TRACK & FIELD The Kansas women's team placed first and the men second at the Missouri Invitational on Saturday. Page 3.
SPORTS ERSITY DAILY KA
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UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY. JANUARY 22. 1996
KANSAS BASKETBALL
'Hawks halt a Buffalo stampede
SECTION B
Kansas outlasts spirited Colorado
By Jenni Carlson
BOULDER, Colo. — The Colorado men's basketball team took defending its home court to a new level.
Kansan sportswriter
It wasn't only that the Buffaloes led No. 4 Kansas for most of Saturday's game in the Coors Events Center before falling 80-78. The night before their first game by interim coach Ricardo Patton, the Buffaloes also slept in the Events Center — right on the hardwood.
"It was for team unity," Colorado freshman guard Chancey Billups said. "Coach decided that we should stay together all night, and it's a protecting our own turf type of thing."
Colorado did just that for a little more than 38 minutes.
The Jayhawks led by 10 in the first half after junior center Scot Pollard hit the front end of a one-and-one with 8.54 remaining. Pollard scored 10 points in the half and finished the game with a season-high and team-high 18 points.
Following a 20-9 run, the Buffaloes took the lead with 4:23 left in the half. They had a four-point lead at halftime, which was only the second time Kansas had trailed going into the locker room this season.
Matt Flickner / KANSAN
"They were playing great defense, getting in the lanes, fighting through screens," Pollard said. "We weren't really moving the ball well."
Moving and shooting the ball well didn't seem to be a problem for Colorado, 5-10 and 0-4 in the Big Eight Conference.
After scoring 16 points in the first half, Colorado junior forward Martice Moore finished with 29. He was 4 of 4 from behind the three-point line.
Junior forward Mack Tuck added 17 points, including 5 of 7 three point shots.
"I can't say enough about Martice Moore," Kansas men's basketball coach Roy Williams said. "I've never seen him play any better than he did today. He and Mack were shooting from so far out there, I couldn't even get it."
While Moore and Tuck bombed away, Kansas did some bombing of its own. The Jayhawks committed a season-high 26 turnovers, 20 coming from the starters.
"You can't do that unless you're a couple things — pretty doggone good and pretty doggone lucky," Williams said.
Kansas must have been both.
A three-pointer from Kansas junior guard Jerod Hasse, who was 2 of 10 from the floor, and a three-point play from Pollard helped the Jayhawks take only their second lead of the half, 79-78. Pollard also hit another free throw that gave Kansas the two-point victory margin.
Free throws haven't always helped the Jayhawks to victory, though. They entered the game shooting 63.4 percent but shot 75 percent in the second half as Pollard, who recently changed his free throw routine, hit 6 of 7.
"The only reason I was willing to change it was because I knew Scot was tough enough to handle it," Williams said.
Pollard and the rest of the Jayhawks, 14-1 and 2-0 in the Big Eight, must be tough again tonight. The Oklahoma Sooners travel to Allen Field House for an 8:35 p.m. tipoff. The game will be televised on ESPN.
The teams spit last season's series as the Jayhawks won 93-76 at home and lost 76-73 in Norman, Okla., when they were No.1.
But Haase said avenging last year's loss won't be driving Kansas.
"The motivating factor is to just get a Big Eight win and improve ourselves." Haase said.
NEW POLL: Kansas fell to No. 4 in this week's USA Today-CNN Men's Coaches Poll. Scores &
Kansas junior center Scot Pollard shoots over Greg Jensen and Ted Kritza of Colorado in Saturday's game. Pollard led the team in points and rebounds.
Buffalo guard is friend,foe
By Jenni Carlson Kansan sportswriter
BOULDER, Colo. — One yellow jersey stood out among the crimson and blue during Saturday's pregame shoot-around.
It wasn't that the player was imposing on the Kansas men's basketball team. Rather, Chaucey Billups was quite welcome.
The Colorado freshman guard and Kansas freshman forward Paul Pierce met several years ago and were talking about the past as well as the present.
Before No. 4 Kansas' 80-78 victory, Billups was averaging 19.5 points a game, which was the third-highest scoring average in the Big Eight Conference. Pierce's 13.4 scoring average led the Jayhawks.
However, it was Billups that outshone his fellow McDonald's All-American for most of the game on Saturday. He scored 15 points and dished out nine assists.
