averaged 36.6 points and 15.8 rebounds a game, also is headed to Kansas. Guard Jerod Haase, who transferred from California, will be eligible after sitting out this season.
After playing in two Final Fours, Scott said it was disappointing to lose early. But he said the season was not a total disappointment.
"The underclassmen shouldn't be down," he said. "I told Jacque frankly he shouldn't be disappointed because he's got three years left. I think all the things that we have achieved spoiled us."
Amy Solt / KANSAN
Frustrated by the Jayhawks' inability to halt the Boilermakers, Roy Williams kneels in the coach's box.
Sooners ground 'Hawks' offense
Sooners' late rally hands Kansas first home loss of season
By Andrew Gilman Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas baseball team hardy resembled the same team that had defeated Oklahoma four consecutive times.
The Jayhawks squandered a three-run lead, walked 12 batters, committed three errors and got shaky relief pitching as they lost 9-7 to the Sooners yesterday at Hoglund-Maupin Stadium.
Kansas lost for the first time this season at home, and its home record dipped to 12-1. The Jayhawks fell to 19-6 overall and 5-2 in the Big Eight Conference. The Sooners improved to 18-8 and 3-4.
Oklahoma made things difficult for the Jayhawks early by jumping ahead 3:0 in the first inning. Kansas' starting pitcher, senior David Meyer, gave up a two-run shot to Sooner first baseman Mark Soto, his third of the year, and the Sooners were quickly ahead.
"I struggled all day," Meyer said. "I like to dictate the pace of the game, but today I didn't have good command or control of the zone."
Meyer received a no decision for his six and one-third innings worth of work. He gave up four earned runs and six hits. He also walked seven.
But the Jayhawks rallied to take the lead.
Tom Leininger / KANSAN
Kansas junior shortstop Dan Rude takes to the air as Oklahoma junior outfielder Jerry Whittaker slides into second. The Sooners won yesterday's game 9-7.
In the first inning, junior designated
hent Kent Mahon drove a failout out
of the stadium for his third home run of the season which got the Jayhawks on the scoreboard.
"I was looking for the fastball," he said. "I got one on the inside of the plate, and I got it up."
Kansas added two more runs in the third inning on RBIs from second baseman Joe DeMarco and junior shortstop Dan Rude.
Two Sooner errors in the fifth inning and a double steal paved the way for a four-run inning, and the Jayhawks were well on their way to a three-game sweep of Oklahoma, leading 7-4.
But the Sooners put the sweep on hold and countered with a five-run seventh to take the lead for good.
On his first pitch, Schreiber gave up an RBI double to senior second baseman Rick Gutierrez. Kansas catcher Ted Meadows threw the ball into left field trying to catch Gutierrez stealing third. Gutierrez scored. A solo home run by Oklahoma junior third baseman M.J. Mariani added to the Jayhawks' downfall.
Oklahoma put runners on first and third before Kansas coach Dave Bingham replaced Meyer with freshman Jason Schreiber.
After Oklahoma starter Steve Connell left the game after pitching four innings and surrendering seven runs, the Sooner relievers kept them in the game.
Schreiber absorbed the loss after giving up two runs on two hits in just two-thirds of an inning. His record fell to 1-1.
Junior Shawn Snyder and junior Bucky Buckley came in and shut down the Jayhawks for the final five innings and proved to be the factor in
the game according to Bingham.
Seniors find it difficult to end Kansas careers
"It was a typical college baseball game," Bingham said. "The game was won in the bullpen. The question is what you do in middle relief. Right now we've got young kids in those positions, but when you walk 12 guys in nine innings and commit three errors you don't have much of a chance winning the game. This performance was not typical of this team."
Snyder won the game and improved to 2-0. Buckles registered his third save of the season.
Karasus had swept the Sooners in Norman, Okla., last week, defeating
By Gerry Fey
the Sooners 14-4 and 9-7. The Jayhawks returned to Lawrence and defeated the Sooners by 6-4 and 2-1 this weekend before losing yesterday. Both victories were complete game efforts from junior Chris Corn and Sophomore Jamie Splittorff. Splittorff moved his record to 7-0 with the victory Saturday.
