Sooners aim for NCAA Tournament bid
By Trevor Parks
Senior Reporter
With three games remaining in the
season for both the Oklahoma and
Nehraslca haslcethsll teams nnw is the
time for both to
begin a season
ending run, both
teams’ coaches
said Thursday.
That chance be
gins Sunday at
noon, when the
Comhuskers, 15
11 overall and 3-8
in the Big Eight,
Sampson play host to the 15
10 and 6-5 Soon
ers at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Oklahoma needs a win to keep al i ve
its hopes of securing an NCAA Tour
nament spot, while Nebraska is trying
to recapture a lost season. Nebraska
has lost seven games in a row and is
trying to snap the longest home losing
streak in Devaney Center history.
Sooner coach Kelvin Sampson said
most seasons could be defined by theii
final few games. A win by Nebraska
he said, will stop a lot of the Huskers’
Atnc
“There is nothing wrong
that a win won’t cure. ”
KELVIN SAMPSON
OU basketball coach
’ i
“There is nothing wrong that a win
won’t cure,” Sampson said. “Danny
Nee teams have always been tough
teams to play against, and that game
Monday night should give them a lot
of confidence.”
On Monday night, Nebraska lost
81-71 at Kansas, but the Huskers
battled back from a 16-point first-hall
deficit to take the lead in the second
half.
Nee said he knew the Sooners
needed a win if they hoped to gain ar
at-large bid to play in the NCAA Tour
nament.
“They really played a very different
nonconference schedule, and they need
a couple of wins to get in better posi
tion,” Nee said. “There are a lot ol
teams who are going to finish third,
fruirlh fiflh in thpir pr\r»fprpnpp ihflt
have to finish out strong to be a con
tender.”
Oklahoma is one of those teams.
After beating Colorado 81-59 on
Wednesday night, the Sooners are tied
with Kansas State for fourth place in
the Big Eight.
Earlier this season, Nebraska and
Oklahoma were at the top of the con
ference when the teams met in Norman,
Okla., on Jan. 13.
The Huskers almost won the game
on Jaron Boone’s acrobatic shot with
two seconds left in the first overtime,
but the officials ruled the ball came
over the top of the backboard.
“We were awfully lucky to win that
game,” Sampson said. “Boone’s shot
should have counted because of the
difficulty it took.”
Oklahoma won the game 117-100
, in triple overtime, but since then, the
Sooners have changed their offensive
’ style.
All-Big Eight forward Ryan Minor
moved from the small forward posi
tion to power forward. Ernie
Abercrombie, a 6-foot-4 forward who
leads the league in rebounding, has
moved to the center spot.
“We ’ vc changed toa smaller lineup,
anH that ha«hp1r*pH 11s ” Samnsnn said
Basketball Starters
Nebraska (15-11,3-8) HI Wt Class PPG RPG
G TyronnLae 68 165 Fr. 8.8 3.0
G Jaron Boone 68 195 Sr. 14.5 2.6
F Erick Strickland 6-3 210 Sr. 147 4.7
F Bernard Gamer 6-7 225 Jr. 10.8 6.2
C Mikki Moore 6-11 205 Jr. 8.0 5.1
Oklahoma (15-10,6-5)
G Tyrone Foster 5-11 165 Jr. 10.5 31
G Dion Barnes 6-1 195 Sr. 9-0 2.7
F Nate Erdmann 65 210 Jr. 12.4 5 8
F Ryan Minor 67 220 Sr. 21.7 7.9
C Ernie Abercrombie 6-4 240 Sr. 14.2 10.0
“Of course you gain things and you
lose things, and we are giving Ne
braska a height advantage.”
The change helped Minor play bet
ter. The senior leads the Big Eight,
averaging 21.7 points per game.
“Ryan ’s playing his best basketball
of the season right now because he is
letting the game come to him and not
trvine to Dush thines.” Samnsnn said
In the first game against Nebraska,
Minor scored 33 points as Erick
Strickland and Terrance Badgett spent
most of the contest defending him.
“We can adjust to their smaller
lineup, or we can play a game to make
them adj ust to our bigger lineup,” Nee
said. “Playing at home, I would as
sume that we have to make them adj ust
tn ns ”
Wrestlers
to grapple
in Wyoming
Weekend
Preview
The Nebraska wrestlers are begin
ning to see the light at the end of the
season.
The Comhuskers, 14-3-1, travel to
Laramie, Wyo., for their final dual
meet of the season at 7:30 p.m. Satur
day against Wyoming. The Big Eight
Meet in Stillwater, Okla., will be held
March 9.
Wyoming will be a challenge for
the third-ranked Huskers, Nebraska
coach Tim Neumann said.
