SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Friday, March 11, 1994
9
Kansas hopes to forget last year's loss
Rematch with Wildcats demands more intensity, Williams says
Kansan file photo / KANSAN
Bv Gerrv Fev
Kansas State's Belvin Nolan guards Kansas junior guard Greg Gurley
kansas last played Kansas State Feb. 12 at Manhattan and wom-55.6
Kansan sportswriter
Although Kansas went to the NCAA Final Four last year, the intensity was lacking when Big Eight Conference Tournament time rolled around.
Big Eight Tournament Bracket
Williams said teams such as Kansas that have locked up an NCAA Tournament invitation could enter the conference tournament either complacent or determined.
ironically, the Jayhawks will face the Wildcats in the first round. Kansas junior center Greg Ostergat said last year's defeat meant nothing now.
*Well, on the offensive end of the
"I hope that we go in with the attitude that we want to win today," he said. "I was not pleased with our intensity last year. We will talk about that with our team, and hopefully it will be changed and different this year."
"It's in the past," he said. "There's nothing we can do about that game. That was last year, and everybody gets lucky."
The No. 11 Jayhawks begin the tournament against Kansas State at 8:20 tonight at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo.
Williams said he was not happy with the team's performance last season. Kansas defeated Colorado in the first round, but lost its next game against Kansas State.
Kansas coach Roy Williams wants to see a change this season.
For Kansas to defeat K-State, it will have to stop senior guards Askia Jones and Anthony Beane.
floor, they do mean a great deal." Williams said of the guards. "I still think you have to add Deryl Cunningham in there because he does such a great job on the offensive boards."
Source: The Associated Press
see the other coaches doing that either. But every coach is going to know that Missouri beat everyone twice."
S. A. Moore/KANSAN
You go in and play your tail off and see if you can be the team holding the trophy up on Sunday afternoon.
Ostertag said Cunningham, a senior forward, was a tough player to out-rebound.
"He goes after the ball," he said. "I think he is the best offensive rebounder in the conference."
Jones, averaging 21.9 points a game, burned the jayhawks for 26 points on Jan. 17 when K-State upset then-No. 1 Kansas 68-64 in Allen Field House.
"You can't let Askia have an open look on a consistent basis," Williams said. "At the same time, he's improved his game a great deal because he puts it on the floor so well."
"We're going to try and do better because they beat us twice," he said.
"We're not going to go in there talking about how they are 14-0, and I don't
Beane is averaging only 11 points a game but has came up big against the Jayhawks. At the field house, he hit a last-second jump shot in the lane that won the game.
Ostertag said Beane seemed to enjoy playing against Kansas.
The No. 1 seed is not a huge advantage," he said. "It's prestige. It doesn't
Missouri is the favorite to win the tournament after going undefeated in the conference with a 14-0 record. Williams said the Tigers were one of the top four teams in the nation.
"We have to keep little Anthony from driving in and shooting those crazy little jumpers he makes all the time," he said. "They're a pretty good team, and those three are good. If we shut them down, we'll beat them."
K-State enters the game 17-11 overall and 4-10 in the conference. Kansas is 24-6 and 9-5. Williams said that after 30 games, a college team started to wear down.
Williams said that Kansas' seed in the NCAA Tournament could hinge on how well the team does in the conference tournament. A No. 1 seed is within range for Missouri but not Kansas.
make any difference to me whatsoever."
The conference tournament will come to an end at the championship game at noon Sunday. The winner receives an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
Note: Kansas recruit Raef LaFrentz was named to the Parade All-America second team that will be
released Sunday. He also was highlighted in this week's Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd after scoring 98 points and grabbing 42 rebounds in two games for his MFL/Mar-Mac High School team. The 7-foot senior center from Monona, Iowa, is averaging 36.6 points, 16.4 rebounds and 6.2 blocked shots in leading his team to a 22-1 record and a bid to the state finals.
Hitting propels Kansas to victory
Pitching allows team to limit number of runs
By Andrew Gilman Kansan sportswriter
William Alix / KANSAN
Washburn first baseman Alex King tries to tag out Kansas shortstop Dan Rude as Rude slides back into first base. The Jayhawks defeated the Ichabods 14-1 yesterday.
A nine-run third inning paired with another strong performance from sophomore pitcher Jamie Splittorff added up to a 14-1 victory against Washburn for the Kansas baseball team.
Kansas won its sixth consecutive game and improved its record to 9-4, including a 5-0 home record. Washburn dropped to 5-3.
Bingham, who has said many times this season that his team hasn't been hitting the ball hard and that they weren't hitting enough line drives, witnessed a third inning where the Jayhawks showed some power.
"We've got some really talented guys on this team," Bingham said. "But I'm not pleased about where we are hitting-wise. We still have a lot of things to do."
The Jayhawks have averaged more than 12 runs a game at home this year, and they are on their way to amassing a team batting average of .390. But Bingham said he still was not satisfied.
Third baseman Brent Wilhelm continued his hot hitting with a three-run home run along with a single. Wilhelm went 3-for-4 and raised his batting average to .388. He went 4-for-4 Sunday against Southeast Missouri State.
After Wilhelm's home run, sophomore catcher Ted Meadows hit the ball off the wall in center field. Sophomore second baseman Brian Turney followed that with a 375-foot home run over the left-center field
fence.
Ichabod starter Judd Liebau gave up eight runs on five hits in two and two-thirds innings. Turney's home run ended Liebau's day. But the Jay hawks weren't finished
Three consecutive walks loaded the bases for junior left fielder Josh Igou. Igou, who is batting just .107 on the season, knocked in a two-run single. Ron right fielder Ron Oelschlager, who is batting over .400, followed that with another two-run single. That set the stage for Wilhelm's single, and suddenly the Jayhawks were up 9-0.
