B / **SPORTS** / THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
Jumping for shots
Mia Iverson/KANSAN
Bryan Vainhorn, a senior from Overland Park, soars toward the basket against his opponents in an impromptu pickup game at Amber Recreation Center Wednesday afternoon. The Recreation Center is open from 5:30 a.m. to midnight weekdays and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
TENNIS
Jayhawks fall short in match against K-State
The Kansas tennis team fell 7-0 to in-state rivals, Kansas State University in Wamego Wednesday. The Doubles team, senior Kuni Dorn and freshman Sara Lazerevic, recorded the lone win for the Jayhawks.
Dorn and Lazerevic won 9-8 with a (7-5) tiebreaker. This is the second straight victory for the doubles team after defeating a team from Nebraska last weekend.
In singles, the team played close, with two matches going into three sets.
The Jayhawks' record dropped to 9-8 overall and 1-4 in conference play.
The Jayhawks will continue matches on the road when they face Missouri on April 9th in Columbia.
RESULTS FROM WEDNESDAY'S MATCH
Doubles
2. Kuni Dorn/Sara Lazarevic (KU) def. Nina Sertic/Petra Chuda (KSU), 9-8 (7-5)
1. Antea Huljev/Karla Bonacic (KSU) def. Ekaterina Morovosa/Erin Wilbert (KU), 8-5
3. Ana Gomez Aleman/Carmen Borau Ramos (KSU)
def. Victoria Khanevskaya/Alessandra Dzuba (KU), 8-5
Singles
1. Antea Huljev (KSU) def. Ekaterina Morovoza (KU),
6-1, 5-1, 7-10
2. Ana Gomez Aleman (KSU) def. Sara Lazarevic (KU),
6-0, 6-1
3. Nina Sertic (KSU) def. Maria Martinez (KU), 7-6 (5),
6-1
5. Carmen Borau Ramos (KSU) def. Erin Wilbert (KU),
3-6, 7-5, 6-2
6. Petra Chuda (KSU) def. Victoria Khanevskaya (KU), 6-4, 6-1
4. Kara Bonacic (KSU) def. Kuni Dorn (KU), 6-3, 6-4
5. Gorman et al. (2019)
Kathleen Gier
Lavin promises progress as St. John's new head coach
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
About halfway through his introductory monologue, new St. John's basketball coach Steve Lavin admitted he was drifting into an infiltrator. He was professing his new-found love for the university, its institutional virtues and proud tradition in basketball.
"It a pinch yourself moment," he said, as if this was a dream. But he stopped himself. He knows this isn't Kansas, especially in a basketball sense, or the ESPN studio in Bristol, Conn., where the former UCLA coach talked the talk via the analyst route the last seven seasons.
Lavin decided to make it real by getting to the point and staying on it. Everyone knew Lavin had style; ultimately he won the news conference by showing he also has substance.
St. John's basketball needs a makeover and Lavin knows it, "it's one thing to talk about it, it's another thing to get it done," he said. "I'm well aware of that. I'm by no means naive or bright-eyed and bushy-tailed about what is going on in the college basketball landscape."
University president Rev. Donald J. Harrington, who approved Lavin's six-year contract for over $9 million, added his own bottom line. "I would really hope within the next year or two
to be competitive in the NCAA Tournament," he said. "Maybe that will be three, maybe one. But clearly I would want to see us in the top half of the Big East, I really would. Maybe that's a dream, but I would hope."
Lavin, 45, was engaging, pointing out some relevant basketball history and giving props to Lou Carnesecca on the dais. But Lavin became more focused on what
needs to get done to make some new history.
Lavin anticipated questions about his lengthy time away from coaching — he was fired from UCLA — and the inference that his West Coast roots would make him a stranger to recruit-
progress for a team that has not been in the NCAA Tournament since 2002. "The first goal is to get into the tournament, the next goal is to win some games," he said. "(Then), if you could win a Big East championship at some point. Again, incremental. Don't get carried away . . . (It does not happen) overnight, not a one hit wonder, but trying to build something gradually and that in itself
"I'm by no means naive ... about what is going on in the college basketball landscape."
ing in New York. He squashed that by saying, "Protect your backyard No. 1 and the northeast No. 2.
He used the word incremental several times in predicting
STEVE LAVIN St. John's University coach
"I've studied it, watched it, know the trends," he said of the sport. "I know the people, I can see what is going on. I'm not wandering around the gyms of New York without knowing anybody or sitting on the sidelines like a shrinking violet afraid to talk to anybody. It's not as if I'm Mr. Magoo."
adds momentum and takes on a life of its own. It's a tall task, some may say daunting. I look at it as the glass half full."
Athletic director Chris Monasch said of Lavin, "He's old enough to have had a significant amount of experience, young
enough to be hungry and have a long future."
