NBA
Knicks' Mason involved in bar brawl, Page 8.
NFL
Tampa hires Dungy, Page 8.
SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY. JANUARY 23,1996
MEN'S BASKETBALL
PAGE 10A
Jayhawks slow down Sooner shooter
Richard Devinki / KANSAN
Kansas sophomore guard/forward Billy Thomas attempts to dribble around Oklahoma junior guard Tyrone Foster last night. The Jayhawks defeated the Sooners 72-66 at Allen Field House.
Kansas' defense too much for Sooners' Minor in 72-66 win
By Jenni Carlson
Kansan sportswriter
Ryan Minor saw all the Kansas men's basketball team could throw at him.
Then the Oklahoma senior almost threw it back in the Jayhawks' faces. Minor scored 15 second-half points and finished with a game-high 22 points despite a stifling Jayhawk defense.
It wasn't enough, however, as the No. 3 Kansas improved its record to 15-1 and 3-0 in the Big Eight Conference with a 72-66 victory last night in Allen Field House.
"Our goal was to chase Ryan around with different people and give him different looks that way," Kansas men's basketball coach Roy Williams said.
Kansas junior guard Jerod Haase shadowed Minor for most of the game. Haase said the Sooners set many screens to free Minor, who does a great job crashing the boards and getting to the free-throw line. "You don't stop a player like that."
But Haase wasn't too bad either.
"You don't stop a player like that," Haase said. "He's a good as they come."
"Jerod Haase can play on my team any day," Oklahoma men's basketball coach Kelvin Sampson said. "We were playing against some of the best players in the nation, and I was very proud of my team."
Before Minor's second-half performance, Haase and a number of other players held him to just seven points. After he drove through several defenders and scored with 16:32 remaining in the first half, Minor didn't score again until the 4:35 mark when he hit two free throws.
"When he caught it, we made sure he shot over our hands," Kansas junior guard Jacque Vaughn said. "I enjoyed the few times that I did get to guard him. He has respect for my game, and I definitely have respect for his game."
If Minor and the other Sooners didn't have respect for Vaughn's game before, they probably do now. He was 3 of 5 behind the three-point line and scored a team-high 15 points. Vaughn hopes to keep that a
"I still can't shoot.
Remember, I still can't shoot,
he said, smiling.
"It seemed like I was floating a little big out there." Vaughn said. "My thing is to get everyone else involved. We h
Vaughn isn't hiding the fact that he can dish out assists. His 11 assists against Oklahoma tied the Kansas record for the most assists in a Big Eight Conference zane.
and half, the Sooners whittled away. They had cut it to seven points when Vaughn lobbed the ball to sophomore forward Raef LaFrentz, and Kansas led 68-59.
"When he caught it,we made sure he shot over our hands."
Jacque Vaughn
Jacqueline Vaughn Kansas men's basketball guard on the Jayhawks' defensive strategy against Oklahoma's Ryan Minor.
great athletes, and I think they understand that I'm going to get them the ball."
And he got it to them at crucial times last night.
After the Jayhawks extended their 11- point halftime lead to 16 in the sec-
Vaughn also ran the Jayhawks' four-corners offense late in the game.
point lead.
While Kansas was in the stall offense, junior forward B.J. Williams sealed the game for the Jayhawks. He hit two free throws with: 36.8 remaining and then tipped around a Vaughn free-throw miss with: 12.9 on the clock. Oklahoma regained possession with just a few seconds remaining and couldn't overcome Kansas' six
"It's tough every night we go out and play, and it seems especially tough this year." Kansas junior Scot Pollard said. "It is just going to be a battle night in and night out."
KANSAS 72, OKLAHOMA 66
OKLAHOMA (10-7)
Minor 7-13 7-9 22, Abercrombie 3-9 4-6 10, Evans 2-9 0-0 4, Erdmann 3-5 1-2 7, Foster 5-14 0-0 14, Barnes 3-9 0-0 7, Wiley 0-3 2-6 2. Yanish 0-1 0-1 0. Cotton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-63 14-24 66.
KANSAS (15-1)
Pierce 3-10 1-4 8, LaFrentz 6-11 0-1 12, Pollard 7-9 1-4 15, Haase 3-9 2-2 9, Vaughn 5-10 0-1 13, Pearson 3-6 0-0 7, Williams 1-4 2-2 4, Pugh 0-2 1-2 1, Thomas 1-3 0-0 3, Rayford 0-0 0-0 0, Robertson 0-0 0-0. Totals 29-64 7-16 72.
