The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, January 29, 1979, Page page 10, Image 10
page 10 daily nebraskan monday, january 29, 1979 spools UNL basketball squad wants victory, gets Moore By Lee Barfknecht Senior guard Bob Moore said he just put it up and prayed. Nebraska coach Joe Cipriano said it was as sweet as wine. Kansas coach Ted Owens said he wished his team had guarded it a little closer. What they all were talking about was Moore's 35-foot jump shot at the overtime buzzer that powered Nebraska to a 66-64 comeback win over Kansas Saturday. The win, before a screaming throng of 11,273 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center and a regional television aud ience, kept the Huskers in a three-way tie for first place in the Big 8 basketball race with Oklahoma and Missouri, each with 4-2 recored. Nebraska had to sweat out three Kansas opportunities late in the game before taking a shot at it themselves. Wtih four seconds left in overtime, Nebraska's Brian Banks lobbed an inbounds pass to Moore who raced up the court against the clock and Kansas press. From there. Moore described what he called his best shot in two years as a Husker. Heavenly help "I don't know how long it was," Moore said. "I figure I took two steps from half court and put it up. It was on a direct line and the Lord was with me. "I was really surprised I was that wide open," Moore said. "I maybe could've taken a couple more dribbles, but I didn't want to chance it." Cipriano called the long distance bomshell Moore's best shot. "He's always said he can shoot the 30-footers as well as the 10-footers," Cipriano said. Owens had little to say about Moore's shot. What bothered the Jayhawk coach most, he said, was KU's squandering of three game-winning chances and not once getting the shots they were looking for. The first chance came after Carl McPipe, Nebraska's leading scorer with 16 points, tipped in a Banks miss to tie the game at 61 with 1:19 left in regulation . Kansas held the ball until the :09 mark when Johnny Crawford missed an off-balance 21 -foot jumper and Nebraska's Andre Smith, whose second half shooting spree kept the Huskers in the game, grabbed the rebound. Timeout called The Huskers called timeout with :02 left to set a play. However, Jayhawk guard Darnell Valentine knifed be tween tow Huskers to steal Banks inbound pass and was fouled by Moore with .01 o play, giving Kansas the ball out of bounds and its second chance at a victory. KU center Paul Mokeske, who took game scoring honors with 23 points, whistled a pass in to Wilmore Fowler. But. Fowler's 25-footer was short, sending the game into overtime. Fowler played the key role in the Jayhawks third chance to win also. With the score 64-64, the visitors again held the ball more than a minute, looking for the final shot. "We were trying to move it and go in low. We like to shoot with three or four seconds left in that situation,' Owen's said. Shot misfired But the Jayhawks did neigher, as Fowler misfired from 18 feet with :08 left. "I was trying to draw the foul and I did -but they didn't call it," Fowler said. Fowler's shot squirted out of bounds, setting the stage for the Banks to Moore pass. Besides surviving KU's three game-winning chances, Cipriano said he felt the Huskers were fortunate to win for another reason. "I couldn't believe some of the charge and block calls," Cipriano said. "We only got one the whole game. They just can't come in here and get by with bouncing us around. There were a lot of questionable calls." The game was tied 11 times and the lead changed hands 13 times during the see -saw battle, which saw neither team ever lead by more than four points. Led once Nebraska led only once in the first half, despite shoot ing 70 percent (14 of 20) from the field. That came when McPipe swiped a Crawford pass and roared the length of the floor for a slam dunk, putting the Huskers up 10-8. Banks hit all five of his first half attempt and McPipe four of five to keep the Huskers close at intermission, 25-33. When McPipe picked up his fourth foul at 19:48 and Banks his fourth at 13: 12, Andre Smith and Curt Hedburg picked up where the "Hammond Hustlers" left off. Smith failed to shoot in the first half, but he drained seven of eight second half attempts to keep the Huskers in contention down the stretch. Good passes "Going into the second half, the guys were telling me I had to shoot the ball," Smith said. "Kansas got in that zone and 1 was blocking off my man and getting open. Curt gave me some good passes." Smith finished with 15 points as did Banks, while Moore was the fourth Husker in double figures with 10. For the game, Nebraska hit 58 percent from the field, but only 43 percent from the free throw line. Cipriano said, "the fans were ready from the beginning and gave us great support. It was a great win for us." While Nebraska gets ready to go to Stillwater and face Oklahome State Wednesday night, Smith issued a warning. "I think we'll take this conference," Smith