Daily
Nebraskan
Thursday, February 18,1988
Sports
Coach says fate
hinges on shots, 1
.not officials’ calls
By Jeff Singer
Senior Reporter
It’s full steam ahead for the Nebraska men’s
basketball team, according to Coach Danny
Nee.
After Monday’s 73-63 loss to Oklahoma
State, the Comhuskers fell to sixth place in the
conference standings, although a win would
have put them in a tie for second after Kansas
Stale lost to Colorado on Tuesday.
But Nee said at his weekly press conference
Wednesday that the Huskers could not look
back, they could only look ahead.
“The should ’ ve bcens, could ’ ve beens—we
don’t worry about,” Nee said. ‘‘We have to take
each basketball game that we play now and be
ready to play, execute, play at a high level and
find a way to win that game.”
Nebraska will get the opportunity to put
Nee’s philosophy to work when the Huskers
play at Missouri on Sunday.
The loss to the Cowboys dropped Nebraska ’ s
Big Eight record to4-5 and overall mark to 16
8.
Nee said the Huskers needed to capitalize on
some of their errors, mainly theirtree-throw
woes highlighted in their two losses to Okla
homa State, in order to have success in the final
stretch of the league season.
“You can’t shoot 13 free throws and they
shoot 71 and expect to win — we have to find
a way to get to the free-throw line and we have
to find a way to stop them from getting to the
free-throw line,” he said. “You can’t ignore it
— it would be like in football getting 70 yards
worth of penalties to their 13.
-a—
I don’t think officials win or
lose games — / think players
do Itbetween the lines.
—Nee
NU basketball coach
Nee said his team had to find a way to reduce
the free-throw deficit in the future, and that the
referees could not be blamed for the discrep
ancy at the charity stripe.
“I don’t think officials win or lose games —
I think players do it between the lines,” he said.
“I don’t think our record is going to deviate
because of what the officials are doing.
“I don’t want to take away from Oklahoma
State — they won the game fair and square;
saying anything but that is ludicrous,” Nee said.
After Sunday’s game, Nebraska has one of
the most favorable schedules in the conference
by having three of its final four games at home.
The Huskers will play Colorado, Iowa State
and Oklahoma all at the Bob Devaney Sports
Center, while their only road test will be at
Kansas.
Nec said Nebraska’s season and postseason
fate should be determined with its final five
games, espec ially in the contests at the Devaney
Center. rip -
“I think the season has been atypical, nor
mal Nebraska basketball season in that you’re
going to win some, you’re going to lose some,”
he said. “We just have to take care of business
at home the next couple of weeks.”
Beck says beating Buffaloes
critical in conference race
By Jeff Griesch
Staff Reporter
Nebraska women’s basketball coach An
gela Beck is hoping that the Comhuskers will
pass their biggest test of the season Sunday —
defeating Colorado for the second time.
The No. 22 Comhuskers handed the No. 4
Buffaloes their only loss of the season on Jan.
31.
Nebraska, 8-3, is third in the Big Eight and
ncedsa win to keep its chances for a conference
title alive.
“We are playing good basketball, and we are
still in a position to win a league title,” Beck
said. “It is going lobe a challenge for us, but this
team is the kind of team that likes big chal
lenges.”
The key to the Huskers’ success this season
was strong defense, Beck said, and they needed
to continue playing well to beat the Buffaloes.
Our offense has been shaky at times, but
our defense has been solid,” Beck said. ‘‘Our
defense is creating some offense for us iit the
transition game.”
Beck said Nebraska’s offense had struggled
at times because of a lack of consistent outside
shooting. But she said she was not worried that
it would be a major factor the rest of the season.
“I’m not real concerned because we have
proven that we are capable of knocking it down
in streaks,” Beck said.
Despite Nebraska's inconsistent shooting,
the Huskers are leading the league in scoring
with a 73.8 point-per-game average in the
conference. x
Nebraska's inside game, led by Karen
Jennings* 22-point average, is providing most
of the offensive punch for the Huskers.
Along with Jennings, Nafecsah Brown has
given a spark to Nebraska by averaging 12.9
points per game.
“Jennings is having a sensational senior
season and the emergence of Brown on offense
has really bolstered our inside attack,” Beck
said. • *>
... _ ■ Ntcneiie rammar
Nebraska s Riley Washington holds a piece of the school record with
6.17 second 55-meter dash.
Freshman bursts onto track
with record-breaking times
By Chris Hain
Staff Reporter
Riley Washington has blazed onto the
collegiate track scene.
Washington, a freshman who competes
in both football and track, has been explo
sive so far during the indoor track season.
His season-best time of 6.17 seconds in
the 55-meter dash ties the NU school record,
and is the second-fastest time in the country
this season.