“We don’t match up very well,”
Neumann said, “they’re good at 126,
134, 150,158,167 and 177 pounds.”
- Neumann said the match at 177
would be the one to watch Saturday
night.
Nebraska’s eighth-rated Erik Jo
sephson takes on No. 2 Reese Andy of
Wyoming. Both wrestlers have a 30-3
record this season. Nebraska’s Joseph
son is on a 20-match win streak going
into the dual.
“He’s ready for this challenge,”
Neumann said. “It can move him from
eighth to fourth if he wins.”
Neumann said he also would be
watching second-ranked 158-pounder
Temoer Terry, who has been injured
for much of the past month. Terry is
wrestling much better now than he was
a few weeks ago, Neumann said.
Nebraska has experienced many
lineup problems this season because
of injuries and eligibility questions.
But as the postseason meets approach,
Neumann said he expected to field his
top lineup soon.
— Antone Oseka
Softball
The Nebraska softball team will
play a doubleheader Saturday after
noon in Omaha against Creighton at 1
p.m. and 3 p.m., weather permitting.
The Huskers, 5-1, opened their sea
son last weekend in Arlington, Texas,
losing in the semifinals of the Pepsi
InterCollegiate Classic to Oklahoma.
Nebraska pitcher Angela Blackwood
won three games last weekend.
Nebraska will participate in three
tournaments in March and will not
open its home season until March 30.
Nebraska athletes ready to run at Big Eights
Henry jumps
way to records
By Adam Krepela
Staff Reporter
Angee Henry is as familiar with
success as any athlete in the Ne
braska track and field program.
Throughout her three years in
1 Lincoln, ncnry
I has been a valu
| able part of the
| Comhuskerteam
as both a jumper
and a sprinter.
Nebraska
| coach Gary
1 Pepin stressed
1 Henry’s impor
Henry tancc in relays,
sprints, triple jump, and, Henry’s
personal-best event, the long jump.
Henry will lead the Husker
women into action in the Big Eight
Championships, which begin today
at the Bob Devancy Sports Center.
A junior from Omaha, Henry
attended Bellevue West High
School, and although she could have
gone to many other universities,
she chose Nebraska because of its
strong academics and coaches.
The three-time All -American has
qualified for the U.S. Olympic Tri
als, and Pepin said he thought she
had a reasonable chance to make
the Summer Olympics.
Last year, she was named an All
American in the outdoor 4 x 100
metcr relay. She also has been a
member of a Big Eight champion
ship relay team three times—twice
in the 4 x 400-meter and once in the
4 x 100-meter relay.
Despite her success in sprints,
her top event is the long jump. She
has qualified for the NCAA Indoor
Championships, March 8-9 in In
dianapolis, and she sits at the top of
the national rankings with a jump of
21 feet, 6 1/4 inches. Henry is just
four inches shy of the Nebraska
record, set by Angela Thacker in
1984.
But running and jumping haven’t
always been easy for Henry.
“My freshman year it was hard,”
Henry said. 1‘You come offwinning
everything in high school. Then you
come here, and you’re just not the
best anymore.”
Pepin links her success both in
competition and in the classroom to
motivation and hard work.
Henry said she had set specific
goals for the NCAA Champion
ships.
“As for the team,” she said, “I *
hope that we win the indoor nation
als, which we have a good chance to
do. Also, I hope to be a national
champion myself.”
Hurdler eager
for competition
By Andrew Strnad
Staff Reporter
Top-notch competition tends to
bring out the best performances in
people, regardless of the environ
Nebraska
} hurdler Willie
Hibler thrives on
competition. Go
ing into this
weekend’s Big
Eight Indoor
| Championships
I at the Bob
liiDier uevaney aporis
Center, Hibler has the conference’s
fastest time in the 55-meter hurdles
at 7.28 seconds.
Hot on his tail are teammates
Charles Reid (7.34) and Frank
Mensah (7.39), who hold the third
and fourth-fastest times in the Big
Eight this season.
“We’re always helping each
other out and sharing new ideas and
things like that,” Hibler said.
Hibler, a senior from Cleveland,
said his goal wasn’t just to defeat
the opposing runners.
“Everybody and everything is
the competition,” Hibler said, “the
runners, the hurdles, the gun, the
blocks, it’s all competition.”
Hibler and the Comhuskers en
ter the Big Eight meet, which be
gins today, as the clear favorite to
walk away with the conference title.
“We expect to win this week
end, but we have to go in there with
the attitude that we are the best,” he
said, “and then we have to prove it.”
Along with the 55-meter hurdles,
Hibler also will compete in the 4 x
400-meter relay this weekend. Af
ter that, his sights are set on the
NCAA Championships next month
in Indianapolis.
