THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
WWW.KANSAN.COM
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2006
FOOTBALL
PAGE 12A
'Hawks add game to season
The 2006 Kansas football schedule will now include Louisiana-Monroe of the Sun Belt conference. The addition was made on Wednesday.
The Jayhawks will take on the Indians Sept. 9 in Memorial Stadium, a week after the season opener against Northwestern State.
Kansas was 6-0 last season at home.The Jayhawks will play seven games in Lawrence next season. Times for all games are to be announced.
—Drew Davison
2006 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Date Opponent
Sept. 2 Northwestern State
Sept. 9 Louisiana-Monroe
Sept. 16 at Toledo
Sept. 23 South Florida
Sept. 30 at Nebraska
Oct. 7 Texas ABM
Oct. 14 Oklahoma state
Oct. 21 at Baylor
Oct. 28 Colorado
Nov. 4 at Iowa State
Nov. 18 Kansas State
 Nov. 25 at Missouri
Location
Memorial Stadium
Memorial Stadium
Toledo, Ohio
Memorial Stadium
Lincoln, Neb.
Memorial Stadium
Memorial Stadium
Waco, Texas
Memorial Stadium
Ames, Iowa
Memorial Stadium
Columbia, Mo.
Source: Kansas Athletics Department
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Game lost, but lesson learned
BY RYAN COLAIanni rcolaianni@kansan.com KANSAN SENIOR SWITTERWRITER
Christian Moody wants another chance to be on the free-throw line with the game hanging in the balance.
The senior forward clearly remembers the two potential game-winning free throws he missed against Missouri in mid-January.
"You think about it every time you step up to the free-throw line," Moody said. "Every time, I think I need to get better at this, so if I am ever in that situation again, I can put a couple in."
Moody said the misses haunted him for a while, but with time, the anguish had eased. Senior guard Jeff Hawkins remembers Moody's attitude following the tough loss.
"His confidence was low. He was in a tough position," Hawkins said. "We're just a big family here, and I think that helped him. I told him it wasn't his fault."
While Missouri won the overtime thriller, the two teams could not have gone in more opposite directions since the game. Missouri lost six of seven, and coach Quin Snyder resigned last week.
Kansas on the other hand, has won eight straight, are nationally ranked, and are in sole possession of second place in the conference.
"We didn't lose our confidence even though we lost in terrible fashion. We feel like we got better playing at Mizzou." Kansas coach Bill Self said. "The guys really rallied around each other and have gotten pretty tough. They've really learned to enjoy each other and play together even more than they were before that game."
With Snyder out, Missouri is now led by former assistant Melvin Watkins. Self said he thought Watkins could make Missouri a difficult team to prepare for.
"I'm sure Melvin will do the majority of the things that they've been working on all year long," Self said. "Everybody has their own style, and he'll put his own twist on the team, which will make it more difficult for us."
A heartbreaking loss often causes teams to struggle afterward, but the Jayhawks have been resilient. They have used the loss as motivation.
"I do believe that at a time when a loss could have hurt us and done more damage than just that one game, the guys didn't allow that to happen," Self said.
The Tigers Thomas Gardner played a large part in Missouri's victory, scoring 40 points.
"I think we'll try to force him to take bad shots and limit his touches," Self said. "Hopefully, we'll do a better job collectively on him than we did last time. Last game, he was as good as anyone in America that particular night."
Edited by Meghan Miller
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: 65-57
Senior forward Crvstal Kemp guards the ball while heavily defended under the basket in the first half. Kemp had 19 points in the 65-57 loss to Nebraska.
Expectations not met coach restricts players
Third-time loss not so charming for Kansas
BY MICHAEL PHILLIPS
mphillsips@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Six weeks ago, the Kansas women's basketball team defeated No. 23 Texas in Allen Fieldhouse to advance to 12-0. After the game, CSTV analyst Debbie Antonelli said she was convinced Kansas was for real.
What happened?
Since that game, the Jayhawks have won only two of 11 games. They lost 65-57 to the Nebraska Cornhuskers last night in Lawrence.
The team has gone from a 10-seed on ESPN's bracketology to an outsider looking into the women's NIT.
Kansas coach Bonnie Henrickson has disciplined her players in an unorthodox way. After a 77-71 home loss to Colorado on Feb. 1, a game she described as the worst loss of the season, she kicked the players out of the locker room and banned them from wearing Kansas clothing.
