TENNIS
Kansas results from the Rolex Championships. Page 4
The Rams finally reach home. Page 6
SPORTS UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13,1995
BASKETBALL IS BACK
Kansas unveils its new defense
PAGE 3
Matt Flickner / KANSAN
Kansas freshman forward Paul Pierce (left) drives in for a shot against All-Star defenders during Friday night's game at Allen Field House. Kansas won, 102-69.
Williams said press was shaky in 102-69 exhibition victory
By Matt Irwin
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas men's basketball fans were hungry for basketball when they entered Allen Field House on Friday for the team's first exhibition game, and the Jayhawks gave them an appetizer of what may follow the rest of the season.
Kansas defeated the Converse All-Stars 102-69, giving fans a taste of the changes Kansas men's basketball coach Roy Williams has made in this year's team.
Among those changes is the addition of the press defense.
"We want this press to work." Kansas senior point guard Calvin Rayford said. "We have the talent. We have the speed. We have the size. We have the quickness. We're going to do it."
Williams wasn't impressed, though, by his team's press against an exhibition team that has a changing roster of players and doesn't get to play much together.
"We did it 11 times in the first half, and they turned it over six out of the 11 times," Williams said. "But they still scored 11 points, and we only got nine points out of it, so it's not what I wanted by any means. It looked about as sloppy as I expected it to look."
Kansas junior center Scot Pollard, whose 29 points was the most by any player, sometimes was the last resort in stopping Converse when Kansas was pressing.
Overall, Converse had 29 turnovers, while Kansas had 19.
Pollard said that his job was to not allow any lawsuits.
"They got some easy buckets," Pollard said. "You know they're going to get some easy buckets. That's just guaranteed. We're going to get a lot more easy buckets, hopefully."
The Jayhawks' sloppiness could be attributed to the fact that they're still installing their offense and defense. Some players, such as Pollard, have never played a press defense.
"It's new to me," Pollard said. "It's a little bit different for me to try to steal a pass. It makes me a little nervous, I'm overweight to it."
Men's Basketball Notes
Kansas recruit Nick Bradford, a 6-6 senior from Fayetteville, Ark., has signed a letter of intent to play for the Kansas men's basketball team next season.
"We went into the recruiting period wanting to sign one perimeter and one post player, and we feel very fortunate to have Nick fulfill our perimeter player role," Kansas men's basketball coach Roy Williams said. "He is a young man that I can describe somewhat as a late bloomer. He is getting better and better athletically, and he already has a great understanding of how to play the game. He reminds me somewhat of Steve Woodberry."
Kansas 7-foot, 265-pound sophomore center Travis Williams will redshirt this season. Travis and Kansas men's basketball coach Roy Williams decided that it would benefit Travis Williams to sit out. The Kansas coach said that if Travis Williams had not redshirt this season, he still would not have received much playing time behind Juniors Scot Polldan and B.J. Williams, sophomore Raef LaFrentz and freshman T.J. Pugh.
The Jayhawks still have one scholarship to give for next season.
brings back memories of high school," Rayford said.
Travis Williams averaged 20 points and 11 rebounds as a senior at Pawnee Heights High School in Rozel. He will be able to practice with the Jayhawks, but cannot play in any games this season and will have three years of eligibility left following his redshirt period.
Rayford said that the press may be riskier than last year's defense that had Greg Ostertag, the Big Eight Conference's
getting used to it. I like it a lot."
"I think everybody has a part in the press because if one guy messes up the press,the press is broke."
Rayford also likes the press defense, but unlike Pollard, he has pressed in the past.
Calvin Rayford Kansas senior guard
"Definitely, it's more fun because it
career leader in blocked shots, acting as a last resort.
"I think everybody has a part in the press because if one guy messes up the press, the press is broke," Rayford said. "It does start with the guards, but everybody has to do their part."
Rayford said that the press could be the key to the Jayhawks' defensive success especially against tough opponents.
"Maybe we can get some turnovers and speed up the tempo," Rayford said. "We might make somebody play a tempo they don't like to play,
and it'll be in our favor.
BOX SCORE: Statistics from Friday night's game. Scores & More, Page 2.
Vaughn and Rayford avenge prior defeat
Kansas guards hold a former Temple standout to just only two points
By Bill Petulla
Kansan sportswriter
As the Converse All-Stars strolled into Allen Field House to play the Kansas men's basketball team on Friday night, many billed the exhibition game as a glorified practice.
The team's center, Ed Book, even said that his squad didn't practice, run a set offense or a set defense.
After all, most of the All-Stars are former college players who couldn't succeed in the NBA or lower professional ranks.
But old men or not, Kansas guards Jacque Vaughn and Calvin Rayford had a special incentive in sending the All-Stars home disappointed and defeated.
"We're just a bunch of old men," said Converse guard and former Temple standout Rick Brunson.
On Dec. 1, 1993, Brunson scored 16 points on the way to a Temple-dominated 73-59 victory against Kansas in Allen Field House. Rayford only had one assist and no points in 15 minutes played. Vaughn, who was playing in only his fourth college game, was held to three assists and five points.
the season record, for Rayford and Vaughn it did count in setting the record straight.
Although Friday's game didn't count in
Brunson said that he was impressed with Kansas' guard play and especially with Vaughn.
Rayford and Vaughn got their revenge as they combined in holding Brunson to 1 of 10 from the field for a total of two points.
"We didn't forget about the last time," Ravford said of the 1993 Temple game.
