Sports
University Daily Kansan / Friday, March 8. 1991
7
Jayhawks to battle Buffaloes
Julie Jacobson/KANSAN
In preparation for the tournament this weekend, Malcolm Nash looks for a team during the Jayhawks' practice at Kemper Arena.
Game determines Colorado's chance at NCAA tournament
By S. J. Bailey
Kansan sportswriter
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas basketball coach Roy Williams knows his Jayhawks will have to contain Colorado's Stevie Wise if they wish to advance to the second round of the Bie Eight Tournament.
But that might just be easier said than done as the two players slotted to guard Wise in today's first-round contest are hobbled with injuries.
Junior forward Alonzo Jamison has not fully recovered from an ankle sprain suffered in Sunday's loss to Nebraska, and freshman guard/for-tackle Jacob Drexel last yeard's hour-long workout at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo.
"Alonzo will play, but my guess is he will be about 80 percent." Williams said yesterday. "Patrick jammed a finger, and it looked like it might be dislocated. I haven’t talked to him yet." Mr. Jenkins how bad he is. It looked ugly, but maybe he is just got ugly little fingers."
Kansas can ill afford not to be on top of Wise at all times as the senior guard scorched the Jayhawks with 32 points, including six three-pointers, in Kansas '79-1 loss to Colorado in Boulder three weeks ago.
Sophomore guard A dosis Jonrid was the sayhawks would have to be a lot sharper than they were in Boulder and we're going to shut down the Buffaloes.
"Intensity on defense will be the key to the game," Jordan said. "I think it will control the whole game right from the first minute."
Wise said the Buffaloes were ready to come out and challenge the favored Jayhawks both offensively and defensively.
Men's Basketball
really loose." Wise said. "There really is no pressure on us at all. We know we need the wins to move on to post-season play, and we know what we are going to do biggest thing we have to do against Kansas is concentrate on their passing game. More than that, we have to focus on our team. If we can do that,
Williams said the injuries to Jamison and Richie could cause problems defending Wise, who finished the game by scoring aiding scoreer with 20.5 points a game.
"The injuries affect our strategy an awful wolf, especially if Patrick's hand really is hurt," he said. "Alonzo normally would draw the assignment to guard Steve Wise. If it works out we'll win." He said that's that way we'll start the game. If not, it will fall on Patrick, Steve Woodberry or Sean Tunstall."
"Right now, everyone is feeling
"I think it will definitely be a battle between Mark (Randall) and I to see who can have the bigger game," he said. "I've played in a lot of games against Mark, and nothing has ever come easy."
Vandiver said he thought the game would come down to which team could defend the other's big man in the paint.
Big 8 Men's Tournament match-ups
Colorado coach Joe Harrington said he knew it would not be easy for
But Wise is not the only weapon in Colorado's arsenal that Kansas will have to defend against if it plans to continue into Saturday's semi-finals. Senior center Shaun Vandiver, an associated Press first-team All-Big Ten selection, was the league fifth leading selection with 20.4 points a game.
the Buffaloes, 15-12 overall and 9-1 in league play, to get a berth in the NCAA tournament. However, he added that a victory against the 12th ranked Jayhawks would help the cause.
"I don't think we necessarily have to win the tournament to get in, but that's what we are striving for." Harrington said. "As tough as the Big Eight has been this season, I think one win would be to put us in consideration and two would get us in the tournament."
Williams knows his Jayhawks will be in the NCAA tournament, but he hasn't been happy about some of the events leading up to the conference finale.
Earlier this week, Williams voiced his displeasure at having to trek to Kemper Arena for a mandatory game, which mission to promote the tournament.
Yesterday, he let the media from all over the Big Eight know exactly how he felt about the pre-tournament festivities.
"I'd rather not be here," Williams
told the reporters in attendance
"That's my first comment."
Williams reiterated that he thought taking the extra time to attend the session took away from his players' school time as well as practice time.
"I had two guys that had to get out of class early to come over here," Williams said. "And because of NCAA rules, Rex Walters, who can with us 40 miles away in Lawrence, could practice with us on the road.