Kansas split a pair of games with Kansas State last week winning 15-5 and losing 8-5. The loss, in Manhattan, snapped a 13-game Kansas winning streak.
Kansan sportswriter
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Their looks were the same. Somber, drawn out and sad.
Kansas lost 83-78 to the Purdue Boilermakers and junior forward Glenn Robinson. The loss ended the Jayhawks season, and Kansas' seniors could do nothing to continue it.
The Jayhawks will host to Iowa State at 8 p.m. tomorrow at Hoglund-Maupin Stadium.
Kansas senior forward Patrick Richey sat alone nearly in tears, his voice quivering when he spoke. Senior forward Richard Scott did not speak much during the post-game news conference but kept his head down and leaned his forehead against the micronhone.
"It's a helpless feeling." Richey said. "You can't do anything to help your team win. You start thinking about your career. There's no tomorrow."
At the end of the game, the clock read 00:00.6. The Boilermakers had won, but the last fraction of a second had to be played out.
The feeling is not as bad for players with a chance at the NBA or a possible international career overseas. But for the others, another level of basketball is out of the question.
"The sad thing is, my career is probably over," Richey said. "I may never play another game in my life, and that's tough to deal with. All my life I've played basketball. You know it has to end sometime, but it's tough to deal with."
The three seniors were in the same sort of predicament their sophomore season after Texas-El Paso upset Kansas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. This time, the finality was not just the season but their time as Javhawks as well.
Richey said that he still enjoyed watching the tournament even though he was not a part of it but that it wasn't easy.
"You think about the things you could have done better," Scott said. "That's what really hurts. The goal was there, but we just didn't get there. I don't even watch the rest of the tournament. I don't care who wins."
“It’s tough to sit there and know that you can’t, at this stage, have a hand in the outcome,” Richey said. “For me, I just love sports, and I don’t care who is in the Final Four.”
Three Big Eight Championships.
Kansas can give at least two more scholarships
The Kansas men's basketball team has two scholarships left to offer for next season. It may have three depending on freshman forward Nick Proud's status after considering his knee injury.
The Jayhawks have successfully recruited center Raef LaFrentz from Monona, Iowa, and guard Bill Thomas from Shreveport, La. LaFrentz committed during the early signing period, and Thomas has verbally committed to Kansas.
Felipe Lopez, a guard from New York City who was considered the nation's best high school basketball player by the Sporting News, bypassed Kansas' attempts to recruit him. Lopez has committed to St. John's.
two Final Four appearances and a 110-28 record have followed these seniors at Kansas, but Scott said this tournament defeat would be the one he remembered most.
"We won games, we won tournaments, we achieved individual goals, and that's what it's all about," he said. "To lose this one this year really hurts. With the tournaments I've played in before, this one will really stick out because it's my last year. I can't lace up the shoes and put on the Kansas jersey anymore."
Kansas senior guard Steve Woodberry ended his college career with 16 points against Purdue and also was assigned to Robinson on defense. But Woodberry said his personal highlights would take a back seat in his memory of Kansas basketball.
"I'll think of all the times we came together as a team," he said. "I don't look at the individual awards as much as the Final Fours and Big Eight Championships."
Kansas coach Roy Williams has repeatedly admired the faith these three seniors had in coming to Kansas during its NCAA probation year. The three signed with Williams when recruits could only visit campus at their own expense.
"I've been coaching 21 years," Williams said with watery eyes after the Purdue game. "And I don't know if I've ever been more proud of a group or enjoyed coaching a group more than this one."
James Wilcox / KANSAN
Kansas freshman guard Angie Halbleib attempts a layup past a Penn State defender in the Jayhawks' second-round game in the NCAA Tournament. Although Kansas held a three-point lead at halftime, foul trouble and poor shooting doomed the Jayhawks to an 85-68 defeat to the Nittany Lions last week.
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