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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 1995)
Sports , Monday, Febmary 6,1995 Page H Jeff Haller/DN Nebraska center Chris Sallee slams the ball down during the second half of Nebraska’s 71 -59 victory over Oklahoma Sunday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Inside play helps Huskers in OU win By Mitch Sherman Senior Reporter The Nebraska men’s basketball team is still breathing. It was gut-check time Sunday afternoon at the Bob Devaney Sports Center, and the Comhuskers were finally up to the challenge. Nebraska handed Oklahoma its worst loss of the season, in the process improving to 15 6 overall and 2-4 in the Big Eight. The Sooners fell to 16-5 and 3-3 in conference play. The 71 -59 Nebraska victory, played before a sellout crowd of 14,340, was the Huskers’ first victory since a 63-60 win over Missouri Kansas City on Jan. 18. “I think our players played with heart,” Nebraska coach Danny Nee said. “They played with intensity. But I think we can play better.” Nebraska trailed by as many as seven points early in the first half before putting together a 12-2 spurt to tie the game at 19 with 8:12 to play in the first half. Nee credited the Sooners’ 30-percent field goal shooting in the first half to the Huskers’ increased intensity on the defensive end of the court. “Things didn’t go right for us all the time, and we handled that adversity,” Nee said. “We took control of the game and played the way we wanted to play. I was pleased to get a win under our belt and play hard.” The game was last tied at 23 with 5:37 to play. Junior guard Jaron Boone, who led Ne braska with 13 points, hit a jumper to put the Huskers up for good at 25-23 with 5:04 remain ing in the first half. Nebraska used a 9-2 run in the final five minutes of the half to take a 32-25 lead into the locker room. Center Chris Sallee, who played only nine minutes in the first half, led Nebraska at half time with seven points on 3-of-4 shooting. The junior from Scottsdale, Ariz., finished the game See VICTORY on 8 Rough and ready Huskers beat lackadaisical Sooners By Derek Samson Senior Reporter " ~ Eight days before Nebraska’s 71 -59 victory over Oklahoma Sunday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center, the Sooners defeated Nebraska 82-72 in Norman. But according to Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson, Danny Nee’s Nebraska team didn’t play that much differently Sunday/ “I think Nebraska played very similar to the way they played last week,” Sampson said. “I think if you ask Danny, he would tell you that they didn’t play a great game today. But today, they didn’t have to.” Sampson said the Huskers did do something they didn’t do in the teams’ previous meeting — or that any other team has done to the Sooners. “We were 16-4 coming into this game, but we really hadn’t been beaten,” Sampson said. “The games ended and we may have been behind when they did, but nobody had really “This ivas the first time in 21 games that we had our butts beat. ” ■ KELVIN SAMPSON Oklahoma coach beaten us. This was the first time in 21 games that we had our butts beat.” Oklahoma forward Ryan Minor, who led all scorers Sunday with 20, said beating a team twice in eight days was only difficult in the players’ minds. “It’s all a mental thing,” Minor said. “If you just come out and play the way you did the time you beat them before, you’re going to have See SAMPSON on 8 Gymnasts return to form and slam the Sooners By Trevor Parks Staff Reporter After a draining week of injuries and a tough loss at Missouri, the Nebraska women’s gymnastics team returned to form against Oklahoma. Without Martha Jenkins and Laurie McLaughlin, the Comhuskers defeated Oklahoma 191.225-188.675 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Saturday night. The 4-1 Cornhuskers were coming off a season-low 189.425 at Mis souri, but set a season-high total against the Soon ers before a crowd of 1,366. n„u„„ lhe previous ueHaan high was 190.275 at home against Utah State in the first meet of the season. Coach Dan Kendig said he was glad things worked out well after the previous week. “I’m very pleased,” Kendig said. “I’d just say (because of) the emo tional drain of some of the things that have happened over the last week.” Kendig said competing in front of the home crowd was a major factor in overcoming that drain. “I’m not sure that the outcome would have been the same on the road,” Kendig said. “The crowd re ally