2B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 8. 2006
ATHLETICS CALENDAR
TODAY
Men's basketball at Nebraska 6:30 p.m. Lincoln, Neb
ka, 6:30 p.m., Lincoln, Neb.
- Women's basketball at Oklaw
- homa, 7 p.m., Norman, Okla.
- Men's golf at Hawaii-ihilo, Allo
- Men's golf at Hawaii-Hilo, all day, Waikoloa, Hawaii
Player to watch: Gary Woodland. The Topeka junior has finished in the Top 10 seven times while at Kansas.
HUNDAY
♦ Men's golf at Hawaii-Hilo, all dav, Waikoloa, Hawaii
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
- Softball vs. Florida, Wilson/
DeMarini Tournament, 10
a.m., Houston
- Softball vs. Texas A&M
Corpus Christi, Wilden/De-
Marini Tournament, 2 p.m.
Houston
- Baseball at Stanford, 7 p.m., Palo Alto, Calif.
- Track, Tyson Invitational, all dav. Favetteville, Ark.
Track, ISU Classic, all day,
Ames, Iowa
♦ Men's golf at Hawaii-Hilo, all day, Waikoloa, Hawaii
SATURDAY
♦ Softball vs. Houston, Wilson/DeMarini Tournament, 4 o.m., Houston
♦ Softball vs. Texas A&M-
Corpus Christi, Wilson/De-
Marini Tournament, 6 p.m.,
Houston
+ Men's basketball vs. Iowa State, 3 p.m., Allen Fieldhouse
Women's basketball at Missouri, 3 p.m., Columbia, Mo.
♦Baseball at Stanford, 3 p.m., Palo Alto, Calif.
Respect
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18
On Feb. 8 that year, the uber-young Orangemen had a 7-3 Big East record. The Jayhawks are 6-2 in the Big 12 entering tonight's game at Nebraska. Might Brandon Rush be this year's Anthony? Could Mario Chalmers or Russell Robinson play the part of Gerry McNamara? Is Julian Wright the next Warrick? Time will tell us, but the similarities are scary.
It may be pie-in-the-sky dreaming, but when the Baby Jayhawks play like they did in the final 10 minutes of the Oklahoma game, there isn't a team on the planet they can't beat. When they locked down defensively and held the Sooners to just eight points in that stretch, coaches across the league could be heard letting out a collective groan.
Let's hope the Jayhawks can keep it going until Feb. 25, when the take on the Longhorns. A first-place battle would be fun, and another victory on national television might finally open some people's eyes.
- Wilson is a Windsor, Mo.
senior in journalism.
MEN'S GOLF
Golf team to tee off spring season
BY ASHER FUSCO
afusco@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
The Kansas men's golf team will compete today in the University of Hawaii at Hilo Intercollegiate.
The three-day tournament will be the Jayhawks' first of the spring season. The team will play Wednesday through Friday with 7 a.m. tee-times each day.
Kansas is part of a very competitive 21-team field that matches the team against Big 12 Conference rivals Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, as well as teams from Arizona State and Georgia Tech. Eight of the nation's
The tournament will be played at Waikoloa Village Golf Course.
Kansas coach Ross Randall said he would use the difficult competition to his advantage.
top 50 teams will play in the tournment.
"It's probably one of the strongest fields of the year up until the NCAAs come along, so it'll give us an idea of how we're doing," Randall said.
Kansas is sending three seniors to Hawaii. The player's experience will allow them to compete with some of the nation's elite.
Kansas competed at Waikoloa Village Golf Course last year The Jayhawks finished tied with University of California-Davis for 11th place.
WHO WILL PLAY IN HAWAII
Name Hometown Year in school High school Pete Krsnich Wichita senior Kapaun Mt. Carmel Credentials: One Top 10 finish as a Jayhawk: 2004 Commissioner's Honor Roll
— Edited by Lindsey St. Clair
Luke Trammell Edmond, Mkla senior Bishop McGuinness Credentials: Placed 38th at 2005 Del Wakler Invitational; has appeared in only six events for Kansas
Jason Sigler Leavenworth senior
Credentials: Finished 43rd at 2005 Kansas Invitational; born in Germany
Gary Woodland Topeka junior Shawnee Heights
Credentials: No. 4 nationally: seven pen 10 finishes for Kansas
Zach Pederson Spring Hill RS freshman
Credentials: Won 2004 6A Kansas state title; tied for 4th at 2005 Kansas Invitational
Source: Kansas coach Ross Randall
Second-best in conference no problem for Mizzou
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
L. G. Patterson/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Missouri head coach Cindy Stein argues a call with a referee Saturday during a game against Oklahoma in Columbia, Mo. Missouri has gone from an 11-win team last year to a team with a shot at its third 20-win season since 1989-90.
