page 10
daily nebraskan
friday, January 23, 1981
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Iba labels Missouri 'best talent in conference'
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Photo by Mark Billingsley
Nebraska's Mike Naderer (10) applies'defensive pressure to Colorado's Jacques Tuz (23) in the Buffaloes' 62-59
win against the Huskers in Lincoln.
By Charles Vaughn
Saturday night's Missouri-Nebraska basketball game
will feature a matchup of two teams attempting to re
bound from disappointing losses Wednesday night. Color
ado defeated the Huskers in Lincoln 62-59, and the Tigers
lost to Kansas at Lawrence, 63-55. Tip-off for Saturday's
game is set for 7:35 p.m.
After viewing the films of Missouri's loss at Kansas,
Huskcr Coach Moc Iba indicated he was impressed with the
Tigers.
"They have the best talent in the conference and
should have won that game," Iba said.
Iba indicated he was worried about Missouri's strong
inside game, which features 6-1 1 center Steve Stipanovich,
6-8 forward Curtis Berry and 6-5 forward-guard Ricky
Fra.ier. That kind of size, Iba said, makes Missouri a
strong inside team.
"They will be difficult to match up with," Iba said.
"They arc also a strong shooting team. They really don't
have a weakness except that they are looking for a second
guard."
Iba's strategy Saturday night will be to avoid the low
percentage shot as much as possible.
"The main thing is that you're limited to one shot be
cause of their great rebounding strength. To win we have
to get high-percentage shots and play awfully good de
fense. They will use a man-to-man defense to try to force
us to shoot the 18- and 20-footers," he said.
Nebraska is 7-8 overall and 1-2 in the conference, while
Missouri is 13-5 and 2-1. The Huskers have won three of
the last four encounters with the Tigers since moving into
the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Correction
The starting time for tonight's women's basketball
game with Central Missouri was incorrectly listed as 7:30
p.m. in Thursday's Daily Nebraskan. Tip-off is scheduled
for 7 p.m. at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
ame
Question: Which of these plays was most important in
Husker football history?
1) John O'Leary's 40-yard touchdown run off the
famed "Bummeroosky" fake-punt play against
Missouri in 1975;
2) Jerry Taggc's celebrated quarterback sneak against
Louisiana State in the 1971 Orange Bowl, the
play where Tagge stretched the ball over the goal
line to give Nebraska the winning touchdown and
its first national championship;
3) A diving 1 1-yard catch by Johnny Rodgers late
in the 1971 Oklahoma game.
Answer: No. three by about a mile. Why? Because
Rodgers made the catch in a clutch situation. It gave the
Huskers a first down on a crucial third-and-nine play,
keeping alive the touchdown drive that beat the Sooners
in what has been dubbed the "Game of the Century."
Tad Stryker
The media have sometimes used the phrase "clutch
play" to describe plays such as No. 1 and No. 2. A clutch
play is made when failure to do so would certainly cost
the ballgame. I say that No. 1 and No. 2 were big plays,
but not clutch plays.
Sure, the Bummeroosky excited the fans and television
announcers, but without it, Nebraska would have won 23
7. Sure, Tagge's sneak is remembered fondly by most of
us. and for good reason. But if Tagge had been stopped
inches short, the Huskers would have had another chance.
One-shot deal
Rodgers' catch was a one-shot deal. It he had not
grabbed the ball right off the artificial surface at Owen
Field, the Huskers would have had to punt. (They didn't
know about the Bummeroosky then.)
The clutch play doesn't have to be a particularly un
usual play. It just has to occur at the right time. By neces
sity, it must take place in a close game. Sometimes, a little
luck is involved, such as on fumble recoveries. In this
year's Oklahoma-Nebraska game, Oklahoma guard Louis
Oubre kept alive the Sooners' winning touchdown drive
by beating a bunch of Huskers to the bobbled ball at mid
field. Forgotten plays such as this one sometimes are as
important as the more memorable ones, like J.C. Watts'
third-down pass to Steve Rhodes at the three-yard line
minutes later.
