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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 1995)
Sports Wednesday, January 18,1995 Page 7 Nee credits last wins to Wald, Moore By Mitch Sherman Senior Reporter Nebraska basketball coach Danny Nee cred ited the Comhuskers’ quick turnaround last week to the emergence of two players, one on the inside and one on the outside. Nebraska, 13-3 and 1-1 in the Big Eight, rebounded from back-to-back losses at the hands of Texas and Missouri to beat Long Beach State and Kansas State last week. The Huskers will try to continue their streak against Missouri-Kansas City tonight in a 7:30 game in Kansas City. Leading the charge in the Huskers’ re bound, Nee said, has been point guard Tom Wald and center Mikki Moore. Wald, who made his first career start against the Wildcats on Thursday, came off the bench Jan. 9 at Long Beach State to spark the Huskers to an 11 -point win over the 49ers by scoring a game-high 20 points. “He has worked to get into this role,” Nee said of the 6-foot junior from Brooklyn Park, Minn. “He has earned it with his consistency and his play.” In his first start, Wald delivered a career high 11 assists and scored eight points in 33 minutes, propelling the Huskers to a 78-56 victory. ‘ He distributes me bail real wen, iNee saia. “He’s good for the team’s chemistry. And he’s a very tenacious player. With the game on the line, you want him with the ball in his hands.” Earlier this season, Nee got his wish. With the Michigan State game on the line, Wald was the guy with the ball in his hands, sinking three free throws with 0.5 seconds to force overtime. Moore has also been contributing a great deal lately, Nee said. The 6-10 sophomore from Gaffiiey, S.C., has blocked 16 shots in the Huskers’ last three games. His42 blocks in 16 games, an average of 2.6 per contest, ranks second in the conference, ahead of Iowa State’s Loren Meyer and Okla homa State’s Bryant Reeves. Moore trails only Kansas center Greg Ostertag, who averages 3.5 blocks per game. “That’s his forte,” Nee said. “He’s a great shot blocker.” But he said Moore’s aggressiveness had taken away from other parts of his game. “He’s going after everything,” Nee said, “and that’s putting him out of position to rebound. But he is one of the most improved players on our team, and he hasn’t leveled off.” Nebraska will take a break from conference play Wednesday, when it takes to the road again to play the Kangaroos. Nee said the 3-9 Kangaroos, whom the Huskers beat 92-71 in Lincoln last year, would present a challenge. “It’s a dangerous game for us,” he said. “You have to give UMKC a lot of respect. I really don’t like to play a lot of non-conference games, and in college basketball, any road game is a hard game.” Nebraska’s Chris Sallee, left, and Chester Surles, right, fight for a rebound with Kansas State’s Brian Gavin during Nebraska’s win over the Wildcats Thursday. *1 1 UMKC coach envies uMb s scneouie By Derek Samson Senior Reporter If University of Missouri-Kansas City coach Lee Hunt had his wish, he would switch sched ules with Nebraska. The Cornhuskers travel to UMKC for tonight’s game, which will be the Kangaroos’ fourth game in the past week. The Kangaroos have played two road games in the past week, one at Chicago State Saturday and one at Northeastern Illinois Monday. Nebraska has not played since it played host to Kansas State Thursday. “Unfortunately, that’s just part of college basketball,” Hunt said. “We all have to do it. I just don’t like to have that kind of schedule, then come home and have to play a team like Nebraska. UMKC, a member of the Mid-Continent Conference, is no stranger to playing teams like Nebraska. Tonight’s game will mark the sixth straight season the Kangaroos have played Nebraska. Missouri-Kansas City has also played Kansas State, Colorado and Southern Cal this season. ' Hunt said the difficult schedule usually paid off in UMKC’s conference schedule. We ve been playing teams like that since about 1987,” he said. “We used to play Kansas State and Oklahoma State all the time, and then Danny Nee wanted to play us, so we started in with Nebraska. So we play a very good schedule. “I think it really shows in the conference. We have led our conference in the power ratings for our schedule for many years now.” Besides playing Nebraska, Hunt will also have to deal with injuries. The 3-9 Kangaroos are down to eight play ers after losing four players to season-ending injuries. “It’s been a challenge,” Hunt said. “You just have to keep