____________________________________________________
I Nebraska comeback fells short
Notebook
Oklahoma guard Nate Erdmann
was named the Big Eight player of
the week Monday. Erdmann aver
aged 21.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and
six assists per game against Iowa
State and Colorado last week. He
shot 60 percent from the field in
those games. Erdmann poured in 27
points and dished out eight assists,
both career highs, in the Sooners’
119-88 thrashing of Colorado Sat
urday.
* + *
With its victory over Nebraska
on Monday night, Kansas improved
to 10-1 in the Big Eight. The
Jayhawks, who are 22-2 overall,
can clinch at least a share of the con
ference crown if Iowa State loses
Wednesday night at Oklahoma
State. Kansas has won three of the
past four Big Eight titles.
* * *
Despite losing by 31 points to
the Sooners, Colorado still tied a
Big Eight record by making 25 con
secutive free throws. The mark was
first set by Nebraska in the 1967
Holiday Tournament. The Buffs hit
25-of-26 for the game.
Guard Chauncey Billups’ 419
points this season is a Colorado
freshman record. He is the 13th
highest freshman scorer in confer
ence history.
* * *
Iowa State’s 7-3 league record
is the Cyclones’ best after 10 games
since the 1985-86 season. That Cy
clone team advanced to the Sweet
16.
* * *
The talk of the Big Eight tele
conference on Monday was the re
cent turmoil surrounding the Ne
braska basketball team. The
Cornhuskers have lost seven con
secutive games for the first time in
more than 30 years. In the midst of
the losing streak, most of the team
skipped one practice and part of
another.
Kansas State coach Tom Asbury
supported Nee.
“I think Danny’s right,” Asbury
said. “He should be judged more on
his 10 years rather than the last two
weeks. Athletes today have greater
opinions than when I was playing.
Back then, you did what you were
told.”
Oklahoma State coach Eddie
Sutton said he made a telephone call
to Nee last week before the Cow
boys traveled to Lincoln and beat
Nebraska 72-57 Saturday night. “I
hope the athletic director knows
that no one wants to win as badly
as the coach,” Sutton said.
Kansas coach Roy Williams,
who said he considered Nee a good
friend of his, said no coaeh de
served these circumstances.
“I’m sorry when it happens to
anybody. He just needs to have
things start going well for him,”
Williams said.
“I think kids want to do the right
things. I’ve never had them walk
out, but I’ve thrown them out.”
Oklahoma coach Kelvin
Sampson said he was thankful he
never had experienced what Nee
had been through this season. “I
don’t understand it,” Sampson said.
“I think it goes down to the quality
of the kid. I couldn’t fathom being
in that position. I think there’s been
a trickle-down effect from the NBA,
when guys are more concerned with
getting more minutes and shots.”
Big Eight ootebook compiled by (tafT
reporter Vlace D’Adamo.
By Trevor Parks
Senior Reporter
LAWRENCE, Kan. — The Ne
braska basketball team had its chances
Monday night against fifth-ranked
Kansas.
After taking its first lead of the
game at 60-59
\Z~~ ITL on an Erick
Kansas si I Striclcland 3.
Nebraska 711 pointer from
the top of the
key with 8:56
remaining in the game, the
Comhuskers momentarily saw the
light.
But the hole quickly closed. The
lead lasted just 11 seconds before Scot
Pollard beat Nebraska down the court
for a dunk.
The Huskers dropped to 15-11
overall and 3-8 in the Big Eight, los
ing to the Jayhawks 81-71 in front of
a crowd of 16,300 at Allen Ficldhouse.
The Huskers have now lost seven
straight games for the first time since
the 1963-64 season. Kansas improved
to 22-2 and 10-1 in the conference.
True freshman point guard Tyronn
Lue, who guided the Huskers’ come
back, led Nebraska with 21 points.
Erick Strickland scored 12 points and
Bernard Garner added 13 points.
Freshman Vcnson Hamilton came off
the bench to score 11 points and grab
a team-high seven rebounds.
Nebraska made 9-of-l 7 3-pointers,
but Jaron Boone missed all six of his •
attempts behind the arc. Strickland
made 4-of-5 and Lue hit 5-of-6.
Raef LaFrentz was one of four
Jayhawks to reach double figures. The
sophomore forward had a team-high
17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for
the Jayhawks, who outrebounded Ne
braska 46-37.
Following Pollard’s dunk, Ne
braska turned the ball over, one of 17
Husker turnovers. A Mikki Moore
steal gave the ball back to the Husk
ers, but Hamilton missed a dunk and
Terrance Badgett committed a foul
fighting for the loose ball.
Jayhawk point guard Jacque
Vaughn then nailed a 3-pointer with
7:57 left, giving Kansas a four-point
advantage. Nebraska missed two 3
point shots and Hamilton misfired on
three free throws.
Vaughn missed a 3-pointer, and the
Huskers cut the lead to 64-62 with
6:09 remaining on a Moore 17-foot
jumper. But that was as close Nebraska
came.
Trailing 70-64, Nebraska had an
other chance, but Boone missed two
3-point attempts. The senior guard fin
ished 1-for-l 1 from the field, scoring
two points with three rebounds, two
assists and four turnovers in 33 min
utes.
“This is a very difficult place to
play,” Nebraska coach Danny Nee
said, “and my team could have really
bellied up anytime and lost by 25.”
In the first half, the Huskers trailed
by as many as 16 points, but outscored
Kansas 12-8 to close out the first half
and trailed 43-31 at halftime.
Lue recorded his highest point to
tal since scoring 30 against Oregon in
the second game of the season.
