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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 8, 1988)
Sports KSU forward sinks free throws, Huskers By Jeff A pel Senior Editor MANHATTAN, Kan. — Kansas Stale forward Charles Bledsoe has lived in the shadow of his old junior college teammate since he became a Wildcat one year ago. _ But Bledsoe, 1 who teamed with forward Mitch Richmond at Mobcrly (Mo.) Junior College before joining the Wildcats, created his own identity Saturday by hit ting two clutch free throws to lead Kansas State to a 65-63 victory against Nebraska at Ahearn Fieldhouse. Kansas State coach Lon Kruger said Bledsoe wanted to shoot the two free throws with two seconds remain ing. He said it helped the 6-foot-7 senior’s confidence that he sank 8 of 13 free throws before his game-win ning attempts. Kruger said he wasn’t worried about Bledsoe’s free throws even though the Wildcats converted 24 of 38 attempts in the game. “It was a pretty bad day at the line,” Kruger said. “It’s ironic. We had a pretty lough day, and Charles steps up there and saves us.” Bledsoe said he disposed of the butterflies that resulted from Kansas State’s poor free-throw shooting by turning to Kruger and his teammates for confidence. He said he didn’t mind being placed at the free-throw line even though he entered the game as a 44.2 percent free-throw shooter. “I hdd no choice,” Bledsoe said. “I had to go to the line.” Nebraska coach Danny Nee said Bledsoe shouldn’t have had the op portunity to shoot the free throws. He said the Comhuskers would have had a chance to win the game in overtime if Nebraska center Pete Manning hadn’t fouled Bledsoe. But, Nee said, hccouldn't fault the performance of the Huskcrs, who dropped to 12-10 overall and 3-3 in the Big Eight. “I thought Nebraska played a great game,” Nee said. “I’m very happy with the w ay our team played. I thought we were ready to play and that we had done a good job of scout ing them.” Husker guard Eric Johnson said the loss was disappointing because Nebraska had taken a six-point lead with 5:55 remaining. He said the Wildcats got back into the game by using two three-point shots by Richmond that were the result of breakdowns in Nebraska’s defense. Johnson was impressed by Richmond, who tallied eight of his team-high 16 points in the game s final six minutes. “He’s definitely a tough player. He’s a pressure player,” Johnson said. “In the second half, it was an open ballgame, and Richmond got hot.” Richmond said his late perform ance ended a frustrating day that saw the 6-5 senior convert 5 of 10 shots from the field and 3 of 8 from the free throw line. He said his poor perform ance from the line caused him to turn to Bledsoe for the game-winning shots. “1 missed my free throws so C har les could have a chance to be the hero,” Richmond said. Kruger said Richmond’s offen sive frustrations were the result of Nebraska’s zone and man-to-man defenses. He said the Husker defense denied Richmond the ball. “They did a good job on Mitch, Kruger said. “They took him out of his rhythm.” Kansas Slate took a 13-6 lead when Richmond scored on a Iced from Bledsoe. Nebraska tied the score at 22 when Manning sank two free throws, bui the Wildcats used four points by forward Fred McCoy and a three-point shot by guard William Scott to lake a 37-33 halftime lead. Kansas State extended its lead to 41-33 with 17:19 remaining when Bledsoe scored after rebounding his own missed shot, but Nebraska used six points by forward Jeff Rekeweg and two free throws by guard Henry T. Buchanan to tic the score at 49. Nebraska then built a 57-51 lead, but Kansas State used Richmond’s clutch performance and Bledsoe's late free throws to post the two-point victory. The win raised the Wildcat’s record to 14-4 overall and 6-0 in the Big Eight. Kansas Slate is in sole . possessionol firslplacein theconfer cnce. Buchanan, who missed a potential game-winning shot from the top of the key with three seconds remain ing, said he couldn’t blame the loss on the game’s officials, even though Kansas State shot 38 free throws and the Huskers shot 15. “We got the breaks we needed,” Buchanan said. “It jusldidn’t happen at the end like it was supposed to. We got our chance — it