Scott Bruhn/DN
TYRONN LUE drives against Texas’ Brandy Perryman In Nil's 79-67 win Sunday. Lue scored 19 of
bis game-high 22 points In the second half.
Tfexas, NU have concerns
Beck adjusts lineup to
deal with the rebounding
dominance of Itexas.
By Mike Kluck
Senior Reporter
AUSTIN, Texas — Nebraska has often
used runs of 10 or more points to put away
its opponents this season.
But if the 23rd-ranked Comhuskers (17
4 overall and 7-4 in the Big 12 Conference)
are to beat No. 11 Texas tonight at 7 at the
Frank Erwin Events Center in Austin, the
Huskers will have to limit the opposition from
making such a run.
“You can’t give (the Longhorns) any ma
jor runs,” NU Coach Angela Beck said. “We
have to do a good job of trying to limit their
ability of putting 12 to 14 points up against
us. They are the type of team that is very ex
plosive and they can put a big run on us and
it can be over.”
Beck said to limit the runs NU must con
centrate on Texas’ ability to hit the 3-point
shot The Longhorns (17-4 and 9-2) are third
in die conference, shooting 35.9 percent from
behind the 3-point arc.
Texas Coach Jody Conradt said she is also
concerned about Nebraska’s explosive abil
ity, especially on the defensive end.
‘We have to be able to take care of the
basketball and get our share of rebounds,”
Women's Basketball
Starters
oeiensive quickness ot Nebraska point guard
LaToya Doage. Doage, a 5-foot-6 senior, is
tied for first along with UT’s Amie Smith in
Please see WOMEN on 8
---
By Mitch Sherman
Senior Reporter
In its pre-game scouting report of the Texas
basketball team, Nebraska planned to build a
first-half lead through consistent bench play, and
exploit the Longhorns by controlling All
America candidate Reggie Freeman on the de
fensive end.
Sounds nice on paper, but in a real game on
Sunday afternoon at the Bob Devaney Sports
Center ... the plan worked. The Comhuskers
posted their largest victory margin in nearly a
month, downing UT 79-67 before a season-high
crowd of 13,743.
“It’s a credit to (NU Coach) Danny (Nee)
and the job he’s done,” Texas Coach Tom
Penders said. “Nebraska could have said, 'Oh
well, our season’s over.’ But they didn’t, and
that’s a credit to him.”
Instead of throwing in the towel, last week af
ter two of its worst performances of the season,
Nebraska (14-11 overall and 5-7 in the Big 12
Conference) has responded with a pair of victo
ries, and on Sunday avenged a season-opening
overtime loss to the Longhorns in Austin.
“We knew everything that Texas was going
to do,” said Husker point guard 'iyronn Lue, who
scored 19 of his game-high 22 points in the sec
ond half. “We had a great scouting report, and
we were pretty confident that we could beat
Texas.”
Nebraska used an early 8-0 run to take con
trol in the first half, and after tying the game at
20 and 22, UT never regained the lead. Nee used
his entire bench in the opening half, playing all
nine scholarship players at least four minutes.
Lue scored just three points in 17 minutes
before halftime, but Venson Hamilton and Larry
Florence picked up the slack. The pair of sopho
mores pierced the Longhorn defense for 21 first
half points and 11 rebounds while leading NU’s
defensive charge.
Freeman, averaging a league-best 23.7
points per game entering Sunday’s contest, con
nected on just 1 of 10 shots and scored nine
points in 40 minutes while suffering from a se
vere case of strep throat.
“I was really pleased with the way Nebraska
guarded Freeman in the first half,” Nee said af
ter the Huskers’ first back-to-back wins since
Jan. 11. “We guarded him as well as I’ve seen.
We took a good Texas team and handled them
on our home court. We’re just going to try to
build on it.”
With the score tied at 22 after a bucket by
Brandy Perryman with 5:08 to play in the first
half, Nebraska closed the half with a 16-5 run,
carrying a 38-27 lead into the locker room.
“We were getting a lot more movement in
our offense,” said Lue, who was the focal point
of Texas’ box-and-one defense. “That’s what
helped us out.”
Strong bench play also helped the Huskers.
Bernard Garner, Troy Piatkowski, Alvin
Mitchell and Andy Maikowski played 53 min
utes Sunday, recording 16 points and 12 re
bounds and preserving Lue for the second half.
“We have to get some rest for the starters,”
Nee said. “(The reserves) went in there and ex
tended the lead and maintained it.”
By relying on the hot right hand of Perryman,
who hit four 3-pointers and led Texas with 20
points, the Longhorns cut into Nebraska’s lead
Please see WIN on 8
NU wins despite flat effort
By Gregg Madsen
StaffReporter
It wasn’t the best performance of the season
for the Nebraska women’s gymnastics team, but
the Comhuskers still managed a winning result
Saturday night at the Bob Devaney Sports Cen
ter.
Nebraska Coach Dan Kendig said he was
happy with the NU’s 194.4-192.05 victory over
Denver, but he wasn’t completely satisfied.
“We were just a little flat,” Kendig said. “We
just weren’t as sharp as we needed to be in all
areas.”
The Huskers’ string of three consecutive
meets scoring above a 195 ended with the 194.4
performance.
Kendig said his team didn’t have a high
enough level of concentration against the 17th
ranked Pioneers.
“They’re just really tired,” Kendig said.
“They might have just treated this as a down
week, and it showed.”
Denver Coach Dan Garcia said losing to No.
5 Nebraska by two points is a moral victory.
“This was not a great meet for us,” Garcia
said. “But I think we felt good about staying
close to Nebraska.”
Even though the Huskers failed to score over
49 points in any of the four events, Kendig said
1 there were some great individual performances.
One effort came from senior Kim DeHaan
who won the uneven bars with a 9.875. DeHaan,
a native of Sioux Falls, S.D., also took third in
the floor exercise (9.750).
DeHaan — who competed despite a back
Ryan Soderlin/DN
NICOLE WILKINSON psrfms m Ike meven
injury that has plagued her all season—agreed
with Kendig’s assessment that NU competed
flat But she said, the victory showed die Husk
ers’ strength and overall depth.
Please see DENVER on 8
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