“In the first five minutes (of the
second half), they always come out
and bury people,” Lue said. “We were
very focused on coming out and get
ting a couple of good shots.”
Matt Miller/DN
Marshall Nelson, a true freshman gymnast for Nebraska, performs on the pommel horse
Sunday night against New Mexico at the Devaney Center. Nelson, who has battled injuries
throughout his career, scored a 9.0 for his performance.
Nelson aims for national title
By Gregg Madsen
Staff Reporter
Few college athletes ever have
the chance to be a national cham
pion.
Even fewer have the potential to
do it as a true freshman.
But Cornhusker gymnast
Marshall Nelson is not a typical
freshman. For the past 5 1/2 years,
Nelson has trained under Ron Brant
at the Olympic TVaining Center in
Colorado Springs, Colo. He grew
up in Colorado Springs and gradu
ated from Palmer High School.
In the 1994 Winter Cup, Nelson
placed second in the all-around and
earned a spot on the U.S. Junior Na
tional Team. Nelson, a native of
Colorado Springs, said he hoped to
compete in pommel horse, parallel
bars, and horizontal bar for the
Huskers this season.
Nebraska coach Francis Allen
said Nelson could make a big im
pact in April at the NCAA Cham
pionships in Palo Alto, Calif.
“This kid, in three events, could
be the national champion,” Allen
said. “If there were an all-around
for three events, he’d be the best kid,
and he’s only a freshman.”
But one variable has entered into
this equation for success — injury.
In October, Nelson had knee sur
gery that sidelined him for the first
three meets of the season,
the same thing done to his left knee.
The second operation caused
“If there were an all-around for three events, he’d
be the best kid, and he’s only a freshman. ”
FRANCIS ALLEN
Nebraska men's gymnastics coach
Nelson to miss Nebraska’s first
three meets of the 1995-96 season.
After three months of rehabilitation,
he began the season in the Husk
crs’ Feb. 11 meet at Oklahoma.
Nelson led the Huskers off in the
pommel horse and scored a 9.55,
earning fourth place.
“He was terrific,” Allen said.
“Our pommel horse team is the best
in the country. A lot of times that’s
the event in men’s gymnastics that
can make or break you. We feel like
we’ve already got that accom
plished.”
Allen said he thought Nelson
would be back in peak form for the
NCAA Championships.
“He’s a little bit ahead of where
the doctors said he would be with
his injury,” Allen said. “Hopefully
by April, he’ll be himself again.”
Nelson said he hoped to add
horizontal bars to his event list by
the end of the season.
Not being able to compete in his
first year of school had been hard
to deal with, Nelson said.
“I’ve been pretty anxious to
come back,” he said. “When I had
surgery, I was pretty bummed. But
now that I have a taste, I want to
come back even more.”
Allen said Nelson’s hard work
to regain form and strengthen his
knee allowed him to recover faster
and return to competition.
In the Huskers’ home opener
against New Mexico on Sunday,
Nelson scored a 9.0 on the pommel
horse.
Nelson also competed in the par
allel bars for the first time against
New Mexico, scoring a 7.4. Allen
said he decided last Friday to enter
Nelson in that event.
“That probably wasn’t very
smart,” Allen said. “Now that I look
back, I see that he wasn’t ready. But
he’ll be all right. He’ll be on paral
lel bars for the rest of the season.”
The atmosphere in Lincoln and
the Huskers' superior coaching
" staff, Nelson said, helped him to
decide to come to Nebraska.
“It was an easy decision,” he
said. “They have a long history of
competing well, so I just wanted to
get into that.”
KU coach
lauds effort
byHuskeis
By Todd Walkenhorst
Staff Reporter
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas bas
ketball coach Roy Williams may not
have expected much of a contest for
his fifth-ranked Jayhawks Monday
night — but that’s what he got.
The Jayhawks jumped out to a
quick 10-point lead, and led by as
many as 16. But the Huskcrs came
back behind 3-point shooting by fresh
man guard Tyronn Lue and senior
Erick Strickland.
“What was really bad was all of the
three’s they had,” Williams said.
“Sometimes people miss those shots.
They didn’t.”
Strickland and Lue shot a com
bined 9-of-l 1 from behind the 3-point
arc. Senior Jaron Boone, the only other
Husker to shoot a 3-pointer, was 0-of
6 from 3-point range and finished with
two points.
Lue led all scorers with 21 points,
in a homecoming for the freshman
from Mexico, Mo. Lawrence is about
one hour from where Lue played high
school basketball.
“I was happy for Luc because he
comes back close to home and plays
well,” Williams said. “He didn’t do
that against Missouri and Kansas
State, but he did it against us.”
Nebraska played its second game
since players boycotted practice last
week. Williams said the situation was
handled poorly by the Huskers.
“I feel for Danny Nee,” he said.
“People make mistakes and so do kids.
They did not handle it the right way.”
Despite the Huskers’ problems,
Williams said it took a great effort
from his club to extinguish the Husker
fire in the second half.
“I told him (Nee) that after we took
a one-point lead, we played pretty
well,” he said. “It was a great effort
on our part.
Williams said a key to keeping a
team together was communication
between players and coaches, and the
Jayhawks may be better at communi- >
eating than the Huskers.
“The players needed to let Danny
talk with them,” he said. “I don’t mind
my players talking about me in the
locker room. I know I talk about
them.”
Williams said a practice boycott
would not be tolerated at Kansas.
“If our kids thought they would try
to have a little fun and not show up
for practice,” Williams said, “I tell you,
there’d be five cheerleaders going to
war the next game.”