University Daily Kansan / Friday, February 17, 1989
Sports
13
KU travels to Duke for Final Four rematch
by Mike Considine
vansan sportswriter
Tomorrow's game between Kansas and Duke is the latter of the teams for awhile. Then again, it will be
The series between the Jayhawks and the Blue Devils has had a short, unpredictable history. Two of the four meetings have come in the semifinals or the NCAA tournament. The first Kansas-Duk game ever came in the finals of the 1986 Big Appl National Invitational Tournament.
Duke won the only scheduled game, 74-70, last year in overtime at Allen Field House. Duke holds a 3-1 series record, with Kansas' only victory being in last year's NCAA semifinal, 66-59.
Assistant athletic director Richard Konzem was tommorrow's game was the second of a two-game contract, arranged by CBS-TV. However, Konzem there still was a chance that the teams could play next season although he said he currently was not negotiating with Duke
Athletic Director Bob Frederick, who reportedly considered offering the vacant Kansas coaching position last summer to Duke coach Mike Krzewzski, said he wanted the series to continue.
"I hope we can go on with it forever," Frederick said. "We are very similar. We have the same concerns about athletics and academics. I think it's a natural."
The Jayhawks, 16.9, play their second-straight nationally ranked opponent. The Blue Devils, 18.4, wereranked No.1 by the Associated Press for most of the season. Duke currently is ranked 11th.
The Blue Devils have won their last four games. Krzeyzki said senior Danny Ferry's return to full strength from back spasms had helped the team. Ferry missed the North Carolina State on Jan. 26, and his play was limited for about two weeks.
"We're healthy now, and we're playing better." Krzyszki said. "We're hoping we continue to show improvement. What we're looking for is consistency. Playing teams like Kansas will help because they put a lot of pressure on you defensively."
Krzewzki said Ferry, an All-American who averages 22.3 points and 7.2 rebounds a game, was the key to Duke's offence. Duke lost four of the five first half points. Ferry was limited because of the back problem.
Kansas has lost six consecutive games, the school's longest losing streak since the 1972-73 season. The Jayhawks lost 94-89 to one. 1 ranked Oklahoma Wednesday夜送 in Allen Field House.
"The they spent longer at the No. 1 spot than any other team in the country (nine weeks), and the only time that they had a downspell was when Danny was hurt," Kansas coach Roy Williams
Williams said Duke was a tough team to prepare for because it played man-to-man defense and forced him.
said. "They have other very good players, but Danny's very important to them."
"You have to be prepared to make your reactions when they make their reactions," he said. Krzypewski said he thought Kansas changed defenses well.
Krzewyszi said the Jayhawks' trio of Milt Newton, Mark Randall and Kevin Prichard.
"Kansas has balanced scoring." he said. "They have three men who can attack you in different ways, and they have a number of other guys who can give you problems."
"They are one of the hardest working teams in the country," he said. "They play hard together, working as a team."
The three players combined for 71 points against Oklahoma. Randall, who chose Kansas over Duke out of high school, was the game's high score with 29 points.
"Lately, when one player is on, the other four are off," Newton said. "You can't win games like that against good teams. One reason we played so well (Wednesday) is that everyone was playing unselfishly. We had (both) our inside and outside games going."
Game 26
Kansas Jayhawks
Coach: Roy Williams
Record: 16-9
Coach: Mike Krzyzewski
Record: 18-4
PROBABLE STARTERS
Duke Blue Devils
Player Ht. PPG
F-Mike Maddox 6.7 10.6
F-Milt Newton 6.4 16.6
C-Milt Randall 6.9 16.8
K-Gevin Pritchard 6.3 14.9
G-Scooter Barry 6.4 7.3
Player HT. Pgt
F-Danny Ferry 6-10 22.3
F-John Smith 6-7 7.7
C-Alaa Abdenabyron 6-10 10.4
G-Ghl Henderson 6-4 11.8
G-Quin Snyder 6-3 7.4
Game notes:
Game notes: Duke leads the series 3-1. None of the games has been at Duke, Kansas won the last game 66-59 in the 1988 NCAA tournament semifinal. Duke beat the Jayhawks 71-70 in overtime at Allen Field House last season. The game will be broadcast on CBST-v channels 5 and 13) and on KLZR 106-FM. Tip-off is 3:05 p.m. CST tomorrow at Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, N.C.
Jayhawk tennis teams ready for challenges in weekend matches
by Laurie Whitten Kansan sportswriter
Both Kansas tennis teams face important matches early in their spring seasons this weekend.
The men's team will play three nationally ranked squads in four days, and the women's team travels to the New Mexico Quadrantangular
The men open their weekend against 18th-ranked Georgia Tech today in Atlanta. Coach Scott Perelman said that Kansas had a good chance of beating the Yellow Jackets and Jayhawks had to play confidently.
"I know we good enough to beat the top teams, but they (the players) are the ones that have to believe it," Perelman said.