"As freshmen, you're going to have ups and downs," Kansas men's basketball coach Roy Williams said. "Paul wasn't as sharp or intense as he needed to be. It wasn't his best game, but he's going to be fine."
Pierce attempted two shots, had four turnovers and played just eight minutes in the first half.
"That kind of stuck with me mentally," Pierce said. "But I have to overcome that."
And he did. Even though Pierce finished 3 of 7 from the floor, he hit a driving shot with 2:30 remaining in the game, which cut Colorado's lead to two points.
Then with :49.7 remaining in the game, Pierce ended Billips day. Billips charged into Pierce and picked up his fifth and final personal foul.
Tvier Wirken / KANBAN
Jayhawks upset No.19 Cowgirls
Kansas junior guard Ariel Halbleib (30) and freshman forward Nikak Sanfield (43) leap to grab a rebound in yesterday's game against No. 19 Oklahoma State. The Jawhays lost to Oklahoma on Friday, 71-68.
By Evan Blackwell
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas women's basketball team played one bad half out of two games last weekend. Unfortunately, it cost them a victory.
The Jayhawks were stunned by Oklahoma 71-68 Friday night in Allen Field House. In turn, Kansas responded yesterday with a resounding 85-58 trouncing of No. 19 Oklahoma State. Kansas now stands with a record of 11-7 overall and 4-2 in the Big Eight Conference.
Oklahoma raced to a 44-26 halftime lead thanks to an outstanding first half from senior guard Pam Pennon. Pennon scored 17 points in the first half, making all three of her three-point shots.
Kansas responded in the second half using its full-court pressure defense to climb back into the game.
The Jayhawks pulled to within six, 63-57, with just less than six minutes left when junior guard Tamecka Dixon put back a rebound and was fouled for a three-point
The Jayhawks three-game winning streak was snapped when they were upset by the Sooners.
play.
Trailing 67-62 with about two minutes left, Kansas missed a chance to pull within three when they failed to hit three putbacks under the basket.
Kansas did have a chance to tie at the end of regulation, but a three-point shot by junior guard Angie Halbleib fell short.
Kansas women's basketball coach Maran Washington said the Jayhawks hadn't played the way they were capable of playing until the second half.
"We played great in the second half," Washington said. "If we had played half as good in the first half, it would have been a different story."
Kansas senior guard Charisse Sampson said the loss was typical of other Jayhawk losses this season.
"We weren't mentally prepared for this team." Sampson said.
Washington said the key to the team's first half problems was defensive intensity.
"The bottom line is defense," Washington said. "When we play great defense, we win some ball games."
Kansas was able to put two good halves together against the Cowgirls yesterday.
The Jayhawks broke open a close game with an 18-2 run midway through the first half. Trailing 18-12, Kansas used the run to sprint to a 39-29 haltime lead. Haliburst sparked Kansas by making three of four three-point shots in the half.
"Our defense gave us the ball back," Washington said. "Offensively, we set some double screens for Halbleib to get some open threes."
Washington said the defensive intensity which was missing Friday, resurfaced yesterday.
"That's the thing we talked about after the Oklahoma game," Washington said. "We needed to concentrate on defense."
While the Jayhawks turned it up a notch defensively, their offense was also on fire.
Led by Halbleib's 24 points, Kansas hit a season-best 59.3 percent of its shots from the field. The Jayhawks' 85 points were the most given up by Oklahoma State all season.
Dixon said the opportunity to quickly make up for Friday's loss was important.
Bulldogs send Jayhawks home licking wounds
"We really tried to redeem ourselves," she said. "We played some pretty good defense today."
The No. 14 Kansas women's swimming and diving team knew to be beaware of dogs.
By Dan Golston
Kansas sportswriter
Women's winning streak comes to an end in Georgia
But they went down to Athens, Ga. anyway on Saturday to take on the No. 7 Georgia Bulldogs and were handed a 168-124 loss.
The previously unbeaten Jayhawks were 120 entering the weekend and had a 13 dualmeet winning streak dating back to last season.
It was the first loss of the year for the women's team.
KANSAS SWIMMING
"We got it handed to us pretty good," said Gary Kempf, Kansas men and women's swimming and diving coach. "That's really because we weren't quite prepared enough, and that starts with me."
Kansas senior diver Michelle Rojohn continued to prove she is one of the best divers in the country with a win in the three-meter competition and a second place finish on the one-meter board.
Junior Rebecca Andrew was the only other Kansas woman to win an event, capturing the 100 freestyle in 51.40, a season best.