"Take a good look. Because if it is still set up the same way next year, I'm not coming back."
Tipoff for today's game is 6:10 p.m. at Kemper Arena. The game will be televised on channels 13 and 41. The winner of the Kansas-Colorado game will advance to the semifinals at 3:20 p.m. Saturday against the winner of the Oklahoma-Nebraska game.
Seedlings for the NCAA tournament, including when and where Kansas will play in the first round. The team was scheduled Sunday shortly after 5:30 p.m.
Nee wins Big 8 coach of year
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Danny Nee of Nebraska, whose team was picked to finish last and whose career was thought to be in jeopardy, has been named Associated Press Big Eight coach of the year after coaching the Huskers to a team-record 24 victories
Nee, 45, was thought by many to be in trouble entering his fifth year at a Nebraska program that had failed to find a job. He then forward administrators had wanted
Blessed with a beautiful new facility and plenty of football money to lavish on recruiting, Nebraska still had not made the basketball breakthrough. It did in 1980s at the Big Eight's other traditional football power, Oklahoma.
At the preseason basketball lunch-eon with coaches and media representatives last November, Nee asked writers what would become an
embarrassing question
"Why did you guys pick us last?" he said.
nobody spoke up. But the answer seemed obvious. The same cast of canches and plowers was back that in 13-11 in the Big Eight the year before.
But if the writers had thought further, they might have realized that a team full of experienced seniors with high morale is a proven recipe for success. As it turned out, Nee and his Huskers recorded one of the most marked improvements any team has made in a decade.
Not only did they establish themselves as a force to be reckoned with, but they head into this week's Big Eight Tournament sporting a 24-6 win over Colorado. That's two more victories than any Nebraska team ever achieved.
Their Big Eight record of 9-5 puts them right behind co-champions
Kansas and Oklahoma State, and they are a cinch to get a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
"We believed we had quality athletes who worked hard and had matured." Nee said, "We believed we had the nucleus to be a successful team. But I know that this was not known. But I knew in my heart that this was not a last place team."
One of Nee's biggest supporters is the man who finished second in coach-of-the-year balloting. Eddie Sutton, who guided Oklahoma State to the conference co-championship in his first season, drew six votes to Nee's eight. Roy Williams of Kansas got the other two votes.
"I'm delighted to hear the writers picked Danny. He's done an outstanding job," Sutton said. "The honor is well deserved. He's worked awfully hard to get that program to the level it is at now."
Softball team ready to win first tournament of season
By Lana Smith
Kansas softball coach Kalum Haack said he hoped the Jayhawks would crack the top 20 after playing in the Texas A & M Invitational today, tomorrow and Sunday in College Station. Texas.
Kansan sportswriter
"I'm really optimistic." Haack said. "If we're going to lose, (the other teams) are going to have to be defeated. But we've got to avoid beating ourselves."
The Jayhawks will be one of 12 teams competing in the tournament during the weekend.
Kansas first baseman and pitcher Shelly Snack said that if Kansas played to its potential, the Jayhawks would make a comeback showing in
Softball
this first tournament of the season.
Sack said that even though Texas A & M won the first tournament last year, Kansas could definitely beat them this year.
"We're playing together as one." Sack said. "We've been working on staying intense from the first pitch to the last pitch."
Sack said that the key factor in Kansas' performance would be how tough its pitching was.
She said that sophomore pitcher Jill Buller's pitching was looking good because of missed playing time in the fall because of reconstructive knee surgery.
"When her ball is moving, she's hard to hit off." Sack said.
Sack said that warm weather and tough competition, rather than scrimmages, had the team excited about the tournament.
"We're not as intense against smaller schools," Sack said. "We're looking forward to staying intense."
Haack said the Jayhawks were getting stale and were ready for a real game.
He said that the team seemed focused and that the players knew what they needed to do to win.
"The month of March is going to be really tough," Hacks said. "There's lots of competition. We're going to win it, both ball and avoid making mistakes."
