Sports
Nebraska’s latest win resembles first
By Nick Hodge
Senior Reporter
The Nebraska men’s basketball
team won its second conference
game of the season in much the same
way they won their first.
The Huskers’ first Big Eight vic
tory was a 74-70 win over Kansas
Feb. 4 in Lincoln. Nebraska led the
Jayhawks 39-23 at halftime and had
to hold off a late Kansas rally to
capture the win.
Nebraska's second conference
victory came Tuesday night at the
Bob Devaney Sports Center when the
Huskers defeated Oklahoma Slate
79-77. Nebraska never trailed the
Cowboys, but had to battle late in the
game after Oklahoma State sliced the
Huskers’ 17 point lead to zero.
With the win, Nebraska improved
its record to 14-11 overall and 2-7 in
the Big Eight. The Cowboys dropped
to 15-7 and 6-3.
Like they did against the Jay
hawks earlier, the Huskers took ad
vantage of poor first-half shooting by
Oklahoma State to lake a 39-22 lead
with 4:53 left in the first half.
However, Oklahoma Slate
outscored the Huskers 8-1 the rest of
the way to cut Nebraska’s margin to
40-30 at halftime.
In the first half, the Cowboys
made 11 of 28 field goal attempts for
39.3 percent, while Nebraska con
nected on 18 of 33 shots for 54.5
percent
Nebraska coach Danny Nec said
he was happy with his team’s per
formance, especially in the first half.
‘ ‘ It was the kind of game Nebraska
needed,'’ Nee said. “We were very
pleased with the first half. We played
good, solid basketball. We were
gambling on some things. Oklahoma
State was obviously not at the lop of
their game. I was very pleased with
our players and how we did it.”
Oklahoma State continued its
comeback attempt in the second half.
A basket by Cowboy guard Corey
Williams tied the score at 50-50 w ith
11:01 remaining. As it turned out,
that was as close as Oklahoma State
would gel to winning.
Nebraska freshman forward
Dapreis Owens canned a 15-foot
jumper with 8:13 left to give the
Huskcfs a 58-54 lead. Nebraska built
that margin to 68-58 on forward Beau
Reid’s two free throws with 3:47 to
go.
The Huskers then had to battle
missed free throws in the game’s
closing minutes locventually seal the
win.
Nee said he was concerned be
cause of Nebraska’s missed free
throws late in the game.
“I was disappointed with our free
throw shooting at the end of the
game,” Nee said. “Overall, we made
enough of them to win.”
Nee said he wasn’t surprised by
Oklahoma Slate’s ability to come
back.
"They’re a good team - like the
Kansas game - they’re going to make
runs to get back at us,” Nee said.
"We did enough things right to
win.”
Oklahoma Slate coach Leonard
Hamilton said he was impressed by
Nebraska’s effort.
“I thought Nebraska was tremen
dously prepared and they kept us
from getting the ball in the paint,”
Hamilton said. “Anytime we were
able to gel the ball inside, they were
able to strip the ball from us. You
have to give a lot of credit to Ne
braska.”
The H uskers were led by Reid ’ s 21
points -- 15 of which came in the
second half. Guard Clifford Scales
and center Rich King each added 17
points for Nebraska.
Husker forward Pete Manning
pulled down a game-high eight re
bounds in the victorious Nebraska
effort.
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Rich King (25) jams tor two points against uxianoma btate.
Moral victory is not enough, Beck says
By Mark Derowitsch
Senior Reporter
Nebraska women’s basketball
coach Angela Beck hopes the Com
huskers record a different kind of win
Wednesday night.
Beck said the Huskers, who are
13-10 overall and 4-6 in the Big
Eight, have come close to defeating a
lot of teams on the road this season.
But, Beck said, the game against
Oklahoma Slate will pul an end to the
road losses. The string of road set
backs includes a 24-point loss to
Colorado, three-point losses to Okla
homa and Kansas and a nine-point
setback to Missouri.
Tip-off for tonight’s game is
scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Gallaghcr
Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla.
“We’re not looking for a moral
victory,’’ Beck said. “We’ve had
plenty of moral victories this year.
We want to look for a ‘W.’ Thai’s
been our goal lately ~ just to win. A
moral victory against Oklahoma
State is not going to be enough for this
basketball team.”