"He runs this team, and he played great defense." Brunson said.
Brunson said that although he got the best of Vaughn in their first meeting, he was impressed with the Vaughn on both occasions.
Kansas center Scot Pollard, who finished the night with 29 points, said that the rematch was personal for Vaughn.
player."
"He asked me in pregane, 'Do you ever think back and want to play somebody that you played your freshman year, but you want to play them now?" Pollard said.
"Jacque was good then, and he's good now," he said. "He's always been a great
For Vaughn, revenge against Brunson came without even breaking a sweat.
Cross country teams fail to qualify for championships
Vaughn also said that although it was nice to settle the score with Brunson, there are otherplayers from which he seeks revenge
"I could play another game," Vaughn said.
"I'm not even breathing hard. I came out of the game, and I didn't even water."
"There are still a lot of players out there I want to get a second chance at," he said.
By Adam Herschman Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas men's and women's cross country teams may not be headed back to the NCAA Cross Country Championships after competing in the District V Championships on Saturday.
To qualify for the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive year, the Kansas teams had to finish in either first or second place at the District V Championships.
The men's team tied for ninth place with
Oklahoma, while the women finished seventh.
"It just didn't happen this year," Schwartz said. "I am disappointed about not going back, but I'm not disappointed with the athletes."
No. 2 Oklahoma State and No. 7 Iowa State finished first and second respectively in the men's race and automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships. The Cowboys had the home-field advantage as the District V Championships was held at their course in Stillwater, Okla.
Kansas' cross country and track and field coach Gary Schwartz said neither team would likely receive an at-large bid after their performances at districts.
Two weeks ago, both teams raced at Rim Rock in the last Big Eight Conference Championships. The Cowboys won the Big Eight, while the Cyclones finished third.
In addition to winning team honors, Oklahoma State captured individual honors as well. Oklahoma State senior Patrick Kiptum won the men's race with a time of 30:38.0 on the 10K course.
Kansas sophomore Brian Watt was the first Jayhawk to cross the finish line with a time of 32:37.80. Watts finished 26th and was the Jayhawks' top runner for the second time this
season.
But don't forget about the performance of the now-No. 15 Jayhawks, who finished with more passing yards and first downs than Nebraska. It's too bad Kansas was
Kansas juniors Cord Criss and Joshua Weber and redshirt freshman Lewis Theobald rounded out Kansas' top five finishers.
"He stepped up and had the kind of race I asked those guys to," Schwartz said.
Hardly. Nebraska players may think the "N" on their helmets stands for knowledge, but they sure are smart on the field — especially when opponents turn the ball over.
On the women's side, No. 24 Missouri took first place and No. 19 Iowa State took second, completing the sweep for the Cyclones. Sue
The only senior on the team, Chris Gaston, placed 29th with a time of 32:46.60 in his last cross country race for Kansas.
'Huskers sure can capitalize
Disappointing.
It's about the only way to describe Saturday's Kansas-Nebraska game without getting medieval. Take away some turnovers and the game would have been different, right?
outscored 41-8 because until the end of the third quarter, the game was much closer than the scoreboard indicated
ASSOCIATE
SPORTS
EDITOR
This game can be broken down into three categories:
The Good:
More than 50,000 fans braved the cold and wind to fill Memorial Stadium for Senior Day
The Kansas defense held Nebraska's high-powered offense to 375 yards, its second-lowest in a game this season.
The Jayhawk offense rolled up 345 yards against one of the nation's toughest defenses.
Kansas senior quarterback Mark Williams threw for 242 yards while Nebraska senior quarterback Tommie Frazier had only 86 through the air.
The Bad:
Kansas had a season-high five turnovers.
Frazier had 99 yards rushing to lead the Cornhuskers.
The Jayhawks' were unable to move the ball after Nebraska senior quarterback Brook Berringer fumbled in the second quarter.
A long second-quarter offensive drive was cut short by an interception deep in Nebraska territory.
The Ugly:
Kansas junior wide receiver Isaac Byrd's fumble, which resulted in Nebraska's first touchdown.
The first-quarter fumble by Kansas junior running back June Henley. It set up the Cornhuskers' second touchdown.
A bad snap on a punt attempt that sailed over senior Darrin Simmons' head and rolled for over 30 vards.
The fact that Kansas has not defeated Nebraska since 1968.
A poor showing after three wins on television against Texas Christian. Colorado and Oklahoma.
Blaming the weather, the television cameras, the Nebraska fans dr the officials for the loss would be too easy. That's not to say that all four of those things didn't affect the Jayhawks, because they did in my opinion.
First, Kansas made too many mistakes on which Nebraska capitalized with touchdowns. That's what good teams do well, and the Cornhuskers were no exception.
The Jayhawks' inability to kick a field goal with five seconds left in the second half.
Second, a lot of momentum and energy was sapped out of the Jayhawks when they failed to get the field goal attempt off, and Nebraska used that to its advantage by scoring on the first drive of the second half.*
Finally, excellent teams shine in the second half, and Nebraska's performance was no exception.
Stop the press.
Dateline; Norman, Okla. Lowly Oklahoma State, one of three inhabitants in the Big Eight Conference graveyard, handed a better-than-average Oklahoma team its first shutout since 1983 and guaranteed Oklahoma's worst finish since 1966.
These Cowbirds will be ready for a gunfight on Saturday in Stillwater Okla. They have nothing to lose except another game.
Bowl.bow Kansas does. *
Stay tuned. *
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