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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 1993)
Sports Gymnastics coach keeps high expectations By Phil Carter Staff Reporter At the beginning of this season, Nebraska men’s gymnastics coach Francis Allen predicted his team had the talent and personnel to be one of the best in the school’s history. After two meets this season and the hbliday break, Allen is remaining optimistic. “We’re extremely impressed as a coaching staff at the level of perfor mance of this team so far this season,” Allen said. It takes a while to get back into shape,” he said. “ Just like a basketball team,” Allen said. “When they come back from a long layoff, they’re not worth a darn for about four or Fve games, but we’ re not going to be that bad.” The Comhuskers, who won the Rocky Mountain Open and the Big Eight Invitational earlier this season, will host Oklahoma and Iowa State in a triangular at the Bob Devaney Sports i Center on Saturday. “We’re looking forward to this i Saturday getting on the floor and get- t ting the gymnasts going again,” Allen i said. “I suspect Nebraska to be on about a 283 (team score) pace, which i is better than ever.” 1 The Sooners are the fifth-best team i in the country, Allen said, and a thin Iowa State team will be without two key gymnasts who are out with inju- < ies. “I would say Oklahoma is prob ibly the fifth-ranked team in thecoun ry, and I’d say Nebraska’s first,” Ulcn said. “Iowa Slate’s pretty much off the >ace right now. They don ’ t have a real leep team, and two of their kids are iurt. So they’re not going to do very veil.” Nebraska’s fast start this season :an be attributed to reluming almost everybody from last year’s team. That list includes Che Bowers, who was the national champion on the pommel horse last year, and Dennis Harrison, who finished fifth in the all-around competition last season. “We have a lot of talent, but a lot of young people who are willing to work hard," Allen added. “I’m still pretty certain this team will go undefeated and possibly set a new NCAA scoring record.” Huskers struggle, escape Hornets with narrow win oy Jen omyer Senior Reporter Nebraska * s men ’ s baskctbal I team was given its final non-conference lest of the year Wednes day night. And the Comhuskers passed by the skin of their teeth in an 86-70 win over Sacramento State. Nebraska struggled all night to get on track against the Division I independent Hornets, and led by as few as five points against their 1-17 opponent halfway through the second half. But the Huskers were able to avert the Hornet upset by registering a 16-point victory and improving Nebraska’s record to 12-5 in front of 10,421 fans at the Bob Devancy Sports Center. Huskcr forward Eric Pialkowski, Nebraska’s leading scorer this season, sal out the game as he recovered from the flu, so fellow forward Bruce Chubick had to lake up the scoring slack. Chubick, who averaged eight points per game entering Wednesday, scored 15 to lead . the Huskers. He pitched in seven of those points when Sacramento State closed their deficit to 57-52 with 12 minutes left, including a pair of dunks that helped propel Nebraska to victory. His second dunk put the Huskers up 67-54 and Nebraska never looked back. Chubick said the reason why the Huskers took so long to pul away the Hornets was a lack of enthuisam on the part of Nebraska. I’m not going to lie — we didn’t get up for them as much as we did Oklahoma or Okla homa State,” he said. That’s where we’re different from some of the other really marquee teams; when they get a team in like that, they destroy them by 50 — instead of us raising our level and destroying them, we played with them and if things might have gone a little differently, wc might have got beat,” Chubick said. Sacramento State coach Don Newman said he could sec why the Huskers weren’t playing them best against his team. “I know it is lough for Nebraska to get up for a 1 -17 team like us,” Newman said. “We know we didn’t sec the best Nebraska has inniohl. hut my guys played hard and gave it everything we had.” The Hornets were able to keep the game close in part with their shooting guard Charlo Davis. He led all scorers with 17 points and helped his underdog team to just a 41-31 deficit at halftime. With the score close throughout most of the contest, some of the Nebraska faithful booed the Huskcrs during the game as they struggled with Sacramento State, and Chubick said it was probably deserved. “1 felt like booing myself,” he said. “The thing is when we sec ourselves playing like that, we’ve got to be strong enough to smack our selves on the head a couple of times and say ‘hey, we look awful.’” Nebraska coach Danny Nee said he was just happy to get another win before his team plays the remaining portion of their Big Eight sched ule. “1 don’t think they had a focus or played with the emotion they need to play with every night, but I think the team you’re playing you react to,” Nee said. “I’m pleased we accomplished what we wanted to accomplish and win the game.” Chubick agreed. “We got the win, and that’s all that really mailers. Sacramento State .. 