plugging along. It sure doesn ’t make anything any easier, though — espe cially against Nebraska.” Hunt said that with only eight players it might be hard to slow down the Huskers’ fast break game. ' “I think they’re every bit as good as last year, and if we don’t slow them down, we’re going to have a tough time,” he said. “They’re very quick, and they push the ball up the floor extremely fast. They’re so versatile, and we know we must try to stop their break. That’s their game. “We have all the respect in the world for all 7 think they're every bit as good as last year, and if we don't slow them down, we're going to have a tough time. " ■ LEE HUNT UMKC coach their players. I think Jaron Boone is an NBA player all the way, but all their players seem very quick. We can’t just concentrate on Boone.” If UMKC is searching for any advantages going into the game, Hunt said having the home court advantage wasn’t one. “I guess it helps to be at home just because you aren’t traveling,” he said. “I think in this situation, when you’re playing a team like Nebraska, it doesn’t mean a whole lot. Ne braska has a lot of alumni in this area, so they usually get a pretty good crowd. Just playing a team like Nebraska draws a good crowd in.” 7995 to bring lots of goodies in tne sports world 1995. It’s finally here. The year the Huskers defend their national title — in gymnastics. Football, too. So much will happen in the upcoming year. And nobody knows exactly what’s in store for the sports world — except me. So here we go. It’s just some thing that had to be done. January 1 — Led by the heroics of comeback kid Tommie Frazier, the Nebraska football team wins its first national title since 1971 with a 24-17 victory over Miami in the Orange Bowl. January 10 — Heralded Wood River native Scott Frost dumps Stanford to play for Tan Osborne and Nebraska. So much for the easy stuff. January 18 — The Nebraska basketball team jumps all over the UMKC Kangaroos before a crowd of 1,800 Comhusker fans and 25 Kangaroo supporters at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City. Husker coach Danny Nee is ejected in the first half, only to return to the court disguised as the UMKC Kangaroo. He is thrown out again. January 26 — In an attempt to counter die Chicago White Sox signing Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd as a replacement player, the Texas Rangers sign Pete Rose, who promptly leaves his radio show. Acting commissioner Bud Selig’s response to the banned-Rose’s comeback: “I don’t care as long as people pay to see him play when they come to Milwaukee.” January 29 — San Francisco wins Super Bowl XXIX 74-28, but the ‘Niners are unable to cover the the 48-point spread. “I’m disap pointed they scored 28 points,” said San Francisco coach George Mitch Sherman Seifert, who retired following the third quarter. February 28 — Husker basket ball coach Danny Nee lashes out at the media after the Huskers go 2-6 in February, beating Colorado twice. “You (expletive) reporters better (expletive) stop asking about our (expletive) losing streak,” Nee said. March 4 — Mickey Mantle, Bob Gibson, Willie Mays, Charlie Hough, Phil and Joe Niekro, Steve Garvey, Mark Fidrych, Ron Cey and Reggie Jackson join the replacement crusade while the baseball players strike. March 6 — After finishing the regular season with an 0-14 conference mark, the Husker women’s basketball team wins the Big Eight tourney in Salina, Kan. “Strategy,” Husker coach Angela Beck says. March 11 — The Husker men lose in the second round of the Big Eight tourney to Colorado. Nee blows the roof off Kemper Arena after being asked a question about a questionable coaching decision near the end of the second half. March 15 — The Huskers win a tournament game — never mind that it was in first round of the National Invitational Tournament. The Huskers drop their next game, finishing at 19-14. March 20 — Former Iowa State football coach Jim Walden is added to the Husker football staff during spring football. Because of NCAA limitations, Walden cannot be counted as a coach. But Bill Byrne successfully petitions the NCAA to allow Walden to remain on staff, rationalizing that he couldn't possibly improve any aspect of the team. May 1 — The Daily Nebraskan reports that the Nebraska baseball team is chi track to register its best season ever. At 44-7, the Huskers finally start to get noticed. Ap proximately 114 fans attend a game on April 26. May 21 — Behind the clutch hitting of All-American Darin Erstad and overpowering pitching See SHERMAN on 8