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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 10, 1927)
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN FINISH SUCCESSFUL SEASON BASKETBALL EDITION CAGERS BASKETBALL EDITION FOUR PLAYERS ON QUINTET TO GRADUATE Smaha, Page, Andresen and Klepser Play Last Game as Huskers TWO ALL-VALLEY MEN Page and Smaha Are Named On 1927 All-Valley Basket Ball Team Four basketball men will ba- lost to the Scarlet and Cream cage quin tet with this year's graduation. They are Captain Clark Smaha, Ted Page, . Roy Andresen, and Merritt Klepser. ' Captain Clark Smaha led the 192j cage team through a successful sea son. Clark was one of the foremost forwards in the Missouri Valley and attracted attention all over the mid dle west by his uncanny method of snagging baskets on the run and from the side. His favorite shot was a one handed one from the side of the cour-,, which he made with regularity in every game. Smaha finished third in the high scoring column in the Missouri Valley scorers, rolling" up a total of 123 points for his season's record. Fifty-one baskets were put through the netting by the stellar Husker captain, but basket shooting alone would not give due credit to the Nebraskan who figured so prom inently in Coach Charley Black's court machine. Smaha was one of the best floor men in the Valley and could elude an opposing guard with the ease and skill of a finished player. One of the Husker captain's tricks was to feign a pass to one of his team-mates, thereby drawing the guards away to leave him for an open shot. This made Smaha one of the hardest forwards in the conference to guard and if the guard persisted in hanging on, the Nebraska forward would pull the trick that brought comment from sport critics all over the country, and that to dribble around his man and get under the basket for a shot. Brown of Iowa State who stopped the best forwards in the Valley, found it a difficult task to stop Smaha in the Ames-Nebraska game at Ames, and the Corn husked loader slipped through for three tallies from the field before he was injured and taken from the game. Plays Three Years on Team Smaha graduates this spring after three years on the Nebraska basket ball team. Last season Smaha was one of the outstanding forwards of the Valley and in 1925 he played regularly at the forward post. Next season, Coach Charley Black will have to develop a forward to fill the stellar Cornhusker Captain's shoes. Ted Page, giant Husker center, the tallest basketball player in the Missouri Valley cage race and the main cog on which the Nebraska quintet revolved is the second bas keteer who has played his last game on the court for Nebraska. Page was the tallest center in the confer ence and was able to get the tip-off from every center that opposed him. The big center also figured in the scoring column the second high scor er for the Huskers and finishing in seventh place in the Valley high scor ing column with a total of 102 points. Pivot-Man Helped Teamwork Page would get the tip in every game thus enabling his team to work their plays down the floor to perfec tion. Sport critics and coaches say that a team with the tip-off can fig ure on ten points r-ore on an average of every game. So with Nebraska get ting the tip in every game, a good deal of the scoring would be due to the Nebraska pivot-man. Many a basketball game, the big Nebraskan would thrill Husker fans by getting one of his tip-in shots, of making a goal out of what appar ently was a miss by one of his mates. His favorite shot was on the jump and to tip the sphere in from around the foul line. In the Washington-Nebraska game, the Nebraska center counted three times from the field by lengthening out shots from his team mates that were falling a few inches short of the rim. Snatching the ball out of the air, , he - would sink it through the netting for his famous . spectacular shot. Page's heighth and accurate basket shooting won a place for him on several All-Valley selec tions. With the graduation of the tall Nebraskan, there will be a vacant place on the 192S Husker 'quintet that will probably never be filled. Very seldom is it that any school can turn out centen like the tall Page. Nebraska is known for the tall corn it