2B
/ SPORTS / TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"You don't play against opponents, you play against the game of basketball."
Babby Knight, former Indiana and Texas Tech head coach
FACT OF THE DAY
Tyrel Reed scored 25 points in two games against Missouri. He had 33 points in the 10 games between the two matchups.
Source: KU Athletics
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
Q: What is Reed's career high in points?
A: 14. He scored 14 against Siena last season and 14 against Missouri in the first matchup in January
-KU Athletics
SCORES
NCAA Men's Basketball:
St. Mary's 81, Gonzaga 62
NCAA Women's Basketball:
NCAA Women's Basketball
1. Connettic Dame 59, No 5
Notre Dame 44
No. 5 Xavier 57, Temple 55
No. 7 West Virginia 56, Rutgers 49
No. 17 Gonzaga 76, Pepperdine
48
NBA Basketball:
NCAA Basketball
Cleveland 97, San Antonio 95
New York 99, Atlanta 98
New Orleans 135, Golden State
131
Dallas 105, Minnesota 112
Memphis 107, New Jersey 101
MORNING BREW
Martin extension beneficial
A funny thing happened last Wednesday, as Kansas and Kansas State battled in what was then still a close second-half game. It happened as Frank Martin flew into one of his signature tantrums. From my vantage point in the corner of Allen Fieldhouse, huddled amongst a mass of fellow sportswriters like chickens in a factory farmhouse. I heard the chant of "Sit down Frank!" begin to waft from the student section.
The game was tight and intense, and Martin was livid. He drew the ire of KU students and fans like no other opposing coach to enter Allen Fieldhouse since Norm Stewart.
That's when it hit me — a sudden wave of nostalgia and realization — Martin had transformed K-State into something of a genuine rival.
Of course, the Wildcats couldn't handle the Jayhawks that night and ended up losing by a margin that suggests a real rivalry might still be a little wavs off.
But for that rivalry to truly be realized, K-State needed to lock up Frank Martin. And now, after more hand wringing than was probably necessary, K-State has done just that.
On Sunday, Martin put pen to paper on a contract that extended his stay in Manhattan to the 2014-15 season. Martin had been the Big 12's lowest-paid coach, making $760,000 this
BY ALEX BEECHER
abeecher@kansan.com
season. His new deal bumps him to fourth in the league — behind Bill Self, Rick Barnes, and Travis Ford, who earn $3 million, $2 million and $1.8 million respectively — at an average of $1.55 million per season.
Of course, none of this guarantees Martin will stay in Manhattan beyond the rest of this year. The current climate of college sports makes it quite clear contracts don't bind coaches to universities with any pretense of permanence. So it is certainly possible that Martin leaves as soon as a semi-prestigious east coast program comes calling.
But that doesn't seem likely. If Martin were looking to use K-State to springboard himself to a different job, he wouldn't have signed this new deal. He could have simply finished out this season and let the offers come flying.
But he didn't. Instead, Martin committed himself to K-State, choking back tears as he spoke of achieving a dream. And while college coaches are generally not noted for their outward
transparency, Martin seems incapable of masking his emotions (recall the court side antics).
In an odd sort of way, this is good news for Kansas and its fans. In Martin, Jayhawk fans now have a charismatic villain at whom to direct their chants, as well as a strong local rival that looks likely to factor into conference championship races.
Who knows? Maybe it was the chants that prompted Martin to extend his stay in Manhattan. Maybe he relishes the potential for a genuine Sunflower State rivalry like I do. Or maybe he just took the advice to "sit down" and opted to settle in state.
Whatever the motivation, Kansas fans should be glad he did.
Edited by Becky Howlett
Connecticut still No.1 in AP poll
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A few more wins and Connecticut is set to become the second team to run through two straight seasons as the No.1 team in women's basketball.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
The Huskies are No.1 in The Associated Press women's Top 25 for a 42nd straight time over
a two-year span after receiving all 40 first-place votes from the AP's media panel.
Louisiana Tech is the only team to pull off the feat, from 1980-82. In all only six teams have run through the poll from start to finish at No. 1 - including three times by UConn.
The Huskies won their NCAA record 71st straight game Monday night, beating No. 6 Notre Dame 59-44 in the Big East tournament semifinals. The victory
broke their own mark set from 2001-03.
