Sports
Huskers finish fourth in Big 8 Tournment
By Chuck Green
Senior Reporter
NORMAN, Okla.—A season that
began with optimism and great ex
pectations concluded Sunday for
Nebraska’s wrestling team in a more
down-to-earth manner.
The Comhuskers, ranked as high
as No. 17 earlier this season, finished
fourth in the five-team Big Eight
Tournament. Oklahoma Slate,
ranked No. 1 in the nation, won the
meet with 86 points, while Iowa State
and Oklahoma finished second and
third with scores of 74 and 49, respec
tively. Nebraska scored 32 points.
Missouri was fifth.
Before this season began, Ne
braska coach Tim Neumann said he
thought the Huskers could finish
among the nation’s top five teams.
After Sunday’s tournament, he
was already hoping for better things
next year.
‘We started five freshmen at this
tournament today,” Neumann said.
“Three placed (among the top four in
each weight class). Couple that with
the other guys we’ve got coming back
next season and we’ll have two qual
ity guys at each class.
“Things are looking good.”
Three Huskers — Jeff Coltvct,
Terry Cook, Keenan Turner —
earned spots in the championship
match of their weight classes.
At 118, Cook defeated Missouri’s
Bobby Crawford 6-0 lo advance to the
championship. Turner decisioncd the
Sooners’ William “Junior” Taylor
10-4 at 150 and Coltvet, ranked No.
11 at 158, beat Oklahoma’s Kenny
Fischer to advance to the title match.
But for all three, the title match is
where their luck ran out.
Cook faced Oklahoma State’s
Cory Baze, the Big Eight’s defending
champion at 118. Baze, ranked
fourth, defeated Cook 6-5 after lead
ing 5-1 near the end of the first period.
An escape by Baze with 21 seconds
left in the third period broke a 5-5 tie
and insured the Cowboy junior the
title.
At 150, Turner lost to top-ranked
Tim Krieger of Iowa State 13-10 and
Coltvet dropped a 4-1 decision to
Oklahoma State’s Vince Silva, who is
ranked No. 2 in the nation. Coltvct’s
loss came in overtime after a 3-3 draw
in regulation.
“Our three finalists wrestled with a
lot of heart,’’ Neumann said, “but they
lacked the edge to win against top
rated opponents. That edge comes
from being in that situation before.
Coltvet, Cook and Turner auto
matically qualified for the NCCA
Tournament in Ames, Iowa, March
17-19. Dave Drocgcmucller at 134
and Scott Chcnoweth at 167 were
selected to the tournament as wild
card picks. Wallace Dawkins at 126
and Joe Malecck in the heavyweight
division may also be selected to the
tournament.
Neumann said he thinks
Nebraska’s three finalists can place in
the NCCA Tournament because
Husker coaches “can improve them a
lot in the next three weeks, especially
with their altitudes.”
“As individuals, a lot depends on
where they’re seeded,” Neumann
said. “Cook, Coltvct and Turner
should all get seeded in the top 10, and
(Dave) Droegcmueller is certainly
capable of placing if he’s seeded in
the right place.”
Neumann said Nebraska’s goals
for the NCCA Tournament is to earn
three All-American individual fin
ishes and for the team to finish in the
top 10.
Kansas State coach
flips as women win
Big 8 championship
By Richard Cooper
Staff Reporter
Kansas swimming coach Gary
Kcmpf ended three years of frustra
tion by doing a ceremonial back flip
off the 3-meler diving board follow
ing the conclusion of the Big Eight
swimming and diving champion
ships Saturday night at the Bob
Dcvaney Sports Center.
Kempf said he did the flip because
he was celebrating the Jayhawks
715.5-584 defeat of Nebraska that
ended the Comhuskcrs three-year
reign as Big Eight champions. Iowa
State finished third in the women’s
competition with 390 points, fol
lowed by Missouri with 236.
in me men s compeuuon, [Ne
braska won its ninth-straight Big
Eight championship by defeating
Kansas 583-524. Iowa State finished
third with 390 points, followed by
Missouri with 170.
