Sports
INU tennis team to gamble in three duals
Ily Paul Domeier
enior Reporter
The Nebraska women’s tennis team
'ill gamble on improvement this
'eckend in Las Vegas.
Comhuskcr coach Gregg Calvin
lid he wants his players to continue
'orking toward the Big Eight ser^n
uring the team’s three duals. »
raska will play UNLV on Friday,
lew Mexico State on Saturday and
/cber State on Sunday.
“The main thing is feeling good
when we compete, not worrying about
winning so much,” Calvin said. “We
want to focus on one or two things a
match.”
The Huskcrs dominated three duals
in Lincoln on Saturday and Sunday,
compiling a 25-2 record. Calvin said
the three opponents this weekend are
a notch above the opponents of last
weekend, which creates part of the
gamble Nebraska will take.
Calvin said the matches also will
be risky because the Huskers will be
on the road and will be playing out
doors for the first time in months.
“It’s supposed to be 65 degrees all
weekend,” Calvin said, “which proba
bly will feel like 85 to us.”
The rest of the year’s duals, Calvin
said, also are scheduled to be played
outside. He said his squad will get
two outdoor practices in before the
UNLV match.
Calvin said he hasn’t done much
scouting in preparation for this week
end because the Big Eight season is
only 10 matches away.
“We don ’ t know a lot about any of
the teams except Weber State - and
they’re really good,” he said.
The Huskers saw, and lost some
matches to, the Wildcats at the team’s
regional indoor tournament last fall.
Calvin said he is working on the
assumption that UNLV and New
Mexico State are similar to Nebraska,
with Weber State a level above the
three. But he said he isn’t conceding
the victory to the Wildcats.
“We’ve got a shot at them, be
cause we’re playing better than in the
fall,’’ he said.
The improved Huskers can do well
in the conference, he said, and the
fight for the top needs to start in Las
Vegas.
“Once we get into the conference
it’s going to be really close, ’ ’ he said.
“If our players take a good attitude
and prepare for each team match we’ll
really be prepared for the Big Eight.
ISooners race past Comhuskers
fin season’s twentieth victory
Ily Chuck Green
enior Reporter
Before Wednesday night’s game against
iklahoma, the Nebraska men’s basketball team
wned a 1-4 home record against Big Eight
^ams this season.
Make it 1-5.
The No. 10-ranked Sooners used a tena
ious full-court defense and four scorers in
ouble figures to blast the Comhuskcrs 88-66
cfore 12,170 fans at the Bob Dcvaney Sports
!enter.
The. 22-point loss was Nebraska’s worst to
Iklahoma at the Sports Center.
Nebraska coach Danny Nee said the Soon
rs’ success was “slow and steady.”
“They slowly beat our brains out, and with
leir athletic ability and quickness, it was loo
luch for us to handle,” he said.
The Huskcrs played the Sooners close
throughout the first half and even led by five
points with 8:42 left in the half.
But the Sooners oulscorcd Nebraska 17-9
tile rest of the way to hold a 42-37 halftime
Kd.
Nee said he was happy with his team’s first
hall aggressiveness.
“We had a (low during the first half,” he
said. “But then we missed a couple of shots
which made us lose our confidence.
. “Oklahoma’s quickness and their jumping
ability was too much for us to handle.”
j Nee said he wasn ’ t worried at the start of the
ond half.
I “I thought our shots were pretty good, but
tncy just weren’t falling,” he said. “We were
(iking good shots and were still in the game.”
I But not for long. The Sooners started the
fltcond half with a 14-2 scoring run. Oklahoma
glided to a 25-point lead toward the end of the
■me.
M The win ensured the ninth consecutive 20
viin season for Oklahoma coach Billy Tubbs,
rasing the Sooners’ record to 20-4 overall and
H3 in the conference.
K Tubbs said his team was inspired by nega
tive press earlier in the week. An article that
appeared in an Oklahoma newspaper said the
Sooners’ intensity tends to f ade toward the end
of the season, and that Oklahoma isn’t as good.
“That really got us going,’’ he said. “To
night was a good win for us. Any lime you get
a win on the road in our league, I think it’s a
good win.*'
Tubbs couldn’t help but praise the Huskers.
“I’thought Nebraska really played well,’’
he said. “It didn’t surprise me. I know at one
time they hit 14 of 24 (shots) from the floor. We
had our defense strung out. We closed it down
a little bit with a /one, but then they hit some
stuff from outside. “
Sooner forward Damon Patterson, who led
all scorers with 23 points, wasn’t as cordial.
“We were just waiting to explode,’’ he said.
“The 14-0 run (to start the second half) hurt
them. They couldn’t keep up with the tempo
after that.’’
