INSIDE SPORTS The Kansas baseball team completed its season sweep of the Nebraska Cornhuskers last night, 11-6, at Hogland-Maupin stadium. The Jayhawks are scheduled to play at home at 3 p.m. today against St. Cloud State. Page 28 KANSA ST. 19-10, 12-7 73 UNRANKED KANSAS 24-5, 14-5 RANKED NO. 9 UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 58 JAYHAWK BASKETBALL WOMEN'S FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 1997 Kansas St. 73. No.9 Kansas 58 KANSAS (25-4) Pride FG FT TP Tulip 5-4 4-1 11 Trump 5-4 4-1 11 Sanford 0-1 0-0 0 Noblebble 6-16 1-0 0 Dixon 6-16 1-0 14 Raymant 0-3 0-0 0 Scott 0-3 0-0 0 Reed 0-1 0-2 1 Canada 0-1 0-0 0 Grayer 0-1 0-0 0 Texas 20-45 12-29 58 SANTA CLARA (19-10) FG FT TP Decker 2-7 6-7 11 Jones 9-18 7-8 28 Hester 1-6 0-0 3 Jacobson 6-14 4-7 18 Remige 1-1 1-1 18 Coatson 0-0 1-2 1 Finkos 3-5 4-4 10 Totals 22-51 27-7 73 Haltifme: Kansas St. 33, Kansas St. 32, 3-Point games: Kansas 5-13 (Halliburton 5-10, Rayman 0- 1, Decker 2-5, Decker 1-4, Heister 1-5). Fouled out: None. Reboundes: Kansas 31 (Trump 7), Kansas St. 39 (Jones 9). Assists: Kansas St. 34, Pride, Halliburton, Jones 8). Jaboeton (2) Total fouls: Kansas 21, Kansas St. 16, NA. Women's game notes The Kansas starters accounted for 111 of the Jayhawks' 124 total points during their two games of the Big 12 Tournament. Of the reserves that scored, forward Shelly Canada scored six points, guard Erinn Reed had five points, and forward Patience Grayer had two points. SECTION B The loss ended an eight-game winning streak for the No. 9 Kansas women's basketball team. The streak started on Feb. 8 with a 62-58 win against Iowa State at Allen Field House Forward Lynn Pride had 11 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals against Kansas State yesterday. Her two-game totals for the Big 12 Tournament were 20 points, 25 rebounds, six assists and nine stolen. Kansas guard Angie Halbleib scored a team-high 19 points last night. By doing so, she surpassed the 1,400-point plateau and moved into eighth place among Kansas women's basketball scorers. If the Jayhawks play host to first- and second-round games of the NCAA Tournament next week, they will have a chance to break the school's home-court win-streak record. Kansas will break the record of 20 games if it wins its first round game. The Jayhawks are ranked No. 7 in the USA Today/CNN Coaches' poll and No. 9 in the Associated Press poll. It was the first time since Feb. 7, 1994, that Kansas was able to crack the top 10. Kansas has been in the top 25 for the past 22 weeks. - Heading into the NCAA Tournament next week, Kansas women's basketball coach Marian Washington has a 40-25 postseason record. She won her 450th career game earlier this season and has an overall record of 456-257. Big 12 tournament results: Women Kansas St. 73, Kansas 58 Colorado 56, Iowa St. 39 Men Oklahoma St. 80, Baylor 66 Texas Tech 73, Kansas St. 57 Missouri 78, Nebraska 72 Oklahoma 67, A&M 84 Men's starting lineup PROBABLE STARTERS Kansas (29-1 overall, 15-1 in the Big (12): Chris Hamilton / KANSAN G Jacque Vaughn, 6-1, Sr. G Jerod Hase, 6-3, Sr. F Paul Pierce, 6-7, So. R Faef LaFrentz, 6-11, Jr. C Scot Pollard, 6-11, Sr. the Big 12: G Chad Alexander, 6-3, Jr. G Adrian Peterson, 6-4, So. F Chianti Roberts, 6-6, Sr. F Maurice Robinson, 6-7, Sr. C Brett Robisch, 6-11, Jr. Oklahoma St. (16-13 overall, 7-9 in Kansas senior guard Angie Halbleib wrestles with Kansas State senior center Kayla Hester for a loose ball last night in the Wildcats' 73-58 victory over the Javhawks. Wildcats claw Kansas Women fall to unranked in-state rivals By Tommy Gallagher Kansan sportswriter In its third meeting against unranked Kansas State this season, the No. 9 Kansas women's basketball team lost 73-58 in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals. The loss ended the Jayhawks' eight-game winning streak and hurt their bid to obtain a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Kansas women's basketball coach Marian Washington said her team must maintain a positive attitude while preparing for the NCAA Tournament next week. "We didn't play very well in this tournament," Washington said. "We're certainly not going to let Marian Washington Kansas' problems started when it had its largest lead of the game, 28-18, with 8:15 left in the first half. The Wildcats went on an 15-4 run to close the first half and entered halftime with a 33-32 lead. The Jayhawks regained the lead in the opening of the second half but lost the game in the last 13 minutes. K-State outscored the Jayhawks 32-13 during that stretch. K-State women's basketball coach Deb Patterson said she was proud of her team's effort considering the opponent. Kansas guard Angie Halbleib had a season-high of five three-point field goals and a team-high of 19 points. "It's always tough to line up against a team for a third time," Patterson said. "We did a good job answering their run in the first half. That was as good as anything considering how they beat us each time during the regular season." The Jayhawks had defeated K-State by 16 points in both regularseason meetings. Held in check for most of the second half was Kansas guard Tamecka Dixon, who finished with 13 points, three rebounds and three assists. She did not attempt a field goal during the final 7 minutes. "We wanted to win this game," said Dixon. "Now that we lost you we look at it in a positive way. We'll work on the things that we didn't do today and hopefully better prepare for the NCAA." Leading the Wildcats was forward Andria Jones, who had 28 points and nine rebounds. Jones and teammate guard Missy Decker played all 40 minutes of the game. K-State guard Brit Jacobson had 18 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals against the Jayhawks. She had played all 40 minutes of the Wildcats' first two tournament games before last night, when she played 38 minutes. The Wildcats used seven players yesterday, while