THE UNIVERSITY DARY KANSAN WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2008 SPORTS 3B Five games to watch this week WEDNESDAY, FEB. 20 Kansas State at Nebraska 8 p.m., ESPN2 the HIGH/LOW K-State's Michael Beasley only has six regular season games left. SATURDAY, FEB. 23 Oklahoma at Texas 2:30 p.m. ABC The Red-River Shootout — basketball style Kansas at Oklahoma State 3 p.m., CBS Bill Self returns to his alma mater. MONDAY FEB.25 Kansas State at Baylor 7 p.m., FSNMW/FSNSW Baylor needs a victory to stay off the NCAA bubble. Texas at Kansas State 8 p.m., ESPN Can K-State continue its dominance over Texas? With the end of Big 12 play in sight, players have less than three weeks to prove themselves BY RUSTIN DODD dodd@kansan.com Nearly three years ago, Byron Eaton eaten into Stillwater, Okla., from Lincoln High School in Dallas. From the get-go, Oklahoma State fans were ready for 5-foot-11, 215 pound sparkplug — and McDonalds All-American — to become a premier guard in the Big 12 conference. Cowboy fans and Oklahoma State coach Sean Sutton are still waiting. "He's never lived up to what I thought he could be or what Oklahoma State fans thought he could be," Sutton said. But when Kansas takes the floor of Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday, Kansas fans might see a version of the Eaton everyone expected all along. Eaton — who averaged 7.8 points per game during his first two seasons — scored 17 points and 25 points, respectively in victories against Texas A&M and Baylor. The junior point guard has improved his season average to 10.6 points per game. "The ways he played the last two games, he's in total control of the game at both ends," Sutton said. More importantly, Eaton has helped rescue Sutton and Oklahoma State from a disastrous 1-6 start in the Big 12. Oklahoma State will venture in to Saturday game against Kansas at 4-7 in the Big 12 and 13-12 overall. Sutton said Eaton has been the catalyst for Oklahoma State's resurgence. In Oklahoma State's victories this season, Eaton has 23 assists and 25 turnovers. In the Cowboys losses, Eaton has 37 assists and 14 turnovers. "Offensively, he played with a lot of poise, a lot of confidence," Sutton said. Of course, Eaton's career has been plagued by inconsistency and he's had to deal with critics who've questioned his fluctuating body weight. On Feb.9 against K-State, Eaton played 25 minutes and was held to seven points, while only attempting four shots. Sutton — who picked up the first Big 12 road victory of his coaching career against Texas A&M last week Big 12 standings
RecordOverall
Kansas9-224-2
Texas9-222-4
Kansas State8-218-6
Texas A&M6-520-6
Oklahoma6-518-8
Baylor5-617-8
Texas Tech4-613-11
Iowa State4-714-12
Missouri4-714-12
Oklahoma State4-713-12
Nebraska3-714-9
Colorado2-810-14
— said Eaton has to continue to get better if Oklahoma State wants to keep winning games. But Sutton's been delighted by his guards play the last two weeks. "He played the way I envisioned him playing when he first got here," Sutton said. "There's still time left, and that's what I've tried to relay to him. He still has time to prove he's a big-time player." Edited by Russell Davies The High/Low's top 5 Big 12 guard. Many people thought Oklahoma State's Byron Eaton would develop into orie of the best guards in the Big 12. But Eaton has been plagued by inconsistency. Here's a look at the High/Low's top five point guards and shooting guards from the Big 12. Curtis Jerrells, Baylor When Jerrells is on, no Big 12 guard can match his offense. Jerrells A.J. Abrams, Texas D. J. Augustin, Texas The Big 12's best all-around guard. Abrams has the quickest release in the Big 12. Chalmers Augustin 》 NHL Russell Robinson, Kansas The Big 12's best on-the-ball defender. Abrams Mario Chalmers, Kansas A rangy defender who wants the ball in crunch-time. Robinson Rocky without Sakic, Stastny Returning offensive players shake up Avalanche lineup ASSOCIATED PRESS Stastny could play as early as Wednesday against Anaheim during the first game of a five-game road trip. Sakic will travel with the team and hopes to play during the trip. ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Joe Sakie and Paul Stastny took part in practice Tuesday as the struggling Colorado Avalanche moved closer to getting their top two offensive players back in the lineup. "We don't really have a timetable. We're going to see how it progresses," said Sakic, who has missed 36 games after surgery to repair a sports hernia. "As long as it keeps getting better, you never know. There's not a date set for us." Colorado has struggled with its star centers out. The Avs have scored three goals in their last four games, all losses, including a 4-0 shutout against Detroit on Monday night. They've slipped to 10th in the Western Conference standings, two spots back of the last playoff seed with 22 games left. Stastny leads the team in scoring with 49 points despite missing the last 14 games. He