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SPORTS
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
1B
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2002
'Hawks' nexttest: Tulsa
Kansan File Photo
Wayne Simien, sophomore forward, goes for a shot against Oregon. The Jayhawks will face the University of Tulsa tomorrow at 7 p.m. at the Donald W. Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Okla.
Trio of guards hope to challenge Kansas
By John Domoney and Nathan Dayani
jdomoney@kansan.com
ndayani@kansan.com
Kansan staff writers
University of Tulsa men's basketball coach John Phillips sees tomorrow's 7 p.m. game against No. 20 Kansas as more than just a opportunity for his No. 17 team to add another victory to its 4-0 record.
That the Jayhawks agreed to travel to play the Golden Hurricane at the Donald W. Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Okla., has Phillips looking for the game to make a statement for his program.
"It's a tough sell to get one of the top-five programs to come here." Phillips said. "It's a tremendous thing for our program. We aspire to be like Kansas."
Kansas nearly found this out the hard way last year as the Jayhawks were barely able to outlast Tulsa 93-85 on a neutral floor at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo.
Phillips and Tulsa could become the next team to avenge a loss to Kansas last season. Oregon got revenge on Saturday's 84-78 victory over Kansas after the Ducks were defeated by the Jayhawks 104-86 in last year's Midwest regional final in Madison, Wis. Phillips said the excitement of his team for the game was still high, despite his wish that Kansas was undefeated and carried a higher ranking into the matchup.
One of the reasons that Tulsa has a difficult time attracting big-name programs to play in its home arena is the Golden Hurricane's reputation as a mid-maior power.
"It's not a good time to play them," said Phillips referring to Kansas' 3-3 record. "They're wounded and hungry. I was fully impressed with their fight and desire against Oregon. That was a heck of a dog fight."
Tulsa has had a relatively easy path to its 4-0 record that includes wins against New Mexico State and Texas-Pan American in the South Padre Island Classic. The Golden Hurricane's undefeated start is highlighted by a 61-60 victory over Arkansas on Nov. 30 in Fayetteville, Ark. In the Golden Hurricane's 80-69 win over Wichita State on last Wednesday, junior guard Jason Parker continued his stellar play in the early season.
Parker was named Western Athletic Conference player of the week for Dec. 2 through Dec.8, after the Tulsa native scored 30 points and had a school-record eight three-pointers against the Shockers.
Parker, Dante Swanson and Antonio Reed constitute a trio of guards that lead Tulsa's offensive attack.
In last year's contest both Swanson and Reed gave the Kansas backcourt fits, combining for 46 points paced by 10 of 15 three-point shooting.
Phillips said he envisioned a high scoring game that would feature the offensive abilities of both teams.
No matter what offensive numbers the pace of the game dictates, Phillips said he was looking forward to a spirited contest.
— Edited by Andrew Vaupel
Women's bowling team tops Nebraska
By Steve Vockrodt
svockrodt@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Both of the University of Kansas' club bowling teams put together solid performances last weekend in their final tournament before winter break.
The women's team posted a significant upset over the University of Nebraska en route to a third-place finish in the Leatherneck Classic hosted by Western Illinois University in Moline, Ill.
Nebraska is among the elite programs in the country and one of the few that offers scholarships and fulltime coaching positions.
"It's pretty significant to go toe-to-toe against a team of that stature," said KU coach Mike Fine.
The tournament featured eight team games followed by 16 "Baker" games in which five bowlers compete for one team, each one bowling two frames. The top four teams then advance to a playoff round.
The women posted the highest team games total with 1,082 pins, one of only eight team games of 1,000 or more points recorded in the tourney.
While Kelly Zaph and Kristina Boehm made the All-Tournament team with top-five finishes, taking second and fourth, respectively. KU lost to Central Missouri State University in the playoff round.
"We pushed CMSU and had some of our best matches," Fine said. "This was a really big step for our women's program, I couldn't be more proud."
The men barely missed advancing to the playoff round, finishing fifth overall to defending national
champions Western Illinois by three pins. The men distanced themselves from the remaining 24 teams in the tournament, finishing 301 pins ahead of the sixthplace finisher.
The team could not advance despite Marc D'Errico's first-place finish, who bowled a 215 average while Rhino Page averaged 204.
"It was a little disappointing, but at the same time, it was a strong field," said Fine, whose teams will travel to Hamilton. N.Y. after for finals for a tournament hosted by Colgate University.
Despite missing the playoff round, the tournament was the fourth top-five finish for the men's team in as many fall tournaments.
Edited by Andy Samuelson
SPORTS COMMENTARY
Levi Chronister
lechronister@kansan.com
BCS officials ruin football with greed
It's official — the BCS is a joke.
According to the Bowl Championship Series' official Web site, the system "was established to determine the national champion for college football while maintaining and enhancing the bowl system which has provided significant support to college football for nearly a century."
