Sports
University Daily Kansan / Friday, December 1, 1989
13
'Hawks beat flu, slow start, Idaho
By Dan Perkins
Kansan sportswriter
The fourth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks overcame a shugglest first half and a touch of the fau lait last, eight in Vandals 87-58 at Allen Field House.
With three players and Coach Roy Williams under the weather this week, Williams was a little concerned with how his team would play.
Williams said Mark Randall, Jeff Gueldner and Pekka Markkanen were all bothered by the flu. Randall missed Tuesday's practice.
Despite that, the three scored 39 points on a combined 12-for-15 shooting from the field and 9-for-15 from the free throw line.
"Coach (Jerry) Green and I talked late last night and he said, 'Don't worry, these kids will play their tails off for you and you know that.' He told him, "Yeah, but I still have a reason to be concerned."
The Jayhawks, after jumping to a 6-10 lead in the first minute of the game on two three-pointers by Gueldron to ease Williams' concern early.
Kansas, 5-0, led just 25-22 with 6:47 left in the first half but outscored the Vandals 13-4 the rest of the half for a 12-point halftime advantage.
"I think they had a lot to do with us not getting off to a good start." Williams said. "I've said all week that they were a good basketball team. I still believe that now."
e Jayhawks ran off a 14-6 run
starting the second half to open a 20 point lead, 52-32, with 15:46 remaining in the rame.
Kansas hit 61.1 percent of its shots, but Randall said the defense was the key to the Jawhaws' easy victory.
"We've said all season that our defense is going to be our offense," Randall said. "When you can play well, you will help you to get easier basketks."
Kansas held Idaho to just 47.3 percent shooting.
Kansas was led in scoring by Terry Brown with 19 points on 7-for-14 shooting, including 4-for-9 from three-point range; Randall added 17 points and Guelden, who hit all four of his three-point attempts, scored 13.
Brown's 19 points and six rebounds were career highs, and he also tallied his first two-point basket of the season. He entered the game having shots from three-point range, but he had been 0-for-3 on two-point shots.
Kevin Pritchard led Kansas with seven assists and now is fourth on the all-time Kansas career assists list with 348, six more than Danny Manning. Assistant coach mark Turgeon on the list with 457 career assists.
Idaho's Riley Smith was the game's high scorer with 22 points, and Ricardo Boyd had 14. Smith scored 33 points in the Vandals' season-opening victory against Simon Fraser.
Kansas guard Kevin Pritchard goes for the steal against Javhawk-turned-Vandal Otie Ivinington
Andrew Morrison/KANSAS
Former Kansas guard Otis Livingston scored only four points before leaving late in the game with an injury.
Gueldner shoots perfect game
By Gene King
Kansan sportswriter
Senior guard Jeff Guelden was perfect last night in the Kansas Jayhawks 87-58 victory against Utah, nugging cough through the week.
Guelder hit four of four from three-point range and hit one free throw on an Idaho technical for his 13 points.
Before the game last night, Gueldner had hit seven of ten from beyond the three-point strike.
Gueldner and transfer guard Terry Brown were a combined eight of 13 from three-point range.
"I know that I'm not going to shoot 90 percent at the end of the year," Gueldner said.
"When Jeff gets his feet set to shoot, I start feeling pretty comfortable," Coach Roy Williams said.
"He's got the green light whenever there is one defensive player back, if he is open," Williams said.
Williams wanted to implement Gueldner in his three-point offensive game plan so much that he told Gueldner to practice shooting three-pointers during the summer.
Guelder credits his three-point success to the team's offense and his manu-
"I'm getting a lot of open shots."
he said. "On only one of those shots did I have a hand in my face."
"I'm not going to be the guy that shoots a three-pointer off one foot, but I've got a lot of confidence in me if I can get my feet set."
Gueldner said that his newly found confidence came from his summer workouts in pick-up games and scrimages.
"I looked to shoot more and to take the open shot," he said. "As I looked, for my shot, I just got that much more confident."
Guelderen said that he wouldn't be disappointed if he only got one or two pairs.
"If that happens, that means the guys inside, Mark (Randall) and Peka (Markkanen), are getting the shots," Guildner said.
Two freshmen to redshirt 1989-90 basketball season
By a Kansan reporter
Freshman Shannon Kite and Stacy Truitt will be redshirted this year and will not play in tonight's game. Washington announced yesterday.
"We feel like it might be to their best interests and ours, and it will give them a chance to adjust and physically," Washington said.
Washington said that the decision was not a disciplinary one and that it would eventually allow the players to develop and receive more time on the court next year.
I think are going to help us. But they are both very young, and I think they could both use a year," she said.
"I've got two young players that
Washington said both players understood and were comfortable with the decision.