The lime is just right for Nebraska
to defeat the Cowgirls, Beck said.
‘ They have played well against us
at home in the past,” Beck said. “But
I think they haven’t pul it all together
yet. It might be a good time for us to
go down there and get one.”
The Cowgirls, 14-9 and 5-5, arc
tied for 3rd place in the Big Eight
with Missouri, one game ahead of
Nebraska.
“Wednesday’s a real, real impor
tant game for us,” Beck said. “1
don’t think Oklahoma State is play
ing extremely well at this point.
“A road win would be the ulti
mate right now for us because we
could really do the things we thought
we could do initially. This road win
could be a real big catalyst.”
Beck said a road-win against
Oklahoma Slate would give Ne
braska some momcnlum for the Big
Eight tournament, which will be held
March 4 through 6 at the Bicentennial
Center in Salina, Kan.
“If we can get a ‘W’ on the road
here, it would jockey us to a 2nd or
3rd finish in the league,” she said.
“And that’s what we really want to
do. We want to really pour it on
now.”
Oklahoma State coach Dick Hal
terman said the game is also critical
for the Cowgirls.
“It’s a must win situation for us,”
Hallerman said, “It’s a home game,
and we still think we have a chance to
finish second in the conference. We
have to gel this one.”
Oklahoma Suite is led by Clinclte
Jordan, a 5-foot-1 1 senior from Okla
homa City. Jordan averages 21.3
points and 11.1 rebounds per game.
“She is, without question, the
most talented player in the confer
ence,’’ Haliermansaid. “She’sgoing
to score between 15 and 25 points,
and get eight to 15 rebounds. We
don’t have to worry about her. She’s
going to gel her points and rebounds
no matter what.”
Beck said she isn’t worried about
the Huskcrs’ defense. She said mov
ing forward Kelly Hubert loguard for
defensive purposes has made a differ
ence. The switch was made when
forward Sarah Muller, who had been
suffering from a stress fracture in her
left shin, returned to the line-up.
“I can pul Hubert in at guard,
which I fell was a real big key to our
victory in our last game (a 68-56 win
against Kansas State),’’ Beck said. “I
put Hubert in the middle of our zone,
and she had seven or eight deflections
and three blocks. 1 think she cranked
our defense up anolher level.”
Beck said one aspect about Ne
braska has been bothering her this
season. She said the Huskers haven’t
done anything unexpected this year.
Beck said she wants to be surprised
against the Cowgirls.
“We want to go out on the road
and win,” she said. ”1 think Okla
homa State would be a good start for
that.”
Haltcrman said the Huskers usu
ally give Oklahoma State a tough
game, no matter where it’s played.
“They haven’t played as well as I
figured,” he said. “But they’re starl
ing to play really well now. They’ve
got a solid ball club. And Amy
Stephens is probably as good as there
is in the conference.”
Stephens, a senior guard from
Alliance, is averaging 22.2 points per
game despite nagging bone spurs in
her heels.
NU coach says the Gophers are a bear of a team!
By Steve Sipple
Staff Reporter
Nebraska's wrestling dual against
Minnesota tonight in Lincoln will
give high school wrestlers here for
the state meet a chance to see how
lough collegiate competition is.
But Comhusker coach Tim Neu
mann said scheduling Minnesota on
ihe eve of the stale wrestling meet
wasn’t a recruiting ploy. The state
wrestling meet will run Thursday
through Saturday at the Bob Devancy
Sports Center.
“I think that if we were using it as
a recruiting tool we would've picked
someone we could blow out of the
gym,” he said.
Neumann said that’s not the ease
with the Gophers, who enter the meet
with a 14-7 dual record and a No. 13
ranking by Amateur Wrestling News
magazine.
Nebraska. 10-5-2 and ranked No.
10, will face Minnesota in a 7:30 p.m
dual at the sports center.
In past years, Neumann said,
Nebraska has faced teams on the
Sunday following the state meet,
which is also held at the sports cen
ter. But by Sunday everyone has
usually grown tired of wrestling, he
said.
“So we thought we’d give them a
show before the meet this year,”
Neumann said.
The Gophers will be lough, Neu
mann said.
“The way it looks it could be a real
close dual with five or six matches
that could go either way,” said Neu
mann, whose teams are 1-1 against
Minnesota during his four years of
coaching at Nebraska.