"We were just caught off guard at how fast they were swimming," Andrew said. "We're very disappointed, but we're headed in the
on Iowa State on Saturday in Ames, Iowa. "There was some good swimming on our part, but they had great swimming." Kempf said.
The No. 20 Kansas men's swimming and diving team didn't fare any better with a 164-127 loss to No. 11 Georgia.
right direction for our conference play."
Kansas' men and women's teams will take on Iowa State on Saturday in Ames, Iowa.
The Jayhawk men dropped to 10-3 on the season.
Kansas junior Erik Jorgensen, who already owns the school record in the 500 freestyle, won that event, as well as the 1000 freestyle. Jorgensen swam a 9:12.50, eclipsing his personal best of 9:14.14 which he set last weekend.
That time qualifies him for the Olympic trials.
The Kansas men's divers were able to sweep the one-meter boards.
"He has really broken into the national scene," Kempf said. "He's on a mission to be great, and he's doing what it takes to get there."
Hoffman was one of the few bright spots for Kansas as he also won the three-meter board and set a personal high in points with 336.15.
When Kempf addressed the team after the meet, he expressed his disappointment with the team's performance.
Senior Kris Hoffman posted a season-best score of 301.35 on the one-meter board to take first place. Senior Pat Burke and sophomore Brian Humphrey placed second and third, respectively.
"I told the team I felt like they were, they are much better than that," he said.
Steelers have shot at victory
It's been a wild month in the world of sports. Maybe wild isn't the right word, but there have been some surprises in January.
Take college basketball, for example. Who would have thought that until yesterday there would be three unbeaten teams, and No. 14 Penn State — we're talking basketball, not football, remember — would be one of them.
ASSOCIATE
SPORTS
EDITOR
And after Pittsburgh upsets No. 1 Massachusetts tonight — take my word on that — there won't be the any unbeaten teams in Division I men's basketball.
So to bring in your cheerful Monday morning with a bang, let me offer a few more ideas and even some predictions in the sporting world.
What's sad is that at last week's meeting there were 30 owners. Take in consideration that these owners probably have teams of paid strategists. Is interleague play is the best thing their collaborative thought process can come up with to draw more crowds?
In an attempt to fill up stadiums, Major League Baseball voted to approve interleague play. True, match-ups like the Braves and Indians, or the Yankees and the Reds are going to draw crowds. But who's going to camp out to get tickets for the Marlins and the Brewers?
Why not work on something that won't leave a $100 dent in the wallet of families that come out to watch a ball game?
The craziest thing happened Saturday night during the NHL All-Star game — I could actually follow the game. Not since MTV's The Real World has the camera been able to follow a puck so thoroughly.
For those of you who didn't get a chance to watch the NHL All-Star game, a light blue cloud follows the puck wherever it goes. During a slap shot, the blue cloud turns into a red slash tracing the path of the puck. The cloud looks like a blue-tinted version of the blurry circle used on the faces of those who don't want to reveal their identity in Cops.
As much as I would like to say this Fox network-invented paint taints the game by making it look like some kind of 1990s Sega-like extravaganz. I liked it. It made the game easier to watch and — oh no, a 1990s word — more viewer-friendly.
Sunday's Super Bowl XXX between the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers is a classic match-up. The hard-working, blue-collar Steelers represent everything that is good and positive about the game of football.
The cocky,show-boating Cowboys illustrate all that is wrong on the gridiron.
My prediction. If Pittsburgh quarterback Neil O'Donnell plays with the same poise he did in the Steelers' final touchdown scoring drive against the Colts in the AFC Championship game, Pittsburgh will edge Dallas 21-20.
If O'Donnell wets his pants and curls up in the fetal position when he sees the Cowboys bull-rush, like Philadelphia quarterback Randall Cunningham did, Dallas will win big, 52-10.
A safer prediction might be that the Cowboys will do some kind of clown dance or celebrate whenever they make a good play.
The No. 4 Kansas men's basketball team had every reason to lose on Saturday at Colorado.
The Jayhawks missed 12 free throws and were out-rebounded on both ends of the court, while the Buffaloes played the best game of their lives shooting 60 percent from the three point arch before a charged-up homerow.
Instead, the upset but didn't bite the Jayhawks, and they were able to play with poise, and confidence down the stretch to pull this one out.
But for the sake of blood pressures around the Lawrence area, don't make a habit of it. fellas!