Nebraska shot 43.9 percent from the field,
connectirig on 29 of 66 shots from the field.
The Sooners hit 46.5 percent.
Skeeter Henry scored 22 -- 16 of which
came in the first half -- and Tony Martin scored
19. Jackie Jones added 12 for the Sooners.
Nebraska, now 9-15 overall and 2-9 in the
Big Eight, was led by center Rich King, who
scored 15. Carl Hayes added 14 and Richard
van Poelgccst scored 10.
King said be has no idea what is wrong with
Nebraska’s team.
“I’ve been trying to figure it out all year,’’
he said.
Nebraska guard Clifford Scales, who was
held to just 6 points, said Oklahoma’s pressure
was the key to vhc game.
“As soon as we broke it (midway through
the first half), I thought they’d get out of it,’ ’ he
said. “But it didn’t.”
But, Scales said, Nebraska’s of fensive strat
egy of sprcadingOklahoma’sdcfensc “worked
for a half.”
“Sometimes things just don’t work out the
way you want them to,” he said.
Tubbs said he wasn’t concerned about the
Huskers’ first-half success against the Sooner
press.
See SOONERS on 14
Joe Heiiule/Daily Nebraskan
Nebraska’s Rich King battles Sooner Jackie Jones (21) for a rebound Wednes
day night at the Bob Devaney Sports Arena.
Look out, Comhuskers; the Lancers are here
here is a fever burning through
out Omaha.
It has spread across the
Missouri River into Council Bluffs,
Iowa. It is creeping west along Inter
state 80 to Lincoln.
In fact, some people in Lincoln
Nick
Hytrek
even suffer from this fever. I am one
of those people.
I’m talking about Omaha Lancer
Fever. Don’t feel bad if you don’t
know about it - many people don’t
even know the Lancers exist.
The Omaha Lancers are a hockey
team. Yes, hockey does exist in Ne
braska and people in Omaha are nuts
about it
The Lancers belong to the United
States Hockey League. Contrary to
popular belief, they are not a minor
league team for any team in the Na
tional Hockey League. They aren’t
even professional hockey players.
The teams in the USHL consist of
players just out of high school. The
main purpose of the league is to give
these young players experience and
lime to develop their game so that
they might get a college hockey schol
arship.
The Lancers gained national rec
ognition in their first season by losing
every game. Since then, they have
steadily improved and now are at the
top of the USHL standings.
It is probably safe to say that the
Lancers have gained much of their
support because they now are one of
the top teams in the league. But that’s
not the main reason for their popular
ity.
What is? Enthusiasm.
Upon arrival at the Ak-Sar-Bcn
Coliseum, the site of Lancer home
games, fans are bombarded by some
of the most enthusiastic and loyal
fans they have ever encountered.
Most of the fans have been going
to Lancer games since the team came
to Omaha. They sat througlf most of
those losses that first year and now
love the team more than Nebraska
football.
The best example of fan support is
a group that calls itself the “Red Ice
Rooters. ’ ’ They come to games wear
ing orange, black and white (the Lancer
colors) and haidhals with hockey pucks
stuck on top of them.
They even wave a clothed, inflat
able woman on a slick after every
Lancer goal.
While all of this is going on, both
teams are skating in a rapid frenzy on
the ice. They’re giving their all be
cause they need to play well to re
ceive attention from college recruit
ers.
One must realize how much these
players love hockey. Most of them
are only 18 or 19 and have moved
miles from home just to play for a
shot at a scholarship.
Another appealing aspect of the
game is that there are very few rules,
and what rules there are can be learned
in the first few minutes of the game.
First-time hockey watchers can fig
ure out what is going on and not be
confused by complex penalties.
The players can slam each other
against the walls as hard as they can
and get away with it. They can knock
another player halfway across the ice
and not worry about getting penal
ized for it.
The players do not have to worry
about nit-picky calls. Only the most
flagrant violence will result in a player
getting called for a penalty.
The crowd support the Lancers
receive is impressive. Only about 6,000
people can fit into the stands, but they
make more noise than the 76,000
“fans” who fill Memorial Stadium
on fall Saturdays.
Lancer fans do not cheer against
their team. And suggestions from want
to-be or armchair coaches almost are
non-existent.
The fans do cheer against the other
team, however. As the game wears on
and the bccr-guzzling fans gel drunker,
the opposing players arc showered
with insults. Every opposing player
“sucks,” and certain players join the
referees in an elite group that is singled
out and given a harder time than the
others.'
Everyone should take in a Lancer
game. It’s good to sec players playing
hard not only because they want to
move up the ladder, but because they
love their sport.
Hytrck is a sophomore news-editorial
major, a Daily Nebraskan sports writer and
sports columnist.