is recovering from a groin injury he suffered while trying to return from an appendectomy. "I've been pushing it more and every day, I've felt better and better," he said. "I wouldn't be going on the road trip if I didn't think I'd play, so I'm pretty optimistic to be playing. Once I'm 100 percent I'll be ready to go." Sakie led the team in scoring last year with 100 points and has not played since Nov. 30, when he injured his groin against San Jose. At first he was expected to miss a few weeks, but he underwent surgery. Dec. 28. "It was frustrating at first, but once I realized we had to do the surgery, then you knew how long you were going to be out," said Sakic, who had never missed more than 24 games in his 19-year career before this injury. "Now that I'm skating, you're chumping at the bit to get back." ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO He began skating last week, and took part in some drills with the team Tuesday but did not take contact. "The last couple of days I've been going hard," Saikic said. "It's still pretty tight, but you've got to work through that." Despite their struggles, the team doesn't want to put Sakic or Stastny back in the lineup before either one is ready. "We'll make sure when they're ready to play, they're ready to play." Colorado coach Joel Quenneville said. "They're a lot closer than they've been. We expect both of them to play at some point on the trip." Colorado Avalanche center Paul Statryn jokes with teammates before the Avalanche face the Dallas Stars in their regular-season opening NHL hockey game in Denver on Oct. 3, 2007. Statny joined injured teammate Joe Sakic in skating at the Avalanche's practice on Tuesday. IN BRIEF Accused Super Bowl shooter turns himself in PHOENIX — A man accused of planning to shoot people at the Super Bowl was indicted on six counts of sending threatening communications, according to court documents filed Tuesday in federal court. Kurt William Havelock, 35, turned himself in to authorities Feb. 3 after driving within sight of University of Phoenix Stadium during the Super Bowl with a rifle and 200 rounds of ammunition. He said he changed his mind. Havelock told authorities he was upset that the city of Tempe denied him a liquor license application for a Halloween-themed bar. A phone message and email sent to Havelock's federal public defender Jeffrey Williams were not immediately returned Tuesday evening. She was a fixture in her seat behind home plate at Kauffman Stadium, always arriving early to see batting practice. Art Stewart, now a senior adviser to General Manager Dayton Moore, is being inducted into the team hall of fame this summer, and a building has been named in his honor at the team's spring training complex in Surprise, Ariz. WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court declined Tuesday to hear an appeal from two former Alabama assistant football coaches who lost their jobs following an NCAA investigation of the Crimson Tide's football program. KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Donna Stewart, wife of longtime Kansas City Royals scout and personnel director Art Stewart, died Tuesday after a long fight with cancer, the team said. The justices rejected the case of Ronnie Cottrell and Ivy Williams without comment. Services were pending. Cottrell and Williams sued the NCAA and recruiting analyst Tom Culpepper for defamation, claiming they were unable to find comparable employment following the NCAA's investigation of Alabama. The football program was placed on probation and received other sanctions for rules violations. Baseball scout's wife dies Tuesday Two Alabama coaches await new trial Cottrell won a $30 million judgment against Culpepper, but the trial judge threw out the verdict and ordered a new trial. ROBERT J. DOLE INSTITUTE OF POLITICS The University of Kansas www.dollin institute.org The University of Kansas Chancellor's Student Awards Committee Now accepting nominations and applications for the following graduating senior awards: Associated Press THURSDAY FEBRUARY 21. 2008 7:30 PM BOOK SIGNING TO FOLLOW The Agnes Wright Strickland Award WHAT DOES DNA TELL US ABOUT RACE? with Dr. Troy Duster The Class of 1913 Award The Donald K. Alderson Memorial *The Rusty Leffel Concerned Student The Leffel Award is not restricted to graduating seniors e Alexis F. Dillard Student Involvement Award The Caryl K. Smith Student Leader Award Nomination and application forms are online at: http://www.vpnss.ku.edu/ Nominations must be received by Friday, February 15, 2008, at 5:00 p.m. Applications must be received by Friday, February 29, 2008, at 5:00 p.m. FREE COMEDY NIGHT SKLAR BROTHERS WOODRUFF AUDITORIUM, KANSAS UNION LEVEL 5 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21 · 7:00 P.M. AS SEEN IN CHEAP SEATS, ENTOURAGE, COMEDY CENTRAL PRESENTS & MORE! FREE Vouchers available at SUA Box Office, Kansas University Level 4 (785) 864-SHOW | www.suauevents.com ---