The goal of determining a national champion was accomplished the first two seasons, as the top two teams played for the title after both the 1998 and 1999 seasons.
Two years ago, though, Florida State edged out Miami and played Oklahoma in the title game, even though Miami had defeated Florida State earlier that season.
Problems arose last year, too, as topranked Miami played No. 4-ranked Nebraska for the championship. The Cornhuskers didn't play in the Big 12 Championship game, let alone win the conference title. Oregon, with a 10-1 record and a No. 2 poll ranking before its bowl game, was shut out of a chance at the national title by the BCS system.
The intricate system uses The Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls, eight computer rankings, the number of a team's losses, a team's strength of schedule and a team's quality wins to determine who plays in the title game. Last season the Cornhuskers had the second-best ranking even though they had been blown out 62-36 by Colorado in their regular season finale.
Everything worked out fine as Miami trounced Nebraska 37-14 and proved its No.1 standing. Had Nebraska won the Rose Bowl, a split national title — exactly the problem the BCS was created to eliminate — could have happened. The ESPN/USA Today poll voters are required to vote the title game victor as No.1 but the AP writers can vote any team they want into the top spot in their poll. If Nebraska had defeated Miami, the Cornhuskers would have sat atop the ESPN/USA Today poll while the writers likely would have voted the Oregon Ducks into the top spot on the AP poll.
This season the BCS system worked correctly, putting Miami and Ohio State
— the only two undefeated major college teams — in the Fiesta Bowl and the national championship.
SEE CHRONISTER PAGE 6B
By Ryan Greene rgreene@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
Now that the NFL and NBA regular seasons are in full swing, every Tuesday the Kansan will update you on how your favorite former Jayhawk athletes are doing in the professional ranks. If there are any former Jayhawks that you would like an update on, e-mail your requests to rgenee@kansan.com
NBA
Drew Gooden - Memphis Grizzlies
Gooden continued to put up his same decent numbers this past week, but was forced to sit out of Friday's loss to Utah with a sprained knee. He bounced back to get on the floor for a win on Sunday against Phoenix, recording eight points and five rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench. The Grizzlies are now 3-18 and trail the Mavericks by 15.5 games in the Midwest division.
Paul Pierce - Boston Celtics
Pierce averaged 26.7 points per game in three contests last week, but his best performance came in a heartbreaking 99-93 loss to Philadelphia on Wednesday. Pierce is still fourth in the NBA in scoring, but the Celtics are having trouble catching up to the 76ers in the Atlantic division.
This past week, Vaughn struggled to get minutes for the Magic, averaging only 11 minutes per game in four outings. He had seven points and seven assists Wednesday in a win against the Knicks, but saw only three minutes of action and went scoreless two nights later against Washington.
Jacoue Vaughn - Orlando Magic
Mavs coach Don Nelson is still giving LaFrentz limited minutes as he continues to heal his sprained ankle. LaFrentz averaged nine points and three rebounds per game last week in four contests. He is struggling to put up the numbers to validate his new $60 million contract.
Raef LaFrentz - Dallas Mavericks
JAYHAWKS IN THE PROS
DID NOT PLAY
As the Jazz are heating up after a slow start, Ostertag's numbers may not be impressive, but they're consistent. This season, he is averaging roughly five points and five rebounds per game. He averaged seven points and five rebounds in his first three games this week, but was ejected two minutes into Sunday's loss to the Lakers after arguing a non-call with a referee.
Scot Pollard - Sacramento Kings (lower back fracture)
Greg Ostertag - Utah Jazz
NFL
Kwamie Lassiter - Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals were finally able to snap their losing streak at six games with Sunday's 23-20 overtime win against Detroit. Lassiter had six tackles in the game, including a vicious hit on Lions rookie wide receiver Eddie Drummond.
Gerald McBurrows - Atlanta Falcons
With some more playing time this week, McBurrows recorded six tackles.
Dana Stubblefield - San Francisco 49ers
Don Davis - St. Louis Rams
The Rams' loss to the Chiefs officially ended their slim playoff hopes. In the losing effort. Don Davis chipped in with three tackles.
Isaac Byrd - Carolina Panthers
Despite his performance, the Atlanta secondary struggled as Buccaneers quarterback Brad Johnson had four touchdown tosses.
With a 31-27 win in Dallas, the 49ers clinched the NFC west division championship. Anchoring the defensive line. Stubblefield helped the team with two tackles.
Byrd had an impressive game with the rest of his teammates in a 52-31 beating of the lowly Cincinnati Bangles. In the game, Byrd played predominantly on special teams, returning five kickoffs for 115 yards.
SEE PROS PAGE 6B
Noah Graham/NBAE/Getty Images
Drew Gooden slam dunks during the game against the Los Angeles Clippers on Oct. 13, 2002. Coming back from a sprained knee, Gooden had eight points and five rebounds in 19 minutes.
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