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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL The No. 14 Javhawks win one game but lose another against two ranked opponents. Page 3
SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27,1995
THE SEASON BEGINS
First win displays Kansas' versatility
By Matt Irwin Kansan sportswriter
Richard Devinki / KANSAN
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Roy Williams warned about the dangers of playing a team without its key parts before his Kansas men's basketball team defeated No. 8 Utah 79-68 on Saturday at Kemper Arena.
The Kansas men's basketball coach said that a team such as Utah, which played without 6-foot-4 guard Brandon Jessie and 7-foot starting center Ben Melmeth, often pulled together and played better without some of its more important parts.
Jessie, the 1994-95 Western Athletic Conference newcomer of the year, began serving a seven-game suspension for violating NCAA regulations while at a junior college, and Melmeth was suspended for academic reasons.
Despite Williams' fears, it was Utah that should have been worried. No. 2 Kansas pulled together and then pulled away in spite of losing one of its best players for much of the second half.
Kansas junior center Scot Pollard attempts a shot at Utah sophomore center Michael Doleac (left) and junior forward Keith Van Horn try to block it.
Kansas junior point guard Jacque Vaughn was pulled from the game with the Jayhawks leading 38-32 and 16:28 remaining in the second half after he committed his fourth foul.
"I think that was the key point of the game when Jacque went out. I think our team pulled together a little better and played together," Williams said. "I was a little mad at myself because I was just getting ready to take Jacque out because he almost got his fourth the play before."
A little less than six minutes later, the Utes took a 50-49 lead after Utah forward Will Carlton made a free-throw to complete a three-point play.
But Kansas followed by scoring the next nine points, and by the time Vaughn reentered the game, the Jayhawks had a 65-56 lead. Kansas freshman guard Ryan Robertson played point guard for about 5 1/2 minutes while Vaughn was on the bench.
"Ive played in a lot of big basketball games and I've been around a lot of big situations, but I've never really seen a performance like Jerod (Haase) put on tonight," said Robertson, who led his team to the Missouri state basketball championship last season. "He really came through. Very rarely have I seen
a guy step up and not only play great but be all-out leader all over the court."
Haase scored nine of his team-high 17 points and had two steals and one assist while Vaughn was out. Haase made four of seven field goals, including three of four three-point attempts.
He may have been the Jayhawks' leader, but he wasn't the only one contributing to Kansas' success.
Senior point guard Calvin Rayford, who was playing his first game in more than a year, and Robertson, playing in his first college game, both filled in for Vaughn and impressed their coach.
"I thought both of them did some good things for us," Williams said. "At one point, I looked out there and we had three freshmen out there at the same time. They really gave us a lift. Ryan Robertson really gave us a lift with his play. Jerod made a couple of steals and got us going. I think Paul Pierce and Raef LaFrentz did a good job on the backboards."
Pierce and LaFrentz led the team with nine rebounds each while Kansas junior center Scot Pollard played only about eight minutes in the first half. He picked up three early fouls.
Williams expressed concern during the preseason about Pollard getting in foul trouble, but his team showed its versatility. Junior forward B.J. Williams and freshman forward T.J. Pugh showed their talents and faced the challenge of guarding Utah forward Keith Van Horn.
Van Horn, who shot about 55 percent from the field last season as the Western Athletic Conference player of the year, was held to 38 percent shooting by a collection of players including LaFrentz, Williams and Pugh.
"Keith Van Horn's a great player," LaFrentz said. "He really has got a variety of moves on the offensive end. He's stronger than he looks, and he can really jump. He's got skills that range from the five man to the three man. He can really go out on the floor and handle the ball."
Although Van Horn made nine of 10 free throws and scored 22 points, he said he had trouble with his outside shot.
"I really wasn't feeling it." Van Horn said. "I tried to make up for it by driving and such, but it didn't feel right all night. I'm just going
to have to go home and make a few adjustments. I felt good in warm-ups. I think I was rushing myself too much in the game."
Perhaps the Kansas substitutions wore Van Horn and his teammates down and forced him into rushing his shot.
Ten Jayhawks played at least 10 minutes as well as sophomore swingman Billy Thomas, who plowed almost seven.
"They had a fresh body on everybody on our team," Van Horn said. "We tried to fight through it. It just didn't work out."
Vaughn's four fouls allow freshmen to play together
Kansan sportswriter
By Matt Irwin
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The way Jacque Vaughn sees it, the freshmen on the Kansas men's basketball team should be taking cold showers.
The Kansas point guard was impressed by his younger teammates' play during No. 2 Kansas' 79-68 victory against Utah on Saturday, but he said they got a little burned in the process.
"It pushes them right into the fire," Vaughn said. "Now they understand the intensity level and how it's going to be game in and game out
— what you need to do with two minutes on the clock and what you need to do with 30 seconds on the clock. They understand that now. By throwing them into the fire now, they'll get a little burnt, but it was definitely a great decision by Coach (Roy Williams)."
Actually, the Kansas freshmen were the ones doing the burning at times. During the second half, with Vaughn out of the game with four fouls, the freshmen were all in the game together.
and a junior," Vaughn said. "How many teams can do that and compete against Utah? That's great to see."
"We had three freshmen in, one sophomore
Kansas 6-foot-5 point guard Ryan Robertson fed 6-9 forward T.J. Pugh for one basket during an 9-0 run the Jayhawks made during the second half. The three were together for only 20 seconds during the run but got another chance about three minutes later when they played for 1:15 together.
rugh scored eight points on four-of-seven shooting, 6-6 forward Pierce finished with seven points and nine rebounds and Robertson made four free throws and had two assists.
Although Kansas men's basketball coach Roy Williams was pleased with Pierce's rebounding, his shooting wasn't impressive, he said.