Minnesota has two former All
America selections in its lineup. At
118 pounds, Keith Nix is 11-1 this
season after winning the Big Ten
championship and finishing 2nd at
the NCAA championships last year.
Nix has battled weight problems
this year and was suspended in Janu
ary for disciplinary reasons. But he
will be in Minnesota’s lineup tonight,
Gopher assistant coach Gary Heck
said.
At 177 pounds, Dave Dean is 24
1-1. Dean missed last season with a
knee injury after w inning the Big Ten
title and notching a 2nd-place finish
at the NCAA tournament two years
ago at 190 pounds.
“If they bring their full lineup
they’re a bear of a team,” Neumann
said.
Minnesota is healthy, Heck said.
The only Gopher missing w ill be 142
pound T.J. Campbell, w ho suffered a
concussion in laic December and
hasn't returned.
Meanwhile, Nebraska’s injury
situation looks like it’s on the verge
of improving. The Huskers’ 118
pound Terry Cook, 13-1, has been
sidelined since Jan. 21 with a broken
thumb, but has been practicing and
may wrestle tonight, Neumann said.
Also listed as questionable is 134
pound Dave Drocgemucllcr, who’s
been battling an ankle injury suffered
while walking down the steps of his
apartment.
Last weekend, Nebraska scored
dual victories against the University
of Nebraska at Omaha and Wyoming.
The Huskers defeated UNO 36-9 Fri
day and the Cowboys 32-8 Saturday.
Both matches were held at the sports
center.
“We didn’t wrestle well against
UNO,’’ Neumann said. “Our kids
weren’t up for the match at all. At this
time of year we got to be rolling over
people like that. They’re a good Divi
sion II school, but if we want to con
tend in the top 10 of Division I we
have to wrestle better.
“Against Wyoming, it was a dif
ferent story. We got cranked up and
wrestled well.”
Against the Cowboys, 126-pound
Jason Kelber, 150-pound Paul Her
rera and 158-pound Jeff Collvet each
recorded major decisions to lead
Nebraska.
Kelber won for the 10th lime in his
last 11 matches to raise his record to
24-9. Coltvet, w ho is one of only four
Huskers with more than 100 career
wins, is 56-13-3 in duals during his
career. With Saturday’s win, Colvet
moved into a lie for third place on
Nebraska's all-time dual victory
chart.
Allen sees chance for NU to be NCAA champions
Ky Mike O'Malley
Staff Reporter
After seeing his team compete in the UCLA
Invitational Saturday, Nebraska men’s gym
nastics coach Francis Allen touted the Corn
huskers for the national championship.
Allen said Nebraska’s 2nd-place linish Sat
urday in Los Angeles, Calif., showed him that
the Huskcrs have a legitimate chance ol de
fending thf-ir national championship. 4th
runked Illinois won the meet with 279.20
?Dints, while 5th-rankcd Nebraska stored
78.65. 2nd-ranked UCLA finished third with
277.85 points.
“We had 77 percent of our people perform
ing well,’ ’ Allen said. “A Nebraska team at the
NCAAs traditionally has 95 percent. We can
be national champions. Whether we arc or not
depends on if we improve and how the other
teams improve.”
Junior Patrick Kirkscy led Nebraska by
compiling a season-high 56.85 points while
winning the all-around title. Nebraska’s Mike
Epperson was 3rd in the all-around with a
5o.25, which was also a season high.
“I was real pleased,” Kirkscy said. “I hit
most of my routines and l don’t often hit on all
six routines.
Kirkscy said his performance carried over
to the team.
”1 thought the team did exceptionally
well,” he said. “There was not more than one
break on each event. We have a good chance u>
win the NCAAs.” • • •
Allen also was impressed with Nebraska.
“The guys performed well. They impressed
everybody,” Allen said. “All the coaches and
judges I know complemented the team. We
were one routine aw ay from winning the meet.
“This was the first time UCLA had lost this
meet. UCLA will be thinking ‘Man, we lost to
Illinois and Nebraska, both.’ Thai's a good
psyche for us. 1 saw Illinois and UCLA warm
up and 1 thought we would be out-manned.
These guys performed like a team. They’re
really doing a good job. ’ ’