friday, february 27, 2004
sports
the university daily kansan 9A
9A
Stanford beats Oregon State
The Associated Press
STANFORD, Calif. — When the ball hits the backboard and bounces in for a baseline 3-pointer, you know things are going right.
Josh Childress did just that on the way to scoring 12 points in No.1 Stanford's school-record 24th straight victory, 73-47 over Oregon State on Thursday night.
Childress, a junior All-America candidate, also had five assists, two rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot for the Cardinal, who remained one of two
unbeaten teams in Division I.
Chris Hernandez scored 11 of his 13 points in the first 11 minutes as the Cardinal (24-0, 15-0 Pac-10) built a big lead early. Third-string swinger Fred Washington scored a career-high 11 points and Stanford shot 52.8 percent.
No.2 Saint Joseph's is 25-0
David Lucas had 14 points and 11 rebounds for Oregon State (11-14, 5-10), which had won three of four following a six-game losing streak. The Beavers lost their 11th straight at Maples Pavilion and couldn't handle
Stanford's stingy man-to-man defense.
Some fans in the raucous sell-out crowd of 7,391 waited outside in the rain almost two hours before tipoff trying to get a ticket. Here's how seriously they take hoops here: Longtime season ticket-holder Bill Preston, a business major at the school decades ago, was the first to notice a mistake on the halftime stat sheet and the official scorer quickly made the fix.
The Cardinal has already won their fourth conference title in six seasons.
SEASONAL: Wooden bats safer than aluminum
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League, where wooden bats are used, dropped their average nearly .100 points from the college season. With wood bats, they hit homeruns at a rate of one every 75 at bats with wood, compared to one every 25 with metal.
Obviously aluminum bats increase offensive numbers. But in baseball, unlike every other major sport, high-powered offenses are frowned upon. That makes the adjustment from college to the minor leagues harder than it already is.
Safetv is an entirely different
issue. An aluminum bat creates 10 percent more velocity than a wood bat. And that makes a big difference when the pitcher is only 60 feet, six inches away.
During the 2000 NCAA Regionals two pitchers suffered broken jaws by batted balls.
All-American Shan Komine of Nebraska was one of those pitchers. He didn't have time to react to the ball but he said he still feels safe on the mound.
But that's an obvious answer.
No pitcher wants opposing batters to think he's scared.
ened" by manufacturers meaning the length-to-weight ratio has been changed. It made big bats harder to swing.
Advancements have been made since those two incidents. The aluminum bats were "dead"
Until the NCAA switches back to wood, it won't be on the same playing field as Major League Baseball.
It doesn't change my feeling toward the Kansas baseball team. This is the best Jayhawk team in more than 10 years and I'll be rooting for them all the way to the World Series.
But for the next game I might bring ear plugs.
Norris is a Overland Park senior in journalism.
KANSAS: Women look to end losing streak
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suspension for violating team rules. She has pulled down 157 total boards this year, averaging 6.8 per game.
"Lauren does a great job in rebounding," Mengüq said. "That's her biggest contribution."
coach Coni Yori said after the game.
That game was Nebraska's first break in a stretch in which they played a string of Top 25 teams.
"My team said playing against Kansas was not any easier than playing a Top 25," Nebraska
In that game, as in this week's game against Colorado, the Jayhawks were led in scoring by junior guard Larisha Graves, who knocked down 17 points. Graves put in 15 against Colorado.
Nebraska, a team that has been ranked this season, is led by senior forward Alexa Johnson, who averages 12 points per game.
Her last time against Kansas, freshman guard Kiera Hardy set a career record for most rebounds
Kansas, which is in the midst of a seven-game losing streak, is determined to capture a victory tomorrow.
in a game. The team's current leader in rebounds is senior guard Keasha Cannon-Johnson, a native of Kansas City.
"We will go all out and play as hard as we can." Mengcu said. "It's going to be an emotional game. I really want to win and the team is 100 percent behind me."
- Edited by Nikki Nugent
NFL
USC's Williams plans to enter NFL draft
LOS ANGELES — Mike Williams hadn't given much thought to following in the footsteps of Maurice Clarett and turning pro until a lifelong pal called him early last week wondering why.
ended Wednesday when Williams, an All-American wide receiver at Southern California, announced he was becoming the first underclassman to opt for the NFL draft since Clarett's court ruling earlier this month.
That began a process that
"You're out there with all those other guys. I don't understand why you don't consider coming out," Williams recalled his buddy telling him. "That just got the ball rolling. I'm going to
take my opportunity to a door that was opened by someone else."
Williams, a big receiver at 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, leaves with two years of eligibility remaining for the defending national champion Trojans.
"It was a very,very,very difficult decision." Williams said on a conference call from his home in Tampa, Fla.
The Associated Press
MBB: Jayhawks look to rebound after loss to Texas
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Kansas coach Bill Self said the team would have to play tough to succeed against Oklahoma.
"Our team isn't quite as skilled as the队 was last year," coach Bill Said. "You have to rely on some other things. We will show them a lot of tape on Oklahoma to let them know how they play."
Despite Monday's loss to Texas in Austin, the Jayhawks don't appear to be hanging their heads. The players and coaches have all said that in terms of effort, it was one of the team's best outings this season.
Junior guard Keith Langford drove on Texas guard Brandon Mouton during the Jayhawks' loss Monday in Austin, Texas. Kansas will face Oklahoma at 1 p.m. Sunday at All田场 House.
Eric Braem/Kansas
Kansas was hampered by a lack of bench production against Texas, with just two points from its substitutes. Quality minutes off the bench will be badly needed for Kansas on Sunday. Like Texas, Oklahoma has multiple big men to rotate in and out of the game, and they are also strong at drawing fouls. Plus, with the exception of five-foot-seven point guard Drew Lavender, the Sooners have big guards that can get to the basket.
Oklahoma's size should not be a worry for Kansas, Kansas guard Keith Langford said. The Jayhawks are not focusing on the physical element that the Sooners typically bring year in and year out under head coach Kelvin Sampson.
"Physical, it's all perception," junior guard Keith Langford said. "You say somebody's physical because they push more, but I think it's all basketball. When it comes down to it, you've still got
to dribble, pass and shoot. It really don't matter."
Sunday's game will likely be a low-scoring, chess-match type of a game. The Sooners rank 11th in the Big 12 in scoring, but allow the second fewest points per game, giving up just more than 60 a contest.
On paper, that could mean trouble for Kansas, who won just one game this season when scoring below 70 points.
The Jayhawks also must block
out the distraction of the Big 12 Conference standings. Kansas must try to avoid a drop in energy because the Big 12's regular season championship is out of reach.
"I think mathematically, we're probably out of the conference championship," junior forward Wayne Simien said. "We've just got to make sure that we bring that same energy and effort from these last couple of games."
— Edited by Kevin Flaherty