Clouse
Continued from Page 13
early in the campaign.
Coming into this season, the Husk
ers returned only Carl Hayes as the
single starter from last year’s cam
paign.
Hayes’ 12.5 points-per-game av
erage is third behind sophomore-sen
sation Eric Piatkowski’s 15.1 and senior
Dapreis Owens’ 13.3.
In the off-season, Nee “reloaded,”
as he called it, with three new players,
who have all contributed to Nebraska’s
unexpected success.
The Huskers’ junior-college inva
sion is led by 6-foot-10, junior center
Derrick Chandler. He has averaged
11.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and his 51
blocked shots leads the Big Eight.
Chandler transferred from Alvin
(Texas) Community College and he
has been an intimidating force on
defense and a stalwart in the paint on
offense.
The other member of the juco-duo
is junior guard Michael Hughes. His
speed and 6-foot-7 frame gives him
an extra dimension at the point or
shooting guard position.
—r Hughes transferred from South
eastern (Iowa) Community College
and has proved to be a good defensive
player along with his solid point-guard
play.
Hughes has averaged 5.5 points
and 3.7 rebounds a game, but he has
just returned to full speed after suffer
ing a back injury earlier in the season.
His health will be important in
providing a few minutes of quality
guard play behind Nebraska’s third
new talent.
Jamar Johnson, a 5-foot-11 sopho
more, continues to develop into a
tremendous player. His improvement
and health are vital to Nebraska’s
hope of success in the Big Eight.
Johnson, who sat out last season
because of Proposition 48, leads the
Huskers with 23 steals, 73 assists and
83 percent shooting from the free
throw line.
The sophomore guard, who has
averaged 10.6 points per game, com
bines speed and good ball manage
ment. Johnson’s passing has been
complemented by his 46 percent three
point shooting.
Nee said Nebraska would have to
win at least half of its Big Eight
matchups to return to the NCAA
tournament.
To do this, the Huskers will have
to rely on its three-point shooting to
kill zone defenses.
If Nebraska three-point shooting
goes cold, or any of its players fall to
injury, the Huskers-will be humbled
in conference play. —
But with healthy and improved
players, the ghost of the Big Eight
will continue to make believers out of
conference foes.
Clouse is a senior news-editorial major
and the Daily Nebraskan assistant sports
editor.
Player regains lost confidence
By John Adkisson
Senior Editor
Somewhere in the middle of a
Nebraska men’s basketball win over
Eastern Washington earlier this sea
son, Dapreis Owens realized he was
back.
“It felt like I was almost back in
high school again, the way I was
scoring and stuff,” Owens said. “That
told me that I was starting to play well
again.”
Well isn’t the word.
Owens’ career-high 30-point per
formance in the final game of the
Ameritas Classic pretty much told
this season’s story for the 6-foot-9
forward: After three years of playing
on the fringes of greatness, Owens is
a star in his last season. He’s helped
the Comhuskers to a surprising 12-1
record.
Through the first 13 games, Owens
averaged 13 points and 7 rebounds
per contest He ranks among Big Eight
leaders in field goal percentage (57
percent), free throws (53) and free
throw attempts (79).
All of this comes after last season,
when Owens’ lost both his confidence
and his starting position midway
through the season. He got neither
back.
“Once I lost it, it was like a big
letdown for myself,” Owens said. “It
was just hard for me to gain it all
back.”
As a sophomore, Owens started 11
games, averaging 8 points and 4 re
bounds. But he said that being benched
during the late part of last season
taught him how to come off the bench
and contribute.
“I never felt as confident as I did
when I was starting,” Owens said.
“But since we were winning, I just
wanted to help contribute any way I
could.”
Nebraska Coach Danny Nee said
Owens used camps last summer and
fall to regain what he had lost at the
end of last season.
“We’d had some talks, and I told
him that we needed him to play well,”
Nee said. “But Dapreis just did some
things like improving on his
schoolwork, things in his life and
started to get that confidence back.”
