Sports
Second-half
slump sinks
Husker hopes
□ y DM311 C31UII
Special to the Daily Nebraskan
NORMAN.Okla.—After starting
the game blazing, Nebraska’s young
guns wi lted, and the Comhusker men’s
basketball team lost its Big Eight
opener 102-89 to Oklahoma.
Plagued by turnovers and poor sec
ond-half shooting, Nebraska let the
Sooners pull away from a five-point
halftime lead and coast to the win
before 8,126 fans at the Lloyd Noble
Center.
Nebraska coach Danny Nee said
the Huskers’ inexperience showed in
the second half.
“You could tell it was our first Big
Eight game,” Nee said. “We have a lot
of rookies who arc still getting expe
rience.
“I was impressed with Oklahoma.
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1 IIVJ Ul V U gIVUl VUII IVU 1 • I UIIU fTVIV u
dominating force in the game—espe
cially rebounding.”
The Huskers matched the Sooners
throughout most of the first half, tak
ing leads by as many as 12 points.
Freshman guard Erick Strickland hit
four straight three-point shots in the
first half and finished with a career
high 19 points.
“Starting the game I was pretty
confident and tried to keep my focus
on playing the ball hard,” Strickland
said. But Oklahoma closed the half
with a 21-4 run and took a halftime
lead they would never give up.
Nebraska pulled to within two with
15 minutes to go in the second half,
but Oklahoma went on another run
and put the Huskers in a 65-51 hole
three minutes later.
After shooting 75 percent from the
three-point line in the first half, Ne
braska hit only five of 16 three-point
ers in the second half.
The Huskers gave up 28 turnovers
and 20 steals in the game, and
Strickland said that a failure to hang
onto the ball was the key to Nebraska’s
loss.
“We kind of started to lose our
composure toward the end and OU’s
pressure definitely was the key in
their win,” Strickland said.
Nee agreed.
“I think the game ran in spurts
tonight, so I didn’t think much of the
big runs,” Nee said.
Junior guard Jamar Johnson led
Nebraska scorers with 20 points.
Nebraska, which dropped to 11-4
overall andO-1 in the conference, will
play again Saturday at Oklahoma
Slate.
“Losing is never easy, but this first
Big Eight game helped us get ready
for Oklahoma Stale,” Strickland said.
Nebraska 43 46 — 89
at Oklahoma 48 54 — 102
Nebraska (11 -4) — Johnson 7-173
3 20. Boone 1 -6 2-2 4, Chandler 4-6 5-6
13. Chubick 4-5 0-0 8. Piatkowski 2-71
1 6, Badgett 0-3 2-4 2, Gregory 3-5 1-2
7. Best 0-10-0 0. Strickland 7-120-019,
Woolridge 3-5 2-2 10. Totals 31-67 IB
21 89
Oklahoma (12-3) — Webster 6-13
7-819, Vann 7-141-218, Sallier 6-112
5 14, Evans 7-12 11-12 29, Hamilton 6
141-213, Conley 2-31-25, Lewis 0-4 2
3 2, Minor 1-20-02, Alexander 0-10-0 0,
Barnes 0-0 0-0 0, Black 0-0 0*0 0. Totals
35-74 25-34 102.
3-point goals — Nebraska 11-24
(Johnson 3-S, Boone 0-2, Piatkowski 1*
2, Badgett O-1, Strickland 5-9, Woolridge
2-2). Oklahoma 7-18 (Vann 3-5, Evans
4-8, Hamilton 0-5). Rebounds — Ne
braska 41 (Chandler 7), Oklahoma 44
(Sallier 11) Assists — Nebraska 14
(Johnson 6), Oklahoma 18 (Evans 6,
Lewis 6). Total fouls (dq) — Nebraska
25 (Johnson), Oklahoma 16 A—8,126,
I_LKnJUMI
Travis Heying/DN
Nebraska forward Bruce Chubick goes up for a shot earlier
this season against Creighton. The Cornuskers lost to Okla
homa on Thursday night. ,
Nebraska
men resume
Big Eight
play on road
By Jeff Singer
Senior Reporter_
Time has made a molehill out of
the king of the mountain in Big Eight
men’s basketball.
Oklahoma State, which tied for the
conference title two years ago, has
been leveled this season by gradua
tion.
Nebraska will gel its shot at the
now-depleted Cowboys when the two
teams square off at 3:10 p.m. at
Gallaiger-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla.
The game will be televised live by
Raycom.
Oklahoma State has an overall
record of 8-3 and is off to an 0-2 start
in Big Eight play following lastnight’s
loss at Iowa State.
That’s a far cry from the 1992 team
that later made it to the Sweet 16
round of the NCAA Tournament.
But the loss of four starters, includ
ing All-American forward Byron
Houston and a trio of guards, left
Oklahoma Slate short in experience
this season.
Nebraska coach Danny Nee said
it would be a ncw-look Cowboy team
on the floor Saturday, different from
the one that split its games with the
Huskers last year.
“They’re going to play ball con
trolled and be very physical, but it’s a
completely different team,” Nee said.
“A year ago they had Houston — it’s
a new identity down there.’’
The lone starter from last season’s
28-8 Cowboys is center Bryant
Reeves. The 7-foot sophomore is lead
ing his team in both scoring and re
bounding with 19.3and 10.1 per game
averages, respectively.
See OSU on 8
-1
Huskers Big Eight hopes rest on
Kansas and Kansas State games
ury avsny vtcoi
Stafi Reporter__
As if one mad team wasn’t enough,
the Nebraska women’s basketball
team has to face two this weekend.
