8B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY,FEBRUARY 15,2006
GAMEDAY
Husker game to determine 'Hawks' future
KU Tip-off
LAST TIME OUT
No Kansas team wants to lose to Missouri, and certainly not in the fashion the Jayhawks did on Saturday. After leading the first 34 minutes of the game, the Jayhawks watched the Tigers make a late run for a 64-57 victory. The loss almost certainly eliminates Kansas' chance of playing in the NCAA Tournament.
2 - The number of games Kansas has won in its last 10
PLAYER TO WATCH
15 — The number of times senior forward Crystal Kemp has been the leading scorer this season.
Freshman guard Ivana Catic. With the suspension of junior guard Shaquina Mosley, there is no margin of error for Catic. She must have a big game, or she will allow Nebraska's defense to double-team senior guard Erica Hallman.
2001 — The last year a Jayhawk was named to the Academic All-DistrictTeam before Kemp was named last week.
3 QUICK FACTS
Kansas vs. Nebraska, Channel 6 7:05 p.m., Tonight, Allen Fieldhouse
KEY TO VICTORY
If the Jayhawks are going to make a late-season run into the WNIT, this is the game to do it. Tonight's game is probably the most favorable for the rest of the season, and will be a good gauge as to whether the Jayhawks are fighting out the season or packing up and going home for the offseason.
Kansas
OFFENSE
A tackluster offensive performance at Missouri raised eyebrows, as offense has typically been the strength of this team. Kansas coach Bonnie Henrickson attributed it to her players standing around while one player tried to make a play by herself. Kansas' main offensive threats, senior forward Crystal Kemp and senior guard Erica Hallam, usually play almost all of the game, so it's important for them to be active, especially toward the end of a long season. The problems aren't a mystery, or as Henrickson put it: "There's nothing wrong with the offenses we run."
DEFENSE
Sophomore forward Taylor Mcntosh has come on strong, and her rebounding has helped the Jayhawks immensely. Still, the negatives far outweigh the positives in this category. The most important thing for Kansas will be to adjust when Nebraska starts using motion and sets picks to create open shots. If the Jayhawks' defenders can't follow the ball, the Cornhuskers will take advantage of every opportunity.
Nebraska
OFFENSE
The Cornhuskers have a solid inside-outside combination in Kelsey Griffin and Kiera Hardy. Both rank in the top 10 in the conference in scoring. Nebraska ranks in the middle of the pack in the conference in both scoring and field goal percentage. Effective play from Griffin and Hardy was too much in the first meeting, and it could be again tonight.
Michael Phillips
DEFENSE
A zone defense in the team's earlier meeting sent Kansas' offense into a deep funk. The zone can be effective against the Jayhawks, especially if the three-point shots aren't falling. For Nebraska, the key will be denying Kansas access into the paint with senior forward Crystal Kemp. If it can limit Kemp's touches, it forces Kansas' streaky shooting guards to win the game.
Ryan Schneider
NU Tip-off
LAST TIME OUT
PLAYER TO WATCH
Nebraska started slowly on Saturday and lost 69-50 to Texas A&M. Freshman forward Kelsey Griffin played one of the best games of her career against the Aggles. Griffin scored 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the field, along with five rebounds and three steals.
Junior guard Kiera Hardy is one of the Big 12 Conference's top guards. She's eighth on the conference scoring list, averaging 17 points a game. In the previous meeting between the two teams, Hardy scored a game-high 26 points, including four three-pointers.
3 QUICK FACTS
3 - The number of consecutive losses by the Cornhuskers.
51. 9 — Nebraska's field goal percentage in its earlier meeting with Kansas last month.
68. 5 — The Cornhuskers' average point total per game.
KEY TO VICTORY
Kansas could not answer Hardy's hot shooting when the two teams met in January in Lincoln, Neb. The Jayhawks have had difficulty in conference play this season on defense; several opponents have shot at least 40 percent from the field against them. If Hardy can catch fire again, it could be a long night defensively for Kansas.
NCAA BASKETBALL
Missouri to investigate Snyder's departure
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri will investigate the handling of coach Quin Snyder's sudden departure last week, university officials said Tuesday.
Snyder stepped down on Friday, a day after vowing to
finish his seventh season at the school. The Kansas City Star reported that athletic director Mike Alden sent Gary Link, a basketball analyst who is also his special assistant, to inform Snyder that he would not be retained.
The investigation apparently will begin with an interview of Link, who has had no comment about his role in the matter. Alden has said that he asked Link to "gauge
now he's doing" but not to inform Snyder that he was a lame duck. He did not return phone calls Tuesday.
Missouri won its first game without Snyder on Sunday, ending a six-game losing streak behind interim coach Melvin Watkins, and is 11-11 (4-7 Big 12) with five regular-season games remaining.
University spokesman Joe Moore said Elson Floyd,
president of the University of Missouri's four-campus system, asked Chancellor Brady Deaton to investigate the situation. Chad Moller, the school's sports information director, also confirmed the decision.
"Dr. Floyd did ask Chancellor Deaton to look into some questions regarding events surrounding Coach Snyder's decision to depart." Moore said. He declined further comment.
Wooldridge returns to team after surgery
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Kansas State head coach Jim Wooldridge will be back with the team Wednesday night at Texas Tech, one week after he underwent neck surgery.
The school said he returned to practice on Tuesday and felt well enough to make the trip to Lubbock, Texas. He missed
two games, a victory against Iowa State and a loss at Missouri. Wooldridge planned to travel separately on Wednesday.
Doctors removed a bulging disk in his neck and fused the C3-4 vertebrae. He was released from the hospital the next day.
The 50-year-old Wooldridge underwent a successful operation that lasted nearly two hours on Feb.8.
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