Truitt led port Gibson High in Port Gibson, Miss., to a 43-2 record and its fourth straight class 3A state title last year. She was also named USA Today's player of the year in Mississippi.
Kite led in Elk-Hern Kimballon High in Iowa to a third-place finish in the Iowa state tournament and the MVP. Today player of the year in Iowa.
Maryland-Baltimore County is next for Kansas
Kansas Basketball GAME 6
KANSAS JAYHAWKS
Coach: Roy Williams
Record: 5-0
MARYLAND-BALTIMORE
COUNTY RETRIEVERS
Coach: Earl Hawkins
Record: 1-1
PROBABLE STARTERS
Player Ht. PPG RPG
G-Kevin Pritchard 6-3 12.6 3.2
G-Jeff Gueldern 6-5 12.4 3.6
C-Pekka Markkanen 6-10 5.8 3.0
F-Rick Calloway 6-6 8.8 5.0
F-Mark Randall 6-9 19.0 5.8
Player Ht. *IP* *RPG*
G-Larry Simmons 6-1 *25.0* 6.0
G-Bobby Mills 6-2 1.0 4.0
C-Cedric zileln 6-10 0.0
F-Levi Franklin 6-3 17.0 4.0
F-Jim Frantz 6-10 10.0 6.0
Genie notes: This is the first meeting between the two schools. The Retrievers leading scoreer, Larry Simmons, and Kevin Pritchard were grade school friends and teammates. Tip-off is at 1:35 p.m. Radio broadcasts include KJHK (90.7 FM) and KMZB (90 AM). Sunflower Cablevision will delay the broadcast.
Gene Notes: This is the first
No.4 'Hawks face Retrievers tomorrow
The Kansas Jayhawks won't have much time to celebrate last night's 87-58 victory against Idaho.
The fourth-ranked Jayhawks, 5-0,
have today off before facing the
Maryland-Baltimore County Retrievers
at 1:35 p.m. tomorrow in Allen
Field House.
*figures shown are after Monday's game
Maryland-Baltimore County is an NCAA Division I independent that was 17-11 in Coach Earl Hawkins' first season last year.
By Dan Perkins
Kansan sportswriter
This season, the Retrievers are 1-1 after losing Monday to Miami (Fla.). After a game against Florida, Intermediate Kansas will play at Miami on Jan. 10.
The game will feature a couple of interesting match-ups for the Jayhawks.
Lionel Simmons, who led the Retrievers with 25 points in their first game, and Kevin Pritchard were junior-high teams.
Pritchard said that in junior high, Simmons was the point guard. Pritchard also said that the two
The game also will feature a match-up of two foreign centers.
Cedric Izilein, 6-foot-10, is originally from Benin City, Nigeria, and Kansas center Peka Markkanen, also 6-10, is from Jyvyaskylä, Finland.
played a lot alike although Simmons liked to shoot more.
Izilein was scoreless in the Retrievers' first game while Markkanen is averaging 8.5 points per game for the Jayhawks.
The Retrievers had two other starters score in double figures in their opening game.
The Maryland-Baltimore County game is the second in a hectic stretch in which the Jayhaws will play five games in 10 days.
Forwards Levi Franklin and Jim Frantz scored 17 and 14 points respectively and combined for 10 rebounds.
In addition to the games last night and tomorrow, Kansas will play at home against Tennessee-Martin on Monday, at Southern Methodist on Wednesday and at home against Kentucky on Dec. 9.
By Paula Parrish Kansan sportswriter
Jayhawks to sponsor tourney
The Jayhawks will face the Radford Lady Highlanders at 8 p.m., after a 6 p.m. match between the Missouri-Kansas City Kangaroos and the Texas-Pan American Lady Broncs.
First round action will begin tonight as Kansas hosts the seventh annual Lady Jayhawk Dial Classic at Allen Field House.
The winners of the matches will play for the championship at 8 p.m. Saturday. A consolation game will be at 6 p.m.
Comaneci's whereabouts remain a mystery
Washington said the key to keeping ahead of the Highlanders would be just that — keeping ahead of the Highlanders.
"Their strength is their inside game. They're very physical, very aggressive," Washington said. They seem to have a really good skill set. They also crash the boards very well, especially offensively."
Kansas heads into the competition with a 1-2 record after placing fourth at the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Classic last weekend. Kansas defeated Toledo 49-45 in the first round of the Classic but lost to the ultimate champion, Hawaii, 72-62 in the semifinals. Kansas played Vanderbilt in a consolation for third but lost 70-64.
"I feel like we're most comfortable when we're running, so we're going to put a lot of emphasis on just running the floor." Washington said. "We have a fast break offense that we're going to focus a lot on also."
A key player for the Radford team and someone Kansas will have to keep an eye on you will be guard Patrinda Toney. The 5-foot-5 guard averages 86 points per game and shot almost 65 percent from the free-throw line.
