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Daily Nebraskan
Friday, December 3, 1982
Husker
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Iba: Team must
control boards
to beat Bluejays
By Tad Stryker
Nebraska has to concentrate on keeping
Creighton off the boards in order to have a
good chance of winning Saturday night,
Husker Coach Moe Iba said. Game time is
7:35 p.m. at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.
Iba said the Huskers especially will work
on preventing CU's front line from scoring
on offensive rebounds.
"Montana hurt us on the boards," Iba
said of the Huskers' 61-51 loss Monday,
"and Creighton's got a big, strong team:"
Keeping Creighton under control could
be difficult as well, he said. Seven-foot
freshman center Benoit Benjamin, 6-7
forward Gregory Brandon and 6-6 forward
Richard Bates give the Bluejays rebounding
power, Iba said.
"They've got good replacements that
are big and strong and will give us
problems, too," he said.
Two Husker players said they expect
the game to be a tough one.
Claude Renfro said the Jays will be
looking for revenge after last year's 8646
loss to the Huskers at the Bob Devaney
Sports Center.
"Their returning players will have it in
their minds," Renfro said. "You don't
forget something like that. They know
they have something' they have to prove.
Stan Cloudy, who will be starting his
first game for the Huskers as forward, pre
dicted $ Jough, fast-paced game,
"They're big, strong and physical,"
Cloudy said.
Cloudy, a native of Center, Texas, said
he thinks a rivalry exists between
Creighton and Nebraska.
"It's always good to be the best team in
the state, but it's just another game to
me," Cloudy said.
Both the Huskers and the Bluejays are
1-1 and in need of a victory, Iba said.
"It doesn't make or break the season for
either team," Iba said, "but it's a big game
at this time." It's a "good ballgame" be
cause it creates basketball interests in Ne
braska, he laid.
This year's game is important to the
Huskers because the coaches are still
searching for the right spots for each
player, Iba said.
"The thing that bothers us is that we
haven't gotten a lot of consistency out of
the players coming off the bench," Iba
said.
Cloudy and Renfro are expected to start
at forward for the Huskers Saturday night.
Dave Hoppen will start at center, with
Handy Johnson and either Greg Downing
or Eric Williams at guard. Williams injured
an ankle in practice Wednesday and his
status is uncertain, Iba said.
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Reed downplays
battle between
teams' big men
By Jack Denker
There are two reasons whyffan interest
in the Nebraska-Creighton basketball
rivalry has sky-rocketed recently - Benoit
Benjamin and Dave Hoppen.
Both centers were highly-recruited out
of high school last seaspn, and when the
7-0 Benjamin signed with Creighton and
the 6-11 Hoppen chose Nebraska, state
wide basketball fans became obsessed with
the idea of watching the two recruits
oppose one another on the same court.
That will become reality Saturday when
the Huskers and Bluejays' tip off at 7:30
p.m. at the Civic Auditorium in Omaha.
. "Creighton Coach Willis Reed said even
though there has been a lot of hype center
ed on the two freshmen, he still keeps their
battle in the proper perspective.
"It's all part of the excitement of the
game," Reed said. "Dave is a big name here
in the state and he was highly recruited.
But for us it will be a good situation to
evaluate Ben."
Reed insists that the Bluejays are not a
one-man team this season, despite the fact
that Benjamin leads the 1-1 Jays in both
scoring and rebounding with an 'average of
16 points and nine rebounds.
Instead, Reed feels all his players have
performed well so far, stressing the fact
that in the Jays' 98-54 season opening
victory against Wisconsin-Platteville every
member on the team played and scored,
Joining Benjamin in Creighton's starting
lineup will be Mark Jones and Michael Jaco
at guards, while Gregory Brandon and
Richard Bates will play forward. Jones
and Bates are returning starters off last
year's 7-20 team that lost to NU, 8646.
in order tor Creighton to enjoy any
kind of success against the Husker's stingy
man-to-man defense, Reed said, his players
must be patient on offense and take only
the shots they can make, which was some
thing they didn't do Monday in CU's 74-64
loss at Oral Roberts.
