Nebraskan
Friday, March 18,1994
SPORTS
St. Patrick’s Day massacre ends NU’s run
By Rachel Cytron
Special to the Daily Nebraskan
UNIONDALE,N.Y.—An unpre
dictable season ended in the usual
fashion for the Nebraska men’s bas
ketball team Thursday night as the
sixth-seeded Cornhuskers fell to the
No. 11 seed Pennsylvania Quakers
90-80 in the first round of the NCAA
tournament.
It was a typical ending for the
Huskcrs, who lost a first-round game
for the fourth-straight year.
But it certainly wasn’t a normal
outing.
Nebraska, which finished the sea
son 20-10, never led and shot an un
characteristic 15 percent — 3 for 20
— from 3-point land.
Senior forward Eric Piatkowski had
23 points, but shot just 10 of 28 from
the field, including 0-for-6 from 3
point land.
“When it comes right down to it,
we just couldn’t knock down our out
side shots,” Piatkowski said. “They
just did a phenomenal job. They hit a
lot ofthrecs. They found the open man
and hit him. It took us until probably
a couple of minutes left in the game
before we could knock one down.”
Nebraska didn’t hit its first 3
pointcr until the 14:46 mark of the
second half, when guard Jamar
Johnson nailed one from the wing.
Penn, on the other hand, was red
hot from behind the arc, hitting 11 of
27 shots.
The Quakers opened the game with
a 15-4 run. Nebraska was able to close
within one at 21-20 with nine minutes
to go in the first half.
But then the Quakers went on a 15
4 run and took a 46-34 lead into
halftime.
That was exactly the kind of situa
tion Nebraska hoped to avoid. Huskcr
coach Danny Nee said.
“Our team plays on the edge,” he
said. “I was concerned that if we got
behind six, eight, 10 points, with how
they would react. Unfortunately we
reacted the wrong way.
“We got impulsive. We took quick
shots. They should have been more
patient and set up shots. Instead, the
kids got more impatient.”
The Huskers’ impatience grew as
Penn’s defensive pressure increased.
Nee said Penn coach Fran Dunphy
did a good jobof switching defenses to
disrupt the flow of Nebraska’s of
fense.
“They slopped us,” Nee said. “We
missed shots and didn’t get the ball
movement we wanted."
Meanwhile, Penn, 25-2, relied on
William Lauer/DN
Nebraska’s Jamar Johnson and Erick Strickland trap Oklahoma’s John Onties during the Big Eight men’s basketball
tournament. Johnson went 3-for-10 and Strickland went 3-for-9 from the field during the Cornhuskers 90-80 loss to Penn
Thursday night.
sharp ball movement from its guards.
Junior guards Jerome Allen, who
had 18points,and Matt Maloney each
dished out 10 assists.
Forward Barry Pierce had a game
high 25 points and center Eric Moore
added 15 points for the Quakers.
“Their inside scoring surprised us,”
Nee said. “Eric Moore was a surprise.
He played very well and once they got
their confidence and the crowd got
into it, they played even belter.”
Piatkowski said he was surprised
that the Huskcrs didn’t play well.
“It hurts an awful lot because we’re
seniors and we wanted to win a game
in the NCAA tournament.” he said.
“The way I look at it now is that I had
a great career at Nebraska. I think
Bruce (Chubick) and I can both say
that we helped elevate the program
quite a bit.
“Hopefully the guys in years to
come can come in and get some work
done in (the NCAA tournament). But
it’s over now and there’s no use crying
about it. We’ve got to move on with
life.”
Nobraska . 34 46 — 80
Pennsylvania . 46 44 — 90
Pennsylvania — Pierce 11-153-325,Trice
(TOO 0 0, Moore 7-100-3 15, Maloney 3-11
3-5 12, Allen 6-16 3 8 18, Moxley 1-1 0 0 2,
Baratla 0-1 0-0 O, Keqler 3-7 0-0 9, Krug 4
7 0 0 9 Totals 35-68 9 19 90
Nebraska— Badget14-92 610, Piatkowski
10-22 3-4 23, Chubick 5-8 2-312, Johnson
3-104 4 11, Boone3-52-48, Strickland3 9
0-07, Best 1 -42-24, Brooks2-20-05 Totals
31 69 15-23 80
Assistant looking at UNO
From Staff Reports_
One ofNebraska’s assistant bas
ketball coaches may be considering
leaving the program, the Daily
Nebraskan learned Thursday.
JefT Smith, an assistant under
Danny Nee for the past six years,
has apparently expressed an inter
est in the coaching job at the Uni
versity of Nebraska at Omaha,
sources close to the situation said.
Bob Gibson, UNO’s athletic di
rector, wouldn’t confirm or deny
the report.
“We can’t verify that one way or
another,” Gibson said. “We’ve got
ten a lot of resumes, but we haven’t
looked at anything.”
Bob Hanson resigned under pres
sure earlier this week after 25 years
at UNO.