Although Washington considers defense to Kansas' strength, constitutes a challenge.
"If I was to sight our weaknesses right now, we're just not consistent blocking out," she said. "We're really going to have to buckle down and block people out and keep them from those second and third shots."
Radford posted a 25-7 record last year and received a postseason tournament berth in the National Women's Invitational Tournament, where the Highlanders took fifth overall.
"She's probably going to be a key player for them." Washington said.
Page is the team's leading rebound this season, averaging 8.3 boards per game.
Probable starters for tonight's game are forwards Terrilyn Johnson and Danielle Shareef, center Lynn Lisa Bradady and Shannon Bloxom.
Braddy is right behind Bloxom, averaging 11.7 per game, and leading the team in assists, averaging 9.3 a game.
"If our offense plays as well as our defense, I think we can have one of the best teams in the country," Bloxom said. "It's different running the offenses in practices and then in games. We run the same offences, but they run different defenses and you have to adjust to that."
The Associated Press
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Nadia Comaneci, the Olympic gymnastics champion who disappeared from her native Romania in an apparent defection, may be at the U.S. Embassy in Switzerland, her coach said yesterday.
"We played three teams that were ranked higher than us. I think this tournament won't be the same kind of competition," said women's basketball coach Marian Washington. But it's the kind of game that you must win to have some things. When you come off a trip like that, it's important that you get right back into the swing of things."
Embassy officials, however,
denied she was there, adding another twist to the mystery surrounding the 1976 Olympic champion, who crossed the border into Hungary in the predawn hours Tuesday.
Washington said she was looking forward to the competition this weekend and to continued improvement from her team.
After last weekend's tournament action, Bloxom leads the team in scoring, averaging 12.7 point per game against Vanderbilt and high of 19 points against Vanderbilt.
"As far as I know, she is probably in the U.S. Embassy in Bern," Bela Karolyi said in a telephone interview. "Her parents are working here, where he is coaching a U.S. women's
"She is waiting to get some travel papers," said Karolyi, who defected to the United States in 1981 and became a citizen in May.
gymnastics team.
Michael Korff, a U.S. Embassy spokesman in Bern, said she was not at the U.S. embassy."
Asked about the possibility of a reunion with his former pupil in Stuttgart, where his team is competing, Karolyi said. "There is a possibility, but she obviously needs some travel documents."
Swiss Justice Ministry spokesman Joerg Kistler said there was no indication that she had entered Switzerland."
On Wednesday from Clarens, Switzerland, Karolyi said he was "ready to help her in any manner if she
needs it."
Karolyi said he not spoken with Comaneci since her flight, although she told the U.S. Gymnastics Federation, "Millsapolis, 'My kid is looking for me.'"
Federation spokesperson Patti Auer said she was not sure where Comaneci was.
"All indications clearly point to her coming to the United States," she said. "Bela said she will come to the United States. She wants to come. When is still unclear. It could be two weeks or six days. It's her move."
She said Karolyi was concerned about Comaneci's safety.
"Bela feels she would be safest in Switzerland, in a neutral country, and then come to the United States via Switzerland, not through any other country. We seem to think he knows what she will do." Auer said.
"He said, 'They will try to recapture their national pride' — their national pride being Nadia," Auer said.
carrying her party had Austrian license plates.
At the age of 14, the diminutive Comaneci electrified the world with unprecedented perfect gymnastics and gold medals at the Montreal Games.
The Hungarian daily Magyar Hirlap said Comanet was wearing blue jeans, a sweater and short boots. "I always wore a little shirt that her hair was short and streaked.
Officials in Budapest said she fleed to Hungary before dawn Tuesday with six other people and spent the night at a hotel in the southern town of Szeged, some 15 miles from the Romanian border.
"Obviously she had some help from the Hungarian Olympic Committee people," Karolyi said. "I am sure they helped her."
However, a Hungarian Olympic Committee spokesman said that the gymnasm had not contacted them and knew nothing of her whereabouts.
A receptionist at the Royal Hotel in Szeged said Comanect left by car Wednesday morning. The Hungarian daily Nespert said the two cars
One of her former teammates, Theodora Ungureau, said in an interview that French television yesterday that Commander had called her after fleeing Romania.
Tennis match hits Lawrence
By a Kansan reporter
An exhibition Kansas tennis match at Alvamar Racquet Club tomorrow will feature the player's fourth-ranked colleague player.
Trevor Kronemann, a senior at the University of California - Irvine who is ranked fourth in the nation, and former Kansas player Mike Wolf will play a doubles match at Memphis on Tuesday as junior John Falbo and sophomore Rafael Rangel. The match will be free to the public.
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Kronemann is also ranked No. 1 in doubles in the presense polls, and Falbo and Rangel are listed at No. 18.