just didn’t hap pen this time.” Nebraska’s next game is Tuesday, when the Huskers face Oklahoma at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The game is scheduled for 7:35 p.m. Ivy’s 22 points help end NU losing streak at Ahearn By Mark Derowitsch Senior Reporter _ M ANH ATT AN, Kan. — Ii took a combina tion of the young and the old for the Nebraska women’s basketball team to break a 12-ycar losing streak at Ahcam Fieldhouse. Senior Maurtice Ivy scored 22 points, in cluding 12 in the second half, and freshman Ann Halsne added 14 to lead the Cornhuskers to a 66-60 win against Kansas Stale Saturday. Nebraska coach Angela Beck said Ivy’s second-half performance enabled the Huskers to capture the victory. “We ran Ivy on the base line — we kept sneaking her back there — and she got her dribble-drive going,” Beck said. “That was the key.” Eight of Ivy’s second-half points came in side. She said the Lady Cats’ defense allowed Nebraska to rely on its inside game. “They picked us up in a man-to-man defense and I’ve got a pretty good first step,” Ivy said. “I just went strong to the basket. I was out doing my job.” Beck said Halsnc played well in her first start as a Husker. “Halsnc’s got a lot of things to learn," Beck said. “She came from six-on-six (high school basketball) and she’s never played defense in her life. She’s learning and aggressive, and she was a key reboundcr for us in the game. I thought she did an excellent job of rebounding and hitting her free throws down the stretch. I think she’s a winner. “She makes some mistakes, but she does some nice things.” Halsnc, a 6-foot-1 forward from Spencer, Iowa, hit 6 of 8 free throws and grabbed six rebounds. She said Nebraska wanted to work the ball into the middle against the Lady Cats. “We were a lot more patient today than wc have been in the past,” Halsnc said. “We wanted to work it into the post.” Kansas State jumped out to a 23-18 lead with 8:18 left in the first half. But the Huskers took a 29-27 lead with4:23 remaining in the first half when junior center Kim Harris hit a 15-foot jump shot. Nebraska took a four-point lead when Ivy hit a 12-foot jump shot and sank two free throws. But the Lady Cats reeled off six unanswered points to take a 35-33 halftime lead. Harris then tied the game with a 5-foot shot to start the second half, but Kansas Slate’s Nadira Hazim hit a lay-up 21 seconds later that gave the Lady Cats their last lead of the game. Beck said Nebraska’s defense was loo much for the Lady Cats to overcome. “Although we kept a close score in the first half, we wore them down with our man-to man,’’ Beck said. “I thought they got a little bit tired, and we planned to switch to a 3-2 (zone) in the second half. I thought some of their guns gota little tired and we limited them to very few points in the second half.” Halsnc agreed. “They were a little tired in the first half,” Halsnc said. “When we switched to a zone, we kept them off guard.” But Kansas State coach Matilda Mossman said it wasn’t the Husker defense that shutdown the Lady Cals. “I think it all boils down to our inability to execute on offense,” Mossman said. “We’re struggling offensively, but at the same time I think we held a very fine team to 66 points.” The Lady Cats were led by Janet Madsen, who scored 14 points. Kansas State connected on 40.9 percent of its shots from the field, compared to Nebraska’s 45.5 percent. “We’ve just got to have somebody step up and score,” Mossman said. “We’re just not very consistent. We just got impatient. We look bad shots.” Beck said that because of the defense, Nebraska won its first and only game ever at Ahearn. Kansas State will move to its new arena after this season. “This is the last time we’ll ever play here, and that was their motivation before,” Beck said. “There’s no mystical spell in this arena.” Ivy said she was glad the Huskers won in Manhattan before her career ended. “It’s about time,” Ivy said. “The senior year is a special occasion, and all the seniors said at the beginning of the year we wanted to win every away game. Kansas State has a strong program, but our experience took over. A ftcr 12 years, it feels good to beat them here.” Track teams working for the weekend By Kyle Schurman Staff