Making the clutch play is as tough for most players as
slicing iron or catching soap bubbles undamaged, but a
few seem to have the knack. These individuals usually are
at their best in the most important games.
This past baseball season illustrates two kind of clutch
players. Kansas City's George Brett is a consistent top
notch player who performs even better under pressure,
while Philadelphia's Tug McGraw seems just to coast until
near the end of the schedule. Then he suddenly pitches
superbly when the Phillies need it most. Brett hit .390 on
the season, and also he beat the Yankees in the final
American League playoff game with a two-out, three-run
homer in the seventh inning. McGraw had a so-so regular
season, but got a handful of big strikeouts to win the play
off and World Series games for the Phils.
A Brett-type
In the NFL, Dallas receiver Drew Pearson is a Brett-like
clutch performer, while former Pittsburgh running back
Rocky Bleier fits more into the McGraw mold.
There are even teams I would not hesitate to label
clutch teams. Let's get the home-state bias out of the way
first the 1970-71 Cornhusker football teams were clutch
teams. Safety Jim Anderson said they had the killer in
stinct. USC usually does well in the big games. They pulled
out a couple of Rose Bowls in the final minute during the
1970s. This year's best team in clutch situations was Okla
homa. The best clutch teams in the NFL during the 1970s
probably were Pittsburgh, Oakland and Dallas.
Random Shots: Look for the Raiders' young lineback
ing corps to slow down Wilbert Montgomery and the
Eagles' running attack. The Raiders will win Super Bowl
XV because of their playoff experience, which should
make them more relaxed; and besides, I want to see Pete
Rozelle handing that trophy to Al Davis.
The student section was packed, as usual, at the Nebraska-Colorado
game Wednesday, but farther up in the
stands, a rather sparse crowd assembled, many of whom
left before the game was over. Oh well, they made less
than 10 percent of the noise. Maybe someday there will
be a little more enthusiasm in the upper reaches.
Coach: Mizzou thinking revenge
By Joni Kramer
Revenge will be on the minds of Central Missouri's
players when they meet the Nebraska women's basket
ball team tonight at 7:00 in the Bob Devaney Sports
Center. Nebraska Coach Colleen Matsuhara said.
"We beat them January 7 on their home court with
a score of 83 to 73, but the game was a lot closer than
the score indicates. The game went down to the end."
Matsuhara said.
Because Central Missouri is in Nebraska's division,
Matsuhara said this will be a big game for her team, and
probably a close one.
"They've got a good team, and we'll have to go to
the boards a lot," she said.
Keying on two of Central Missouri's players is a
major strategy for the game, she said.
"We've got to put the clamps on Karla Redo, their
quick sophomore guard, who had 24 points against us
last time.
"Central Missouri's tallest player, senior Janet John
son, fouled out in the last game, January 7th, but hav
ing her in the game the entire time could make a big
difference on their rebounding. We'll have to be ready
to keep her off the boards." she added.
Matsuhara said she expects good performances from
Kathy Hagerstrom and from Janet Smith, who scored
34 points and had 1 6 rebounds in Nebraska's last game.
"We haven't had real hard practices these last few
days because of two games this week; however, our
workouts have been going pretty well. We've been drill
ing a lot on defensive pressure and reviewing our
running game." Matsuhara said.
In addition to some good practices, the team is in
good shape, both physically and mentally, she said.
"Right now our team is not suffering any injuries or
health problems. We're the healthiest we've been all
year. We built a lot of character at the Big Eight
tournament with some close games."
Nebraska's season record is 10-6, and its division
record is 2-0.
"Our record is good, and with a couple of extra
breaks, it might have been better. We lost two games
by a total of three points, So our performances have
been good," Matsuhara said. "Our goal is to get to
Minnesota and the regionals in March, and beating
Central Missouri will only help us do that."