While Washington may have the kind of
speed that excites both track and football
coaches, he is laid-back about his success.
“I don’t really think about it,” Washing
ton said. “I try not to think about it.”
“I just go out and do what I’ve got to do,”
he said.
Husker coach Gary Pepin, however, has
been impressed by Washington.
‘‘He’s had a marvelous season to this
point,” Pepin said. “He has demonstrated to
me and to people in the track world that he
is a bona fide talent."
Washington, from San Diego, had the
third-fastest junior 100-metcr dash time in
the country last year.
“When you’re the third best anything —
piccolo player, piano player — you’re spe
cial,” Pepin said.
Washington said he was surprised by his
success.
“I’m doing better than I thought I might
do at the collegiate level,” Washington said.
The Nebraska atmosphere also suits
Washington well.
He said he came to Lincoln to escape the
city life of San Diego.
“It’s a pretty goal school,” he said. “It’s
quiet, laid-back... what I was looking for."
Washington said his main objective was
to play football. A split end, he redshirted
this past season.
“No one likes to sit on the bench coming
out of high school, but 1 plan on getting on
the field next year,” Washington said.
tiuskers vie for NCAA bid without home-game rituals
i he number seven has been a tra
ditionally lucky number for most
people. But in Big Eight men’s bas
ketball circles, this numeral is more of
a symbol than anything else.
Not only does seven represent the
number of Big Eight teams that will
he competing in this year’s NCAA
1 oumament, but also tells how many
conference schools have well-estab
lished identities in their home arenas.
As for Nebraska: It’ll bcable to roll
a lucky seven by going to the tourney,
out the Bob Devaney Sports Center
has crapped out in comparison to its
Eight counterparts.
In regard to the NCAA tourney,
consensus opinion says that either
lour or five Big Eight teams will
qualify for the Big Dance. But I think
lowa State coach Johnny Orr nailed it
on the head when he said earlier this
week that seven conference teams
deserved to go to the tourney.
I’ll even go a step further in saying
that seven teams WILL go.
The question many ask is, why
would the NCAA selection commit
tee take this many Big Eight schools
after a dismal performance by the six
conference teams that participated in
last year’s tourney?
One reason is that, come March 14,
the day the NCAA com mittee chooses
its 64 participants, seven of the Big
Eight’s teams — Colorado excluded
—should have at least 18 wins, which
is the usual magic number the com
mittee looks for in choosing teams
from a major conference.
Another reason is that among all of
the leagues in the country, the Big
Eight ranks second in the computer
power ratings and is not far Trom
taking the conference throne. <
Nebraska coach Danny Nee said <
with the Big Eight’s balance, the
Jeff
Singer
league should be well represented in
March Madness.
“Someone has to go — I would
ihink that the teams that arc on the
bubble, if they’re in the Big 10, the
Big East, the ACC and the Big Eight,
have got a hell of a chance vs. the Big
West, the Mid-American Conference
and any other conference you want to
:onsidcr,” he said.
Nee added that another consider
ation was the quality in the Big Eight
:omparcd to other conferences, be
cause “you start looking at it and see
ivho’s eligible and you try to get 64,
\
you ve got to go pretty deep — that's
a lot of teams."
But the problem that exists here in
Lincoln doesn’t concern the
Comhuskers, but the lack of a known
identity for the Devaney Center.
All the other seven league arenas
have special facets that make them
unique, but the Devaney Center still
has not found the niche needed to put
itself on the college basketball map.
The point can be illustrated just by
looking around the Big Eight.
While Kansas fans have the tradi
tion of reading their newspapers when
the opposing team is being announced
at Allen Fieldhouse, Kansas State stu
dents form the Cat’s Tail on the
B ram I age Coliseum floor.
Missouri has the infamous Ant
lers, a student support group at the
Heames Center comprised of mostly
juvenile delinquents that were prob
ably beaten as children, but can also
be entertaining.
Oklahoma has a similar group at
the Lloyd Noble Center called the
Rufneks—except that these guys arc
more obnoxious than funny and were
probably beaten twice as much.
Hilton Coliseum at Iowa Slate docs
the “Heeecere’s Johnny” when the
beloved Orr walks onto the court.
Oklahoma State’s Gallagher-Iba
Arena is known as probably the loud
est arena in the nation with its 6,381
seating capacity. And even the Coors
Events Center at Colorado stands out
because it sells beer.
So while the Huskcrs arc making
winning a tradition on the court,
Nebraska’s fans need to realize that
ever since “Dead Dog Alley,” the
Devaney Center has had no bark.
Singer is a senior news-editorial and po
litical science m^jor and a Dally Nebraskan
sports senior reporter.