helped us tonight.” That crowd also helped sopho more Kim DeHaan, who was coming off a virus that forced her to miss two events last week at Missouri. “It was great to come home and have the crowd behind us,” DeHaan said. DeHaan won the all-around with a score of 38.9. DeHaan and the Huskers began their hot start with a 48.65 in the vault. Kendig said it was important for the Huskers to jump out quickly. “We had three stick (their land ings) cold,” Kendig said. “What an impression that makes because that’s the last thing the judges remember. Nebraska’s momentum was slowed on the uneven bars, where the Husk ers scored a season-low 46.425. But DeHaan was there to pick up the slack with an event-winning 9.725. The Huskers offset their bad un even bars performance with a season high 47.95 in the balance beam. Both Shelly Bartlett and DeHaan set personal bests in the event with a score of 9.825. Oklahoma’s Chelle Stack won the event with a 9.85. DeHaan said she was pleased to set personal bests in the vault and floor exercise. “I’ve been working pretty hard in the gym in those events and it kind of worked out,” she said. Freshmen gymnasts help with victory By Mitch Sherman Senior Reporter The Nebraska men’s gymnas tics team, propelled by the strong performances of all-arounders Ri chard Grace, Rick Kieffer and Ja son Christie, easily outdistanced Big Eight rival Oklahoma Satur day night at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. A crowd of 1,366 saw the de fending national-champion Comhuskers, 1 -1, take control early and never relinquish their lead on the way to a 227.525 to 218.15 victory over the Sooners. urace, wno won tne all-around with a score of 57.0, won indi vidual titles in the floor exercise (9.75), pommel horse (9.7) and the vault (9.7). The senior from Omaha also placed second in the rings. If it wasn’t for a fall during his high-bar routine, Grace’s perfor mance would have been near-per fect, Nebraska coach Francis Allen said. “He was smoking,” Allen said. “He’s a tough gymnast. The tough ones, you ask that of them. He comes out there, and he’s ready to go. Those are the kind of guys you have got to keep the pressure on.” Grace said he was pleased not just with his performance, but more importantly with Nebraska’s fresh men. w Jim Koziol, a freshman from Omaha, competed in the all-around for the first time against the Soon ers. After Bill Mulnolland suffered a season-ending knee injury in Nebraska’s first meet two weeks ago in Colorado Springs, Colo., Koziol said the freshmen realized they would have to shoulder more of the load. “We knew that the younger guys would have to step up,” Koziol said. “We have a lot of younger guys with a lot of talent that can take Bill’s spot and help the team.” Jsozioi scored a io.15 in tne all around, fourth to Nebraska’s three upperclassmen and better than any of Oklahoma’s all-arounders. “I’m extremely happy with our freshmen,” Grace said. “They re ally did a great job. Two weeks ago, we were a little rough. Well, we were a lot rough. They really pulled it together this meet, and I’m really proud of them.” Other Husker performers: Christie (third in the all-around, second in the floor exercise, sec ond in the pommel horse, first in the parallel bars, second in the high bar); Kieffer (second in the all-around, third in the rings, third in the vault, second in the parallel bars, first in the high bar); and freshmen Don Kinison (third in the floor exercise). Swim teams split meet with KU By Trevor Parks Staff Reporter With the Big Eight swimming and diving meet in two and a half weeks, Nebraska has one team in good posi tion and the other in a not-so-good position. The 14th-ranked women’s team is on track after defeating 23rd-ranked Kansas 142-101, while the 19th ranked men lost to the 21 st-ranked Jayhawks 127-116 Saturday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The men have some work to do before the Feb. 22 and 23 Big Eight meet, Coach Cal Bentz said. “On the men’s side, we’ve got quite a few things that we need to address,” Bentz said. “On the women’s side, things are pretty much on track.” Melanie Dodd highlighted the women’s eight event wins on Satur day. Dodd won both the 50-meter freestyle (in 23.59 seconds) and the 100-meter freestyle (50.82). ° Other winners for the women were Heather Park in the 1000-meter freestyle (10:18.70), Julie Grimmer in 1 -meter springboard diving (281.10 points), Mikaela Lauren in the 200 meter butterfly (2:02.86 seconds), See SWIM on 8