Reporter When the scoreboard scrolled “Welcome to the Frank Sevignc Huskcr Invitational” during the Nebraska Open at the Bob Dcvaney Sports Center Saturday, it seemed to be reading the minds of the Nebraska track team members. The scoreboard was preparing for next weekend’s meet — much like the Cornhuskers were. The Sevignc Huskcr Invitational, scheduled for Friday and Saturday at the spoils center, will include top athletes from more than 50 college teams from all over the country. Eleven schools attended the Ne braska Open, which was sponsored by Nebraska Wesleyan University. Nebraska was the only Division I school at the meet. Nebraska track coach Gary Pepin said several Huskcr athletes were held out of Saturday’s meet so they could rest for the upcoming Husker Invitational and Big Eight Champi onships. “We held out those athletes that wc fell didn’t need a meet this week because they had a really hard week of training,” Pepin said. “This is a good meet because it kind of helps us prepare for the two meets coming up.” Team scores were not kept at the Nebraska Open. Nebraska colleges at the meet included Hastings, Wesleyan, Doane, Kearney State and Concor dia. Small schools from Kansas and Missouri also attended the meet. “For us, it’s just kind of a low-key meet and kind of a fun meet,” Pepin said. “There’s no team points or anything like that. It’s a chance to have a meet without a lot of pressure. Also, it’s a home meet, so wc don’t have to travel.” Four Husker athletes won events on Saturday. Kim Guthrie won the 55-meter hurdles in 8.40 seconds and the long jump with a mark of 19 feet, 6 3/4 inches. Toyia Barnes won the shot put competition with a throw of 48-7, and Tammy Thurman won the high jump with a leap of 5-10. Susan Hedrick won the 600 in 1:25.10. Many former and current Ne braska athletes won events while competing unattached. Nebraska student assistant coach Mark Colligan won the shot pul with a throw of 61-1/2. He defeated cur rent Huskcrs Dave Brown and Rex Gerding, who threw 57-7 1/2 and 55 5 1/2. Glen Loontjcr, another Nebraska assistant coach, won the pole vault. Terry Goods, Anthony Small, Mar cia Tate and Jean Vcrster, all former Huskers, also won events. Nebraska’s James Blackledge won the high jump with a leap of 7-1. Harald Graham finished second in the mile at 4:17.00, and Lisa Darley was second in the 1000 in 3:09.01. Wesleyan track coach Ted Bull ing said he was happy with the way Saturday’s meet went. “We really had some good per formances,” Bulling said. “It’s good to see some different schools here.” Wesleyan’s Dave Dellcfscn set the only sports center record, win ning the 55 hurdles in 7.44. Bulling said the time is the fastest in Division III this year. Dave Hansen/Dally Nebraskan Nebraska’s Tom Banks rounds a turn in the mile run. Nebraska coaches assess need, danger of pole vaulting By Mike Kluck Staff Reporter_ Now that an Omaha student has died from injuries suffered in a pole vaulting accident and Iowa has banned the event from all track meets, coaches at Saturday’s Ne braska Open at the Bob Devaney Sports Center were assessing the possibility of the event being discon tinued in Nebraska. But a consensus of the coaches revealed that schools in Nebraska that have dropped the pole vault did so because of expenses rather than safety reasons. “It is expensive to have the pole vault, and that’s whv some schools have dropped it,’ said Glenn Loontjer, a Nebraska assistant track coach who is in charge of pole vaul ters. “If Nebraska high schools were to drop the program, we would look more to out-of-state recruits. I am sure Iowa State has been affected with recruiting because of the state dropping the program.” Dale Bradley, an assistant track coach at Nebraska Wesleyan Univer sity, and John Knight, the track coach at Concordia, agreed with Loontjcr. Bradley said a pole vault mat costs about $8,000, standards $ 1,500 each and poles about $225 apiece. He said that because of expenses like these, school systems are unable to justify keeping the event. Knight said it’s cheaper for schools to drop the event rather than make a commitment to keep it. Costs are a “limp excuse” for administra tors to ban the event, he said, because See POLE VAULT on 10