grows, and now Valley schools are well aware of the fact that the Cornhusker state can grow some tall basketball men also. Aadrasea Close, Cnard Itoy Andresen, Nebraska guard is tiie third Husker basketeer to be lost by graduation this spring, was one of the closest guarding men on the T'-arlet and Cream five and bis Joss v. ill k-ave a position open for csndi 7 ' s next wintvr as the running . '? cf H it Ccrelick. Hal and "An- t i Courtesy The Lincoln Star The Cornhusker basketball squfid which just ended a successful season on the court. Next season with the exception of four men, the entire squad will be back. The Husker basketeers turned in a record of eleven games won and five lost. All the games on the lost column were conference games and counted against the Nebraska percentage in the Missouri Valley cage race. Standing: John Schroyer, student manager, Bob Krall, Kenneth Othmer, Carl Olson, Tom Elliott, Coach Charles Black. Seated,: Merritt Klepser, Elmer Holm, Vinton Lawson, Captain Clark Smaha, Ted Page, Roy Andresen, John Brown. Graduates Roy Andresen, the running mate of Phil Gerelick at the guard posts is another stellar Husker who will be lost to the Nebraskans next win ter. Roy and Phil at the guarding job was "enough" said in the opinion of Husker fans all season. Andresen was the back guard on the Nebraska five and didn't come down the long court very often for shots, but playing the man and returning the bail to his team-mates was "Andy's" specialty. He handled his position like an ex pert and will leave a vacancy in next year's team that will be hard to fill. dy" worked together all season at the guard posts like veterans and were one of the best pair of guards in the conference. Very seldom did Andresen come down the long Ne braska court-for shots, but was con tent to stay back on the court and keep down the score of the oppon ents and well did he handle his job. With the exception of the last two games, the Husker guards kept the opposing score down and turned in a season's record of 335 points scored against them, ranking NeNbraska fifth in defensive strength. Fast Reserve Forward Merritt Klepser is the fourth man to graduate this year. "Klep" was a reserve forward and saw action in several games and displayed his wares as a fast man on the floor. Dribbling, passing and dodging op posing guards were some of the feats performed by the little Husker for ward that made him a dangerous man en the court. Brown Injured Late in Season "Jug" Brown, the running mate of Captain Clark Smaha at the forward position was kept out of a number of games this season due to an injury to his knee and later in the season the Husker forward received a brok en nose which hindered his participa tion in games. But regardless of his injuries "Jug" was in the game and fighting and in the final game of the season played one of the best games of bis career. Brown was a careful of his career. " ' to f " 'ZZ" f i r ; 1 '' ', - 1: ' -' : j University of Nebraska Cage Squad '"'IV""I - s V 1 Smaha One Of Leading Men In Score Race "Al" Peterson, Kansas Jayhawker center led the scorers in the 1927 Missouri Valley basketball race close ly followed by "Lefty" Byers of the Kansas Aggies and Captain Clark Smaha of Nebraska. The Jayhawker ace made his big total in the labt three ' games of the season starting with Nebraska and finishing up with the Kansas ;gies. Sport writers and coaches through out the Missouri Valley recognized Peterson as one of the foremost scor ers and floor men this season. He was picked by nearly every critic for the All-Valley team and in the Missouri-Kansas game, the big blond headed pivot-man distinguished him self as one of the greatest basketball players of Jayhawk history. Almost single handed the Kansas scoring ace scored 22 points to turn back the Tigers from Missouri. Again in the Kansas Aggie game as in the Nebras ka game the Kansas center snegged five baskets from the field to run up his total for the season. In 12 games he collected 54 baskets and 18 free throws for a total of 126 points and high scorer of the season. Byers Close Second "Lefty" Byers, the Aggie Wildcat scoring ace who was close behind Pet erson, scored one less than the Kan sas center. Byers scored consistently all season and was leading