The two-time All-American,
who has two more seasons of eligi
bility as an outdoor runner, said he
hoped his indoor performances
would carry over into the outdoor
season.
“Personally, I like the outdoor
season because the indoor season is
so constricted, and there is a lot
more room on the outdoor track,”
Hibler said.
Hibler said his coach, Billy Max
well, had done a fantastic job all
season working with him and the
other athletes.
“Coach Maxwell is a really good
technician,” Hibler said. “(Head)
Coach (Gary) Pepin also does a
good job watching over the team,
and he is always there to stand by
you.”
Baseball
The Nebraska baseball team will
travel toTulsa, Okla., this weekend for
a three-game series against Oral Rob
erts.
With the Nebraska offense averag
ing more than 10 runs per game, the
Comhuskers’ main concern is pitch
ing, Nebraska coach John Sanders said.
“We want some pitchers to step
up,” Sanders said. “We will try to find
some pitchers that can get some people
out. That’s the number one thing we
need to work around.”
Junior Steve Fish will attempt to
lower his 9.31 eamed-run average
when he makes his third start of the
season for the 2-5 Comhuskers tonight
at 7.
Oral Roberts, 6-4, enters this
weekend’s series as the No. 30 team in
the nation, averaging 7.6 runs per game.
The Golden Eagles moved into the
rankings after a three-game sweep of
Creighton, Feb. 17-18.
“Their coach (Sunny Golloway) is
a former Oklahoma assistant, and he’s
got a good program going,” Sanders
said. “They have some good wins be
hind their name.”
Freshman Jay Sirianni will start
Saturday’s game at 2 p.m., and senior
Sergio Betancourt will make his first
start of the season Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Nebraska pitching staff will be
backed offensively by senior outfield
ers Matt Meyer and Mel Motley, who
have combined for five of Nebraska’s
eight home runs this year.
— David Wilson
Men’s gym
The fourth-ranked Nebraska men’s
gymnastics team will travel to Iowa
City, Iowa, today for a 7 p.m. dual
against No. 3 Iowa.
“They are not going to be a push
over,” Nebraska coach Francis Allen
said. “They are very deep and very
experienced.”
The Comhuskers are coming off a
225.875-220.20 victory over second
ranked New Mexico last Sunday.
Iowa, which finished sixth at the
NCAA Championships last year,
should challenge No. 1 Ohio State for
the Big Ten title and the NCAA East
Regional title this season, Allen said.
Nebraska will be paced in the all
around by sophomore Jim Koziol, who
scored a career-high 56.60 points
against New Mexico, and senior Jason
Christie.
Allen said sophomore Bill
Mulholland also would compete in the
all-around for Nebraska.
— Gregg Madsen
Track
Continued from Page 10
Coach Gary Pepin said he was hop
ing to win his 42nd and 43rd Big Eight
titles, and he said he was quite certain
that his team had the talent to do it.
“We’re hoping that this meet will
be yet another stepping stone for na
tionals because we can win it all,”
Pepin said.
The NCAA Championships will be
held in Indianapolis on March 8-9.
The women are looking for their
17th consecutive indoor title, and the
men are looking for their third straight
crown.
In a poll of league coaches, the
Husker men and women were unani
mous selections to repeat as Big Eight
champions.
Pepin said he liked being in the
position of favorite.
“I’d rather be in that position than
hoping for miracles,” Pepin said. “The
hardest part is selecting the 24 athletes
that will compete on the men’s and
women’s teams, particularly the men’s
side.”
Pepin said he was pleased the meet
was in Lincoln, where he said the Husk
crs had an advantage.
“It’s a great place to have a meet
because there will be strong spectator
interest,” Pepin said.
Freshmen
Continued from Page 10
“It feels great to be back,” said
McLaughlin, who is from State Col
lege, Penn.
Dillman, who leads off for the Husk
ers in the vault and floor, said she
didn’t feel any extra pressure from
being the first to compete.
A product of the Cypress Academy
of Gymnastics in Katy, Texas, she
scored a personal-best 9.8 on vault at
Arizona State, and also has scored a
9.8 in the floor exercise this season.
Dillman and the rest of the fresh
men agreed that the constant competi
tion and the pressure to perform ended
outside the gym.
“Every time we go somewhere, it
seems like the freshmen always end up
sitting by each other,” Dillman said.
“We don’t mean to; it just happens to
be that the ffeshmen are always to
gether. It’s kind of funny.”
Brown, who competes in vault and
floor while leading off on balance
beam, tied her career highs in floor
(9.775) and vault (9.775) at Arizona
State.
In addition to sharingmeals, Brown,
who is from Fishers, bid., said all of
the Husker gymnasts shared a love for
gymnastics.
“I wouldn’t know what to do with
out it,” she said.