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Monday, March 9, 1987 / University Daily Kansan
Sports
Hoop hysteria Jayhawks to play Houston in first round
By ROB KNAPP
Staff writer
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas Jayhawks are headed south, according to the NCAA Tournament pairings released yesterday.
Men's Basketball
Kansas, 23,10, has been seeded fifth in the Southeast Region and will play
at the Ormi in Atlanta. The Jay-
hawks will play their first-round
game Friday against the University
of Houston Cougars.
Houston, 18-11 and seeded 12th in the region, finished tied for third in the Southwest Conference with Texas Tech.
The Cougars did not know for sure whether they were going to the tournament until the finish of the Pac-10 Tournament championship game. In an unusual move, the NCAA announced that Washington would get the 12th seed in the Southeast only if it won the conference tournament
Washington lost to UCLA in the conference title game, 76-64, and the at large bid was extended to Houston.
Georgetown University, the Big East Tournament champion and ranked No. 7 by The Associated Press, is the No.1 seed in the Southeast. The other top seeds in Kansas' regional tournament are Alabama of the Southeastern Conference, Illinois of the Big Ten Conference and Clemson of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
A Kansas victory Friday would pit the 'Hawks against the winner of the Clemson-Southwest Missouri State game.
"I'm just thankful we're in," Kansas coach Larry Brown said after his team lost the Big Eight Tournament yesterday at Kemper Arena.
Three other Big Eight Conference schools receive invitations to the NETC.
Missouri, winner of both the Big Eight regular season and tournament crowns, is seeded fourth in the Midwest Regional. The Tigers face Boston and San Antonio in Cities Conference in their first-round game Thursday at Indianapolis.
The Oklahoma Sooners, tied with Kansas for second in the final conference standings, is the sixth seed in the West. They play intrastate rival University of Tulsa of the Missouri Valley Conference on Friday.
Kansas State, which beat Nebraska in the Big Eight Tournament and nearly knocked off Missouri, is seeded ninth in the West. The Wildcats open the tournament against Georgia on Thursday in Salt Lake City.
Both Brown and Missouri coach Norm Stewart said the seeds would bring more attention to the conference.
Tiger spoils
Derrick Chievous, Missouri forward, admires the Big Eight Tournament championship trophy. The Tigers slipped by KU 67-65 yesterday at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo.
KU draws Northeastern Louisiana in opener
By DAVID BOYCE
Staff writer
Women's Basketball
The Kansas women's basketball team will face Northeastern Louisiana in the first round of the women's NCAA tournament, which starts March 11.
Kansas will practice today in Allen Field House before leaving tonight for Florida.
"We are excited, but it is not going to be easy to play away from home." Coach Marian Washington said yes. "They have tremendous 'addition'."
Northeastern Louisiana finished the season with a 14-9 record and are
seeded 10th in the Midwest region, while Kansas is seeded seventh.
Home courts are determined by the schools' season attendance record, and since the Jayhawks did not draw well this year, KU did not put in a bid to host a first or second-round game. Washington said.
Although Northeastern Louisiana has only an average record this season, the Indians finished last season with a record of 26-3.
"I am surprised they are seeded as low as they are." Washington said.
"They are a very capable team and many of their losses this year were to national powers."
Kansas, though, is entering the tournament with eight wins in a row, including a dominating victory over Kansas State in the finals of the Big Eight Conference championship in Salina.
Northeastern Louisiana this season has lost to top-ranked Texas and No. 34 in the nation.
The Indians are led by senior guard Chrissa Hailey, who averages nearly 16 points a game.
The Jayhawk defeated K-State 85-51 using a combination of aggressive defense and good outside shooting.
The Wildcats, 22.8, seeded nine
will face northwestern, 19.9, which is
a tough matchup.
Both teams are similar in height and have balanced scoring attacks. The Indians have five players scoring in double figures.
get the automatic NCAA bid, also received an invitation to the tournament and was placed in the Midwest region with Kansas.
