Sports
Nebraskan
Wednesday, February 9,1994
Huskers hope to steal victory in Manhattan
«y uereK ramson
Senior Reporter
For Nebraska players, now is not
the time for any more moral victories.
Despite a great effort, the
Comhuskers dropped a 94-87 game at
Kansas Sunday, and their record fell
to 2-4 in the conference and 12-6
overall.
Guard Jamar Johnson said Nebras
ka needed much more than just effort
tonight at Kansas State — it needed a
win.
“I would say it’s a must-win for
us,” Johnson said. “We have to come
out and play hard and try to steal one
down in Manhattan.
“It’s a must-win just to turn things
around. Just to keep everything posi
tive and upbeat. Just keeping us on
track.”
On paper, the teams look similar.
Kansas State is in fifth place in the
Big Eight, right ahead of the Huskers.
The 14-6 Wildcats are 3-5 in the
conference and have lost three of their
last four games. Nebraska is on a four
I
game losing streak.
However, Nee said that was where
the similarities stopped. .
Kansas State does not share Ne
braska’s fast-break offense, but Nee
said he was not concerned with the
Wildcats’ deliberate style.
“I understand how they play, but
there is no way of stopping them from
that,” Nee said. “With the 35-second
shot clock, that’s a short amount of
time. It’s pretty hard to control the
tempo of a game.”
What Nebraska hopes to control is
the play of Kansas State guard Antho
ny Beane.
“Beane’s quickness and Beane’s
penetration is of a very high level,”
Nee said. “He’s very smart. He con
trols the offense with the ball 90 per
cent of the time. He delivers the ball
where he has to deliver it and does a
great job of that.”
The duty of shutting down Beane
will belong to Johnson.
“Every night 1 play in the Big Eight,
it’s a challenge,” Johnson said. “I’m
not looking at it as Beane being the top
guard or whatever. l know i nave ajoo
to do, and my hands are going to be
full dealing with him. I just have to be
ready to play.”
Nee said the Huskers did not have
to worry about Kansas State’s height
and depth like they did against Kan
sas.
“The one thing they ’ re not going to
do is they’re not going to wear you
down with the numbers and size,” he
said. “They don’t have an (Kansas
center Greg) Ostertag that will beat on
you for 14 rebounds.
“They’re not going to have a wave
of nine, 10,11 and 12 players coming
at you. So that is just a whole different
sequence.”
Although the Wildcats are last in
the Big Eight in scoring offense, they
have the top scoring defense, giving
up only 65 points a game.
“They play a very physical, hand
checking defense,” Nee said. “They
do a great job ofball control. They take
away the fast break. These are the
things they are very effective at. When
you do those things, it can really hurt.”
Probable Starters
Nebraska vs. Kansas State
Tonight, 7:05 P.M. Bramlage Coliseum,
Manhattan, Kansas
Nebraska (12-6/2-4)
Pos. Player
F Bruce Chubick
F Terrance Badeett
Ht. Wt.
’ • •• s-7 v a
6-6 205
Kansas State (14-6/3-5)
Pos. Player
F Belvis Noland
F Ron Lucas
C Deryl Cunningh
G Askia
G Anthony Beane
m 22.5
170 9.8
DN graphic
Painful rehab paying dividends for Huskers Galligan
By Jeff Griesch
Senior Editor
As Kate Galligan walked onto the Bob
Devaney Sports Center floor Friday night,
the two pinkish-red scars on her right leg
crinkled with every step.
Just a little more than a year earlier,
Galligan had crumbled to the same floor
with a serious knee injury, ending a promis
ing freshman season.
After starting in 14 of Nebraska’s first 17
basketball games last year, the tears of her
anterior cruciate and medial collateral liga
ments in her right knee also threatened to
end her career.
But after an off-season of enduring the
pain of rehabilitation and having doubts
about the strength of her knee, Galligan
made it back on the court for the start of this
season
And on Friday, she stepped on the court
for the first time without her knee brace.
Galligan, a 5-foot-8-inch guard, had worn
the brace to protect the leg she injured Jan.
24, 1993, in a game against Missouri.
Despite her hard work in the off-season to
regain the strength in her right leg, Galligan
said she was far from a complete recovery
when the season began.
“At the beginning of the year I felt a lot
slower, and I was playing more tentatively
because I was afraid of re-injuring it,”
Galligan said. “But after a while I got a little
more confident and started playing more
aggressively.”
Galligan said the progress of her recovery
had seemed slow and steady but had been
faster than she originally expected.