"They can wear a high school T-shirt if they want to." Henrickson said, adding that anything that said Jayhawks must be turned inside out. "Obviously the message
Players are responsible for washing their own clothing and must change into workout clothes on their own before practice.
"That's a privilege," she said. "You earn those things by playing with pride."
Henrickson said she would continue to enforce the punishment as long as necessary, and said that if the message wasn't heard this year, it would be heard next year.
Last night did nothing to improve the players' standing with their coach. It was a chance for Kansas to break a losing streak against a Nebraska team that had won only two of its last nine games.
Nebraska guard Kiera Hardy noticed something different from Kansas that she hadn't seen when the two teams played in early January.
hasn't been heard real loud."
SEE LOSS ON PAGE 6A
Defense problem for 'Hawks in conference
BY RYAN SCHNEIDER
rschneider@kansan.com
KANSAN SENIOR.SPORTSWRIETER
Bonnie Henrickson knows the problem that's been plaguing her basketball team in Big 12 Conference play this season.
The hard part, however, is fixing it.
Kansas' defensive problems have been well-documented in conference play and showed up early in Wednesday night's 65-57 loss to Nebraska. Inability to communicate simple defensive switches between guards and post players led to numerous open shots for Nebraska players.
Kansas coach Henrickson said that when the team watched game film at practice, she "could push play and walk out."
SEE DEFENSE ON PAGE 6A
A TEXAN'S TAKE
Out with the old, in with the new
As a senior at the University of Kansas, Aaron Miles, Keith Langford and Wayne Simien are household names to me.
I feel like I identify with these former Kansas basketball players. They provided my class with lasting memories, such as an NCAA championship appearance in 2003 and an Elite Eight appearance in 2004.
Fast forward to this season. Home losses to Nevada and Kansas State and a road loss against Missouri had me longing for those household names again. I wondered how long it would be until the fans would see a class that produced similar tournament memories.
Now after eight straight Big 12 Conference victories and a solidified starting lineup. I have my answer.
Kansas is now 7-0 in games in which it starts freshman guard Mario Chalmers, sophomore guard Russell Robinson, freshman guard Brandon Rush, freshman forward Julian Wright and sophomore center Sasha Kaun.
ERIC SORRENTINO
esorrentino@kansan.com
If this season's freshman class stays together, KU fans will never have to use Miles, Langford, Simien and Bucknell in the same sentence again.
Here's why:
Aaron Miles - meet Mario Chalmers.
keith Langford - meet Brandon Rush
The two point guards both accepted the role as the floor general of their respective teams as freshmen. Miles led Kansas to a Final Four appearance as a freshman in 2002. Chalmers is a better shooter than Miles and has better scoring capability. His 10.7 points per game as a freshman is already more than
Miles will always be remembered for his intensity on defense. Chalmers proved that he has just as much, if not more, intensity on defense. Last Saturday, he passed Miles on the list for the second-most steals in a season for a freshman, 61, against Iowa State.
These two guards possess the same highlight-reel capabilities with their slashing moves to the basket. Rush has already proven he can score just as well as Langford. Rush's 14.3 points per game in his first season is a tenth of a point off Langford's 14.4 points per game in his final season.
The only facet of Rush's game that is still lacking, as compared to Langford's, is the confidence to have the ball in his hands with the game on the line. Fans knew the ball would go to the fearless Langford at the end of regulation if the game was close. Rush has not yet proven that he's the go-to man with the game on the line.
Miles' 9.3 points per game as a senior.
Wayne Simien - meet Julian Wright
Wright has the advantage of more playing time as a freshman, something that Simien did not experience. As a freshman, Simien came off the bench to spell Drew Gooden and Nick Collison in limited minutes.
Despite making freshman mistakes on the court, Wright has incredible vision to find his teammates and makes brilliant passes. Being thrown into the mix early as a freshman will pay off for Wright in the long run.
If this trio stays together, they'll erase the fluke of Bucknell and restore basketball order to Lawrence in March. When that happens, look for the names Chalmers, Rush and Wright to replace Miles, Langford and Simien.
♦ Sorentino is a Plano, Texas, senior in journalism. He is Kansan sports editor.
.
3
1
1
---