Lavin promised to assemble a top-flight staff and that may start with his mentor, Gene Keady, the former Purdue coach. Lavin hopes to bring him to New York as an adviser. Lavin will also quickly formulate an offseason program for his new players, nine of whom will be seniors next season.
"What we do in the next six months," Lavin said, "will determine whether we can win games in February and March."
NBA
Despite loss, Bucks show improvement
CLEVELAND — Mo Williams made four free throws in the final 12.8 seconds as the Cleveland Cavaliers held on for a 101-98 win Wednesday night over the vastly improved Milwaukee Bucks, who showed they might be a dangerous team in the playoffs.
LeBron James scored 23 points and Williams 21 for the Cavs, who have won 10 of their past 11 and are closing in on the league's best record and home-court advantage throughout the postseason.
seconds left to seal it
With the win, the Cavaliers improved to 26-0 at home against Eastern Conference opponents in March under coach Mike Brown.
John Salmons scored 28 points and Andrew Bogut had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Bucks, who attempted just nine free throws — none in the fourth quarter — to 45 for Cleveland. Salmons' 3-pointer with 8.6 seconds left pulled Milwaukee to 99-98, but Williams, one of the NBA's best free-throw shooters at 89 percent, was fouled and knocked down two free throws. James then stole a pass by Luke Ridnour with two
This one wasn't easy, though.
The Bucks, who went 11-4 in March and climbed back into the playoff picture, overcame a 10-point deficit and took a 95-93 lead with 1:27 left on a 3-pointer by Ersan Ilyasova. The Cavs had been unable to separate from the Bucks in the fourth mostly because they kept missing free throws.
They opened the period by going 5 of 11 from the line before James made two straight to tie it with 49.3 seconds left.
Williams took the inbound pass and drove to the left side and into the lane before threading a bounce pass from under the rim to a cutting James, who muscled in his layup over Bogut to put the Cavs ahead.
Salmons missed on Milwaukee's next possession and the Cavaliers called a timeout during which they set up a play that has worked all season.
Associated Press
Mid-America Humanities Conference
DOWNWARD SPIRALS? Thinking about "Crisis" across the Disciplines
Keynote address:
Saturday, April 3rd KANSAS UNION,9 AM - 5 PM
Free and Open to the Public
BOSTON — Kevin Durant scored 37 points, Jeff Green hit two 3-pointers in the last two minutes and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Boston Celtics
Thunder takes 46th victory, beats Celtics
Associated Press
Green, whose draft rights were traded by the Celtics when they picked up Ray Allen after the 2006-07 season, gave the Thunder a 105-101 lead with a 3-pointer with 1:56 to go. Then he connected again for a 108-104 advantage.
"CREATING CRISES Dr. TOM LUTZ
NBA
109-104 Wednesday night. The victory was the Thunder's 46th of the season, doubling their total for all last season as they remained in sixth place in the Western Conference.
University of California, Riverside 1:00 PM, Malott Room, Kansas Union
The Celtics fell out of a thirdplace tie in the East with the Atlanta Hawks, who beat the Los Angeles Lakers 109-92.
MARCH MADNESS
MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
Low score from big men may hurt Duke
High-scoring big men have often been a key ingredient on NCAA championship teams.
Bill Russell led San Francisco to back-to-back titles in 1955 and 1956. Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton were the keys to UCLAs domination in the late 1960s and early '70s.
Since 2004, North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough and Sean May, Connecticut's Emeka Okafor and Florida's tandem of Al Horford and Joakim Noah have been primary scorers for championship teams.
Every NCAA champion since 2001 has had a low-post big man who averages at least 12 points per game. That's one luxury Duke doesn't possess in Indianapolis as it prepares for Saturday's 8:30 p.m. EDT NCAA semifinal game with West Virginia at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The Blue Devils (33-5) are the only No.1 regional seed remaining in the tournament and are generally considered the favorite to win the championship. They have the highest-scoring threeseome in the nation in Jon Scheyer (18.2 ppg), Kyle Singler (17.6) and Nolan Smith (17.4).
They play excellent defense and lead the ACC in rebound margin. But Duke's highest-scoring big man, Brian Zoubek, averages just 5.5 points per game.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski admitted that having a high-scoring, low-post presence is ideal.
"It's good to be balanced," he said. "... If you start with a point (guard) and a big, you can fill in easier (around it)."
Nonetheless, Krzyzewski said Duke does possess some scoring ability in the low post. Unlike in many seasons, the Blue Devils have depth with four legitimate big guys in Zoubek at 7 feet 1, Lance Thomas at 6-8 and 6-10 brothers Miles and Mason Pumlume rotating at two true low-post positions.
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