“It has been so much better than I expect
ed coming in,” Galligan said. “My first step
is getting quicker, and I am feeling a little
faster than I did at the start of the season,"
Galligan also said she was prepared for
more pain.
“The pain is so much less than I expect
ed,” Galligan said. “It still gets stiff and sore
after practice and games, but that goes away
I feel faster, but more
than anything, I feel like it
is more of a confidence
booster just because
there isn’t anything
inhibiting me from
making the moves I want
to make. I still don’t know
if I am really 100 percent,
but my game is coming.
— Galligan
Nil women's basketball guard
-f» -
after a little rest.”
And with her increased quickness and
aggressiveness, Galligan’s game is coming
back.
Last year, Galligan averaged 6.6 points,
2.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, and
she has already surpassed those marks this
season.
Through Nebraska’s first 23 games,
Galligan is averaging 9.7 points, 3.0 re
bounds and 2.8 assists per game.
Despite her improved statistics and her
increased quickness, Galligan said she
thought her knee brace was still slowing her
down.
So last Wednesday, Galligan decided to
take another big step toward complete recov
ery by taking off the brace.
She said practicing and playing without
the restrictiveness of the brace increased
more than iust her speed.
“I feel faster, but more than anything, I r
feel like it is more of a confidence booster just
because there isn’t anything inhibiting me *
from making the moves 1 want to make,”
Galligan said. “I still don’t know if I am
really 100 percent, but my game is coming.”
dn Hie Photo
Sophomore Kate GalUgan has recovered from a 1993 knee injury to
play in every game for the Huskers this season.
Piatkowski s teammates need tofeed off his high energy
ii was iwu nours ociorc me scnea
ulcd 3:30 p.m. practice, and the sound
of a single basketball bouncing bel
lowed from the floor of the Bob
Devaney Sports Center.
Not surprisingly, it was Eric
Piatkowski shooting by himself, shak
ing his head in disgust after missing a
shot.
Above him hung four banners with
the words “NCAA Tournament.”
Three of those were from teams to
which Piatkowski contributed great
ly, and now he is giving his best effort
to top his college career off with a
fourth.
So much emphasis has been put on
Nebraska reaching the NCAA tourna
ment the past three seasons, but not
much attention has been given to the
vital reason Nebraska has made those
oner appearances m Marcn Maaness.
As a redshirt freshman in the 1990
91 season, Piatkowski was a member
of the Big Eight’s all-freshman team,
captain of UPI’s all-bench team and
an honorable mention All-Big Eight
selection by UPI. He averaged 10.9
points and 3.7 rebounds.
If anything, he gave Nebraska fans
a preview of the future of the “Polish
Rifle.”
The 6-foot-7-inch forward from
Rapid City, S.D., went on to average
14.3 points as a sophomore and 16.7
last season.
He hasn’t lost a beat this season,
averaging 19.9 points and 6.3 re
bounds.
But this season may be much dif
ferent for Piatkowski if the Huskers
don’t finish strong and earn a fourth
Derek
Samson
consecutive NCAA tournament ap
pearance.
While the rest of the Huskers’ play
ers and coaches concern themselves
with excuses and bickering during the
current four-game losing streak,
Piatkowski keeps firing away.
In Sunday’s near-upset of Kansas,
Piatkowski scored 26 points and
grabbed nine rebounds. In the previ
ous loss to Oklahoma, he scored 24
points and pulled down 11 rebounds.
In fact, the only game in which
natkowski tailed to score in double
figures was Nebraska's most lopsided
defeat, an 89-73 loss to Missouri.
Jamar Johnson, one of three se
niors — Piatkowski and Bruce
Chubick are the others—nailed it on
the head when he said Nebraska need
ed less talkers and more doers on the
court.
“I think the thing that Pike does
with his leadership is that he leads by
example,” Johnson said. “When Pike
comes out and he’s moving the ball
and he’s pushing it up or rebounding,
everybody kind of feeds off him.”
It ’ s just too bad more Huskers aren’t
hungry enough to feed off Piatkowski
a little more, especially in the losses.
In Nebraska’s first loss of the sea
son, a 78-75 defeat to Texas,
Piatkowski scored 35 points.
Piatkowski shouldn’t have to score
almost half of Nebraska’s points for
the Huskers to win.
As Nebraska heads down the final
stretch of the season, Piatkowski will
finish up one of the best careers in
Nebraska’s history. A fourth banner
would top it all oft.
For Nebraska fans, watching
Piatkowski end his career could mean
the end of the NCAA Tournament
banners for awhile.
Without Piatkowski, Nebraska may
be hanging more of those meaningless
National Invitation Tournament ban
ners to make the Devaney Center look
decorated.
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