said. "The Huskers are coming." mm & sm. tevM : ,r. ,n fi f ft Photo by Bob Pearson Nebraska's Brian Banks lays up the ball during the first half of play against Kansas Saturday at the Bob Devaney Sports Complex. Banks had a total of 15 points for the game. Hi Gymnasts win despite Sooner challenge Photo by Mark Billingslay After placing first in pommel horse, rings and parallel bar events, Jim Hartung placed first in the all around with a score of 56.90. By Sara Martens A slow start turned into first place fin ishes in five of six events, the number one and two all-around titles, the highest in dividual event score, and a team win for the UNL gymnasts at a triangular meet Saturday in Ames, Iowa. The meet featured number one ranked Nebraska against defending national cham pion and second-ranked Oklahoma Sooners and fourth-rated Iowa State. Nebraska's team total of 220.90, an all time team high, placed the Huskers ahead of Oklahoma with 219.95 and Iowa State's 218.35. The Huskers, behind after the floor ex ercise and pommel horse competitions, pulled into second place after 9.55 and 9.6 still rings performances by Larry Gerard and Jim Hartung. Highest score Four scores above 9.4 in the vault put the Huskers in the lead for the rest of the meet. The highest score of the meet, a 9.75, went to Nebraska's Steve Elliot for his round -off back flip with a double twist off of the vault. Event titles also went to Gerard with a 9.6 on the high bar and to Hartung in the pommel horse, rings and parallel bars. Hartung placed first among the all arounders with a 56.90 while Gerard was second at 55.90. Oklahoma's Mike Wilson finished third with 55.80 total points. Slow start The team's slow start was due to the time of the season and the quality of the meet, Hartung said. "It's early in the season and the team is a little loose and inconsistent. It took us a while to get going today, but it's been so long since we've had a meet that we wanted to do really good in that it's almost a new experience," Hartung said. Hartung's first place performance and Gerard's second gave Nebraska the win, Coach Francis Allen said. He had expected the meet to be decided by team depth in the number three and four all-arounders men, but an off day by Bart Conner of Oklahoma increased the im portance of Nebraska's top two, Allen said. "Bart had a bad day. This is only the second time Jim (Hartung) has beaten him so nothing was really settled between the two today," said Oklahoma Coach Paul Zient. Dispute unsettled He said the meet also did not settle the dispute over which team should be number one. "The meet was set to bring the three teams together. We knew Nebraska would be a strong challenge but we didn't key up for this meet. We didn't want to drain our selves and then lose time for recovery this early in the season," he said. Ziert said the meet showed where each team is strong and where the weak points are. "If you look at the number three and four spots, we showed more depth, which is not supposed to be the case." he said. Iowa State's coach Fd Gagnier said though the outcome disappointed him. the meet was not totally negative. "I had hoped it would be close, and it was. which is of some satisfaction.'" he said. Iowa State has been the national cham pion three times since 1971 and the Big Eight champion 10 of the last 15 years. Weakest event The still rings continue to be Iowa State's weakest event, he said. "I can't put my finger on what's wrong, but without that category we would have been one-tenth of a point away from a win," Gagnier said. Allen said the meet was the Huskers season best but pointed to places where im provement is still needed. Chuck Chmelka and Mark Williams, Ne braska's number three and four all-around performers did not have the quality of meet they should, he said. Chmelka should score 52 rather than the 50.65 he turned in Saturday and Wil liams usually scores 53 to 53.5 instead of the 50.5 he received, Allen said. "It was a good win. It's nice to beat the defending champion. It's good to beat Ed on his home ground and to beat both of them on the same day is even nicer," Allen said. Nebraska begins its home gymnastics schedule Feb. 10 with Kansas and faces Oklahoma again in a dual Feb. 16. NU rodeo team loses in Iowa The UNL Rodeo Club managed only one first place in the Sioux Empire and Farm show in Sioux Falls, Iowa Saturday when Gregg Swim placed first in calf rop ing. Marsha! Juma took fifth place in bare back riding, Robin Gaebe tied for sixth place in the bareback event and Bryan Dodge and Bob Iske were seventh place in team roping. Hopefully, the teams will do a better job at the next rodeo in Ike Crystal, Mich, on Feb. 23 and 24, said Chris Buechle. Rodeo club president. "We had a three month lay off and that's a pretty big time span for people to get back intio the swing of things," Buechle said. Most rodeos are sponsored by a single school. Buechle said. However the Sioux Falls rodeo was paid for by all the schools in the Great Plains region, he said.