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Mitch Sherman
Lue, Hamilton
remain positive
after OT loss
NORMAN, Okla.—Tyronn Lue
and Vcnson Hamilton sat in oppo
site corners of Nebraska’s locker
room, staring at the floor with tow
els draped around their necks Sat
urday following the Cornhuskcrs’
117-100 triple-overtime loss to
Oklahoma.
For Luc and Hamilton,
Nebraska’s two prize freshmen,
losing is not normal. A year ago,
Hamilton, playingat Oak Hill Acad
emy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., lost
three games.
Luc lost only once, and Satur
day, he remembered his final high
school game, March 4 at Kansas
City’s Municipal Auditorium. Lue
was Raytown High School’s star
player. And at 6-foot, he was nearly
its biggest.
No one on the team stood taller
than 6-2, but the overachieving
Blucjays were 27-0 and ranked No.
1 in the state as they entered the
Missouri quarterfinals against Kan
sas City Central. More than 9,000
fans filled Municipal Auditorium
and several hundred others were
turned away at the door.
Lue scored 19 first-half points,
flyingup and down the court, whiz
zing between Central’s trees like an
out-ot-control race car. But Lue
was completely under control.
That’s the way he plays best.
“We fought hard against their
oig guys, luc saiu aaiuruay aucr
an amazingly similar game against
Oklahoma.
Raytown lost 80-73 in double
overtime. Central was lew tall and
physical, led by Derek Hiwd, who
was Lue’s good Friend and AAU
teammate, a McDonald’s All
American and now an Arkansas
Freshman.
The 6-foot-9 Hood scored 33
points, a career best. Luc said Hood
wasn’t even a good free-throw
shooter unless it was a clutch mo
ment, but he drilled a 3-pointer —
his first of the season—with eight
seconds to play in regulation, tying
the game at 64.
“I thought we were goingto win,”
Lue said, talking about both March
4, 1995 and Jan. 13, 1996. “This
game here can help us a lot.”
One of these times, perhaps later
in the season, maybe even back in
Kansas City down the street from
Municipal at Kemper Arena, Lue is
going to win a game like that.
Hamilton knows what it feels
like.
A star center at Oak Hill,
Hamilton traveled around the na
tion last year, playing against top
notch competition. Hamilton and
All-American Ron Mercer, who
plays at Kentucky this year, were
Oak Hill’s leaders.
In a Las Vegas tournament,
Hamilton drilled a free throw with
eight seconds to play, icing a vic
tory over Santa Anna, (Calif.) Mater
Dei. On Saturday, Hamilton missed
two free throws with 2:43 left in the
See SHERMAN on 8
Travis Heying/DN
Nebraska guards Lis Brenden (left) and Anna DeForge celebrate Friday night during the second
half of the Huskers’ loss to Kansas. Nebraska beat Kansas State 61-49 on Sunday.
NU women
use defense
to advantage
By Mike Kluck
Senior Reporter
After allowing Oklahoma State and
Kansas to shoot 50 and 42 percent
from the field, respectively, the Ne
r——-1 braska
Nebraska 61 ■ women’s
Kansas St 49 I basketball
team dc
cidcd to
focus on its defense Sunday.
That devotion paid off as the
Cornhuskers defeated Kansas State
61 -49 at the Bob Devaney Sports Cen
ter, holding the Wildcats to 39 percent
shooting from the field.
The Huskcrs (11-5, 2-2) realized
their defense — which ranks sixth in
scoring defense and seventh in field
goal percentage defense in the Big
Eight — had let them down the past
two games, senior guard Kate Galligan
said. Nebraska lost on Jan. 7 to Okla
homa State 72-63 and was beaten on
Friday by Kansas 74-71 at the Devaney
Center.
“We knew we really needed to get
our defense back to where we had it at
the beginning of the Season,” Gall igan
said. “We knew they couldn’t handle
our pressure, and they didn’t.”
Galligan led Nebraska with 17
points and eight rebounds. Pyra
Aardcn added 12 points, and Anna
DcForgc scored 10 points and grabbed
a game-high 10 rebounds. Kansas State
was paced by Britt Jacobson, who
scored 14 points.
The Huskers’ defensive pressure
forced Kansas State (9-8, 1-2) into
committing25 turnovers and connect
ing on just 10-of-26 shots in the sec
ond half.
Kansas State coach Brian Agler
said he was disappointed that the Wild
cats’ discussion of the Husker defense
before the game didn’t work on the
court.
See NU on 8
OU tops Huskers in triple overtime
By Antone Oseka
Staff Reporter
NORMAN, Okla. — Nebraska
basketball coach Danny Nee said af
ter the Comhuskers’ 117-100 triple
. —-t-t=-1 overtime
Oklahoma 117 bj0Ss to
Nebraska 100 |o k l a -
] "homa in
the Lloyd
Noble Center Saturday that he had to
look for the positive.
