Friday, January 16, 1987
Daily Nebraskan
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By Tim Hartmann
Senior Reporter
Things looked pretty bad for the
Nebraska men's basketball team after
a 1 14-82 loss to Kansas State Saturday.
But they could be worse just look at
the Cornhuskers' opponent this Satur
day: Colorado.
The Buffaloes have lost 19 straight
Big Eight Conference games and have
lost their last five games played in the
Bob Devaney Sports Center, where
Saturday's game will be played.
But that doesn't mean Nebraska
coach Danny Nee is taking the Buffs
lightly.
"They're good. They're strong inside,"
Nee said at his weekly press luncheon
Monday. "I think they have improved
drastically from the beginning of the
season."
Nee also respects five-year Colorado
coach Tom Miller, who inherited an
8-20 team from former coach Tom Apke.
Miller coached at Cornell for six years
before going to Boulder, and he also
played and was assistant coach under
Indiana's Bobby Knight.
"He's a good coach," Nee said. "He's
going to play a typical Bobby Knight,
aggressive, man-to-man, tough, hard
nosed defense."
The Kansas State loss dropped the
Huskers' record to 10-4 overall and 0-1
in the Big Eight, but Nee said the team
benefited from the defeat.
"I really feel you learn each time you
go out," he said. "I think the thing is
that we have to be ready to play when
we hit the floor and I don't think we
were (against Kansas State).
"The players learned that we have to
be ready to compete," Nee said. "But
they should know that, especially the
veterans."
The Kansas State game was Nebra
ska's fourth game that week and fatigue
may have been a factor in the loss, Nee
said.
"We acted like a tired team on Sat
urday," Nee said. "I don't think we had
that zip. There's no excuse why we
should be tired, and that's not the rea
son why we lost the basketball game,
but I think a couple of days off will help
us.
"It just gives us a little breathing
room. It really gives me the time to
digest the whole thing and not just
quickly go over it and move on."
While Nebraska should be a well
rested squad by Saturday, Colorado
will be playing th eir fourth game of the
week.
"Maybe they'll play like we played
on Saturday," Nee said.
The Buffs have won three of their last
four games, including a road victory at
Loyola of Chicago. Wednesday night,
they lost 66-52 to Iowa State in Ames,
which dropped their record to 6-8 over
all and 0-2 in the Big Eight.
Colorado has no senior on its team
and it starts four sophomores. Matt
Ballard, a 6-10 forward, leads the team
in scoring (19.3 points per game) and
rebounding (9.7 per game). Center
Scott Wilke, who is 6-9 and the only
junior who starts, is second in both
categories, at 14.2 and 5.6.
"Bullard is a real fine player," Nee
said. "Their other big kid, Wilke, has
improved immensely. They're getting
some consistency in the way they are
playing, so they're going to be tough."
At the other forward spot Colorado
starts 6-7 Dan Becker, who averages 6.4
points and 3.5 rebounds a game. The
guards are 6-5 David Kuosman (3.2, 1.6)
and 6-3 Ken Countryman (3.1, 1.6).
Nee said the Kansas State game
opened some eyes and raised some
questions.
"Reality is setting in," Nee said.
"But now, can we compete? Definitely
we can compete, but I think we have to
understand how we can compete and
what we can do with what we have.
"Every game that we play in the Big
Eight is going to be very, very difficult
for us," Nee said. "If we don't play well
and do the things we're capable of
doing, we're not going to win. ... If we
do the things the way we're suppose to
do them put the bail in the basket,
play good defense, box-out, don't turn
the ball over we're going to be suc
cessful." Despite the 0-1 start in the Big Eight,
Nee said he feels the conference is
wide open and Nebraska still have a
chance at the title.
Obviously a few teams have more
talent, Nee said, "but if they're not
ready to play they are going to get beat,
especially when they play on the road."
"There will be surprises," he said.
'There will be a lot of close games."
Tipoff for Saturday's game is sche
duled for 1:08 p.m. at the sports center.
Approximately 1,500 general-admission
tickets remain for the game, which will
be televised regionally by the Raycom
Sports Network.
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Richard WrightDally Nebraskan
Nebraska's Mike Irvin will lead the Cornhusker men's distance swimmers Friday in a dual meet
with Missouri. The meet Is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
wimmere to
face
Missouri
By Jeff Apel
Staff Reporter
Kansas swimming coach Gary Kempf
paid the Nebraska men's swimming
team the ultimate tribute recently
when he called the Cornhuskers an
"awesome team with legitimate top-10
potential."
But Nebraska coach Cal Bentz said
Thursday he isn't ready to declare the
Huskers as one of the top 10 finishers
in this year's NCAA .neet yet because it
is still too early in the season to make
such brash predictions.
Despite already having posted dual
meet victories over such nationally
ranked squads as Southern Illinois,
Southern Methodist and Louisiana
State, Bentz said, the Huskers must
continue to work hard if they are to
either compete successfully at the
national level or capture their eighth
consecutive Big Eight title.
Nebraska will take its first step
toward winning the 1987 Big Eight
crown when the Cornhuskers face Mis
souri in a dual meet Friday night at the
Bob Devaney Sports Center. The Ne
braska women's swimming team also
will face the Tigers in the 7 p.m. meet.
"We've been able to establish our
selves as a good dual-meet team,"
Bentz said. "But we won't measure our
selves until we see what we've done at
the end of the season."
Bentz said one of the things he has
noticed about this year's 4-0 Husker
team is that it appears to be a little
more devoted than it has been in the
past.
With a team composed mainly of a
talented group of juniors and seniors as
well as some promising freshmen, Bentz
said, Nebraska has been able to iden
tify its goals.
"What we have done now is change
our perspective," Bentz said. "By
defeating teams like SMU, we realize
we are as good as these people."
Bentz said Nebraska isn't going to
lower its high expectations against the
Tigers. He said he hopes the dual is
closer than is anticipated.
Despite the Tigers' 56-23 loss to
Nebraska in Columbia, Mo., last sea
son, Bentz said the Tigers have some
individuals ,who could pose problems
for Nebraska.
"They have weaknesses, but I sup
pose every team has those," Bentz said.
"Their kids always seem to swim fast
against Nebraska."
Nebraska women's swimming coach
Ray Huppert said the 6-2 Huskers will
enter their portion of the meet with the
same respect that is displayed by the
Nebraska men's team.
If Nebraska is to capture its third
consecutive Big Eight title, Huppert
said, the Huskers have to begin build
ing their momentum now.
"It's like fine-tuning a sharp racing
car," Huppert said. "We have to start
becoming sharp in our races."
Huppert said Missouri will have an
advantage in the meet because Big
Eight coaches voted to score only the
top three finishers in each event rather
than the top five.
Because of its lack of depth, Huppert
said, the Missouri team will benefit
greatly from the new scoring system.
"It's going to benefit all the Big
Eight teams," Huppert said. "With it,
depth means nothing."
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