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VOLLEYBALL: Kansas suffers loss to Colorado. SEE PAGE 3B. RECRUITS: Kansas cross country and track garner six new runners. SEE PAGE 3B.
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2001
1B
Commentary
Brian
Hanni
Columnist
sportskanan.com
Big weekend shakes things up in Big 12
What a wild weekend for college football.
On Friday afternoon, as the turkey scraps were getting picked over, Nebraska's defense was getting picked apart. The Colorado Buffalooes obliterated Nebraska in Boulder, Colo., snapping the 'Huskers title hopes like a turkey's wishbone.
wishbone. The 62-36 pounding sent the Buffs into the Big 12 Conference title game and the Huskers home crying. Instead of the highly anticipated rematch between the conference's two powerhouses, Nebraska and Oklahoma, it looked like it would be the Buffaloes battling the Cowboys for the Big 12 title.
Then things got even crazier.
As Florida fans were still celebrating Nebraska's loss with cheers of, "Roses are Red, Nebraska is too. Sorry 'Husker fans, No Rose bowl for you..." Texas fans got a little something to cheer about as well.
as well. A day after squeaking by Texas A&M, the Texas Longhorns got new life as the Oklahoma State Cowboys shocked the Sooners—and the rest of the nation—in Norman, winning 16-13.
A late touchdown by the 27-point underdogs changed the travel plans of thousands of Sooner fans who thought for sure they'd be riding their wagons down to Dallas for the Big 12 championship game this weekend.
While it was definitely exciting to see two underdogs win, the upsets may have loosened the Big 12's hold on being the nation's best football conference. Sure, these were Big 12 schools beating other Big 12 schools, but when two of the nations top three go down in the same weekend, it doesn't matter who beat them.
So after such a wacky weekend there will be no round two between heavyweights Nebraska and Oklahoma. Instead, it's Colorado and Texas duking it out for the conference crown.
The two upsets not only rocked the Big 12's boat, but they also turned the Bowl Championship Series standings upside down.
The BCS got more "shook up" than Elvis Presley and it's a good thing Miami won, or we would have seen the same kind of craziness that college basketball is going through right now after one week of action.
week of action
I think if we learned anything at all this past weekend it was that if these are truly two of the best teams that college football has to offer, then this is a down year for college football. Playing at Colorado was Nebraska's first tough road game of the year. Sure they beat Oklahoma in Lincoln, but that win isn't looking so impressive after the 3-7 Cowboys took the boom out of the Sooners in Norman.
Things might get even more mixed up after this week's games as Miami travels to take on No. 13 Virginia Tech and No. 2 Florida hosts No. 4 Tennessee. Nebraska now needs some major help if it wants to climb back into things — but who knows? The way things are going, they might just get it. All bets are off this year and with no consistently dominant team, we may not have seen our last wild weekend in college football.
'Hawks helped by Maui trip
By Ryan Malashock
Kansan sportswriter
Manni is a Topeka senior in broadcast journalism.
Take away a half plagued by leg cramps and the Kansas basketball team played almost flawlessly in the Maui Invitational.
No.4 Kansas bounced back from its 93-91 first-round defeat to Ball State by drubbing Houston 95-78 and Seton Hall 80-62. While the Jayhawks came away from the tournament pleased with their fifth-place finish, the taste from the Ball State loss won't leave their mouths any time soon.
"It felt like it was a (NCAA) tournament loss," junior forward Drew Gooden said of the Ball State loss. "It was even worse because it's the end of the season after a tournament loss. You don't have to deal with it because you
don't have to play any more games. That was our first game of the season. You've got 30 more left."
Gooden and junior forward Nick Collison proved they weren't ready to let Kansas' losing performance repeat itself in the second and third rounds. The pair of preseason All-Big 12 selections played two healthy, productive contests after both players suffered leg cramps in the second half of Kansas' first-round loss. Gooden scored 35 points and grabbed 20 rebounds in the two games against Houston and Seton Hall. Collison recorded 44 points and 22 rebounds, including a career-high, and tournament record-tying, 19 rebounds against Seton Hall.
"Winning two games in three days is not bad," Collison said. "It wasn't a championship, but we played well."
Freshman guard Aaron Miles experienced a nightmarish first-round game in which he turned the ball over and allowed his man to score the game-winning basket all in the game's final 15 seconds. However, Miles, who led the Jayhawks with 19 assists in the three games, showed poise and contributed in Kansas' two victories.
The players who may have benefited most from playing in Maui last week were the team's freshmen, Kansas coach Roy Williams said.
