BIG DANCE Reactions and commentary on the NCAA tournament: Page 4B FULL BRACKETS For men's and women's: Page 8B
U N I V E R S I T Y D A I L Y K A N S A N
KANSAS KU BASKETBALL
SECTION B
MONDAY, MARCH 13, 1995
Kansas sophomore guard Jerod Haase goes airborne for a pass while Iowa State guard Jason Kimbrough defends him during the Big Eight tournament in Kemper Arena. The Jayhawks lost to the Cyclones 80-72 in overtime on Saturday.
Women happy with seventh seed
Paul Kotz / KANSAN
Kansas to meet No.10 Badgers
By Jenni Carlson
Sansan sportswriter
Lubbock, Texas, may not be home for the Kansas women's basketball team, but it's looking pretty sweet.
Kansas women's basketball coach Marian Washington was upbeat about the Jayhawks' seeding in the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball tournament. The No. 22 Jayhawks were seeded seventh in the Mideast Regional and will open the tournament in Lubbock on Thursday.
"At this point, I'm not going to worry about it," Washington said. "The important thing for me is to get our team down there and play well."
Kansas will play its first round
game against 10h-seed Wisconsin. That game will tilt off at 6 p.m.
The No.15 seed, Tulane, and the No.2 seed, Texas Tech, the site host, will follow at 8 p.m.
Wisconsin recorded a 19-8 record this season and was 11-5 in the Big Ten Conference. The Badgers placed third in their conference. Three other teams from the Big Ten, Penn State, Purdue and Indiana, also will play in the tournament.
Wisconsin is led by first-year coach Jane Albright-Biedert, who coached the Badgers to their second winning season in 11 years.
"This is a program that's taken a tremendous about-face this year," Washington said. "I think Coach Albright has done an excellent job at Wisconsin. To play some of the top teams in the Big Ten as close as they did is an indicator they have really, really progressed."
particularly interesting for Kansas sophomore guard Angie Halbleib. Halbleib hails from Middleton, Wis., a suburb of Madison, where the Wisconsin campus is located.
Traveling to Texas will be a homecoming of sorts for Kansas senior forward Angela Aycock. The Dallas native will begin her final NCAA tournament in her home state.
Plaving the Badgers should prove
"She's very, very excited about it,
but I think everybody is," Washington said. "We'll have some people there that will be pulling for us."
But Kansas most likely will not have the support that Texas Tech will have. The Red Raiders are ranked sixth in the nation and hope to sell out the 8,300-seat Texas Tech Coliseum.
"In terms of the environment for women's basketball, it will be outstanding," she said. "People on our squad right now, they're ready to play."
'Hawks have rough road ahead
By Jenni Carlson Kansan sportswriter
The road to Lubbock, Texas, the site of the Jayhawks' first- round NCAA tournament game has been cleared for the Kansas women's basketball team.
But the road out and beyond is not as clear. After their opener in the Mideast Regional against No. 10 seed Wisconsin, the seventh-seeded Jayhawks may face Texas Tech. The No. 6 Red Raiders, the No. 2 seed in the region, will be playing on their home court in the Texas Tech Coliseum.
"We've got a straight flight there." Kansas women's basketball coach Marian Washington said smiling. "That's a positive."
"That's the problem with not having neutral sites," Washington said. "We've been wrestling with that since I've been in the game."
The tournament format was altered some this year. The NCAA chose 16 sites where each sites' home team and three others will play the first two rounds.
In the Mideast, Tennessee is the top seed. Washington said the Volunteers would have a definite advantage in the region. They will not only play host for the first two rounds but Knoxville, Tenn., was named as the site for the Mideast semifinals and final.
"It won't be any picnic going to Tennessee," said Linda Bruno, head of the NCAA Division I Women's Selection Committee.
Jayhawks 'Hurled' from tournament
Beechum's three-point shooting pushed Iowa State into the Big Eight's title game, assuring the Cyclones of an NCAA tournament berth.
By Christoph Fuhrmans Kansan sportswriter
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Despite the heroes of Kansas sophomore guard Jacque Vaughn, the battle of three-pointers was won by Iowa State and Cyclone senior guard Hurl Beechum.
After Vaughn made a three-pointer with two seconds left in regulation that forced overtime, Beechum stole the show with consecutive three-pointers in the extra period that allowed Iowa State to pull away and defeat No. 2 Kansas 80-72.
The Jayhawks fell to 23-5 while the No. 25 Cyclones improved to 22-9 and advanced in the Big Eight Conference tournament to face No. 18 Oklahoma State. The Cowboys defeated the Cyclones 62-53 yesterday and won the tournament.
After reviving the Jayhawks with his three pointer, Vaughn thought Kansas had the advantage heading into overtime, he said.
"Usually, what exemplifies Kansas basketball is that we have poise and savvy in the last three to five minutes of a game," Vaughn said. "So when we went into overtime, I definitely had confidence that our team was going to make the right plays."
"We got a little bit too caught up in the excitement, and that's just poor coaching," Kansas coach Roy Williams said. "We threw it away one time, and then we took a bad shot when we had a guy wide open for a three. That's my responsibility to get those players to not do those kind of things."
Iowa State's rebounding advantage only exacerbated Kansas' lack of execution toward the end of the game. The Cyclones outrebounded the Jayhawks 42-29.
But in the final minutes of regulation, Iowa State was the team that made the right plays.
However, Kansas didn't have to worry about rebounding against Kansas State in its first-round game. The Jayhawks ended the Wildcats' season with a 90-45 victory, the largest margin of victory in tournament history.
