Sports
Wednesday, December 7,1994 Page 7
Altman: Huskers will be a tough task for Creighton
By Todd Walkenhoft
Staff Reporter
Nebraska will put its 4-1 record
on the line when the Cornhuskers
face in-state rival Creighton in a
7:05 game to
night.
The game at the
Bob Devaney
Sports Center
will mark the re
turn of former
Kansas State
coach Dana
“—W-IH-- Altman to Lin
wa,a coin. Altman
took over as Bluejay coach after
Rick Johnson was fired at the end of
last season.
Nebraska coach Danny Nee said
Altman would help the Bluejay pro
gram rebuild quickly.
“It’s definitely a positive factor
for that program,” Nee said.
Nebraska junior guard Tom Wald
said that he expected the Huskers’
full attention to be on the Bluejays
Wednesday night and not Michigan
State, the Huskers’ opponent on
Saturday.
“I don’t think we’re looking
ahead to anyone,” Wald said.
“Someone tried to mention it
(Michigan State game), and every
body got on him.”
Wald said that the Huskers were
expecting a tough game from
Creighton.
“I think we match up with them
very well,” Wald said. “It should be
a good game.”
Wald said he and his teammates
would be looking forward to play
ing the Bluejays because of the natu
ral rivalry. Many of the players
knew each other from playing to
gether in summer leagues, he said.
The Bluejays’ record is 1 -1; their
loss was against Southern Method
ist 77-70 last Saturday.
The Huskers have won their last
four meetings with the Bluejays,
including a 67-53 victory in Omaha
last year. Nebraska has never lost to I
Creighton in the Devaney Center.
Creighton coach Dana Altman 1
said it would be a difficult task for
his team to upset the Huskers, who
have made the NCAA tournament
the past four years.
“We’re a young, inexperienced
ball club,” Altman said, “and we
have a long way to go as a team. It
will probably be a growing up ex
perience. We haven’t been real
sharp.”
Creighton has been hindered
early in the season by injuries. Start
ing center Nate King will not play
tonight because of a lingering calf
injury.
Dana Altman coached four
years at Kansas State. Now
he’s in his first year at
Creighton. His record against
Nebraska at Bob Devaney
Sports Center:
1990 85-78 loss
1991 91-62 loss
1992 66-64
1993 86-77 loss
" 4
DN graphic
Michelle Paulman/DN
Nebraska freshman guard Jaml Kublk pulls down a rebound as Buffalo's Kristen
Holtz defends during the Huskers' 7946 win Tuesday night.
Strong defense, turnovers
help Huskers defeat Buffalo
By Trevor Parks
Staff Reporter
The Nebraska women’s basketball team
turned up the defensive pressure in a 79-66 win
over Buffalo Tuesday night.
The Nebraska defense held the Royals to
only 30 second-half points and forced 12 turn
overs in rallying from a 36-34 halftime deficit
in front of 309 at the Bob Devaney Sports
Center.
Nebraska, 5-2, also held Buffalo to only 11
points in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
Coach Angela Beck said she wanted to keep
the team fresh in the first half, which was why
Nebraska was cautious in using its full-court
press.
“I felt that they had a lot more legs than we
had,” Beck said. “Overall in the second half I
thought we played good defense.”
Center Pyra Aarden said the Huskers turned
things up a notch after blowing a 12-point lead
in the first half. i
The Comhuskers’ second-half press gave
Nebraska the wakeup call it needed, Aarden
said. - «
“It was something we threw in, and if it
works we stay with it,” Aarden said. “We’re
trying all kinds of different things and see what
works, I guess.”
After trailing at halftime, Nebraska began
the second half with a 21 -4 run that put Buffalo
away.
Tina McClain, who led the Huskers with 18
points, tied the game just 16 seconds into the
half at 36-36.
After an Aarden basket, with 18:53 remain
ing, Nebraska never trailed again.
Aarden finished the game with 16 points
and a team-high 12 rebounds, including seven
offensive boards.
Beck said she was happy with Aarden’s
play.
“I thought we did a good job of crashing the
boards,” Beck said. “What I thought we didn’t
do a good job of was getting quality putbacks.”
Nebraska led by as many as 19 in the second
half after a Roquayyah Brown layup.
However, Aarden said the sporadic play of
Nebraska was a major concern.
“We need to work on being consistent,”
Aarden said. “I think it’s something that every
one wants to put together, a 40-minute game,
and obviously that’s a big goal.”
The Huskers were able to remain consistent
throughout the second half.
After Nebraska’s hot start in the second
half, the closest the Royals managed to come
was within 10 at 71-61 after a Brenna Doty 3
pointer with 3:02 remaining.