K-State, the team Kansas beat to
If Kansas wins, it will face No. 2-seeded Georgia in the second round. If K-State wins, it will face No. 1-
seeded Louisiana Tech in the second round.
Washington was a little disappointed that both her team and K-State were pitied against two of the toughest teams in women's basketball in the second round.
Louisana Tech finished the season with a 25-2 record and Georgia finished with a 26-4 record.
"I think the Big Eight Conference is one of the top conferences in the country, but we are not getting the respect that we should because of how they are seeding the Big Eight teams," Washington said.
ACC, SEC and Big 10 place six in NCAA tournament
United Press International
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Nevada Las Vegas, Indiana, Georgetown and North Carolina received top seeds yesterday for the NCAA basketball tournament while defending champion Louisville was left out of the 64 team field.
NCAA Tourney
The Atlantic Coast, Big Ten and southeastern conferences each
and the Big East placed five teams. More than one-third of the tournament's teams come from those four leagues.
The Big Eight placed Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri and Oklahoma.
March 30 in New Orleans.
The three-week basketball extra-
vaganza begins Thursday in sites
and venues throughout the country.
The nine-man NCAA selection committee selected New Orleans and Southwest Missouri State at the state level of traditional power such as Louisville.
UNLV, the nation's No. 1 team,
received the top seed in the West
Regional. No. 2 North Carolina was
placed in the East, No. 4 Indiana in
the Midwest and No. 7 Georgetown in
the Southeast.
Each of the 64 school representatives earns $200,000 for competing in the tournament. The four teams to win all four rounds will each receive more than $1 million.
Independents made a comeback of sorts this year. DePaul, Notre Dame and New Orleans received bids. Last week the City Council asked Notre Dame and DePaul were invited.
Three teams play first-round games at home - Syracuse at the
Carrier Dome, DePaul at The Rosemont Horizon and Alabama-Birmingham at the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center. Last year LSU upset Purdue and Memphis State at home en route to the Final Four
Bucknell, Florida, New Orleans and Southwest Missouri are joining the tournament for the first time.
Big Eight puts four in NCAAs
United Press International
KANSAS CITY. Mo — The step the Big Eight Conference has taken to shake its football-only image are
Big Eight
reflected in the support shown by the NCAA Division I men's basketball committee.
Four conference teams received bids, with Missouri grabbing the automatic entry with a 67-65 victory over Kansas in the finals of the Big Eight tournament. The loss did not stop the team from winning Tournament, however, and seminal losers No. 17 Oklahoma and Kansas state also were issued invitations.
Missouri, ranked 19th, will face Xavier (Ohio) on Thursday at Indianapolis in its first-round game. Kansas is paired with Houston in a Friday game in Atlanta. Oklahoma meets cross-state rival Tulsa in a first-round game Friday in Tucson, Ariz; and Kansas State goes to Salt Lake City for a first-round contest with Georgia.
The NCAA selection committee looks hard at a team's schedule when deciding its at-large choices. Kansas and Oklahoma played two of the toughest schedules in the nation this season, and the DIA statistics showed that they Eligated the toughest non-conference schedule of any Division I league.
Kansas State received perhaps the toughest draw of the four Big Eight teams. The 19-10 Wildcats will face Georgia, whose 18-11 record was good enough for an at-large bid.
NU gets NIT bid
The Associated Press
NEW YORK - Villanova, NCAA basketball national champion in 1985, leads the field announced yesterday for the 50th edition of the National Invitation Tournament.
The Wildcats, 15-15 and eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Big East Conference tournament, were one of the 30 teams named to the field. The final two teams, as well as the sites for the games, will be announced today.
Nebraska, the only Big Eight Conference team to be invited, will play Marquette on Wednesday in Lincoln. The Cornhuskers, 17-11, will meet the Warriors, 16-12, Wednesday night.