Kempf said the Jayhawks wanted
this year’s Big Eight championship
because they worked hard all season.
Nebraska men’s swimming coach
Cal Bentz said he was also pleased
with his team’s title. He said the 1988
conference crown was better than last
season’s because of the way in which
the Huskers performed throughout
the three-day meet.
Iowa State’s Eric Hansen was
selected as the men’s outstanding
performer. Hansen, a senior from
Sioux City, Iowa, won the 50- and
100-yard freestyle sprints, the 100
yard backstroke and anchored the
Cyclones’ winning 400-yard frees
tyle relay.
The women’s outstanding per
former was Kansas distance swim
mer Barbara Ann Smith. Smith won
individual titles in the 400-yard indi
See KEMPF on 9
J.P. CaruaoTOaHy Nabraakan
Nebraska’s Maurtice Ivy drives past Kansas State’s Rita
Matteucci Saturday in salina, Kansas.
KU game ‘unconscious’;
NU women lose semifinal
By Tim Hartmann
Senior Reporter
and
Nick Hodge
Staff Reporter _
SALINA, Kan. — Kansas for
ward Sandy Shaw received an el
bow to the head, but it was the
Nebraska women’s basketball team
that got the headache.
Shaw, who played most of the
game with a large bandage on her
head after being knocked to the
floor midway through the first half,
scored 33 points to help Kansas
defeat Nebraska 87-84 Sunday in
the semifinals of the Big Eight
Tournament at the Bicentennial
Center.
i inougni sne naa an uncon
scious game,” Nebraska coach
Angela Beck said. “She played,
probably, the game of her life.”
Kansas coach Marian Washing
ton said her coaching staff pre
dicted that Shaw, who hit seven of
eight three-point attempts, would
have a big game.
“She lived up to all that, all the
expectations we had,” Washington
said. “She had an outstanding game
— big lime.”
The Jayhawks used a 21-6 spurt
in the first seven minutes of the
second half to take a 63-50 lead.
Washington said the key to the
Jayhawks run was a defensive ad
justment made at halftime.
“We took the pressure off full
court and just kept one player on the
ball.” Washington said.
Washington said by setting out
of the full court game, Kansas was
able to control Nebraska’s Maur
tice Ivy. Ivy, the leading scorer in
the Big Eight this season, didn't
score a basket in the first seven
minutes of the second half.
Kansas held a 79-69 with 3:51
remaining, but Nebraska went on a
13-4 run that was fueled by seven
points from Amy Stephens to cut
the Jayhawks lead to 83-82 with :27
remaining.
Kansas’ Lisa Braddy then hit
two free throws to give the Jay
hawks a three-point lead with :22
left. Nebraska’s Ann Halsnccutlhc
lead to 85-84 on a layup with :09
left, but Braddy hit two free throws
with .05 remaining.
Nebraska had one last chance to
tie the game, but Kansas’ Lisa
Dougherty stole an inbounds pass
intended for Halsne as time ran out.
Diauuy, wnu nil ma ui cigui iiva.
throws in the game’s final 1:08, said
that after missing two of the free
throws, she told herself she
wouldn’t miss anymore.
“After missing the early free
throws,” Braddy said, “I told my
self this was practice and they were
going down.”
Beck said she was pleased with
Nebraska’s play in the first half, but
that the Huskers played poor de
fense in the second half.
“Basically, we didn’t play the j
first 15 minutes of the second half,"
Beck said. “That’s the story. The
last play of the game had nothing to
do with the win or loss. It was a joke
we were in it—we iust didn’t have
intensity defensively.”
Ivy had 29 points and 11 re
bounds to pace the Huskers.
Stephens scored 20 points and
Harris added 16 and seven re
bounds. The loss dropped Nebraska
See BECK on 9
‘Python’ swallows Huskers in second half
By Kyle Schurman
Staff Reporter
NORMAN, Okla. — Oklahoma’s “python”
slept through much of the first half Saturday
afternoon, but woke up in time to swallow
Nebraska 113-93 at the Lloyd Noble Center.