“The up side is that we’re down on
the road, and we chip away, chip away,
chip away. We come back, make it a
game and could have won it in regula
tion,” Nee said after the crowd of
10,385 fans watched Nebraska’s first
triple-overtime game in four years.
“The first overtime, we could have
won it; the second overtime, we had
another chance to win it; and in the
third overtime, OU had their opportu
nity and just capitalized on it.”
The Sooners didn’t just capitalize
on their opportunity in the third over
time, they outscored Nebraska 20-3.
Nebraska, 12-4 overall and 1-1 in Big
Eight, which sat on 98 points as the
Sooners hammered away from the frec
throw line, lost its two top post players
in a period of 1 1/2 minutes.
Center Mikki Moore, who scored
16 points, was charged with his fifth
foul 51 seconds into the third over
time, and forward Bernard Garner
fouled out with 32 seconds left in the
second overtime.
“The refs just cost us,” said Gar
ner, who scored a team-high 21 points
and led all players with 12 rebounds.
First-year Big Eight official Giarlcs
Range overturned two calls in over
time,both in Oklahoma’s favor. Range
overturned a traveling violation by
Sooner forward Ryan Minor, calling
the fifth foul on Moore.
A Jaron Boone fadeaway jumper
from the baseline, originally called
good, giving Nebraska a 93-91 lead
with 2.1 seconds to play in the first
extra period, was ruled illegal. The
call kept the game tied at 91, and sent
it into a second overtime. The offi
cials ruled that Boone’s shot passed
over the back of the backboard before
going in.
Both teams traded points in the
second overtime, with the biggest lead
of the five-minute period being two
points by the Huskers.
The drama came with four seconds
left to play and the game tied at 97.
With 32 seconds to play, Nebraska
ran the clock down to four seconds,
and the ball was passed to Boone. His
shot was blocked by Minor in the lane
and time expired. The next overtime
ended the game.
In the first overtime, Nebraska
opened a four-point lead at 91 -87 on a
jumper by Erick Strickland.
Nebraska’s scoring would end there
for the period as the Sooners tied the
game at 91. As Boone watched in
disbelief, his Larry Bird-ish fadeaway
over Minor was waved off.
“The rule is if a ball passes over the
comer of the backboard from behind,
it’s a violation. Even if it doesn’t touch
anything,” head referee Denny Freund
NU disputes official’s call
By Antone Oseka
Staff Reporter
NORMAN, Okla. — The clock
was stopped with 2.1 seconds left
in the first overtime. The Nebraska
bench sat stunned, and the majority
of the 10,385 fans in the Lloyd
Noble Center erupted in cheer.
Nebraska guard Jaron Boone’s
basel ine jumper was waved oil and
ruled illegal by first-year Big Eight
official Charles Range. Although
Boone’s shot, which was recorded
on the scoreboard for about 30 sec
onds, swished, the three-man offi
cial crew ruled that the ball had
passed over the corner of the
backboard.
NCAA rules prohibit a player
from shooting from behind the goal.
The game remained locked at
91, and was forced into a second
overtime. The Cornhuskers went
on to lose in the third overtime 117
100.
Boone said he knew Oklahoma
forward Ryan Minor was trying to
block his shot.
“I faded and just shot it kind of
high so he couldn’t get it,” Boone
said, “When I let it go, it felt pretty
good and looked good going
through the net.”
Boone and Coach Danny Nee
agreed that the angle the shot was
coming from did not violate any
rules.
“He’s a left-handed shooter,”
Nee said. “He’s on the right side.
See CALL on 8
said.
The Huskers trailed at the half by
11 points, and came out to start crack
ing the Sooner lead. As the teams
battled back and forth, the 11-point
lead dwindled to nine, seven, four and
three. The lead was cut to one point
when freshman Tyronn Lue hit a 3
poinler with 3:33 left in regulation.
Minor, who led all players with 31
points, ended the scoring with 1:46
left when he hit a free throw to tic the
game at 81.
Missed shots and rebounds were
plentiful for both teams in the final
1:46. The Huskcrs had a chance to ice
the game with eight seconds to play as
Boone, who shot 7-of-21 for 18 points,
got a good look at a 3-pointer. The
shot rattled in and out and was re
bounded by Oklahoma’s Bobby Joe
Evans.
“It felt good. It just came out, just
like all of the shots all night,” Boone
said.
The Huskers led 15-5 early, but a
21 -7 Sooner run gave Oklahoma the
lead until a Moorcjumper with 2:56to
play in the game put Nebraska up 78
77.