"I don't believe that we've played confidently as an entire team, but I think we're progressing. We can't get away with losing and wins at this point," he said.
Kansas has not played any matches since dual competition on Jan. 27-28 against Southwest Missouri State and Arkansas. The Jayhawks defended the Beiers 6-3, then lost to the 15th-ranked Razorbacks 5-2.
Perelman said he was proud of Falbo's performance at the tournament.
However, Kansas' N. 1 singles player, John Falbo, competed against top players from Florida, Louisiana State and California in the Roxie National Indoor Intercollegiate Tennis Championships in Minneapolis. Falbo won his first two matches but was defeated in the quarterfinal round.
“Things are going well for him,” Perelman said. “He played his best games of the season. I expect him to win a few this weekend.”
Kansas will stay in Atlanta to play 81st-ranked Tennessee tomorrow. Perelman said the Volunteers tougher player was freshman Brice Karsh.
On Monday, the Jayhawks will travel to Athens, Ga., to play Georgia, ranked second in the nation.
Pereman said the Buildings would be Kansas' toughest competition this week. He said that Georgia was good enough to win the NCAA championships in May.
"R
But philosophically, we're committed to playing the best teams, and that's what we are doing.'
Scott Perelman KU tennis coach
"These guys are loaded," he said. "They've got one of the top programs in the country."
"But philosophically, we're committed to playing the best teams, and that's what we're doing."
Five Georgia players rank in the nation's top 25, including Al Parker, ranked No.1 in the country.
The women's team practiced outdoors for the first time this week in preparation for the Albuquerque matches.
New Mexico, New Mexico State and Texas-El Paso will also participate in the outdoor quadrangular beginning today and ending Sunday.
Coach Eric Hayes said the only team in the quadrangular that Kansas had ever played was New Mexico, and was anxious to play that team again.
New Mexico defeated the Jayhawks 5-4 in a dual last year.
"I'm not too familiar with the other teams because we never played them." Perelman said. "But I've some results, and they look good.
Hayes said it would help the Jayhaw's chances for an NCAA Tournament bid if they defeated New Mexico and New Mexico State. Both teams are in Kansas' region, and only the top two teams of each region qualify for the tournament. Kansas is the third place in the region with Utah.
"New Mexico is the team to beat.
We lost a close one to them last year,
and we're anxious to play them now.
They're a very good team."
The Jayhawks won their first home match of the spring season against Texas Tech, 5-2, last weekend. Freshman Renee Raychaudhi did not play in the match because of a back injury, and Hayes said she had not recovered enough to compete this weekend.
for the school record in the 50-yard freestyle at 20.65 seconds. He was swimming in a practice on Wednesday.
Kansas senior丹 Mendenhall works on his butterfly, Mendenhail, a Pleasant Hill, Calif., native, is one of two swimmers who are tied
For senior, pool was route to KU
by Brett Brenner
Kansan sportswriter
"I saw it as a way to go to college," he said. "If I swam and did well, I could get money for college."
For Kansas swimmer Dan Mendenhall, swimming has been more than just an enjoyable sport.
A native of Pleasant Hill, Calif.
Mendenhall is the Jayhawk swim team's co-captain. He started his swimming career on a league team during the summer when he was 5 years old.
When he was 15, Mendenhall started to swim year-round for a USS team. Mendenhall said it was then that he realized that swimming was a way to get a college scholarship.
Division I school." he said.
Mendenhall, a business and accounting major, didn't come to Kansas immediately after the time school. He said that at the time, his swimming times weren't good enough to play in the NCAA Division I college.
"I really wanted to go to a
To improve his times, Mendenhall stayed with his USS team and went to Diablo Valley College for a year.
It was during April of his year there that he visited Kansas.
"I really liked it here," he said.
"I was only here for a couple of days, and I felt like I really knew me. I came here the next August."
Mendlenhall has been successful at Kansas as both a long-distance swimmer and a spinner. He said that during his first two years at Kansas he swam long-distance and the 200-yard butterfly.
Kansas swimming coach Gary Kempil said, "He's a tremendously versatile swimmer Going from Team USA to World Cup, he's a pretty talented athlete." 50.
Last season, as a junior, Mendemhall began to swim the sprinting events, including his current favorite, the 100-vard butterfly.
roommate Andrew Billings for the school record in the 50-yard freestyle. Both have swum it in 20.6 seconds. Mendenhall tied Billings' record at the Harvard Invitational in December.
He currently is tied with his
"There is kind of a rivalry," he said. "Glenn (Trammel) thinks that he should be up there, also."
Mendenhall lives with four other swimmers — Tramnel, Billings, Jeff Rodgers and Allan Chaney.
"It works out well because we're all on the same schedule," he said. "We have a blast."
Mendhenall said that he enjoyed what he does and that he wasn't tired of it, even after swimming during his entire college career.
"I love it," he said. "I have friends at home that have become really sick of it. I really like the competitive aspect of it."
