THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2013
CHEERLEADING
PAGE 7
Jayhawks place sixth at UCA championship
FARZIN VOUSOUGHIAN
fvousoughian@kansan.com
The Kansas cheerleading squad placed sixth on Sunday during the Universal Cheerleaders Association Championship in Orlando. Fla.
The Jayhawks improved this year after finishing 10th in last year's competition. The cheerleading squad's two-and-a-half minute routine included two music portions and a cheer.
"We were very excited," said senior Jordan Snyder. "This is a big improvement from last year. We were proud of our performance and we were happy with how we were placed."
The cheerleading squad was 7 points short of earning a spot in the top five, which was the expectation from head coach Corey Stone and assistant coach Nami Stone.
"Our long-term goal for the program is to really be in the top three consistently and in the top tier of teams," Corey said. "We didn't quite get that, but we were close. There were a lot of people who after the competition told us that they really liked our routine and were surprised we didn't place even a little higher. That made us feel good that
we are getting close to where we want to be in the top tier of teams."
Despite being the head coach, Corey credited his wife, Nami, for the team's success as it prepared for the UCA competition.
"She's the one who really does coaching the national squad the most," Corey said. "She's at all the practices, and she talks to the squads the most afterward."
The Rock Chalk Dancers also made some noise in Orlando during the Universal Dance Association this past weekend. The dance team finished ninth in the hiphop category among all Division I schools.
After a two-year hiatus, the dance team returned to the UDA competition under first-year coach Raquel Thomas. Thomas was hoping her team could also place in the top five, but was excited to help Kansas make its return and compete in finals.
The University was one of 56 schools that competed in last weekend's national competition.
— Edited by Laken Rapier
The Kansas cheer squad took sixth place at the Universal Cheerleaders Association in Orlando, Fla. last Sunday. The 18-person team performed a two-and-a-half minute routine.
Releford prepares for atmosphere in 'Octagon'
MEN'S BASKETBALL
GEOFFREY CALVERT
gcalvert@kansan.com
He had to give ud.
Travis Releford racked his brain, trying to recall the best sign he's seen at Bramlage Coliseum in his four years at Kansas.
he had to give up.
“There's so many” Releford said.
“I can't even name one.”
Now in his fifth and final year of eligibility, Releford has the privilege of being subjected to one more night of clever signs when the No. 3 Jayhawks face No.11 Kansas State in Manhattan at 7 p.m.
He said the K-State game is just
another game on his team's schedule, as they try to win a ninth consecutive Big 12 title. He did he
concede that the fans and media inflate the game's importance.
Releford and the Jayhawks' three other senior starters should be comfortable handling the pressure of playing a game that fans on both sides of the rivalry now view as "The Game."
But it will be a new experience for one of Kansas' most important players - redshirt freshman
Ben McLemore. Releford said the upperclassmen take it upon themselves to get McLemore and
Releford
the other Kansas rookies prepared for the environment.
"First, we tell the freshmen how crazy it's going to be and to not just let the fans get to you." Releford said. "It's going to be the next best environment to ours. Be expecting all times of emergency."
types of crow chains, then crowd really getting into it"
little brother while focusing the majority of their attention to the other side of the border and the Missouri Tigers. With the Tigers departure to the SEC, Kansas coach Bill Self said K-State takes over the role Missouri left.
In past years, Kansas fans tended to view K-State as the annoying
But the two rivalries have a vastly different feel to him.
"K-State's always been the rival, but I think it was more of a respect rivalry than what Missouri's was,
because I think on both sides of the Missouri rivalry, there was a lot of hatred that was involved," Self said. "I think this will turn a little bit to become more heated as we move forward because we don't have the Tigers around, and they don't have the Tigers around."
The fact that the Wildcats enter tonight's matchup ranked No. 11 in the country adds fuel to the rivalry's growing fire. It's the third time in
the past four years both programs entered the game ranked. For Self, that's a good thing.
"I don't mind our league being good, and I certainly don't mind K-State being good," Self said. "I would much rather play a K-State team that's ranked high than not play a K-State team that isn't ranked."
—Edited by Taylor Lewis
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Syracuse rallies in final seconds
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — C.J. Fair tipped in the go-ahead basket with 19.4 seconds left and No. 3 Syracuse pushed past No. 21 Cincinnati to win 57-55 on Monday.
Trailing by seven with just over 5 minutes left. Syracuse tied it at 55 on Michael Carter-Williams' 3-pointer from the top of the key with 80 seconds left.
Fair's tip came after Jerami Grant drove the lane and missed. Cincinnati's Cashmere Wright missed a 3 from straight on with 2.9 seconds left and the Orange had their 35th straight win at home, the longest active streak in Division I.
Syracuse (18-1, 6-0 Big East) was coming off a 70-68 win at Louisville on Saturday that knocked the Cardinals out of the No. 1 spot in the nation. The Orange, tied for third in the rankings with Kansas, are the only Big East team with an unblemished conference record.
The Orange outscored the Bearcats 13-4 in the final minutes. Fair finished with 13 points.
Syracuse is 28-1 in regular-season play in the Big East in the past two years, that lone loss coming at Notre Dame exactly one year ago Monday.
The Bearcats (16-4, 4-3 Big East) had won three in a row. They lost on the road for the first time in eight games.
Wright, who sprained his right knee Tuesday in a win over DePaul and did not play in Cincinnati's overtime victory against Marquette on Saturday, finished with five points on 2-for-13 shooting. He was 1 of 8 on 3s.
Carter-Williams had 16 points and seven assists and Brandon Triche had 13 points for the Orange.
Syracuse's James Southerland, tied for second on the team in scoring at 13.6 points per game, missed his third straight game because of an eligibility issue. He was in street clothes on the bench.
Cincinnati played the shot-clock game with its deliberate half-court approach and kept the game close
Sean Kilpatrick led Cincinnati with 21 points and JaQuon Parker had 11.
A high-arcing 3 by Kilpatrick was the fourth make in five tries from long range for the Bearcats and gave them a 36-29 lead with 13:46 left.
Trailing by just a basket at the break, the Bearcats started the second with a 12-2 spurt keyed by consecutive 3-pointers from Parker when he was left unguarded in the right corner.
Carter-Williams responded with seven straight points, his 3 from the top of the key making it 36-all midway through the half.
Undaunted, the Bearcats kept charging, and Kilpatrick's sixth 3-pointer of the game and a layup by Cheikh Mbodj completed an 11-4 spurt that gave them a 49-42 lead with 5:44 left.
Triche, whose helped boost Syracuse at Louisville, then hit two straight jumpers and fed Grant for a slam dunk to draw the Orange within 54-50 with 3:17 left.
despite a poor shooting performance in the opening half.
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