Mike Kluck
More support
needed if wins
are to continue
Nebraska basketball fans and
the Cornhusker basketball team
both are getting something they
dearly wanted. Finally.
The team is getting wins and
gaining fan support.
Also, the fans are getting a two
week period of good basketball, as
Nebraska plays five teams—Okla
homa State, Missouri, Kansas,
Kansas State and Iowa State —
with a Jeff Sagarin computer power
rating in the top 75 instead of the
bottom 75.
Included during this time was a
visit from the grandfather of the
Big Eight, Missouri coach Norm
Stewart, who gave the season-high
crowd of 12,870 fans a show
Wednesday night.
Stewart has the ability to bring
out the best in a fan, whether it be
his on-court demeanor or in the
way he intimidates the referees by
hamming it up on the sideline.
At one point, Stewart, who be
came enraged with a call, walked
up to and began directing the Ne
braska basketball band.
“It didn’t have anything to do
with the outcome of the game,”
Stewart said after Nebraska posted
its 76-58 win.
Still upset 16 seconds later,
Stewart was slapped with a techni
cal foul, which set off “Sit Down
Norm” chants throughout the Bob
Devaney Sports Center.
Missouri, alone, was probably
enough to bring some life back into
the Devaney Center, but now the
big, bad fourth-ranked Jayhawks
come to town on Sunday.
Kansas always has brought out
a loud Husker crowd, and the
Devaney Center has been cruel to
the Jayhawks, as its dismal 4-14
record there shows.
As far as the crowd goes, this
year looks to be no different as
Nebraska will play host to its only
sellout of the season against ahighly
ranked foe.
But where have these fans been
during the rest of the season?
This year, Nebraska is averag
ing only 9,633 fans for 10 home
games, while on the road the oppo
sition bringsoutanaverageof9,946
spectators. The Devaney Center
seats 14,500.
I’ll grant that Nebraska fans have
had to put up with watching a bunch
of patsies play this season, like
winless No. 300 Georgia Southern
and No. 302 Delaware State.
But if the Huskers are going to
make a run and make the NCAA
Tournament, the fans are going to
have to show up in full force for
Nebraska’s final four home games.
Coach Danny Nee said the fans at
the Missouri game were Big Eight
caliber; now they have to be NCAA
Tournament caliber for the Kansas
game, along with the other three
home games.
It’ll be a lot better than a half-full
Devaney Center that we saw for the
first nine games.
Kluck is a journalism graduate stu
dent and a Dally Nebraskan senior re
porter.
NU’s confidence builds with big wins
KU up next
for Huskers
By Mike Kluck
Senior Reporter
With a win at Oklahoma State and
a home win against Missouri, the Ne
braska basketball team’s confidence
may be at a season high.
Now, with fourth-ranked Kansas
visiting the Bob Devaney Sports Cen
ter, the Comhuskers need to maintain
that confidence if they hope to beat the
Jayhawks, senior guard Erick
Strickland said.
“We feel we can beat (Kansas),”
Strickland said. “They’ve got great
tradition and have a great team, but we
know they’ve got to come in here, and
we feel we can w in here and give them
a run down there. That’s the way we
feel right now as a team, and we got to
keep that approach.”
Nebraska, 15-4 and 2-1 in the Big
Eight, will play host to the Jayhawks,
15-1, 3-0, Sunday at 2 p.m.
Strickland said the Huskers’ confi
dence started building when they
opened Big Eight play with a 79-74
win against Colorado on Jan. 10.
And although just three days later
Nebraska lost at Oklahoma 117-100
in triple overtime, Strickland said the
Huskers were playing aggressive bas
ketball now.
“The team feels that if we go out
and play hard, we can live with a loss
or a victory,” Strickland said. “But if
we go out and play tentative and don’t
play where we’re suppose to and we
lose, then it really hurts.”
With the 66-57 win over the Cow
boys in Stillwater, Okla., Nebraska
ended eight seasons of frustration by
winning in Gallagher-Iba Arena.
And after beating Missouri 76-58
on Wednesday night, the Huskers’
confidence may be beginning to
steamroll. The Tigers had won three
of the four previous games in Lincoln.
Now against the Jayhawks, the
Huskers are in the opposite role.
Against the Jayhawks, the Huskers
have a 14-4 record at the Devaney
Center, and before last season’s 91 -68
loss, Nebraska had won the previous
four meetings in Lincoln.
Kansas has been successful this
season, with its lone loss coming to
Temple. On Sunday against the Husk
ers, Jayhawk coach Roy Williams will
be going for his 200th career victory.
Williams, who is in his eighth sea
son with the Jayhawks, has won 199
games and could reach the 200-win
plateau faster than any coach in con
ference history.
Travis Heying/DN
Nebraska’s Mikki Moore shoots a jumper over Missouri’s L.
Dee Murdock. The Cornhuskers play host to fourth-ranked
Kansas on Sunday.
Humble guard
wants to win
By Gregg Madsen
Staff Reporter
Although Kansas guard Jacque
Vaughn made the Playboy preseason
All-America team and had his picture
on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s
college basketball preview, he still
remains unconcerned about individual
recognition.