the Valley for several weeks, but dropped be hind when the tall Kansan went on his basket rampage. The Kansas Ag gie forward scored one more basket than the leader but only collected 15 free throws, three less than Pet erson for a total of 125 points. Smaha Third in Line Clark Smaha, Cornhusker captain was third in the line of high scorers with a total of 123 points. Clark was another one of the consistent Valley scorers all season and was the main stay of Nebraska's scoring machine, collecting fifty-one baskets and twenty-one free-throws in the twelve Mis souri Valley conference games he played. Page and Smaha were Ne braska's big scorers and both finished high in the scoring column. Smaha averaged 11 points a game all season and nearly five baskets in every game. Page, the second high scorer for Nebraska finished seventh in the race with a total of 102 points or 47 baskets and 8 free throws. The Hus ker center sank the least number of free throws than any other player in the first high ten. Yunker, Missouri forward finished in fourth plate with 116 points. The Tiger forward played in only ten games on account of the break of athletic relations between Missouri and Washington. He scored more points per game than any other player in the conference. To Bruce J i ; V. Drake, the flashy Oklahoma Sooner forward goes the honors of capturing the most free throws. The Sooner star garnered a total of 31 free throws, just one ahead of Yunker. Drake was one of the best forwards seen on the Husker court this season, and played one of his best games against the Cornhuskers when the two teams met on the Coliseum floor February 18. Captain Peery of Okla homa Aggies was one of the Valley's high scorers of the 1927 season and finished behind Yunker with 111 points. Kansas Had Defensive Team The Kansas Jay hawkers had the leading defensive team in the con ference and allowed but 260 points to be. scored against them by their r1 -v' T",r . By Jack Elliott -Mr. I- UifXy-i i J Nebraska Guard 7' y t Phil Gerelick, dependable and dim inutive Cornhusker guard who fig ured in every battle the Nebraskans took part in this season. Phil played the floor, slipped up on opposing de fense for his favorite long high-arch shot at the basket and covered his man with the speed and cleverness that was characteristic of his playing all season. With Phil and "Andy" at the guard posts, the Husker coach could always figure the opposing score would be low. jGerelick will be back in the Scarlet and Cream jersey ' next season. Valley opponents in the 12 regular scheduled games. This is an average of almost 22 points to a game while the Jayhawk offense managed to score an average of 31 points to a game. A total of 373 points were rolled up by the men of "Phog" Allen during the 1927 season. The Oklahoma Sooners grabbed the honors for the highest scoring team in the conference games they featured in during the 1927 season. The Sooner machine rolled up a total of 405 points in the 12 Valley games for an average of 33 points per game. The Nebraska team ranked as third in defensive strength with an aver age of 27 points scored against them in the 12 conference games or for a total of 335 points. FINAL INDIVIDUAL STANDING l 1 $4 t I v t I ... ...... J! g f g ft Pts Peterson (Kansas) 12 63 20 126 Byers (Kan Ags) 12 65 15 125 Smaha (Nebraska) 12 SI 21 123 Yunker (Mo) . 10 43 30 116 Peery (Okla Ags) 12 42 27 111 Drake (Oklahoma) 12 37 31 105 Myers (Drake) 12 37 28 102 PaKe (Nebraska).. 12 47 8 102 King (Okla Ags).. 12 86 17 89 Holt (Oklahoma) 12 80 22 82 West (Oklahoma) 12 31 18 81 Elliott (Ames) 12 34 10 78 . I,' XC ' - f i i ft'rfififtfill Opening Left In Cage Ranks By Graduation ' With three stellar basketball men piaduc-lmg thi spring, Coach Char ity i:.8tk will have a real on his hands to replace these playeri uet f-'l when the cu d of the bp.!c .Thill rt'-uims its taUto on the Colum ha:-dw.od. Ted fpge, the talli lns ketlull player .n the Missouri Valley, will loive the pivot position on; by his graduation this year. Clark Smaha, one of the high scorers in the conference and leader of Hus ker scorers, and Roy Andresen, Ne braska guard, will leave vacancies in the Husker quintet for next sea son. Phil Gerelick, letterman of two years and Elmer Holm will h buck