He said that to be a swimmer, he had to make sacrifices.
"To swim in college, you have to spend so much time in the pool," he said. "I wouldn't do it differently if I could do it over."
"Every year, you learn to hate Nebraska even more," he said of the Cornhuskers, who have won nine straight conference titles, and that they will be more (each year). It would define, in the most memorable moment,
His most memorable moment yet was at the end of his sophomore year, he said.
He added that it would be a more memorable moment if the Jayhawks defeated Nebraska for the championship competition, March 1-4.
Mendhagen said that he had taken the job of co-captain more seriously during his second year in position than during the first year.
"I see myself as a silent leader," he said, "maybe a role model by example."
"I was named captain for my junior year," he said. "It was totally unexpected."
Injury unlikely to shorten Bloxom's freshman season
Kempi said, "Dan has been an excellent team leader. He is a hard worker."
by Molly Reid Special to the Kansas
Special to the Kansan
With a few minutes left in the Jayhawk's high-scoring loss to Oklahoma, 101-87, freshman Shannon Bloxom, who was averaging 12 points a game, injured the lateral collateral knee down from a block.
The Kansas women's basketball team didn't just lose a game Wednes-
day night in Norman, Okla.
"I would say there is a chance she'll miss the K-State game, but I wouldn't want to say anything else until Dr. (Kenneth) Wertzberger looks at her," tranner Brenda Sneed said. "I'm not anticipating anything horrible like LaTanya Nelson (who is out for the season with an ankle injury)."
Fortunately for Bloxom and the Jayhawks, the injury might not be too serious.
The Jayhawks, 11-12 overall and 3-8
"When we lost out on our big player, Debra Richardson (last fall), it placed enormous pressure on our young players," she said. "We had to put more freshman in the lineup and go to them more. For her and the other freshmen to respond as they have been treemendous."
"By my senior year, I had my mind made up." Bloxon said. "The (other schools) would have had to have done a lot to change my mind."
Bloxom, a two-year all-state high school player from Leavenworth, had become a main element for the 2012 team. Coach Marian Washington said.
in the Big Eight Conference, play Kansas State, 16-8 and 6, at 7-30 p.m. Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan.
Despite some thought of going to Mississippi to play collegiate basketball, Bloxom made up her mind early in high school to attend Kansas
Bloxom also looked at schools in the East and South before deciding to attend Kansas.
"the ultimate goal to win an NCAA Championship," she said. "I thought there was a great opportunity here for me to be on a winning team and play for one of the best coaches."
She said the winning tradition at Kansas was a major attraction to her.
Bloxom, whose high school team lost only seven games during her career, said she liked the positive reinforcement that Washington gave the team. She also liked the way the team got along.
"That is the kind of team I wanted to play for," she said.
And play she does
Averaging 23 minutes a game, Bloxom said she was surprised at the amount of playing time she was receiving in her first year.
Women's Basketball Game 24
Kansas Jayhawks
Coach: Marian Washington
Record: 11-12 (3-8)
Kansas State Wildcats
Coach: Matilda Mossman
Record: 16-8 (6-5)
PROBABLE STARTERS
Player Ht. PPG Player Ht. PPG
F-Danielle Shareef 5-9 6.7 F-Rita Mateuccl 5-11 8.8
F-Michelle Arnold 5-9 5.5 F-Diana Miller 5-10 12.5
C-Martha McCloud 5-10 11.3 C-Kristie Bahner 5-11 11.3
G-Lisa Braddy 5-8 14.8 G-Mary Jo Moiller 5-5 9.7
G-Gerl Hart 5-8 4.8 G-Nadira Hazim 5-7 14.9
Game notes: Tipoff is 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan. K-State leads the series 34-19 overall and 15-4 in Manhattan. K-State won earlier this season at Lawrence, 74-68.
"I never dreamed of playing this much," she said. "I figured I would have to wait a couple of years, prove them to, tie them, my turn."
The adjustment from high school to college basketball has been a major one. Bloxom said.
"I still have lots of room for improvement," she said. "We're a young team, and that gives a lot of energy." We play a lot. Fortunately, I get to play.
Bloxom, who has been the Jayhawks' high-scorer in six of 22 games, hasn't had to wait, but she said she still needed to prove herself.
Hershiser signs record agreement
LOS ANGELES — Orel Hershiser capped a record-setting season with a record-setting contract yesterday by agreeing to a three-year, $7.9 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The contract makes him the highest-paid player in baseball and the sport's first $3 million man.
The Associated Press
Hershiser, the National League Cy Young Award winner last year and the most valuable player in both the NL championship series and World Series, will receive a $1.1 million signing bonus, $2.4 million this season, $1.6 million in 1990 and $2.8 million in 1991.
"This contract is historic in its nature," Los Angeles general manager Fred Claire said.
The 30-year-old right-hander's deal
See HERSHISER, p. 14, col. 1