Section B·Page 8
The University Daily Kansan
Tuesday, February 27, 2001
Lightning strikes plane, shakes Sooners
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Just a month after the Oklahoma State plane crash cast a pall over college basketball, lightning struck the plane carrying the Oklahoma team home from Maryland on Saturday night.
"Lightning hit our right wing," Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said yesterday.
Sampson described the incident as "frightful" and said the sudden jolt "shook everybody up."
"Needless to say, a lot of prayers were said," Sampson said. "The players were up front and most of them were asleep. It was a jolt. But there was nothing after that that caused concern."
Sampson said the first thought that came into his mind was Jan. 27 when 10 members of Oklahoma State's traveling party died when their plane crashed while returning from Colorado.
The pilot immediately reassured his passengers that no damage had been done. Then after the flight landed in Oklahoma City, he came aboard the bus team.
"He said there was some damage to the right wing when the lightning strike hit us," Sampson said.
The Sooners stand 10-4 in the league, tied with Kansas and Texas for second place, one game behind Iowa State. It's
been a good recovery from their 1-3 start to the conference season
But guard J.R. Raymond, a catalyst for the comeback, has been dismissed from the team for the rest of the year for violation of team policies which Sampson refuses to discuss.
His absence could be telling. Oklahoma has posted a 9-1 record in its last 10 conference games, with Raymond averaging 18.5 points, five rebounds, 3.4 assists and 3.9 3-pointers.
"There's a toughness about our program that insulates us from adversity," Sampson said. "You don't feel sorry for yourself. You don't ask for sympathy. You go practice and get ready to play."
Yeah, we have to make some adjustments. But we'll take the right attitude and we'll move forward."
Looking for a dark horse in the Big 12 tournament? Try Texas A&M. The young Aggies are only 10-17 overall and 3-11 in the league. But coach Melvin Watkins is pleased with what he sees as steady progress.
"This year we've been at least competitive with some of those teams that lead the league," he said. "We've gotten close. Now you go into tournament time and anything can happen. I think we can go in there and get us a win or two."
In a 62-52 victory Saturday against Texas Tech, all but 10 points were scored by underclassmen.
"I think we've played better of late, so we've got some positive things going that way," Watkins said. "And to be honest, we've just been devastated with injuries."
While most people would probably list Iowa State's Jamaal Tinsley as the Big 12's best, Baylor coach Dave Bliss favors Kansas sophomore Kirk Hinrich.
"I think he understands how his team has to operate to be successful," Bliss said. "He never deters from what coaches want and his team needs him to do."
"Tinsley gets a lot of mention and he sure is a very, very good guard," Bliss added. "But I've been more impressed by Kirk Hinrich. Tinsley is just an unbelievable player. But we have other good players in this conference."
Texas' Maurice Evans was chosen the big 12's newcomer of the week while Kansas forward Nick Collison was named player of the week. Evans, who transferred from Wichita State, had 28 points Saturday night in a big victory against Iowa State.
"I really believe he's started getting better the last couple of weeks," Texas coach Rick Barnes said.
"He's somewhat figured out what he needs to do. Where he's shown most improvement in the last couple of weeks has been on the defensive end. He knew he had it in him and now it's a matter to see if he can build on it."
Texas beats Missouri, earns first-round bye
The Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas — Maurice Evans scored 21 points and No. 24 Texas secured a first-round bye in the Big 12 tournament with a 76-61 win against Missouri last night.
Texas (22-7 overall and 11-4 in the Big 12 Conference) also got 18 points from Darren Kelly in setting a school record with its 16th home win of the season. Texas has won five in a row since a 21-point home loss to Oklahoma on Feb. 10.
Securing the first-round tournament bye was important for the Longhorns. In the first four years of the Big 12, no team has come out of the first round to win the conference tournament.
Evans, who scored 28 points in Saturday's win over No. 8 Iowa State, picked up where he left off, scoring the first five points on a two-handed dunk and a three-pointer.
Evans and Brian Boddiker hit back-to-back three-pointers and Fredie Williams scored after Boddiker's steal to make it 20-8.
One of the worst shooting teams in the Big 12 this season, Texas shot 18-of-28 (64 percent) in the first half.
The Longhorns held the Tigers scoreless during a five-minute period and to just 30 percent shooting from the floor in the first half.
Bodicker's second three-pointer made it 38-18 before Missouri finally got untracked with an 8-3 run that made it 41-26. Rickey Paulding knocked down a three-pointer with 30 seconds left in the half before Evans finished it off with a two-handed alley-oop jam from Williams for a 43-26 Texas lead.
Evans struck from long range twice in the opening minutes of the second half as Texas built 59-36 lead with 11 minutes left. Kelly had 12 points in the second as Texas held at least a 15-point lead over the final 20 minutes.
University of Kansas Spring 2001 Blood Drive
BE A HERO! DONATE BLOOD.
Monday-Wednesday February 26-28 Kansas Union Ballroom 11 a.m.-5 p.m
Thursday - Friday March 1-2 McCollum Hall Lobby 1-6 p.m. FREE T-SHIRTS! (to all presenting donors) FREE COKE PRODUCTS! (to all presenting donors)
American Red Cross