Gibson said it may be a while
before the university names a re
placement for Hanson.
“We don’t even have our sclcc
t ion comm ittec formed yc t,” he said.
Smith was in Long Island, N.Y.,
for Nebraska’s first-round matchup
with Penn Thursday and could not
be reached for comment.
-Sports briefs
Nebraska wrestlers
have tough first day
From Staff Reports_
Nebraska’s wrestling team had a tough
first day at the NCAA W resiling Champion
ships in Chapel Hill, N.C., Thursday.
Only one Husker, 118-pound ScottGonyo,
remains in the championship bracket. The
Huskcrs placed 16th after the first day.
Steve Bacr.at 126pounds,TemoerTcrry,
at 150 pounds, and heavyweight Tolly Th
ompson arc still alive in the consolation
round.
At 134 pounds, third-seeded Frank
Velazquez dropped an open inground match,
6-3. At 142 pounds, sixth-seeded Justin Ware
was upset by a score of 14-11.
Tennis teams travel
to play tournaments
From Staff Reports
The Nebraska men’s tennis team, 3-5,
will travel to Houston to compete in the Rice
Invitational this weekend.
The Huskers will face South Alabama,
Rice and Columbia.
The women’s tennis team, meanwhile,
will travel to Fullerton, Cal if., to compete in
the Third Annual Titan Tennis Classic this
weekend.
The Husker women, 3 -2, open the tourna
ment against St. Mary’s at 8 a.m. on Friday.
Iowa to be ‘tuneup’ for Husker gymnasts
By Mitch Sherman
Staff Reporter
One week after suffering a loss at the hands
of No. 1 Ohio State, the Nebraska men’s gym
nastics team hits the road to
take on No. 6 Iowa.
The Comhuskcrs and the
Hawkcyes will square off in
Iowa City, Iowa, at 2 p.m.
Sunday.
Last week, the Huskers
were headed toward a great
score before falling ofT in
the final two events. Ne
braska led the Buckeyes
190.55-189.05 after four events. Ohio State
came back tooutscore the Huskersby 1.8 points
in the final twoevents and win the meet 284.85
to 284.55.
“We had that score by h itting on 7 3 percent,”
Nebraska coach Francis Allen said. “That shows
the potential of this team. We should have been
up around 286, and if we hit 80 to 85 percent,
we were looking at a record.”
The Nebraska school record is 288.95 points
— set at the 1992 national championships,
where the Huskcrs finished second to Stanford.
Allen said the No. 2 Huskcrs had the poten
tial to be one of the top Nebraska teams in recent
history.
“This team has great potential,” Allen said.
“We just haven’t gotten it out of them yet.”
Allen said Iowa posed a threat to 13-3 Ne
braska.
“Iowa is a good learn,” he said. “If 11 be a
good meet. We need a good meet, and Iowa
probably does, too. I really don’t look for them
to beat us, but they could if we don’t do any
better than we did when we were on the road at
Oklahoma.”
Nebraska lost to the Sooners in Norman,
Okla., on Feb. 19.
“I look at this meet as a tuncup for the Big
Eights,” Allen said. “Iowa is good, but they’re
not as good as Ohio State, and we should have
beaten Ohio State.”
Allen still thinks the Huskers have what it
takes to beat the Buckeyes at the NCAA gym
nastics championships April 22-23 at the Bob
Devaney Sports Center, he said.
NU coach: Women’s gymnastics team contident
From Staff Reports
The confidence level of the Nebraska
women’s gymnastics team is back. Coach Dan
Kendig said.
“You can see it in practice—in the way they
are working,” he said. “They have something
extra in what they are doing.”
After two straight disappointing finishes on
the road, the 10-5 Huskers bounced back to beat
Ohio State 192.325 to 186.75 last Sunday at the
BobDevaney Sports Center. The Huskers’ score
was their second highest of the season and the
seventh highest in school history.
Saturday, Nebraska returns to the road to
take on Iowa State and Oklahoma in Ames,
Iowa. The Huskcrs have competed against both
schools already this season.
Nebraska beat Oklahoma in Norman, Okla.,
on Feb. 6 by a score of 192.05 to 189.90, and the
Huskers scored a season-high 193.30 points in
a six-point win over Iowa State on Feb. 11 in
Lincoln.
“The bottom line is that you have to hit your
routines,” Kendig said. “We hit last week and
we won. We had a good score, and we arc going
to need another good score this week. Iowa
State has oeen scoring gooo ai nomc laieiy.
Kcndig said he thought the Huskers had
shaken their midseason slumpand would gather
steam heading into the Big Eight champion
ships in Lincoln March 25-26.
“Their confidence level is just as high, if not
higher, than it was earlier in the year,” he said.
Nebraska started off the year 7-0 before
falling to 9-5.
“They feel good goi ng i nto t his meet,” Kcndig
said. “There’s no unknown. We should have the
same type of confidence that we have had at
home, but there’s no way to know until you get
out on the mat.”