Doty and Kristen Holtz led the Royals with
15 points each.
In the first half, Nebraska built a 34-22 lead
before the Royals rallied.
Aarden picked up her third foul with 3:46
remaining, and after being replaced, the Roy
als went on a 14-0 run to close out the half and
take the lead.
Aarden said she needed to be a little more
cautious when she gets into foul trouble.
“Getting in foul trouble is no Am,” Aarden
said. “Obviously it doesn’t help, I think it’s just
a concentration level, and that is something we
need to work on.”
Beck said she was disappointed with the
way her team finished up the first half.
“We just played really horrendous the last
four minutes,” Beck said. “I just tried to play a
lot of numbers and had a real bad combination
those last four minutes.”
Both teams struggled at times in the first
half, at one point going 3:55 without a score.
Overall both teams combined to score just
five points in a 5:08 span.
Beck said she was glad to get a win over the
3-1 Royals, who finished 20-9 last season.
“They are not a bad team,” Beck said. “It’s
not like were getting teams in here we can walk
over.”
Poll gives college footballfans a much needed voice
What do the writers know?
What do the coaches know?
Finally, the fans are starting to
speak out. They are starting to de
mand a better method of determin
ing the true national champion. But
they may be going down the wrong
track.
That path should include clam
oring for an NCAA playoff, but
instead the fans have initiated their
own college football poll.
And according to the fans, Ala
bama is the No. 1 team in the na
tion.
Or make that, the Tide were the
No. 1 team in the country.
Well, after the Tide’s loss to
Florida last Saturday, that No. 1
spot is in jeopardy. In the last poll,
released last Thursday, Alabama
was No. 1, followed by Nebraska,
Penn State, Miami and Florida State.
But we won’t know who the new
No. 1 team is until January because
the Sports Fan Poll, based in
Clermont, Fla., doesn’t come out
again until the bowl games are over.
Nick Bacon, along with partner
Ed Augustine, set up the Sports Fan
Poll to give fans a say.
It all started in a local coffee
shop.
“A bunch of us were sitting in a
coffee shop arguing about who’s
No. 1,” Bacon said. “And we thought
maybe the fans ought to have a poll
of their own.”
And the fans have been heard —
kind of.
More than 8,000 fans respond
every week to the poll, which sounds
like a lot of calls.
But Bacon begs to differ. He has
greater expectations for his little
poll extravaganza.
“We get 8,000 calls, which I
think is minimal,” he said. “If we
took three percent of the college
football population, we’dget 50,000
calls.”
Also, 50,000 calls would mean
more money for Bacon and his part
ners. Calling the number — 1-900
Tim
Pearson
407-8683 — costs approximately
$1.25 per call.
But money isn’t the issue here.
Bacon insists that he and his co
horts aren’t in this for the money.
They’re not in this to make a fast
buck. They’re doing this to make a
point.
To make a point that the fans
need a voice.
But not everybody thinks like
Bacon.
Bacon said one writer from Bir
mingham, Ala., criticized him for
starting the fan poll.
“I had a big argument with him,
and he said that our poll was balo
ney,” Bacon said. “He told me, ‘Our
poll is scientific; we analyze all the
games and all the teams,’ and I told
him he was crazy.
“I don’t see how you’re any more
scientific than I am.”
This may be true. There may be
some writers that don’t take their
vote seriously. But I also know there
are some who look at their vote as a
privilege.
As far as coaches go, I don’t
think the college football coaches
take the poll votes any more seri
ously than the writers.
And Bacon maintains that his
poll is not some number that people
can call over and over to get votes
for their favorite team.
“If their (favorite) team is doing
good, they’ll spend a buck and call
us,” he said. “There’s probably some
fanatic who calls three times a day.
“But this is the only fair way to
do it.”
Bacon said that they had AT&T
install a system that would post the
number of calls from each area code.
And the results have shown that
people from all around the country
call in.
“For every team in the top 15, we
get calls from 20 to 30 different
area codes,” Bacon said. “It’s not
strictly a hometown thing. It was
amazing to me, sort of.”
And after the football season is
over, Bacon hopes to tackle spe
cific topics—such as players of the
week. Eventually, Bacon hopes to
get someone to sponsor the poll.
“It’d give us a little bit better
circulation,” he said.
Maybe all this better circulation
will help calm the furor over the
current poll system.
It’s about time the fans made
themselves heard.
It may not be their strongest
voice, but at least it’s a little more
than a whisper. It’s a step in the
right direction.
Pearaon b a Junior news-editorial major
and the Dally Nebraskan sports editor.