2B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2008
trivia of the day
Q: Who is the NBA's active career leader for blocks and how many does he have?
A: The Houston Rockets' Dikembe Mutombo with 3,245 career rejections. Mutombo, who is 41 years old, is more than 750 blocks ahead of Shaquille O'Neal, who is ranked second in blocks among active players.
—basketball-reference.com
fact of the dav
quote of the day
Mutombo was mentioned in George W. Bush's State of the Union speech in 2007 for his outstanding community service support in Africa. Mutombo, who was born in Zaire, stays actively involved in his home continent and even started his own cable network, "The Africa Channel"
-nba.com
"It will have all the news from Africa. We have music. We have a couple of talk shows. We have tourists shows. We have history."
- Dikembe Mutombo on "The Africa Channel", which he owns.
ontvtonight
Men's College Basketball
-Purdue at Ohio State, 6 p.m.
ESPN
-Miami (Ohio) at Kent State, 6 p.m., ESPN2
-Colorado at Kansas State, 8 p.m., NBC
-Arkansas at Mississippi, 8 p.m., ESPN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ku calendar
WEDNESDAY
Tennis vs. Kansas State, 2 p.m., Manhattan Baseball vs. LeMoyne, 3 p.m., Lawrence
Women's basketball vs. Kansas State, 7 p.m., Lawrence
NBA
New Orleans Hornets' Chris Paul celebrates a basket in the last minute of play during the second half of the NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks Monday at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Hornets beat the Knicks 100-88.
Hornets defeat Knicks
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Chris Paul scored 27 points and had a hand in three clutch baskets in the final minutes, leading the New Orleans Hornets to a 100-88 victory against the New York Knicks on Monday night.
Tyson Chandler added 15 points and 18 rebounds for the Hornets, who sent the Knicks (18-42) to their seventh straight losing season. They did it by controlling the final minutes behind Paul,
who finished with eight assists, five rebounds and three steals.
The Hornets pulled within one and a half games of Southwest Division leader San Antonio, which is percentage points ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers for the best record in the Western Conference. New Orleans is third.
Have a ball
Jamal Crawford scored 20 points and Eddy Curry ended a month-long slump with 19 for the Knicks, who played without starting forward Zach Randolph.
Weston White / KANSAN
Robin Johnson, Kansas City, Mo., sophomore, drives baseline to the basket past Stephen Burton, Overland Park sophomore. Johnson and friends played a game of "21 Sunday afternoon at the Student Retreat Fitness Center's outdoor courts."
BRIEFLY Nightclub of Tigers'brawl announces its closing
COLUMBIA, Mo. — The downtown nightclub where Missouri's leading scorer suffered a broken jaw in a scuffle with two restaurant workers has closed down, according to a letter the owner sent to city officials.
AP men's top 25
Team (First-place votes) Record Points Previous
1. North Carolina (38) 27-2 1,745 3
2. Memphis (21) 28-1 1,706 2
3. UCLA (12) 26-3 1,664 4
4. Tennessee (1) 26-3 1,625 1
**5. Kansas** **26-3** **1,459** **6**
6. Duke 25-3 1,403 7
7. Stanford 24-4 1,317 8
8. Xavier 25-4 1,232 9
**9. Texas** **24-5** **1,227** **5**
10. Wisconsin 24-4 1,199 10
11. Georgetown 24-4 1,147 11
12. Louisville 24-6 1,010 13
13. Connecticut 23-6 848 15
14. Butler 27-3 813 14
15. Purdue 23-6 779 16
16. Vanderbilt 24-5 658 18
17. Michigan State 23-6 657 19
18. Indiana 24-5 646 12
19. Notre Dame 22-6 578 17
20. Drake 25-4 346 20
21. Marquette 21-7 334 21
22. Gonzaga 23-6 323 24
23. Washington State 22-7 245 22
24. Clemson 21-7 124 NR
25. Davidson 23-6 74 NR
Thomas was arrested after police said they found cocaine and a handgun in a pickup truck during a traffic stop.
Others Receiving Votes: Brigham Young 63, Mississippi State 34, South Alabama 27, Pittsburgh 25, Saint Mary's 22, Kent State 19, Miami (FL) 13, Baylor 7, UAB 7, USC 7, Arizona State 4, Virginia Commonwealth 3, Western Kentucky 3, Texas A&M 3, Cornell 2, Robert Morris 1, Stephen F. Austin 1.
He was charged with possession of a controlled substance and released from jail Sunday after posting a $2,500 bond.