Freshman guard Keith Langford exhibited the most consistency of the freshmen with his slashing drives to the basket, fluid jump shots and stellar rebounding. Langford averaged 11.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in the tournament.
"For the freshmen this was invaluable," Williams said. "You can't put a number on it. Three games in this atmosphere against this competition is great experience."
While Kansas is sure to drop in this week's AP basketball poll, which is released today, senior guard Jeff Boschee said Kansas could draw some positives from the first week of regular-season play.
"After the first loss to Ball State, I didn't even want to be here," Boschee said. "Everybody wants to be in the championship bracket. But beating Houston and Seton Hall got our spirits up quite a bit. I think we learned from Ball State. I think we learned from our mistakes."
No more than 6,500 fans showed up in blustery conditions Saturday to witness the Jayhawks last game of the season,a 27-14 win against Wyoming.
Weather doesn't damper Kansas win
Kansan sportswriter
By Jeff Denton
A light drizzle came and went while gusty winds raged through Memorial Stadium. Stretches of metal bleachers were empty as a pair of 2-8 college football teams finished the 2001 season.
By the fourth quarter, the temperature had dipped into the low 40s and what remained of the estimated 6.500-person crowd bundled close to one another.
But as Kansas four-year starting cornerback Andrew Davison walked down the tunnel to the locker room after the game for one last time, a sly grin broke across his face. After six straight Kansas losses and a fourth straight losing season, Davison had left the field a winner.
Kansas had defeated Wyoming 27-16. And that alone erased some of the disappointment.
"This was a game for the seniors." Davison said. "Everybody played a little bit harder this week than they have the past couple of weeks. Guys were more focused and there weren't too many busted assignments. It was the last game of the year, and we got the job done."
The game marked the first victory for interim coach Tom Hayes. In the first game after Kansas fired Terry Allen, Hayes was hammered 59-0 by No.4 Texas. His second time out, Kansas was baffled 49-7 by Iowa State. But on Saturday Hayes' players performed with a level of excitement that he said drove the team to its first win since Oct.6.
"When you get on a losing roll like we were six in a row or whatever it was—it's no fun," Hayes said. "The reward is going out there and winning football games."
SEE FOOTBALL PAGE 6B
LAURIESISK/KANSASN
Sophomore running back Reggie Duncan eludes the grasp of a Wyoming player late in the third quarter. Duncan gained nine yards on the play, which set up a Johnny Beck field goal and put the Jayhawks up 27-7 Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Duncan gained 168 yards on 30 carries.
Kansas fares well during Shootout
During the holiday break, the Kansas women's basketball team gave thanks while traveling to Puerto Rico for the three-day San Juan Shootout, earning a win over host school Puerto Rico-Mavaguez.
In their first round match-up, the Jay-
hawks (2-3) lost to Hampton 67-63.
Kansas shot 37 percent from the floor and 53 percent from the free-throw line. Senior guard Selena Scott led the offensive attack with 22 points and three assists. Scott also grabbed seven rebounds and three steals in the contest
"She has been doing a good job," Kansas coach Marian Washington said. "We just have to get a few more players who can knock shots down when they are open. It was not like we did not have open shots. We just did not knock them down, but we did not get to the line and they did — and that made the difference."
Senior guard K.C. Hilgenkamp joined Scott as the lone scorers in double digits with 13 and played a team-high 35 minutes for Kansas.
After the first-round defeat, the Jayhawks came out firing against Puerto Rico-Mayaguez and earned their second win of the season, 93-42. Kansas got offensive production from every player as the Jayhawks shot 50 percent from the field while committing 11 turnovers and forcing Puerto Rico into 24 turnovers.
The senior class led Kansas once again. Nikki White scored 14 points on 3-of-6 shooting from the floor and a career best 8-of-9 from the line.
Scott tallied 13 points, three steals and two assists. Hilgenkamp led the Jayhawks with six assists while scoring nine points and grabbing six rebounds. Senior center Kristin Geoffroy added nine points. In its final tournament game yesterday, Kansas met up with Central Florida (3-2), losing 71-59. For the third time in as many days, seniors Scott and Hilgenkamp led the Jayhawks offensively, scoring 18 and 13 points, respectively. Sophomore Sharonne Spencer added nine points and six rebounds. Kansas converted only 36 percent of its free throws while shooting 40 percent from the field.
Kansas returns to the states and will prepare for the Holiday Inn Jayhawk Classic this weekend.
Jessica Scott and Eric Flaton
Chicago 13
NFL
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