31 39 — 70 at Nebraska ,. 41 45 — 86 Sacramento State (1-17) — Morris 3-7 3-4 9, Brown 1-5 0 0 2. Evans 2-7 0-2 4, Wallace 2-3 0-0 4. Davis 7-191-217, Colter 6-162-2, Stewart 1-20 0, Edwards 1-4 2-3 4, Whitlock 1-3 4-4 6, Damone Williams 3-11 1-2 0 Totals 27-77 13-19 70. Nebraska (12-5) — Badgett 6-132414, Chubick 6-10 3-4 15, Chandler 2-7 5-7 9, Boone 2-9 4-4 8. Johnson 1-21-23, Strickland 5 102-213, Woolridge 3-5 0-2 6. Gregory 2-6 5-6 9, Best 2-4 2-4 7, Robinson 0-0 0-00, Newton 0-0 0-00, Jaeger 0-0 0 0 0, Glenn 1-10-0 2 Totals 30-67 24-35 06 3-point goals—Sacramento State 3-17 (Brown 0-2, Davis 2-10, Whitlock 0-1, Williams 1-4), Ne braska 2-7 (Badgett 0-1, Boone 0-1, Johnson 0-1, Strickland 1-3, Best 1-1). Rebounds — Sacra mento State 40 Jwtoms 10), Nebraska 57 (Chandler 11). Assists — Sacramento State 16 (Wallace 4), Nebraska 21 (Boone, Strickland 4). Turnovers — Sacramento State 13, Nebraska 20 Total fouls — Sacramento State 24, Nebraska 15. A — 10,421 Robin Trimarch i/DN Nebraska’s Jamar Johnson shoots a layup in the first half of the Cornhuskers' game against Sacramento State Wednesday night. Nebraska won the game 86-70. Best four conferences spar for No. 1 ranking The verdict is out on what is col lege men’s basketball’s best confer ence, and once again it’s the Big Eight. Make that the Big Eight plus three. You’ve got to give the nod to the Big 10 and Little One (Northwest ern). And yes, with the addition of Penn Slate to the conference, the Big 10 does cam this recognition even though it is a mathematical atrocity with 11 teams in the Big 10. (Arithmetic has never been a strong point in the Great Lakes Area). So where does our beloved Big Eight stand against its counterparts throughout the country? It's not the league it was last year, when it won 88 percent of its non conference games, but it’s still among the top three or four leagues in the nation (ahead of the EIGHT teams in the Atlantic 10 and the Southeastern Conference headed by Arkansas, lo cated in the Midwestern section of the United States). So how will the Big Bight do now that the league, once known as the most balanced in the country, is now as balanced as the two sides in the Gulf War? Here’s how I think the Big Eight will end up, otherwise known as the good, the bad and the average: 1. Kansas — The Jayhawks won the Big Eight last year with an 11-3 record: that’s about three more losses than they’ll have this season. Can we say 14-0? Their Big Eight opponents will be able to say it all year long. 2. Oklahoma — Billy Tubbs has once again built a top-notch team in Norman that will be good enough tc be Kansas’ bridesmaid. 3. Nebraska — How can I say that a team that started league play at 0-2 will climb into third place by the end of the season? One reason is the com Jeff Singer ing of age of the best freshman class in the Big Eight, and the other reason is no more black socks. 4. Iowa State — People might wonder why the Cyclones weren’t picked higher, with all five starters reluming from last year’s team. These arc the same incredibly av erage starters that finished with a 5-9 record in conference play last season, so fourth place is very generous. 5. Missouri—From the loss of the league’s top player, shooting guard Anthony Peeler, to graduation and jail, the Tigers lost the heart and soul of their team. But you can never count out Mizzou coach Norm Stewart, so the Tigers will head the Big Eight’s second tier. 6. Oklahoma Slate—Oh, how the great have fallen. Two years ago the Cowboys were co-confcrence cham pions. But to say there will be some rebuilding in Stillwater following the loss of four starters from last year would be an understatement. With 7-foot center Bryant “Big Country” Reeves returning for OSU, the Cowpokes will be kept out of the league’s “Big Basement.” 7. Kansas State — The Wildcats arc a permanent fixture at the end of the season in the NIT (Not Important Tournament), and things haven’t changed in Manhattan. But the only thing worse than K Statc’s play is its fans, who, after Kansas beat the Wildcats last Mon day at Bramlagc Coliseum, threw a coin at Jayhawk guard Rex Walters that cut his face. This lopped last year’s performance by the K-State faithful, when fans threw ice at the Kansas players. 8. Colorado—The Buffaloes have a permanent lease on the basement of the Big Eight standings, and the land lord again isn’t coming this season to let Colorado move up. One perfect irony in Boulder is that Buff coach Joe Harrington left his former school, Long Beach Stale, to coach a Colorado team that he thought could break into the Top 25 rankings. If you looked at this week’s AP poll, it’s the 49crs of Long Beach who arc among college basketball’s elite — the Buffs arc nowhere to be found. As for a prediction for the NCAA Tournament, the conference will im prove on last year’s dismal perfor mance. Then again, how could it go anywhere but up? Singer is a senior news-editorial and po litical science mqjor and a Daily Nebraskan sports senior reporter.