Halftime—Kansas 39, Oklahoma 28. 3-Point goals—Oklahoma 6-17 (Foster 4-8, Minor 1-3, Barnes 1-5, Erdmann 0-1), Kansas 7-23 (Vaughn 3-5, Thomas 1-3, Pearson 1-4, Pierce 1-5, Haase 1-6). Fouled out—Evans, Pollard. Rebounds—Oklahoma 40 (Minor, Evans 8), Kansas 48 (LaFrentz 11). Assists—Oklahoma 11 (Foster 4), Kansas 21 (Vaughn 11). Total fouls—Oklahoma 19, Kansas 20. A—16,300.
Rebounding edge key to 'Hawks' victory
Oklahoma's Abercrombie sits with foul trouble
By Evan Blackwell
Kansan sportswriter
The No. 3 Kansas men's basketball team knew it would have its hands full on the boards against the Oklahoma Sooners last night. The Jayhawks responded, at least for half of their 72-66 victory.
The Sooners entered last night's contest averaging 6.5 more rebounds a game than their opponents in the Big Eight Conference. Oklahoma senior forward Ernie Abercrombie entered the game leading the Big Eight in rebounds at 9.4 a game.
Abercrombie picked up three personal fouls in the first six minutes of the game. He was forced to sit out the rest of the first half.
Kansas outrebounded the Sooners by a 32-19 margin in the first half after Abercrombie was forced to the bench. Led by the inside duo of sophomore forward Raef LaFrentz, and junior center Scot Pollard, the Jayhawks used their aggressiveness on the boards to power to a 39-28 halftime lead.
"It was frustrating watching the guys play hard, but still being down by 11," Abercrombie said. "I couldn't do anything from the bench."
"We knew we had to be aggressive on the boards," Pollard said. "We did a good job of getting their big guys in foul trouble."
The Jayhawks' powerful tandem combined for 20 rebounds in the game, 11 from LaFrentz, and nine from Pollard.
With Abercrombie back in the game in the second half, the Sooners narrowed the rebounding gap. The Jayhawks finished the game with a 48-40 advantage.
"We never did quit," Abercrombie said. "We just kept playing hard."
Pollard, who entered the halftime break with no fouls, found himself with four fouls midway through the second half. After sitting for four minutes, Pollard re-entered and picked up his fifth foul one minute later.
"I've never had a half like that — five fouls in one half." Pollard said.
Kansas men's basketball coach Roy Williams said Oklahoma came out to play in the second half.
"They dominated the boards and made us play more tentatively." Williams said. "Thankfully, we dominated the boards in the first half."
Dick Vitale intrigues campus crowd
ESPN analyst signs autographs in Kansas Union Bookstore
By Jenni Carlson
Kansan sportswriter
His enthusiasm just seemed to draw people.
Some might not have known who he was, but as Dick Vitale spoke after signing books in the Kansas Union Bookstore yesterday, the crowd around him grew. The ESPN and ABC college basketball analyst is promoting his new book, Holding Court: Reflections on the Game I Love, on campuses nationwide.
"The response has been phenomenal," said Vitale, who also was part of last night's broadcast team for the Kansas-Oklahoma game. "It's very flattering — the excitement I receive — I can't even share with
you."
Vitale isn't a writer, he said, but he knows about the game from the years he spent coaching college and NBA teams. With his knowledge and help from the New York Daily News' Dick Weiss, the book captured Vitale as if he was talking.
The book covers a wide spectrum of topics that surround college basketball, including paying athletes, players who leave school early for the NBA, and the impact of television.
"I didn't sit down at a typewriter and bang this sucker out," Vitalte said. "I can't write. But give me a microphone, and I can have a lot of fun."
Vitale has not only been having fun with his book but also on ESPN, in commercials and in movies. Vitale said it wasn't because he was more talented than anyone else, however.
"I'm ugly, I'm bald," he said. "But I think if you're enthusiastic and you're spirited about what you do, people respond."
And many responded to the opportunity
Rebecca Dietz, Lakhn junior, stood in the line that snaked through the bookstore to have two books signed — one for her dad and one for her brother. But they aren't the only Vitalte fans in Dietz' family.
to meet Vitale at the book signing, which began at noon. People began lining up as much as an hour in advance, and a steady stream of books, posters, magazines and T-shirts passed across the table where Vitale sat. He continued signing until almost 2 p.m.
"I'll be flipping through channels, and I'll stop and listen to him talk," Dietz said. "I think he's great."
Dietz inquired about Vitale's favorite player this year and found out that it is Massachusetts junior forward Marcus Camby. Talking with students such as Dietz is one of the best things about the book signings, Vitale said.
"There were at least two that came up here when I signed the book and said, 'Thanks, I really needed that,' Vitale said. "That makes me feel good."
Andy Rullestad / KANBAN
ESPN college basketball commentator Dick Vitale jokes with fans waiting for autographed copies of his book Holding Cinder yesterday in the Kansas Union Bookstore.