Nebraska coach Danny Nee said that al
though the Comhuskers played well in the first
half, “it was just a matter of time before the
python swallowed us.”
Nebraska led by as many as five points in the
first half and trailed the fourth-ranked Sooners
52-44 at halftime when guard Henry T.
Buchanan hit a three-point goal at the buzzer.
But Oklahoma outscorcd Nebraska 24-6 in
the first five minutes of the second half to
stretch its lead to 76-50. Oklahoma senior
forward Harvey Gram scored 11 of his team
high 26 points during the Sooners’ scoring run.
“To play them within 20 points is a decent
game for us," Nee said.
Oklahoma coach Billy Tubbs said the Soon
ers were plagued by poor shooting in the first
haif. He said the Sooners’ 38 percent shooting
from the floor in the first half accounted for
Nebraska’s early lead.
“The first half was close because Nebraska
played pretty well and we weren’t getting our
shots down,” Tubbs said.
But despite the early lead, Tubbs said, he
knew the Sooners were ready to blow the game
open.
“I fell that way early in the second half
because we can sense when we’re getting the
run that is going to put the game away,” Tubbs
said.
Grant said Oklahoma was a little light in the
first half because it was the seniors’ final home
game.
“In the first half, they were running with us
and our shots weren’tgoing down,’’Grant said.
“In the second half, we did what wc had to do
to win. Wc put the pressure on and hit the
boards. (The seniors) wanted to go out in style
— I think wc did.”
With the win, Oklahoma climbs to 27-3
overall and 12-2 in the Big Eight and wins its
third undisputed Big Eight regular season title
in five years. The loss dropped Nebraska to 13
17 overall and 4-10 in the conference, leaving
the Huskcrs in a sixth-place tie with Oklahoma
State.
Nebraska now will face Kansas Siatc in the
opening round of the Big Eight tournament
Friday ai 6:10 p.m. at Kemper Arena in Kansas
City, Mo.
Nee said Nebraska’s performance against
Oklahoma gives the Huskers something to
build on going into the three-day tournament.
Buchanan agreed.
“Nobody is expecting us to do anything,”
Buchanan said. “We just have to come out and
play and hope to catch Kansas Stale off-guard.”
Tubbs said the title is special because Okla
homa wasn ’ t expected to win this year’s confer
ence crown. He said Nebraska helped the
Sooners by defeating prescason favorites Kan
sas and Missouri 70-68 earlier this season.
“We might send them a piece of this,” Tubbs
said as he held the Big Eight championship
trophy. “Without those (wins), we might nol
have won the title outright.”
Nebraska took its final lead, 27-25, with
7:25 remaining in the first half when freshman
guard Clifford Scales hit a three-point shot.
Oklahoma took the lead one minute later
when senior guard Ricky Grace hit a three
point shot. The Sooners then extended their
lead to as many as 32 cn route to scoring 100
points for the 17th time this season.
Nee said Nebraska did a great job even
though Oklahoma shot 18 more field goals and
grabbed 16 more offensive rebounds. The
Sooners also hit eight three-point shots com
pared to the Huskcrs’ four.
“Their constant offensive pressure on you
with three-point plays is tremendous,” Nee
said.
Nebraska shot 53 percent from the field and
made 17 of 19 free throws, including 11 of 11
by junior Pete Manning.
“Our guys played a solid game,” Nee said.
“ That’s kind of redundant for a guy who lost by
20 to say that, but it could have been 50.”
Buchanan agreed.
“We are pretty proud of how we played,’
Buchanan said. “But you’ve got to give Okla
homa their just due. They could be a Final Four
team.”
Manning, who scored a career- and game
high 27 points, said Oklahoma is a great team.
He said the Sooners can advance as far as they
want in the 64-team NCAA Tournament.
“It’s all up to them,” Manning said.
Tubbs said he was impressed with
Nebraska’s young players.
“Nebraska has some young kids who we’ll
probably sec down the road,” Tubbs said.
“They arc going to do some good things. “