Reed said the Bluejays haven't prepared
any differently for Nebraska because they
believe it is just another game they hope
to win.
"I think every game you play is import
ant to win, because we want to be able to
come out and win a bigger share of all of
them," Reed said. "As for the fans, I think
they are more into it than the two teams."
In the five meetings between the two
schools since the renewal of the series in
1977, the home team has won every game
with NU holding the edge 3-2. Reed down
played the importance of the statistic.
"I don't think past records have any
thing to do with future games," he Said.
"Nebraska is very well coached and plays
excellent defense."
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Staff Photo by Dav Banti
Husker guard David Ponce looks for an open man in the Huskers' 94-51 exhibition
win against Windsor Nov. 20 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The Comhuskers
take on intrastate rival Creighton Saturday at 7:35 p.m. at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.
Huskers to find 37-3 victory over the Rainbows
Turn out the lights, the "party's over.
It's time to call it a night. Or a season.
This marks the last football weekend of
the regular season. And a good season it's
been, too. One only can hope that CBS
coverage of college football gets better.
Nebraska at Hawaii What a place to
end your season. The Huskers deserve a
vacation after their hard-won victory
i 2-
Jeff
Goodwin
against the Sooners. And they'll get one,
up to a point. But the days are gone when
you can just show up on the field, say
"Boo" and expect the Rainbow Warriors
to fall ever.
Hawaii actually has a pretty good team,
especially on offense. Of course, the Hus
kers still have a huge edge in talent on
both the offensive and defensive lines.
And that's where the game is decided.
Nebraska is in the frustrating position
of having to stand by and watch Georgia
and Penn State fight it out for the national
championship. But wins in Hawaii and
Miami will go a long way toward easing
that frustration: Nebraska 37, Hawaii 3.
Army vs, Navy. I don't agree with
President Reagan on much, but when
you look at these two teams play foot
ball, you've got to think he's got a point
about our military forces. If they are
as inept at defending the Free World as
they are on the gridiron, we're in a tot
of trouble.
You may think this an absurd analogy
(and you may be right) but, as Casey
Stengel used to say: You can look it up.
Back in the mid-40s when Army
was rolling over opponents in Yankee
Stadium and the Polo Grounds, the other
Army (the one in Europe) also was roll
ing over the opposition. And they were
playing on the road. Army -was ranked
No. I in the workf in those days, folks.
And Navy wasn't doing such a bad
job, either. Except for that onside kick
the Japanese pulled in the first game,
they acquitted themselves well.
But that was then. This is now. The
old gray line, it ain't what it used to be
The Midshipmen torpedo Army's hopes:
Navy 21, Army 14.
Arkansas at Texas. Faithful readers
of this column (if indeed there are any)
may recall that I failed to predict a score
for last year's Arkansas-Texas game,
which the Hogs won, 4211. It was the
greatest upset I never predicted. Ah, welt
You can bet the Longhorns won't
forget last year's rout. At the time, they
were the top-ranked team in the country,
having attained that position just the week
before. It was a short reign.
If it weren!t for a terrible pass inter
ference call against them in the Southern
Methodist game, the Hogs might be play
ing this game for the Cotton Bowl. As
it is, it's only for pride.
The Longhorns get their revenge and
Charles Whitman Memorial Tower glows
orange Texas 28, Arkansas 21.
Florida vs. Florida State. Florida was
Beano Cook's pre-season choice for No. 1,
and it was ranked in the top five at one
point in the season. Since then its" hopes
have been dashed by the-cruel fortunes
of college football. But Florida can get a
little satisfaction by beating the Seminoles
in this one.
For Bobby Bowden's 'Nolcs, it's been
a good year. Not too many people figured
theyd even be in a bowl game, let alone
one as good as the Gator BowL Florida
State caps its season with a win against
the Gators: Florida State 34, Florida 27.