Pierce said he had the freshman jitters. After scoring the first four points of the second half, including a dunk, Pierce said he lost the jit-
Richard Devinki / KANSAN
See FRESHMEN, Page 3.
"I don't think he played the way I wanted him to play," Williams said. "He's better than three for 13."
Kansas freshman guard Ryan Robertson guards Utah junior guard Peterson in Saturday's game. Robertson had two points and two assists in his regular-season debut.
SECTION B
No.11 Jayhawks prepare for Dec.25 match with UCLA in the Aloha Bowl
Kansas lands in Hawaii after Texas A&M win on Saturday
Although the No. 11 Kansas football team might have the best coach in the Big Eight Conference, it is going to the fourth-best bowl.
Kansan staff report
The Jayhawks are returning to the Jeep Eagle Aloha Bowl for the second time in four years. Kansas was a 23-20 winner against Brigham Young in the 1992 Aloha Bowl following a 7-4 season.
After the Alamo Bowl announced last weekend that it would take the loser of the No. 9
Texas against No. 16 Texas A&M game, the Aloha Bowl jumped at the chance of pitting Kansas (9-2) against UCLA (7-4).
Kansas had been in contention for the Alamo Bowl until both the Texas schools were victorious last weekend. The victories gave the Alamo Bowl a chance to fulfill its desire to match-up a Texas school against a Big Ten
The Aloha Bowl also enjoyed the prospect of UCLA football coach Terry Donahue facing the school he helped coach to a previous nine-win season.
Conference school.
The winner of the Texas-Texas A&M game is headed to the Bowl Alliance as the Southwest Conference champion.
Donahue was a Kansas assistant coach for the 1968 Orange Bowl team.
The Aloha Bowl may not be the most prestigious bowl, but the fact that Kansas performed well enough to even make it to a bowl this year is a surprise to many. The Jayhawks' successful season has been one of the biggest stories of the year.
After a 6-5 season a year ago, many people speculated that Mason had to have a good year or else he might have been packing his
bags.
With big wins on the road against Colorado and Oklahoma, an undefeated non-conference swing and a strong showing against No. 1 Nebraska, Kansas has nearly ensured Mason's job for years to come.
All season, Mason said that his wasn't the most talented team — only senior outside linebacker Chris Banks and senior defensive back Dorian Brew were first队 All-Big Eight.
But he said the team had a special bond.
It should grow even closer when it spends the holidays together in Hawaii and tries to finish the season with the school's most victories since 1905.
The Associated Press contributed information to this story.
Kansas' win a little foul
KANSAS CITY. Mo. — Whew.
The Kansas men's basketball team's 79-68 win against No. 8 Utah in Kemper Arena on Saturday wasn't easy for the players or the fans.
From my vantage point - Section 121, Row W, Seat 1 - the season opener revealed a few opportunities
The No. 2 Jayhawks could have opened the season against a lesser foe, but the Utes really gave Kansas a run for its money — an experience this team can use Wednesday night against No. 17 Virginia in Auburn Hills. Mich.
ASSOCIATE
SPORTS
EDITOR
or improvement.
Some of the mistakes are understandable, and I'm sure the Jayhawks will get things on track against the Cavaliers.
Kansas' foul trouble was the biggest problem. Granted, the officiating was questionable at times, but having junior guard Jacque Vaughn on the
bench with four fouls could have hurt the Jayhawks. Vaughn left with 16:26 remaining in the game. He returned with 5:32 left.
Fortunately, senior Calvin Rayford and freshman Ryan Robertson filled the 11-minute gap, keeping Kansas one step ahead of the Utes. Without them, who knows what would have happened. Sophomore forward Raef LaFrentz and junior guard Jerod Haase helped out as well.
Junior center Scot Pollard also felt the sting of the foul bug at Kemper. Maybe the group of birds that flew around the arena all afternoon helped its spread. But even I'm smart enough to know that those were fowl, not foul.
Pollard played a more careful second half to finish with just the three fouls, but he had to hold back a bit as not to draw any more whistles from the zebras.
Rebounding also proved to be difficult for Kansas. Although the Jayhawks out-rebounded the Utes, there were some key offensive boards that should have gone Kansas' way. Haase, LaFrentz and junior B.J. Williams pulled down key second-half rebounds that led to big plays. Add in the fact that Utah was without Brandon Jessie and 7-foot Ben Melmeth because of suspensions, and the battle of the boards could have gone the other way.
Utah put Kansas on the free throw line 41 times, but the Jayhawks only made 26 of their shots. Sure, that is more than 50 percent, but Kansas could have put this game further out of reach by making a few more of their attempts from the charity stripe.
But the reputation for good hustle doesn't go to Haase. That honor is bestowed upon LaFrentz, whose second-half dive into press row ripped the cover from the front of the table. Guess who was right behind him, though. That's right, it was Haase.
Like I said before, there were enough outstanding performances to let the negatives be gone and forgotten. Vaughn made key shots when the Jayhawks needed them and finished with 16 points and three assists. Haase gets the game ball for best player, pouring in a team-high 17 points and 4 assists.
Bottom line: Kansas has the depth to play with anyone. When key starters get into foul trouble, Kansas men's basketball coach Roy Williams has many troops to continue fighting the battle. And you can't argue with good hustle and aggressive play.
The 4,000-5,000 Kansas fans who showed up at Kemper around 2:30 p.m. Saturday missed the other game. I guess paying $30 to $40 dollars to see just one game was not a problem. No. 12 Memphis rolled over No. 24 Purdue. 91-76.
Memphis guard Chris Garner was most impressive, grabbing rebounds that led to easy layups several times in the game.
Keep your fingers crossed on Wednesday night. It only gets tougher from here on out.
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