TheComhuskcrs will make a three
day road swing to Kansas and Kansas
State, two teams who have yet to get
a conference win this season between
them.
Nebraska, 10-3 overall and 1-1 in
the conference, will tip off the trip at
7 p.m. tonight in Lawrence, Kan.,
against Kansas. The Huskcrs play
again at 2 p.m. on Sunday in Manhat
tan, Kan., against the Wildcats.
Husker coach Angela Beck said
the road trip will be crucial to her
team’s chances of winning a Big Eight
title.
“(Kansasand Kansas State)arc not
playing well right now," Beck said.
“But, they will be tough to beat at
home. I doubt the Big Eight champs
will be able to lose more than three
games."
Beck said her team will first focus
on Kansas, the defending Big Eight
bfsgspijpprs
Nebraska at Kansas
7 p.m. Friday
Allen Fieldhouse
Lawrence, Kan.
Nebraska (10-3,1-1)
PPG RPG
G Kate GaIHgan 6.2 2.2
G Meggan Yedsena 9.0 3.6
C Sara Offringa 12.0 3.8
F Rlssa Taylor 9.7 4.9
F Karen Jennings 21.8 7 A
Kansas (6-5,0-2) ^ Rpc
G CharteM Sampson 143 2.6
G Stacy Truitt 73 33
C LteaUto 103 103
F Angela Aycock 17.6 63
F Alana Slatter 8.9 43
Scott Maurer/DN
regular season champion who beat
the Huskers twice last season.
“Mental toughness will be a key
factor for the trip,” Beck said. “We
want to focus on Kansas and let the
adrenaline take us to Kansas State.”
Senior forward Karen Jennings will
most likely be the focus of attention
for the Kansas and Kansas State de
fenses this weekend.
See NU WOMEN on 8
Gymnasts to open season
with dual against Oklahoma
By Beau Finley
Staff Reporter_
The Nebraska women’s gym
nastics team will tumble into ac
tion for the first time this season
tonight at the Bob Dcvancy Sports
Center against Oklahoma.
Coach Rick Walton said the
Comhuskers performed well in pre
season workouts and that he was
looking forward to the 7:30 p.m.
dual.
“We think we are ready,” Walton
said. “I guess we’ll have to watch
tomorrow to know for sure.”
The Huskers will be led by jun
ior Lori Phillips and sophomore
Martha Jenkins, who was the team’s
lop all-arounder last year. Besides
Phillips and Jenkins, the Huskers
feature three sophomores and four
freshmen.
Despite their minimal experi
ence, Walton was confident about
the poise of his young gymnasts.
“They may be a little nervous, ’
but I can’t imagine this (Friday’s
dual) bothering them,” Walton said.
The Huskers enter the 1993 sea
son as the No. 15 team in the nation
according to preseason ratings.
Walton said the ratings could be
deceiving, and he was more con
cerned with the team’s performance
than polls.
“Of course, winning the confer
ence is our goai as normal,” Walton
said. “What we want to do right
now, though, is to score high early
(in the season).’’
Walton stressed the importance
of seeing as much of the team as
possible in the dual to evaluate his
team’s level of competition.
The Huskers finished second in
the Big Eight last year and 13lh in
the nation, one spot away from
qualifying for the NCAA tourna
ment. Nebraska was defeated by
Oklahoma in dual competition last
year.
Walton said the team’s primary
goal was to go to the NCAA Tour
nament this April, but first to prove
themselves against the Sooncrs.
“Wc hope to make it interesting
this year,” Walton said.
Northernlowadualwill test NU wrestlers, coach says
By Tim Pearson
Staff Reporter__
Nebraska wrestling coach Tim
Neumann is hoping his team will be
running like a well-oiled car after
Saturday’s dual against seventh
ranked Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls,
Iowa.
“This will be a good tuncup for
next week’s National Duals,” he said.
The National Dual Meet Champi
onships, which will feature seven of
the topi 1 teams in the country, will be
Jan. 23-24 at the NU Coliseum.
Northern Iowa will give the fifth
ranked Cornhuskers a good test,
Neumann said.
“Northern Iowa is a Ii tile bi t tougher
than we thought they would be at the
beginning ef the season,” he said.
Neumann said the Panthers mea
sured up to the competition the Husk
ers would see in the Big Eight and at
the National Dual Meet.
“They passed up Oklahoma and
Oklahoma State in the rankings,” he
said. “We’re strong — Northern
Iowa’s strong too, and we’re young—
they’re young,” Neumann said. “It
should be a heck of a match.”
Tommy Robbins, a 167-pound se
nior, is definitely out of action for the
match against the Panthers, Neumann
said.
Robbins suffered a rib injury at the
Great Plains Invitational Tournament
last Saturday.
“He’s a lot belter now, but he
won’t wrestle this week,” Neumann
said. “He should be available for na
tionals — I’d say that he’s probable
for next week.”
All-American Corey Olson is back
from an injured shoulder and will
wrestle Saturday, Neumann said.
The Huskcrs started 1993 with a
disappointing loss to No. 4 Iowa State
on Jan. 6, bul Neumann said that the
loss reminded his icam of ihe level of
intensity that they needed to maintain
and win.
“(Losing to Iowa State) was a
downer,” he said. “After a month off,
it told us where we had to be.
“Nobody wrestled great. Every
body wrestled flat.”
The Great Plains Invite brought
See WRESTLERS on 8