Thomas slipped to the fourth round of last year's draft because of off-field problems. He had been considered a potential first-round pick.
Thomas and the driver were arrested early Saturday after police received a call from the Florida Highway Patrol asking them to
look for a pickup with a driver who might be impaired.
In a letter dated Feb. 21, Athena Nightclub owner Rashid A. Kikhia said he "is no longer operating a nightclub" and is in the process of "reorganizing the business on all levels, including management, cooks, delivery drivers and servers."
[Helping Kansas students make it to Spring Break since 1972]
The police report said both men denied any knowledge of the cocaine. Police also said a semiautomatic pistol was seen inside the glove compartment.
Thomas lawyer, Charles Truncale, said police found a small bag of what appeared to be a "trace amount" of cocaine and his client "did not possess it."
DON'S AUTO
"Nor did he have any knowledge of it, until the stop of the vehicle," Truncale said.
Missouri basketball players Stefhon Hannah and Jason Horton got in a fight outside the nightclub on Jan. 27 with two employees of an adjacent restaurant owned by Kikhia. Hannah had complained about poor service.
Both players were later charged with third-degree misdemeanor assault. They were scheduled to appear in Boone County court Monday for an arraignment but their attorneys waived the procedure.
He was kicked off the team, while Horton served a brief suspension but continues to play for the Tigers.
Broncos player arrested for possession of drugs
ORANGE PARK, Fla. — Denver Broncos defensive tackle Marcus
Associated Press
AP women's top 25
Team (first-place votes) Record Points Previous
1. Connecticut (40) 28-1 1,235 1
2. North Carolina (2) 27-2 1,172 2
3. Tennessee 27-2 1,120 3
4. Rutgers (8) 24-4 1,103 4
5. Maryland 29-2 1,073 5
6. Stanford 27-3 1,010 7
7. LSU 25-4 987 6
8. Baylor 24-4 839 8
9. Notre Dame 23-6 753 14
10. California 24-5 720 9
11. Oklahoma 21-6 709 10
12. Duke 21-8 601 12
13. George Washington 24-5 595 15
14. West Virginia 23-5 589 13
15. Utah 25-3 583 16
16. Old Dominion 25-4 572 11
17. Texas A&M 22-7 539 20
18. UTEP 25-2 367 19
19. Kansas State 20-8 363 21
20. Oklahoma State 22-6 270 17
21. Vanderbilt 22-7 247 23
22. Ohio State 22-7 224 18
23. Georgia 21-8 160 22
24. Marist 28-2 128 25
25. Virginia 22-8 117 NR
Others Receiving Votes: Wyoming 53, Louisville 24, Pittsburgh 18, Arizona State 15, Hartford 12, Syracuse 9, DePaul 8, Liberty 8, Chattanooga 7, Iowa 7, Gonzaga 5, Michigan State 3, Boise State 2, Georgia Tech 2, Evansville 1, Illinois State 1, Montana 1.
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BIG 12 BASKETBALL
Coaches guess how many NCAA bids
BY DOUG TUCKER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Big 12 has an RPI rating that's second in the country, nine teams already boasting at least 16 wins and the nation's best winning percentage against ranked outsiders.
So what would be a realistic number of NCAA bids for the Big 12?
"Realistic? Six," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "I think that's very realistic."
"This has got to be a league I think that needs to get at least six teams in the NCAA and four to the NIT," the Texas Tech coach Rick Barnes said Monday. "I think it's a league where 10 teams should be considered for both the NCAA and NIT. There are some teams people haven't been aware of and now they're in the mix. That means those coaches have done a good job of building up that program. We have to be one of the top two leagues in the country"
Figuring postseason berths as a whole, Pat Knight will see Self's six and raise him four.
The Big 12 received six NCAA bids when it had the No. 2 RPI rating in 2003 and five when it was No. 2 in 1997.
Going into the final regular season week, Kansas and Texas are tied atop the Big 12 standings at 13-3.
"Every year you hear coaches talk about the league being as balanced as it's ever been," Barnes said. "But when you look around ... our league has gotten better, Texas Tech is a better team than when they played us here. The same can be said about Nebraska, about Oklahoma State. We all know that regardless of what outside people think, there's not a gimme in this league. If you don't play, you're going to get beat."
Self said the Big 12 has been penalized in tournament selection when its RPI has been low.
The ACC is first in RPI rating, while the Pac-10 is third and the Big East is fourth. But adding to the Big 12's argument is that it has a winning record against every one of them.
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