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daily mbm
Losses inspire Huskers for next OSU clash
Incentive should be no problem when the Huskers
tangle with Oklahoma State University this Saturday,
according to Coach Joe Cipriano, despite the
Cowboys' 2-8 Big 8 record and seventh place
standing.
He pointed out two recent Husker encounters with
OSU should prevent the team from becoming
overconfident.
One was a contest earlier this season in Stillwater,
which UN L lost, 79-66. The other was the Cowboys'
visit to the Coliseum last year, when they captured a
68-55 decision.
The 2:10 p.m. televised game in the Coliseum will
be the third meeting of the teams this year. Besides
the Stillwater game, the squads met in the preseason
Big 8 tournament, where the Huskers won, 69-62.
One of the big differences in the two previous
games this season was the offensive output of Husker
Jerry Fort In the first matchup. Fort scored 31
points, his second highest career tola!. In the second
game, he scored an all-time low of only four points.
"We had a poor game (in Stillwater)," Cipriano
said. "We did a poor job of handling the basketball."
Fort has had few problems putting the ball
through the hoop since then, raising his average to
19.2 points a game, third best in the league. He had
33 points in record breaking performance against
the University of Missouri last Saturday.
The Cowboys feature last year's Big 8 scoring und
rebounding leaders. Kevin Fitzgerald scored 21.3
points to lead league scorers, while Andy Hopson
snared 235 rebounds to set a conference record
Both players led the Cowboys in the earlier win
over UN L Fitzgerald scored 21 points to tie UNL's
Tom Novak for game scoring honors. Hopson grabbed
24 rebounds, the most by a Husker opponent this
year.
"We've got to block him off the boards," Cipriano
said. "He's got good jumping ability and timing."
Other starters for OSU are guards K.C. Kincaide
and Ronnie Daniel and forward Lafayette Threatt.
The Huskers now are fourth place in the Big 8
with a 4-5 league mark. Their overall record is 11-10,
with a 9-1 mark at home.
Immediately after the varsity game, the Husker
junior varsity will play Platte College.
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Cager enjoys playing second fiddle
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Fred Coker guards Tom Novak during a
practice session.
Fred Coker plays basketball for UNL, but don't
expect to see him when the Huskers take on
Oklahoma State University Saturday in the Coliseum.
To see Coker in action, one should go to the pregame
warmups, since most of his time this year has been
spent on the bench.
Only when the Huskers have taken a substantial
lead or have fallen hopelessly behind does he stand a
chance of going on. While most players would be
disillusioned about this situation, Coker couldn't be
happier.
"I told Coach Cipriano at the beginning of the
year I'd be prefectly content playing a secondary
role," he said, "and that's the way It turned out."
This is his first year at UNL after two sessions at
E! Camino, Calif., Junior College. There he made the
all -state team both years.
Since he has played only minimally, the 6 ft. 5 in.
Coker has found other ways to help the team. ' "
One thing he tries to do is keep the team inspired.
"I want to see everybody do good," he said.'
He does this by taking on somewhat of a
cheerleading role during games, doing his best to keep
the morale of the team up by encouraging the players
on the court.
After Husker wins, Coker is one of the most vocal
at the postgame locker room festivities.
He also said his play during practice, along with
the other Husker reserves, has bertn a contributing
factor to the team's relative success this year. When
the second string makes the starting five work hard in
practice, they play better in games, he explained.
"It's the second team that makes the first team
good," he said.
Coker came to UNL for a variety of reasons,
among them endorsements by former Husker football
players Bill Sloey and Zaven YaraNan, who also
attended El Camino.
dennis onnen
press oox review
He has enjoyed his Stay so far, with the exception
of the December cold spell, which forced the
Redondo Beach native inside.
"I couldn't stand it," ha said "I felt like a bear m
hibernation."
This winter also marked the first time Coker has
come into contact with snow. He had seen snow from
a distance in the California mountains, but he always
rcfraimed from closer inspection because "I was
always paranoid of getting sick"
The experience he has gained this year should help
him in his drive for a starting spot next season, he
said. Starting status should be tha goal of every
playar, he added.
"Any player that doesn't have that kind of
attitude shouldn't be playing."
If all Husker cagers accept the Fred Coker
approach, next year's prospects could be very
promising. As Coker said, "We're gaing to surprise a
lot of people."
'Sheep'
led to
slaughter
Saturday?
v.
By Steve Taylor
Saturday afternoon onother hopeful will attempt to end
the Husker track team's long winning streak at the Stadium
track.
It will be UNL's last home indoor meet of the year. The
team trying to snap UNL's 25-meet home winning streak
will be Colorado State University, a member of the Western
Athletic Conference. Husker Coach Frank Sevigne called
the Rams a balanced team with a strong middle distance
crew. :.-,,
Since the Huskers' main strength also is the middle
distance men, there might be some fierce individual battles
when the two teams meet. The starting time of the meet
has been changed to 4 p.m. to avoid a conflict with the
UNL-Oklahcma State University basketball game.
Sevigne, the Husker track general for 18 years, was
henersd this lt year's District 5 Coach of the
Year. Sevigne said modestly that the award was nothing to
be overjoyed about, that it was probably given to him
because of UNL's Big 8 indoor win last year.
If winning the Big 8 indoor is the deciding factor for the
coaching honor, Sevigne's chances of winning again are
pretty healthy this year. Against Bringham Young
University (SYU) last Saturday, the Huskers certainly
looked the part of Big 8 champions, as they toppled the
Cougars, 70 61. Sevigne says some UNL footbsll players
were instrumental in the victory.
"Our four football players contributed eight points for
us, and those eight points were the difference of the meet,"
Sevigne said.
Another pleasing development to Sevigne was Bob
Unger's upset of 3YU ace Paul Cummings in the mile.
"While Cummings as one of the better college milert in
the country, that win was quite a feather in Bob's hat," the
coach said.
Unger says of the home meets: "They're almost boring
sometimes. The only cfoss meet besides BYU since I've
been here was against Indiana last year. We usually beat our
opponents pretiy bad."
Unger runs about 10 miles a day. Me said It takes his
heart about two or three hours to settle down after
The UNL women's
basketball team takes a 64
record to Fremont's Midland
College for the state college
basketball tournament today
through Sunday. Twelve teams
are involved in the single
elimination competition.
Nebraska's first aame is at
12:45 p.m. Saturday against
the winner of the Friday
contest between Creighton
University and Chadron State
College. The state champion
advances to the Region 6
tournament in Brookings, S.D.
Husker gymnasts close out
their dual schedule Saturday
when they take on Oklahoma
University and New Mexico
University in Norman, Okla.
Trie team's record now stands
at 3-1.
The UNL women's
swimming team travels to
Oklahoma State University for
a Saturday meet. The team
raised its record to 5 2 with a
78-18 victor over Creator.
University Wednesday. Phyllis
Thagard, Debbie Petersen,
Kathy Anderson, Eila Austin,
Cheryl Cress, Mary Amstrup,
Jann Martindale and Ruth
Spencer all won.
The Nebraska state high
school wrestling championships
begin today and continue
through Saturday at Pershing
Auditorium.
3V
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Our rtwfth m;r!l It ts4 lot
rsstwch sviKt ".
practice. But ha said it's worth while in the long run.
daily nebraskan
page 16
friday, february 22, 1974