Buckeyes were followed by West Virginia and Florida State. Both teams dropped two spots.
Stanford, Nebraska,
Tennessee and Xavier
round out the top 5
for the third
straight
week.
The Huskies are No.1 in The Associated Press women's Top 25 for a 42nd straight time over a two-year span.
Duke moved up two places to seventh after winning its first ACC conference tournament since 2004 on Sunday. Ohio State climbed to eighth after winning the Big Ten tournament. The
Texas A&M jumped four spottoi 11th and was followed by Oklahoma and Georgetown. The Hoyas were followed by three more Big 12 teams — Iowa State, Texas and Baylor.
Virginia was the only team to drop out.
UCLA en-
THIS WEEK IN KANSAS ATHLETICS
Men's golf
Louisiana Classics
Invitational, Lafayette,
La., all day.
Baseball vs. University of Saint Mary, 3 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
Baseball vs.Tabor, 3 p.m.
THURSDAY
Softball
vs. Valparaiso, 3 p.m.
Women's basketball
vs. Oklahoma State.
Kansas City, Mo., 5 p.m.
Men's basketball
vs. Colorado/Texas Tech,
Kansas City, Mo..
11:30 a.m.
FRIDAY
Softball
vs. Missouri State, 2 p.m.
vs. Valparaiso, 4 p.m.
Baseball
Baseball
at LSU, Baton Rouge,
La., 7 p.m.
nowing at University of Oklahoma Invitational, Oklahoma City, Okla., all day
**Track**
at NCAA Indoor
Championships,
Fayetteville, Ark., all day
Swimming & diving at Zone D Diving Championships, College Texas, all day
Station, Texas, all day
UMKC fails to make championship game
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Top-seeded Oral Roberts beat Missouri-Kansas City 77-71 Monday to advance to the championship game of the women's Summit League basketball tournament.
pipelineproductions.com
Saturday March 27
Patty Griffin
Buddy Miller
Sunday April 25
Pretty Lights
Gift of Gab
LIBERTY HALL
644 MASS 749-1972
Tues March 9
FRONTIER RUCKUS
Sunflower Colonels
Wed March 10
FUTURE ROCK
Deep Machine • Prep School
Thurs March 11
NORTH MISSISIPPI
ALLSTARS
Hill Country Revue
Fri March 12
SPEAKEASY
Bootney Farnsworth
Mon March 15
DIRTY LITTLE
RABBITS
(featuring Clown from Slipknot
St. Patrick's Day
KARAOKE
St. Patrick's Day
KARAOKE
Open All Day
at Harbor Park
BOTTLENECK
737 New Hampshire
thebottleneklive.com
Verizon Wireless Concert Series
Thurs May 13
REVEREND
Karaoke starts at 1pm
Horton Heat
Cracker • Split Lip Rayfield
John Butler Trio
ATGRINDERS
417 E. 18th · KC, MO
KC ATORNDELL
· KC, MO
NBA
Cavs beat Spurs without LeBron
CLEVELAND — Mo Williams made two free throws with 9 seconds left and Delonte West made the kind of plays down the stretch reserved for LeBron James as the Cleveland Cavaliers won without their superstar, beating the San Antonio Spurs 97-95 on Monday night.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Williams finished with 17 points for the Cavs, playing their second straight game without the injured James. The NBA's reigning MVP is nursing a tender right ankle and the Cavs are being extra cautious. West had 16 points and made a key steal in the final minute as Cleveland became the first team to reach 50 wins this season.
Manu Ginobili scored a season-high 38 points to lead the Spurs, playing their first game without guard Tony Parker. He's out six weeks with a broken hand.
If it were the postseason, James would be on the floor but Cavs coach Mike Brown wants to give his All-Star forward as much rest as necessary. Cleveland doesn't play again until Friday and Brown is taking advantage of the break in the schedule to rest lames.
The Cavs were 0-9 in the past three years without James, who twisted his ankle on Friday against Detroit.
The Cavs may suddenly have more to worry about than lames.
Cleveland is already without center Shaquille O'Neal, who isn't expected to return until the playoffs after undergoing thumb surgery.
As heard on ESPN,
As heard on ESPN Are you fueled by the Wang Burger?
Mon.-Thurs. 11-2pm. Through 3/11/10
-CELEBRATING 55 YEARS OF TRADITION-