With the big lead and pitching ace Splittorff on the mound, the Ichabods managed only six hits and a run.
"The pitching is outstanding," Bingham said of Splittert, who has a 4-0 record to match his 2.00 earned run average. "He was better today than he was last week."
Splitorff also was pleased with his performance.
"I tried to go after guys today," he said. "I was mixing the fastball in and
out and really only had one bad pitch."
That bad pitch accounted for the Washburn run. Splittorff threw a pitchoot far over the plate, and it was driven into left-center field for a double by second baseman Pat Whitney.
Splittorff finished allowing' only one earned run on six hits. He struck out four and walked one.
With sophomore Clay Baird pitching three innings of no-hit relief, the Javahawks cruised to the victory.
roe hit his third home run of the season in the first inning. He finished the day two-for-two with three RBIs and two walks. Morroe said he was ready for the fastball that he hit for the home run.
Senior center fielder Darryl Monwe have to pick it up," freshmen guard Tamecka Dixon said. "I think we lost our heart. We have been struggling to get it back. We have been working on maintaining our intensity level and I think if we can maintain that we can play with anybody."
"It was the second one in a row that he threw me," he said. "I was kind of surprised that he would do that. I just got in time with the pitch and drove it."
Kansas will return to action at 2 p.m. tomorrow against Central Missouri State.
Women's basketball sets sights on NCAA tournament
By Matt Siegel
Kansan sportswriter
After a shocking defeat at the hands of Missouri in the first round of the Big Eight Conference Tournament, it's crunch time for the No. 15 Kansas women's basketball team.
The Jayhawks will find out who they will play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at 11:30 a.m. Sunday. Although the Jayhawks did not receive an automatic bid, their 21-5.
The women's tournament has expanded from 48 to 64 teams this season. The women's first and second round games often are played at the higher seed's home court.
Last season the Jayhawks had their first round game in Allen Field House. With victories this season against Georgia and Colorado and a No. 15 ranking, the Jayhawks could play a first round game at home.
11-3 record and national ranking almost guarantees them an at-large berth.
"I think that our administrators feel that we will most likely get at least a first round home game," Kansas coach Marian Washington said.
Last season, the Jayhawks had a first round game against California.
But the Golden Bears defeated the Jayhawks 62-47. Even though a first round home game is a luxury, Washington said that Kansas was still going to have to be at its best.
She said the Missouri loss was behind them and now it was just a matter of playing Kansas basketball.
"When you don't have some of your key players playing the way they normally do, it's difficult," Washington said. "In the second half we didn't have some of our key players respond. We are in a situation where we need to relax. We don't have a thing to lose."
The Jayhawk struggled from the field against Missouri in the second half, shooting 18 percent. Junior forward Angela Aycock, who leads the
team in scoring, shot an uncharacteristic three for 15 from the field. Washington said she expected the upper-classmen to assert themselves.
"Players like Angie and Charisse Sampson must come to play and that's the bottom line," Washington said. "It's not going to take a different offense or a new defense. The key for Kansas is to get the kind of leadership from our senior class and our key players. If they will come to play and work hard, we will have as fine as a chance as anyone."
Washington said the national recognition that the Jayhawks earned had added pressure and that some of the players were learning how to deal with. Bixon said that the team was looking forward to playing someone
And if the Jayhawks do make it to the Final Four in Virginia, they may receive an unanticipated following.
"It's an unbelievable feeling to be playing in something like this," Dixon said. "I know I don't have the experience, but I'm just going to give it all I've got. I think with the combination of seniors and freshmen that we've got a good shot."
"If we happen to make it there, I know we would have a lot of support," said Dixon, who is from New Jersey. "I know a lot of people on the East Coast."
Kansan Sportswriter
Frederick to help select, seed NCAA's
By Matt Siegel
If you are looking for Bob Frederick, Kansas athletic director, this weekend, good luck.
Frederick, who is on the NCAA Division I men's basketball committee, will be sequestered in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, Mo., sifting through statistics, power rankings, records, strength of schedule and other factors to determine the 64-team field for the NCAA Tournament.
Frederick refers to this lengthy and involved process as going back to school. He was recently chosen to chair the nine-member committee and will assume that position next September, taking over for Duke's athletic director, Tom Butters.
The committee, from yesterday afternoon until right before the selection show on Sunday, is engaged in intensive study and debate before picking 34 at-large teams to go with the 30 automatic qualifiers. Then the committee has to bracket and seed the teams. Frederick said that no advantages were given to a particular conference.
The committee began yesterday afternoon and will finish Sunday in the Hyatt Regency Hotel just before CBS announces the pairings on the tournament selection show.
"People always suspect that is is very political, but it's a tremendously fair process," Frederick said. "When I got named to the committee, the coaches in the Big Eight thought that now we would get more teams in the tournament. It just doesn't work that way. Even when we had six teams in the tournament, I told the coaches in the spring meeting, 'guys, we had six teams in the tournament not because of me but because of you.'"
The committee oversees the entire NCAA basketball tournament.
"When I first was named to the committee, I had certain preconceived notions about it," Frederick said. "But I was amazed by how fair it is. The committee does a heck of a job."
Frederick said he looked forward to becoming president next September.
"I'm still excited about it because of how it fits into the Kansas basketball tradition," Frederick said.
Frederick has an integral role in fielding a tournament that has become one of the greatest sports spectacles. Frederick said he thought it was better than any single sporting event, such as the Super Bowl or World Series, because the excitement generated from the tournament was built up over a three-week period.
The men's brackets will be announced at 5 p.m. Sunday on CBS