Sports briefs
Team flies to Florida
The Kansas men's golf team will fly to Florida tomorrow and compete in two tournaments during spring break.
to compete in tourneys
The University of Central Florida will be the home team at Kansas first tournament in Orlando March 11 in the Kansas first competition of the year.
Kansas coach Ross Randall said the team would be going up against a strong field.
“五 of the teams are in the top 20, and three of those are in the top 10，” he said.
The team will play its second tournament March 15-17 in Tampa.
Randall said the team was lucky to be able to play in two tournaments without missing any class time.
"We have been limited to two or three days a week," he said. "But really, it is like that every year."
Randall said the team had put in as much practice time as it could, but the cold weather had kept it off the course.
Ben Johnson reveals his plans to quit racing
"After that I will finish with track and field," the 29-year-old Canadian
SEVILLE, Spain — Ben Johnson, in the mid of his return to track and field, revealed today that he would win a gold medal in France year's Olympics in Barcelona. Spain.
Suspended from the 1988 Seoul games after he was caught taking drugs, the spinner said he hoped to win his next three important races, which are the 60-meter final at the indoor world championships in Seville tomorrow, the 100-meter at the world championships in Tokyo in the summer and the Olympic 100-meter final in Barcelona.
said.
After beating Carl Lewis at the Seoul Games in 1988, Johnson was stripped of the gold medal, and the world record he had set was strenched. In a separate sample revealed that he had been taking muscle-building steroids.
He was later banned from racing for two years. Since his comeback in January, Johnson has run eight indoor races, winning five.
'I'm 29 now and it will be time to pack it up 18 months from now. I'm putting in a lot of hard training so hopefully I will come out with a victory in '92. These are my two big years left, this year and next year.'
"I love track and field a lot and have been running 16 years and it's got very hard," Johnson said.
SARASOTA, Fla. — Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer made his first competitive appearance since 1984 Wednesday, throwing two innings in an intrasquad game at the Baltimore Orioles spring training facility.
Palmer threw 38 pitches and gave up two runs on four hits, but he threw well enough to get out of the first inning without a hard-hit ball. He gave up a wind-blown home run to Bubba Watson, and he gave single to rookie Luis Mercedes in the second before working out of trouble.
The Orioles intend for Palmer to make his 1991 exhibition debut on March 11, when the club plays host to Boston Red Sox in Brentwood, Fl.
Johnson's main rivals for the 60-metal gold medal in Seville will be Andre Cason of the United States, Adrian Britain and Chidi Niboh of Nigeria.
From staff and wire reports
Jim Palmer gives up two runs in two innings
Members of the KU rugby team practice scrum downs on the scrum machine at Shenk Complex.
Kansas rugby team enters its 27th year
By Mark Spencer
Kansan sportswriter
Bill Kirkelie scratches, hits, bites and slams into other people.
In return, he gets kicked, elbowed and slung to the ground by his shirt collar.
Don't fret for Kirkelie, however. He is just having fun.
Kirkilee, Lake Forest, II, senior, is a member of the Kansas Rugby Club, which has just begun its 27th season at KU.
The club comprises 65 members all of whom are either KU students
members of the Lawrence community. The club is divided into two teams: a collegiate team for KU students and a non-Kansas students.
The two divisions of the club work out and travel together.
Kirkelie said this year's collegiate team was very strong.
The club has been practicing
"I think this year we have the best group of guys in five or six years," he said. "Most of our athletics freshmen and sophomores."
Kirkelle said the practices were grueling, but the fun of playing rugby made us for it.
"That's what is good about it, no one is forcing us to come out and practice," he said. "There's no coach yelling at you."
every Tuesday and Thursday since early February, while maintaining a loose atmosphere, Kirkelle said.
Last year, the collegiate team
"I think of it as a kind of fraternity," he said. "We all go out together and are really close with each other."
was one of the final eight teams in the Western Collegiate Rugby Championships, where they lost to the eventual national champion.
Paddy Delargy, London senior and team captain, said the club members encouraged anyone to with them, regardless of experience.
"The hardest part is getting in shape," he said. "After that, it's great fun even if you don't know what's going on."