Victory
Continued from Page 13
But Kim Yancey fouled Sheet/, on
the next trip downcourt. After two
free throws, Nebraska led 71 -69. The
Huskers answered with Sue Hesch’s
wide open shot from under the bas
ket.
Following a Colorado turnover,
Yedsena was fouled, but missed the
free throw.
Colorado center Jamillah Lang’s
errant three-pointer fell to Jennings.
“A ton,” he said. “As you go through
the four years, you can’t help but go
through some things that make you
grow up.”
Owens also has matured in his role
as a floor leader. Along with fellow
seniors Chris Cresswell and Carl Hayes,
Owens is now looked to for stability
in a relatively young starting lineup,
“I think the icing on the cake is, I
saw Sue (Hesch) out of the comer of
my eye and just threw it to her,”
Jennings said. “That set them back.”
Hesch collected the ball at mid
court and drove for the layup. Time
ran out after two more missed three
pointers by the 6-foot Lang.
Colorado.33 36 — 69
At Nebraska .... 38 37 — 75
Colorado — Mathern 2-5 0-0 4. King 3
8 4-6 10, Wirfs 4-5 1-3 9, Sheetz 6-15 9-10
25. Henry 3-6 1 -2 7, Lang 0-65-65, Kraair 2
3 0-0 5. Brinkman 0-1 0-00, Mack 1-1 2-24.
“Dapreis has come along in that
area,” Nee said.
Owens said he enjoyed being known
as a leader, and said he had accepted
the job with enthusiasm.
“I’ve been here so long, you pick
up leadership skills,” he said. ‘‘And
hopefully other players can look up to
me and say ‘He’s doing well, so I
want to do well, too.”’
Totals 21-50 22-29 69.
Nebraska — Jennings 12-16 4-5 29,
Hesch 4-7 0-0 8, Taylor 3-3 5-811, Yancey
3-9 0-0 6, Yedsena 3-6 1 -4 7, Russell 2-6 0
1 4, Collains 3-4 0-0 6, Offringa 1-2 2-2 4,
Witherspoon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-53 12-20
75.
Three-point goals — Colorado 5-13
(Sheetz 4-10, Lang 0-2, Kraair 1-1), Ne
braska 1-3 (Jennings 1-1, Yedsena 0-2).
Rebounds — Colorado 33 (Wirfs 6). Ne
braska 30 (Jennings 11). Assists — Colo
rado 14 (Henry 6), Nebraska 21 (Yancey 6).
Turnovers — Colorado 22 (Sheetz 6), Ne
braska 22 (Yedsena 6). Total fouls—Colo
rado 19, Nebraska 21 A — 2.324.
Nebraska forward Dapreis Owens fights for a rebound in
action with Iowa State last season, me senior from Mans
field, Ohio, isthe Cornhuskers’ second-leading scorer at this
point in the season, averaging 13.3 points a game.
U/ahIH Hu/Anc cai/ ho hac matnrArfO SAIfl.
Hesch
Continued from Page 13
points, three assists, and two offen
sive rebounds.
Hesch, a 6-foot-l senior from
Wahpeton, N.D., has raised her play
to another level since Nafccsah Brown
was lost for the season with a knee
injury.
“I started playing better during the
Dip to California,” Hesch said. “Karen
and Meggan are the leaders on the
floor. I know I’m just a role player,
and I know I have to shoot more since
Nafeesah went down.”
The recent success is a welcome
change for Hesch, who played well in
the non-conference schedule last
season, but faded down the stretch.
She also began this season slowly.
Hesch was happy with the win and
her improved second-half perform
ance, and realizes that she is a key to
Nebraska’s quest to capture the Big
Eight title.
Hesch says she needs to continue
to improve to help the Huskers.
“I need to rebound more and stay
tough on defense,” she said. “I also
need to score more to help the team.”
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