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Tired Huskers to take trip to Creighton
By Todd Cooper
Senior Reporter
It’s a good thing Omaha is only 45
minutes away.
After losing to Michigan State 101 -
78 Wednesday night, the Nebraska
men’s basketball team is a little road
weary,CornhuskcrCoach Danny Nee
said.
“The travel has gotten to the play
ers,” Nee said. Nebraska has played
at Southern Utah and at Michigan
Slate in the past week.
“It’s been a long week, and they’re
tired.”
But Nebraska will wake up when it
meets Creighton at the Omaha Civic
Auditorium Saturday, Nee said. ESPN
will televise the game, which tips off
at 11:30 a.m.
“It’s another big game on the road
for us,” he said. “It’s a chance to
redeem ourselves from the loss and
do it on national TV.”
Nebraska will have to improve its
defense to eliminate its road worries,
Nee said. The Huskcrs have given up
101 points in their only two road
games of the year, including the 106
101 victory over Southern Utah Sat
urday night.
“We’ve proven that we have a
potent offense,” Nee said. “But the
key to our success is defense. We just
have given up loo many points in the
past two road games.”
The Huskcrs have allowed easy
baskets, Nee said. Michigan State
scored 68 points in the second half on
74 percent shooting from the field.
“Michigan State, basically, look it
to us,” Nee said. “Wc just didn’t
guard well — that’s all there is to it.”
Nebraska will be defending against
a quick, smaller team in Creighton.
The Blue Jays are 1-1 with a 62-56
victory over Colorado State after losing
' their opener 62-56 to Iowa State in
Ames, Iowa.
“They’re very quick, very aggres
sive and they shoot the ball well,”
Nee said.
The Blue Jays arc led by guards
Latrcll Wrightsell and Duan Cole,
who average 18 and 16 points a game,
respectively. The two guards are
SeeHUSKERS on 8
William Lauer/DN
>
Nebraska’s Chris Cresswell passes around Southern Cal’s Duane Cooper during last week’s Cornhusker win over the Trojans.
Cresswell and the rest of Nebraska’s team will face Creighton on Saturday in Omaha.
Wrestling coach says
meet to indicate talent
By Chuck Green
Senior Editor
Nebraska’s first team wrestling
meet of the season may be its tough
est, at least until the NCAA cham
pionships in March.
The Comhuskers, ranked 10th
by Amateur Wrestling News, will
compete against 44 other teams in
the Las Vegas Invitational today
and Saturday in Las Vegas, Nev.
The meet will include eight of the
country’s lop 10 teams.
Nebraska Coach Tim Neumann
said the meet, annually regarded as
one of the toughest and most pres
tigious regular-season meets, will
give him and his wrestlers a good
indication of where they arc talent
wise this year.
“We haven’t stressed the team
score as much as we have the fact
that some of our younger guys could
jump into the national rankings by
doing well in the meet,” Neumann
said.
John Buxton, ranked eighth in
the 126-pound weight class, could
move into the top five with a strong
performance this weekend, Neu
mann said.
Other Huskers who could bene
fit from good showings in Las Vegas,
Neumann said, include John Hif
fernan (142), Rick Coltvet (150),
Malt Lindland (158) and Rulon
Gardner (heavyweight).
Nebraska’s lineup, which in
cludes only four reluming starters,
is filled with freshmen and junior
college transfers. Neumann said he
hopes good performances turned
in at the UNO Open individual
meet will continue in Las Vegas.
“Everyone’s been progressing
very well,” he said. “We’re proba
bly as prepared physically and
mentally as any team we’ve had.”
The tournament will be at the
Hacienda Hotel Resort and Casino,
and will begin today at 8:30 a.m.
The final rounds are scheduled for
Saturday at 7 p.m.
Neumann said that because Iowa
and Oklahoma State, the country’s
top two teams, will be present, the
Huskcrs have a slim chance to
capture the team title.
“We are not a threat to win the
tournament because Iowa and
Oklahoma Slate are both so strong,”
he said. “I would be disappointed if
we didn’t finish in the top six or
seven in the team standings.”
Neumann also said that with the
large number of wrestlers in each
weight class in the meet, it will be
an important factor in Nebraska’s
success throughout the season.
“This is almost like the national
meet in terms of seeding,” he said.
“The draws for us arc going to be
important. Since we do have so
many unknowns, that could work
for or against us."
Huskers prepare to face ‘the system
By Chris Hopfensperger
Senior Editor
This weekend the Nebraska
women’s basketball team will face
what Coach Angela Beck calls “the
system.”
The Comhuskers’ next opponent,
Beck said, will bring 18 years of
basketball tradition with it, as well as
the players on the court.
Nebraska will meet Wisconsin
Green Bay on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the
Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Wisconsin-Green Bay Coach Carol
Hammeric, who posted her 30()th
career victory last season, has guided
the Phoenix to nine 20-win seasons
and 14 consecutive winning seasons
in her 18 years at the helm.
“She’s got five seniors,” Beck said,
“five kids that have been through ‘the
system.’
“She is their program.”
Last year the Phoenix finished with
a 22-6 record and just missed the
NCAA Tournament.
This year Wisconsin-Green Bay is
off to a 2-2 start, including a win over
perennial powerhouse Georgia. The
Phoenix beat the Bulldogs, 81-57, in
Green Bay, Wis.
That win alone says more about
the Phoenix than their record. Beck
said.
“We’re going to have to play our
best basketball to beat Wisconsin
Green Bay,” Beck said. “They’re a
picture-perfect defensive team.”
Offensively the Phoenix isn’t bad
either. Led by senior Sandra Bacr
wald’s 18.5 points per game, the team
G 24 Meggan Yedsena 5-8 So. 9.8 3.5
F 42 Sue Hesch 6-1 Sr. 5.0 4.8
C 51 Karen Jennings 6-2 Jr. 21.5 7.0
F 22 Rissa Taylor 6-1 Jr. 6.8 5.8
G 25 Sara Offringa 5-10 Jr. 8.3 4.3
PPG RPG
F 11 Sandra Baerwald 5-10 Sr. 18.5 5.0
F 24 Dawn Schirmacher 6-1 Jr. 8.8 6.0
C 45 Lisa Wegner 6-2 Sr. 13.0 8.8
G 12Sue Geiser 5-9 So. 4.0 2.3
G 33 Marfenn Van Den Elzen 5-7 Jr. 8.8 5.0
is sh(X)ting 43 percent from the floor.
Center Lisa Wegner, a six-foot
two senior, is averaging 13 points and
8.8 rebounds a game.
The Huskers will have to play the
whole game to beat the Phoenix. Beck
said that is something Nebraska didn’t
do in its 62-56 win at Drake Wednes
day night.
“We held on to our lead to win,”
she said. “We got real passive. We
didn’t play to bury them and that gave
them a little juice.”
The Huskers were given a little
boost in the game by the play of
junior Nafecsah Brown. The transfer
from Wcstark Community College
contributed 21 points, nine rebounds
and six steals for the Huskers.
“She really came on for us as a
scorer,” Beck said. “She showed a lot
of versatility for us. It’s what we’ve
kind of needed.”
Drake used “five players at times”
to hold junior Karen Jennings, the
Husker’s leading scorer and reboun
der, to one rebound, Beck said.
Despite the attention, Jennings
managed to score 21 points.