"They were much more aggressive to the ball," Kansas sophomore forward Scot Pollard said. "They boxed out very well and continued to do so down the stretch."
Kansas sophomore guard Jered Haase scored a game-high 19 points while freshman forward Raef LaFrentz had 14 points and 10
Iowa State 80, Kansas 72 OT
Player fgm/tga ftm/fta tp
LaFrentz 1-4 2-2 4
Pearson 1-5 0-0 2
Ostertag 6-8 0-1 12
Haase 4-13 4-4 14
Vaughn 6-15 4-4 17
Thomas 2-5 1-2 7
Williams 2-2 0-0 4
McGrath 0-0 0-0 0
Pollard 4-9 4-7 12
Gurley 0-0 0-0 0
Totals 28-61 15-20 72
Halftime Kansas 34, Iowa State 30 point goal Kansas 516 (Thomas 25, Haase 26, Vaughn 1-3, Pearson O2), Iowa State 8-19 (Beechum 1-6, Holberg 2-5, Mikhilok 1, Moderman 2), Rebounds Kansas 29 (Ostertag 5), Iowa State 42 (Meyer 12) Assists Kansas 14 (Vaughn 6), Iowa State 21 (Kimbrough 6) Turnovers Kansas 11, Iowa State 14 Total Fouls Kansas 21, Iowa State 21.
IOWA STATE (22-9)
Holloway 0-2 0-0 0
Hoiberg 6-12 6-6 20
Meyer 7-14 6-6 20
Michalik 3-7 4-4 10
Beechum 8-14 3-5 25
Kimbrough 2-4 0-0 4
Hamilton 0-1 0-0 0
Hayes 0-3 0-0 0
Jackson 0-0 0-0 0
Modderman 0-2 1-2 1
Totals 24-59 13-21 63
Kansas State needed to win the conference tournament to earn an NCAA bid. Iowa State needed a strong showing in the conference tournament to solidify its chances, which probably gave the Cyclones more incentive, Williams said.
After K-State jumped out to a 7-0 lead, Kansas went on a 16-3 run to take a 16-9 lead. The Jayhawks never looked back and went into halftime with a 44-19 lead.
rebounds.
"I think Iowa State was probably hungrier than a lot of teams were down these last three games," he said. "I think they felt like they had to start winning to make the tournament."
But Williams said the fact that Kansas would probably be a No.1 seed in the NCAA tournament didn't make the loss any easier.
"We've got to play a heck of a lot better than we played today, and that's the bottom line," he said. "If we don't, we're not going to accomplish what we want to in the next three weeks. And they (the players) don't need me to tell them, the next loss we put 'em up for good."
4
Paul Kotz / KANBAN
lowa State forward Hurl Beechum shoots a three-pointer while Kansas guard Billy Thomas attempts to block the shot. Kansas lost to the Cyclones in overtime.
Lucky Draw?
I think not
The seemingly inevitable has happened in the men's NCAA tournament. Kansas is the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region, and the regional
finals will be at Kemper Arena in Kenesse City, Mo.
SPORTS EDITOR
Kansas City, Mo.
Yes, it's very close
to Lawrence.
the last time the Jayhawks won
the NCAA tournament, the game was in Kemper.
And yes, Kemper is Kansas' home away from home.
But I'm sick of hearing all of the demands.
plain about the Jayhawks' easy road to Seattle and the Final Four.
The Jayhawks first must defeat Colgate, a team with one of the best freshman in the nation, Adonal Foyle. Foyle was one of the most highly recruited players coming out of high school but decided to go to Colgate, taking the advice from his family.
The truth is, Kansas has possibly one of the hardest treks to make it past the first two rounds, regardless of where it goes for the regional games.
Colgate is the toughest 16th seed you'll find in this season's bracket.
Not good.
The second game, assuming a victory, would be against either Western Kentucky or Michigan.
The No. 2 seed in the Midwest is Arkansas, considered by many to be a No.1 seed that got robbed. If the Razorbacks would have defeated Kentucky in the Southeast Conference final, Kansas may have been stiffed for No.1 consideration in favor of Arkansas.
CBS analyst Billy Packer seemed to think Kansas being in the Midwest was a worldwide travesty. However, the biggest joke in the selection process is the number of teams that were chosen from the Big Ten — six. Give me a break.
For a conference that has only two teams ranked in The Associated Press Top 25 Poll, six is too many.
Kansas athletic director Bob Frederick, chairman of the Division I men's basketball selection committee, did a good job of explaining why so many Big Ten schools were picked. He said that no limit on the number of teams from one conference existed.
But conference strength is considered, and the Big Ten is beyond just being overrated. Nebraska defeated Michigan State earlier this season, and the Cornhuskers are terrible. Nebraska was even on the bubble in the end, primarily because of its victory against Michigan State. If that isn't proof positive about a bad Big Ten season, I don't know what is.
If Frederick asked me, I would have only Michigan State, Purdue, Illinois and Minnesota going. Indiana and Michigan were picked on their name and tradition alone, not talent. The two teams can draw a lot of people to arenas, but they don't get my vote.
That's what the NIT is for
So Billy and Dicky and Digger Phelps, rest easy and don't fret anymore about Kansas and its "lucky" Midwest position.
Kansas was in the Midwest region in 1992. Yes, the regional final was at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo. But the Jayhawks weren't. They lost to Texas-El Paso in the second round.
The crowd or arena doesn't win games - players do.