for the guard positions and are two fast guards that Black can figure on I to hold down these positions. Kenneth 'Nil J tl T T J. TT uuuner ana dug Drown, iwo xius ker forwards from this year's team will be back for the forward work, and Tom Elliott who played as re serve center this season will be back for the center job with Olson another promising forward for next season's aggregation. The freshman material this winter 'looked better than ever before and Coach Bearg was with his yearling team every night, drilling them on the fundamental plays, passing and shooting. Nebraska Captain : 1 i Captain Clark Smaha who led the Nebraska Cornhuskets through the 1927 basketball season. Smaha waa one of the cleverest forwards in the Missouri Valley and one of the high scorers finishing third close behind Byers of the Kansas Aggies. Fifty one baskets and twenty-one free throws for a total of 123 points was the record the Husker captain hunir up for his last year on the team. I',', t i i if f )'' i FINAL MISSOURI VALLEY STANDING G W L Pet Kansas 12 10 2 833 Oklahoma 12 8 4 667 Missouri 10 6 4 600 Nebra.ka 12 7 B 583 Kansas Aggies 12 6 6 BOO Drake ' 12 6 6 500 Oklahoma Aggies 12 6 6 500 Iowa Rate 12 1 7 300 Washington 10 2 8 224 Grinnell 12 2 10 246 Tallest Center Ted Page, the six foot seven inch Nebraska center, the tallest basket - bull man in the conference and the main cog in the Nebraska basketball quintet. Page out-jumped every cen ter he opposed, flipped in baskets from the court, tipped in shots that were missed by his team-mates, and followed in shots with the ability of a veteran of the court. Page was the second high scorer for the Huskers and finished seventh in the Missouri Valley scoring with a total of 102 points. Page and Peterson were the two high scoring pivot-men in the conference and were picked as can didates for the All-Valley teams. High School Players Open Tourney Today (Continued on Page Four.) LouUville Talmaire 4 :40 p. m. lilue Hill vi 1'inimi 6:00 p. m. Ohiowa v Kfvrrton 7:00 p. m. Wood Lake v Maywood 7 :20 p. m. VnerAv v Rwanton H :20 p. m. Cortland s Hoopor 8:40 p. in. CLASS M Co!inum No. S Hallam s Goehnrr 8 :00 a. m. Lynch vs Elkrretk 11:20 a. m. Hickman va Yutan 9:20 a. m. Ilinnm vs Iluilirr 9:40 a. m. St. Mary's (O'Neill) vs Waco 10:40 a. m. Clarka vs Maxwrtl 11:00 a. m. H'llmrsvillr vs Wellflret 1 :00 p. m. Diller vs Howclls J :20 p. m. CLASS N ColiKrum No. 6 Dunning- vs Donhlrr 2:20 p. m. Trumbull or Hymouth vs Johnion ... . : -2:40 m- Datonia vs llerwyn :40 p. m. llo'rhnt,r va Thayer 4 :00 p. m. ftiarton vs Tvdar IflulTa 5:00 p. m. rraxua vs Kkis . t:20 p. m. Campbell vs Klkhorn 7:00 p. m. Ilradnhaw vs I'rltnrnaa 7 :;o p. m NOTE: Trumbull and Plymouth will play a preliminary ium Wednesday, March Kth at 7:00 p. m. on Coll.cum floor 6 CLASS O Y. M. C A Lewsllen vs Springfield ' ". :00 a. m. Tamora vs Rlus Kprinvs 8:20 a. m. Com. took iVry Valley) vs Juniata Brunlns; vs Hampton 9-40 a m Oiirley vs Henderson 10:40 a. ml f.oodlew Con. vs Insvals ... 11:00 a. m. He!lrooU vs WIkkIs Crssk (Loup City) DaltTe"lpiTm7aT:.rZr. 1 120 p m CLASS P P . Y. M. C. A. Wslton vs Bruno 2-2A n m Bingham vs IW, 20 o m Chapman vs Rlvsrdale '" S:40 d' m Bellevu. v. Hubbsrd " i -oo v m Parw.ll v. Hy.nni. ZZZZ. S:iS pi 2. Amherat v Duncan .. g.20 Mullen vs Liaeo .......... V' " Unsdllb vs Denton or Clenvli IAQ pi Basketball Captain To Be Chosen Soon The election of the 1928 basketball captain will be held within the next few days according to unofficial re ports from the athletic department. with the graduation of Clark Smaha. Ted Page and Roy Andresen, the can didates will be limited to Phil Gere lick, Cornhusker guard who Just com pleted his second year on the Scarlet and Cream and is a guard of All Valley caliber, John "Jug" Brown, captain of the 1927 Nebraska foot ball team who has also finished his second year on the basketball team. Tom Elliott, Elmer Holm and Ken neth Othmer are the other letter men who will be back on the court next season. i flVi jjj it - i l V I Vri ! : "- ! j 8 , U 6, 1 HUSKERS END YEAR FOURTH IN CAGE RACE Missouri Valley Race Closest In History; Every Game Changed Standings WIN FINAL CONTEST Basketeers Finish Successful Season by Winning From Drake March 5 Nebraska's Scarlet and Cream jer