BY R.B. FALLSTROM
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Missouri women's basketball team knows there's no shame in shooting for second.
The Tigers are the school's success story on the court, overachieving while the men have struggled around the .500 mark. The women had been unbeaten in 11 home games before losing to conference-leading Oklahoma on Saturday, a victory that propelled the Sooners into the Top 10 and gave them a three-game lead with only seven games to go.
The loss leaves Missouri in the battle for runner-up. The school was in a three-way tie for second with Baylor and Texas A&M.
"Can we catch Oklahoma?" coach Cindy Stein said. "We've lost control of that. So now we've got to just work on us."
They'll try to re-establish the momentum they've built all
Despite that setback, Missouri (16-5, 6-3 Big 12) has a shot at only its third 20-win season since 1989-90. The Tigers made it into the Top 25 earlier this season for the first time since 1984-85, and are among the top teams also receiving votes this week.
season on Wednesday at Iowa State.
"Things happen, we've just got to bounce back from it," guard LaToya Bond said. "We just have to learn from it and keep moving on."
This has been a resurgent year for Missouri, which was 11-18 last season. All five starters are back, giving Stein his most experienced team in eight seasons at the school.
They had a 12-game winning streak, second-longest in school history, early in the season. The 16-4 start was one game off the best start in school history after 20 games and they knocked off No. 4 Baylor last month. Carlynn Savant leads the nation in 3-point accuracy.
This from a team picked by conference coaches to finish 10th in the Big 12.
Oklahoma led by 20 at the half in the latest game, yet never felt that comfortable.
"I never felt like they felt they were out of the game." Sooners coach Sherri Coale said. "Until about the 3-minute mark, I never felt like they thought it was over, and that's a very important trait to develop."
Kansas State before rallying to win in overtime on Bond's basket with 3.6 seconds to go.
Missouri had been coming off its biggest victory of the year. Three days earlier it faced a 22-point deficit in the first half at
So, there was no shortage of confidence entering the game against Oklahoma and super freshman center Courtney Paris. Bond had another big game with 50 points against the Sooners, and on Monday was named
conference player of the week.
"Even being down at the half I still felt good about our team, and I think we showed some promise." Stein said. "A couple of buckets go down, we're right there in the thick of things."
Still, Stein knows Missouri must play better to hang with the premier teams. She estimated that the Tigers played according to plan less than half of the time against Oklahoma.
"Those are things we knew we were going to be able to gauge this game on, what we needed to work on still and the things we could develop a little bit better," Stein said. "Obviously, it gives us a good gauge."
BASKETBALL
Michael Jordan bedazzled by players' mile-high scores
BY KRISTIE RIEKEN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
When it comes to scoring points, Michael Jordan is an expert.
So he couldn't help but delight in Kobe Bryant putting up 81 and a New York high schooler going wild for 113.
Still, Jordan insisted things would have been a bit different if he'd been guarding Bryant.
end of that game without six fouls,"ford said Tuesday.
"If I was on the other side, there's no way I would have been in at the
Bryant's total in a come-frombehind victory over Toronto last month was the second-highest in NBA history.
"I don't know if I could have given up 81 points and not fouled out of the game."
Epiphanny Prince set a national girls' record last week in a game that was a rout from the start. Some complained her performance in such a one-sided contest was an
example of poor sportsmanship.
"I can't fault the young lady for scoring 113 points when she goes out each and every minute to play the game hard," Jordan said. "If you're going to fault anybody, fault the coach for not taking her out of the game."
The former Chicago Bulls star was in town to announce the players for his high school showcase, the Jordan All-American Classic, set for April 22 at Madison Square Garden.
Jordan was so impressed by Prince — one of the top prep players in the nation — he's contemplating adding a girls' event next year.
"I think that she's going to innovate this game," he said. "I think we should give women an opportunity to be recognized."
Jordan, whose NBA career-high was 69, couldn't remember a specific time when people got on him about scoring too much.
But he knows there were probably many occasions like that.
"I imagine you guys were mad at me a lot in New York," Jordan joked, in a lobby adjacent to the Garden.
"People got mad at me for playing hard every minute I was on the basketball court and it so happened that I scored a lot of points on their team."
Bryant has often said the he fashions his game after the 10-time NBA scoring leader. Jordan said he can see some similarities.