Sports
A ticket plan
The Athletics Department has released a preliminary plan to assign seating at Allen Fieldhouse by using a point system. PAGE 3B
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The University Daily Kansan
Friday, January 23, 2004
Kansas 68 - Richmond 69
TANGLED UP
Final shot clinches upset for Spiders
By Ryan Greene rgreene@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
While Richmond senior guard Tony Dobbins hit a difficult, spinning 12-foot jumper with a second left on the clock, Kansas had its own problems hitting the easiest shot in basketball.
Free throws, which have been one of Kansas' strengths this season, defeated the Jayhawks in a shocking 69-68 loss to the Richmond Spiders at Allen Fieldhouse last night.
In a game with 46 fouls and 28 turnovers, the Jayhawks' most telling statistic was a 18-for-28 performance from the free throw line. The tough night at the charity stripe was capped by Miles and Langford each missing a pair of free throws in the closing minutes.
"I missed a pair of free throws that could have sealed the game with a minute left, but I didn't," Miles said. "We just can't let it bother us to the point where it misses with our heads."
As much of a height and strength advantage Kansas had over Richmond, the Spiders had an answer for everything the Jayhawks threw at them in the first half. Kansas took a 34-29 lead into the locker room at halftime along with pumped-up, capacity crowd, following an alley-oop toss from Aaron Miles to Keith Langford just before the buzzer.
The Jayhawks got their lead up to nine points at 38-29 in the second half, but led by senior guard Mike Skrocki, the Spiders went on a 15-5 run and claimed the lead at 44-43. Skrocki led all scorers, scoring 16 of his 23 points in the second half.
The two teams swapped blows for the remainder of the game, with Richmond responding to every Kansas surge. Self called a timeout with 25.5 seconds remaining, and his team leading 68-67 to set up his offense. On the ensuing play, a batched play forced Miles to have an awkward three-pointer blocked as the shot clock expired. As Dobbins hit the clutch jumper, the air was sucked out of the Fieldhouse, and Kansas suffered its first home loss since Jan. 25, 2003, to Arizona
SEE SPIDERS ON PAGE 98
Eric Braem/Kansan
Richmond's Mike Skrooki and Jamal Scott sweat a shot from surrounded Kansas forward Jeff Graves in the first half of the Jayhawks 69-88 last-second loss to the Sollers in Allen Fieldhouse yesterday. Graves netted 6 points in 18 minutes while Skrooki led all scorers with 23.
Dobbins unfazed by hype, tradition
By Mike Norris
mnorris@kansan.com
Kansas sportswriter
Tony Dobbins said he knew the history of Allen Fieldhouse. He even knew his Richmond Spiders were supposed to lose.
He just didn't care.
Just unlucky.
On a play that was designed for someone else, Richmond senior guard Dobbins took the ball on the left wing, drove to the hoop, spun and floated a 10 foot shot over Kansas guard Aaron Miles that swished through the net with 1.2 seconds left on the clock.
The shot came on the possession after Dobbins blocked Aaron Miles from the top of the key, forcing the Jayhawks to commit a shot-clock violation.
The play was not designed for Dobbins. Senior guard Mike Skroki was supposed to take Richmond's final shot, but because the Jayhawks had him well-covered, Dobbins didn't have enough time to look anywhere else.
"I knew that even if I threw it to him it was going to be tough for him to take a shot." Dobbins said.
So the senior — who finished with seven points, four rebounds and three assists — took it upon himself to end the Jayhawks 52-game winning streak against unranked opponents at Allen Fieldhouse.
Skrocki, who led all scorers with 23 points, didn't seem to mind not taking the last shot.
"I was pretty excited after it went in," Skrocki said. After Dobbins' shot went in the clock showed only two tenths of a second remaining.
The officials then looked at the replay and added an extra second back on to the clock.
"I got a little bit nervous," Skrocki said. "Anything can happen in 1.2 seconds."
A Simien foul on Kansas' inbound pass ended any chance of a comeback.
Dobbins shot improved the Spiders record to 2-0 against Big 12 Conference opponents this season. Their other victory was a 75-62 defeat of Colorado in Boulder on Dec. 31.
Richmond has also played Wake Forest
SEE DOBBINS ON PAGE 9B
Teams to compete again after Border War scuffle
By Joe Bant and Jonathan Kealing jbant@kansan.com, jkealing@kansan.com Kansan sportswriters
When a fight broke out after the Kansas women's basketball team's 55-52 defeat of Missouri on Jan. 10, the two teams made national headlines.
After a close, physical game the atmosphere became heated as words were exchanged during post-game handshakes. A multi-player fracas ensued.
"There's some great basketball in our league and there's some great basketball here at Missouri. I just wish people would focus on that more," she said.
Not that anyone wants to dwell on it. Take Missouri coach Cindy Stein:
Or Kansas coach Marian Washington: The fight, "doesn't take anything away from their effort," she said after the game. "hopefully that's what will be focused on."
Tomorrow, Stein's Tigers (9-6, 0-4 in the Big 12) will square off against the layhawks (8-8, 1-4 in the Big 12) for the
first time since the fight. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.at Allen Fieldhouse.
Both teams are hoping that tomorrow's game will give them an opportunity to put the fight behind them. So too will University officials, who will pay close attention to tomorrow's contest.
Jim Marchiony, Kansas associate athletics director, said security would be vigilant at tomorrow's game, though no specific measures were added to normal routines.
As always, he said, security would be present all around the court and the band would be far enough away from the court's entrance to avoid problems. Kansas players have blamed Missouri's band for helping to spark the altercation after last month's game.
"we think our game operations and security and our fans have been very good at preventing off-the-court problems." Marchiony said.
Marchiony also said the officiating crew at tomorrow's game would be aware of the previous incident and play its own part in preventing any new problems.
Both teams have felt the effects of the
fight. The Big 12 suspended five players: three from Kansas and two from Missouri for "engaging in flagrant misconduct and not showing proper restraint in their conduct during the post-game alteration."
The suspended Kansas players were: junior forward Kandis Bonner; sophomore forward Tamara Ransburg; and junior guard Larisha Graves for one game. The Big 12 also suspended two Missouri players: MyEsha Perkins, senior guard, and Christelle N'Garsanet, sophomore center, for one game. Missouri added a game to Perkins' suspension, which made her total suspensions two games.
two games. Washington was admonished by the Big 12 for making comments contrary to the policies of conference. After the game, Washington said she did not believe any of her players needed to be punished. Washington blamed the incident on Missouri players who she said used profanities, as well as members of the Missouri band, who Washington said spat on on her players.
Neither school expects any similar behavior at tomorrow's game. Lew Perkins, Kansas athletics director, and Mike Alden, Missouri athletic director
Kevin Fletcher, assistant director of media relations for the Missouri athletic department, said Missouri stood by its own on-the-court security and would not make any changes to its security policies because of the brawl. He said the brawl was simply a case of players on both sides making wrong decisions and was not related to any security deficiency.
released a statement that expressed a desire to put the incident behind them. The statement also said the schools would do their best to ensure good sportsmanship from both fans and players.
The Big 12 upheld this conclusion in its report and stated that Missouri acted to "prevent further escalation of the incident in an appropriate manner."
Tomorrow's game will allow either Missouri or Kansas to snap a losing streak. Neither team has won since the two competed on Jan. 10.
John Nownk/Kamar
—Edited by Louise Stauffer
Larisha Graves holds possession during a game against The University of San Diego. The Jayhawks will host Missouri at home tomorrow at Allen Fieldhouse.
TALK TO SPORTS: Contact Henry C. Jackson and Maggie Newcomer at SPORTS@KANSAN.COM
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