Kansas used 10. The Jayhawk reserves totaled one point while combining for 53 minutes of play last night. "We were trying to find the right defensive combination, so we were not necessarily playing a lot of players," Washington said. "We weren't switching out and communicating as well as we did (on defense), and that limited who I wanted to put out there." Kansas' madness begins with Cowboys Jayhawks prepare for Big 12 shootout By Bill Petulia Kansan sportswrite For Kansas, the march in March begins today. The first stop for the Kansas men's basketball team as it embarks on its goal of a national championship is in the Big 12 Conference Tournament against Oklahoma State at noon today in Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo. "Tournament time is when all the teams put everything out on the table," Kansas guard Billy Thomas said. "And the team that loses, they might be going home for good." Kansas defeated Oklahoma State, 104-72, in their only meeting this season on Feb. 12 at Allen Field House. In that game, the Jayhawks forced 22 turnovers and held Oklahoma State forward Chianti Roberts to only six points. The Cowboys defeated Baylor yesterday, 80-65, to earn the right to play the Jayhawks. Guard Andrian Peterson paced Oklahoma State with 19 points, and forward Maurice Robinson chipped in 17 points in the losing effort. Although Kansas did not have the services of center Scot Polard, who was sidelined with a "in order for us to be successful we need a big center that can play well," Oklahoma State assistant coach Paul Graham said. "Chianti can play a lot of positions, he's versatile and he's strong." Graham said. "He's so confident in taking players off the dribble that he's done that several times." If the Cowboys expect to be competitive on the boards, they will need to get some production out of center Brett Robisch. broken left foot, the Jayhawks out broke Oklahoma State 36-26 Kansas guard Jacque Vaughn dished out 10 assists and forward Raef LaFrentz led all scorers with 22 points in the victory against Oklahoma State. Another key for the Jayhawks will be to stifle Roberts, who netted 17 in yesterday's win against Baylor. LaFrentz, this season's Big 12 Player of the Year, is averaging 19 points and nine rebounds per game. Tvler Wirken / KANSAN Kansas men's basketball coach Roy Williams said he was delighted with LaFrentz's play this season. Center Scot Pollard rips down a rebound over Nebraska's Andy Markowski during the Jayhawks' game with the Cornhuskers last weekend in Lincoln, Neb. "He's had an incredible year for him on both ends of the court," Williams said. "I'm extremely pleased with him and, at the same time, he and I know he can be doing this for a long time." The game will be televised at noon on the Big 12 television station, channels 9 and 13. Basketball tournament waste of time, janitor says In my campaign to improve the Big 12 Conference basketball tournament, I wrote on Tuesday that the bottom four seeds, not the top four, should get first round byes. That day some people wrote me saying I was crazy and some called to inform me that I was an idiot. Even my mother laughed. My first call was to Big 12 Commissioner Steve Hatchell. However, I believe in my mission to make the Big 12 tournament the best that it can be. So, I called some influential people to solicit suggestions on ways to spice up the tourney. When I called, his secretary informed me that Hatchell was not in the office because he was busy with tournament duties. Then she muttered under her breath something about me not being important. I told the secretary why I was calling and asked her if she had any suggestions. She said the tournament should have an All-Star game. She thought that before the tournament the All Big 12 Teams should square off with one another, and use the third team and honorable mention players as subs. "They would get tired before the tournament," I said. "But it would be interesting," she replied. "But they would get injured," I said. "It would make a lot of money," she replied. "Good point," I answered. Then I muttered under my breath what a stupid idea that was. I thanked her for her suggestion and asked her who else I should talk with. She transferred me to the office of Tim Allen. Not the comedian, but the Big 12 associate commissioner. Again, I found myself talking to a secretary. I asked her if I could talk with Allen. She said he was busy with other duties, then muttered under her breath something about reading my last column and thinking I was an idiot. So I asked her if she had any ideas. "I asked her for the fair any whats. "That is not the fair fan, but my husband." she said. "What would he suggest?" I questioned. "He would like to see the tournament seeds done away with and the teams matched up based on how exciting the games would be," she replied. "Watching Kansas State and Texas Tech play is as exciting as his family reunion. You know, a bunch of hicks get together and pretend they are better than they are." I don't know where she meant to send me, but I was soon talking to Tony the janitor. I muttered under my breath how I thought the idea was as dumb as giving the bottom four teams a bye. Then I asked her to transfer me to someone else. So, I asked Tony what he thought The only way to improve the Big 12 tournament is to get rid of it," he said. "No one benefits," Tony continued. "It takes the conference's best teams and tires them before the NCAA tournament. And it can let a sucker team like Missouri into the tournament if it gets on a hot streak. Plus, who cares? What's the point of a regular season if they are going to make all the teams play again? Quit the foreplay and just get to the Big Show." Here was an intelligent man. I thanked Tony and hung up. After pondering his brilliance, I found myself with only one thing left to do. I called my mother to see what she thought Comments? E-mail Spencer at sports@kansan.com ---