seyed basketeers finished a success ful season by trimming the Drake Bulldogs at Des Moines 46 to 32 on March 5. By the loss of the Ames game on the Iowa trip, the Huskers went into fourth place and finished there. The Missouri Valley cage race of 1927 was one of the closest in history. Every week-end saw a big up-set in the conference standing'. Kansas with nine straight victories after losing to Iowa State and Ne braska in the second and third games of the season, walked off with the 1927 championship of the Missouri Valley for the sixth consecutive time tying for it in 1921 with the Missouri Tigers. The season from the start was filled with upsets and the dope bucket spilled every week-end. At the beginning of Ithe season, 'the Oklahoma Sooners were favored to win, and one by one they dropped until it looked as if the Kansas Ag gies were going to cop the coveted title. Then Nebraska and Missouri took their turn at the title, but the Kansas Jayhawkers hung around in the first division and jumped into first place the last week of the con ference race. Tigers Have Lead Race Missouri played but ten conference games due to a break in athletic rela tions with Washington University. The Tigers led the rac until the last two weeks, with six victories and two defeats. Then their Oklahoma trip ruined their hopes for the 1927 title when both southern schools took the count of the Mizzou Tiger. Nebraska got off to a fair start and by mid-season was considered one of the strongest quintets in the Valley, taking Kansas, Oklahoma, Kansas Aggies and Missouri to a 1 cleaning. The Huskers finished in fourth place, going behind the teams that they had beaten twice, on the home court and on foreign courts, Oklahoma and Missouri. Nebraska's fourth place came because of their inconsistent playing, losing to their weaker siste of the conference. Drake, Iowa State, Kansas Aggies and Oklahoma Aggies, took the Husk er five into camp during the season, and also were defeated by Nebraska once. Won Seven, Lost Five The Huskers won seven Missouri Valley conference games and lost five for a percentage standing in the cage race of .583. The Missouri Tigers twice fell before the powerful Husk er machine in non-conference games, Washington in two non-conference games, and the Grinnell Pioneers in one. Every team that Nebraska played this season was beaten at least once by Charley Black's men. The Scarlet and Cream quintet opened the 1927 season on the home court losing to the Kansas Aggies 34 to 23. Later in the season the Nebraska team journeyed down to the Wildcat camp at Manhattan, and took their conference game from the Aggies by a cjmfbrtable fnargin. The second and third game?? of the year were played in Missouri where the Huskers took a pair from the muddy state, beating Washington and the Mizzouri Tigers. On January 19 the Huskers took their second road trip of the season to the Mis souri Valley champion stronghold for a conference game with the Kan sas Jayhawkers. For the second time and the last time this season the Kansas team was defeated, Nebraska winning 27 to 24. With a standing now of .500 in the conference, the Nebraskans took on the Drake Cull dogs on the home court The Drake Nebraska game was the fluke game of the season, the Huskers losing to the weaker Drake team 31 to 32. With but thirty seconds to play and the Huskers leading, the Bulldog got the ball out of bounds and car ried it in for the winning basket. Tb Iowa State Cyclones came to Lincoln to help the Huskers raise their stand ing in the Valley cage race, and after the game, the Nebraska five was again standing .600 percent, with a 35 to 19 win over the Iowa team. Third Trip in South The third road trip of the season was in the south where Nebraska met and won from the Oklahoma Sooners and the next night lost to the Okla homa Aggies to break even on the trip and remain in the even percent age class. Returning to Lincoln, tae Cornhuskers began a winning streak that didn't stop until they, had won six games, then the eonference cham pions came to stop the onslaaght the Nebraskans had launched. Grinnell, Kansas State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma Aggies and Washington were the victims of the Husker team before the defeat by the Jayhawkers. I I V 1