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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 29, 1983)
6 Daily Nebraskan Tuesday, March 29, 1983 StL n n7"T By Bob Asmussen Dmi 0U (SCMu !i r AJlLflS f1 n NEW YORK - For Nebraska, it was an inappropriate enJ to a fantastic season. For DePaul, it was a chance to show the NCAA selection committee that it made a mistake in passing over the Blue Demons. The final score of the NIT semi-final at Madison Square Garden was DePaul 68, Nebraska 58. Halfway through the first half of the game, it appeared Nebraska may have been having a flashback to seasons past. DePaul, behind the play of guard Tony Jackson, jumped on the Huskers early. Nebraska missed its first four shots, and DePaul led 6-0. Nebraska's Greg Downing final!) bioke the ice for the Huskers with a 1 5-foot jumper at tk- io:52 mark. Claude Renfro hit a shot at 15:26 to pull Nebraska within two. 64. Downing tied the game at eight points with a jump shot from the top of the key on a pass from Eric Wil liams. Jackson put DePaul back into the lead when he hit a driving one-hander in the lane. At this point in the name. DePaul went on a voiing spree. Jackson scored nine points in a 15-to-nothing DePaul run. Nebraska trailed 23-8 at the ?S:2o mark and looked to be in serious trouble. "The way we were playing, it had to get better." Nebraska Coach Moe Iba said. "We couldn't do any worse than we were doing." Nebraska then went on a small spree of its own, scoring the next six points and pulling within nine with just under seven minutes to go in the half. The teams traded baskets until less than three minutes were left in the hall and Nebraska went on another 6-0 spurt, to pull within three with 1:28 left. Nebraska got as close as two points, but DePaul scored five, of the last seven points in the half to lead 36-31 at Intermission. - "The way we played, we were fortunate to be close to them," Iba said. Jackson led DePaul's first-half scoring with 16. Renfro led Nebraska with 11 first-half points. Dave Hoppen. Nebraska's leading scorer during regular sea son, was held scoreless in the first half, including zero-for-four shooting at the charity stripe. "Hoppen has had problems in the last few ball games with his free throws," Iba said. "The problems started when he missed five in one game." Another first-half problem for Nebraska was the woeful performance of Stan Cloudy. Cloudy, who "I felt the key was we took poor shots when we were tied . . .but that's not taking anything away from DePaul' -Moe Iba had been Nebraska's leading scorer during the NIT, hit only 2-of-10 field goal attempts during the first half. "Cloudy got us here, but he played in a way that he would like to forget, and so would I," Iba said. "I've never seen him pla like that." The second half showed DePaul's kid stagnating around the five-point mark. Whenever Nebraska would edge to within three, DePaul would answer right back with a bucket of its own. Nebraska finally broke through with 11:17 left, when Dave Hoppen hit a free throw that brought Nebraska within two, 50-48. Nebraska finally tied the game at 52 points with 8:42 remaining, on a hook shot by Hoppen. But Kenny Patterson answered right back for De Paul. The Blue Demons never trailed ag3in. "I felt the key was we took poor shots when we were tied or two down, but that's not taking anything away from DePaul," Iba said. "Ve never did get control of the game," he said. "After we tied it, they got it right back." DePaul outscored Nebraska 12 to six during the last 7:30 of the game. Nebraska was placed in the late going by numerous turnovers. Nebraska still had a chance with less than a minute and a half left, when they had the ball and trailed 61-56. However, the frustration for Nebraska was summed up best at the 1:18 mark, when a technical foul was called on Lenard Johnson for grabbing the rim - after Nebraska had missed three easy shots. The final score could have been much worse had DePaul been able to convert on more of its free throw attempts. Both teams shot miserably from the field. With Nebraska shooting 36 percent for the game and DePaul hitting 38 percent. Nebraska outscored DePaul from the field, but the Blue Demons converted 12 more free throws. Jackson's 17 points led the victors. Tyrone Corbin scored 15 points and Bernard Randolph added 13. Corbin pulled down a game high 16 rebounds. Nebraska was led by Hoppen's 15 points, all 15 scored during second half. Renfro scored 13 points and Downing chipped in 10. DePaul, now 21-11. advances to Wednesday's finals where they will meet Fresno State. Nebraska finishes the year with a 22-10 record. The 22 wins equal the school's best mark in history. Nebraska's advancement to the semifinals of the NIT is as far as the team has ever gone in a post-season tournament. "To get here, (the NIT semifinals) we played as good as any team I've ever had " Iba said. V XV i "0 I L Playe&'s end walk-out; Softball team to resume play Staff photo by Dava Bentz Nebraska pitcher Brent Friehauf delivers to home during a Cornhusker sweep of St. Cloud State Thursday in Lincoln. The Huskers will meet Kearney State at 1 p.m. here Thursday. By Ward VV. Triplett III After canceling a week of its schedule due to inner-team conflicts, the Nebraska women's Softball team will play the remainder of their spring schedule this season. UNL women's athletic director June Davis announced Monday afternoon that the team would be allowed to play out the rest of their schedule and that all players involved in the incident that caused the cancellations will be placed on proba tion for the remainder of the season. "I have talked to the players and the coaches and believe both the student athletes and the coaches are ready to re present the University of Nebraska as a team," Davis said in a press release. "Everyone wants to put the past behind hem and finish the season on a positive note," Davis added. The controversy began while the team was in Oklahoma for a tournament. According to reports, senior pitcher Jeanne Wagner approached head coach Nancy Plantz and asked to bat as well as pitch in the tournament. After a discussion, Plantz dismissed Wagner from the team. Some other team members then went to Plantz, asking for Wagner to be rein stated. Under the threat of a walk-out, the team pulled out of the tournament and returned to Lincoln. By leaving early, the team cancelled four double-header games against Iowa State, Buena Vista, Ohio State and Iowa, all scheduled to be played in Norman, and a tournament in Bartlesville. The Huskers were not scheduled for any games after the Thursday Bartlesville tournament until a single game against Wichita State at Wichita Saturday. After meeting with Davis last week, the players involved issued a public apology through the UNL Sports Information Office for taking the altercation to the press. Plantz said Monday that she wanted to "let the incident go." The team has been practicing and plans to play in Wichita, weather permitting. Sandy Wolterman, with two 20-victory seasons behind her, and Rhonda Revelle, who finished the fall season with an 0.50 earned run average, will go on as the Huskers' top two pitchers, Plantz said. Nebraska was 7-7 this season, but still ranked 13th in the nation before the can cellations. Last spring, the Huskers, 33-12, qualified for the World Series of college Softball, beating Creighton in the first round, but losing their next two games. Last fall, the Huskers posted a 12-10 record. The Huskers' problems came at a convenient time in the schedule, as the team isn't scheduled for another game for 1 1 days after the Wichita State game. On April 13, the Huskers will play North west Missouri State at Maryville, Mo., then in the Missouri Invitational in Colum bia. The Huskers will then host the Bear kittens at Mable Lee Field April 20. The Husker Invitational that weekend and the Husker Mini-Tourney with Minne sota and Illinois State on May 20-21 are the only scheduled home appearances for the Huskers this season.