“I’m still the same person,” Vaughn
said during a teleconference Wednes
day evening.
Vaughn, a junior from Pasadena,
Calif., said he had worked hard to get
in a position to lead the Jayhawks, and
said he was thankful for his talents and
the chance to represent his family and
his school on the basketball court.
His hard work has paid off.
In 1994, Vaughn was named the
Big Eight freshman of the year and
was selected honorable mention all
conference.
As a sophomore, he started every
game for Coach Roy Williams and led
the Big Eight in assists, averaging 7.7
per game. His total of 238 assists
ranked second in Kansas history.
More impressive to Vaughn, how
ever, is that he was named first-team
academic All-Big Eight both seasons.
A business administration major,
Vaughn said he felt the recognition he
received for his high grades was un
necessary.
This season, the 5-foot-11 guard
has helped lead the fourth-ranked
Jayhawks to a 15-1 record.
But Vaughn said that wasn’t be
cause of his play, it was because of
improved team unity. This year’s team
is vastly di fferent from the teams from
his last two seasons, Vaughn said.
“The team is much closer this year,”
Vaughn said. “The players care for
one another, and we’ve put our per
See VAUGHN on 8
“If we get it Sunday, that would be
fantastic and if we don’t, I’m not go
ing to be disappointed in the slightest
bit about not getting win No. 200,”
Williams said. “I’d be extremely dis
appointed if we don ’ t get win No. 16.”
But Williams said he knew win No.
200 would not come easily against the
Huskers. ' *y
Williams has a 9-6 record against
Nebraska, but has won only twice in
the Devaney Center.
“As long as you’ve got (Jaron)
Boone and Strickland back there in
the backcourt, you’re going to win
some games,” Williams said. “Tyronn
(Lue) is doing a good job for them,
and (Terrance) Badgett is still there
along with Mikki Moore, so they have
a good team.”
Basketball Starters ~
— Lawerence, Kan.
Nebraska 154 m Ht. Wt. Class PPG RPG
G Tyronn Lue 6-0 165 Fr. . 8.4 2.8
G Jaron Boone 6-6 195 Sr. 16.3 2.7
F Erick Strickland 6-3 210 Sr. 15.5 4.8
F Bernard Garner 6-7 225 Jr. 10.5 6.4
C Mikki Moore 6-11 205 Jr. , 9.2 5.1
Kansas is-! m
G Jacque Vaughn 6-1 195 Jr. 11.2 3.3
G Jerod Haase 6-3 185 Jr. 11.9 3.2
F Paul Pierce 6-6 220 Fr. 12.6 5.8
F RaefLaFrentz 6-11 220 So. 13.2 8.5
Husker gymnasts Roping for crowd support
By Gregg Madsen
Staff Reporter
Christmas was more than a month
ago, but Nebraska women’s gymnas
tics coach Dan Kendig is still hoping
for a belated present: a large home
crowd.
Kendig hopes to find that present
this Saturday at Nebraska’s home
opener against Missouri at 7 p.m. at
the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
“We’re just trying to build a clien
tele, build a crowd,” Kendig said. “I
really believe that we can get people
out there. It’s an hour and a half of
action-packed excitement, and they’ll
come back.”
Kendig said he hoped to see a large,
vocal crowd like the 7,800 fans that
attended the Comhuskers’ meet last
Friday in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Nebraska’s
score of 189.5 placed them third be
hind Alabama and Penn State. Kendig
said the crowd definitely played a
factor.
Senior Joy Taylor said a large
crowd would mean a lot to the Husk
ers.
“We are excited to be home fi
nally,” Taylor said. “It would be great
to have excitement like there was in
Alabama. It gives us a lot more
adrenalin.”
Nebraska had its first complete
week of practice since returning from
winter break and because of that,
Kendig and Taylor both said they ex
pected a better performance Saturday.
“We had just been running around
so much that I think we were too tired
at Alabama,” Kendig said.
Kendig said he thought the week of
practice would help the 1-2 Huskers
to hit a higher percentage of routines
consistently.
“If we just put together our events
and have four or five out of six hit this
weekend, then we’11 scorea 192,ifnot
more,” Kendig said. “If we can put the
two meets together, we’d be where we
want to be right now.”
Nebraska has struggled on the vault
and floor exercise in its first two meets,
but junior Kim DeHaan agreed with
Kendig and said one of the keys to
success against the Tigers would be
consistency.
“We need to go out and hit all four
events,” DeHaan said. “We just need
a solid performance all the way
around.”
Kendig said he expected to see a
strong effort from Mi ssouri. The Husk
ers were defeated last season at Co
lumbia, Mo., 188.1-187.5. Nebraska
then returned to the Hearnes Center
and beat the Tigers at the Big Eight
Championships.
Missouri, 3-3, scored a 183.6 and
finished fourth last weekend in the
Shakespeare Festival held in Colum
bia.
“It will probably be a typical Mis
souri-type team,” Kendig said. “I ex
pect them to score in the mid-180s.”