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FOOSBALL LEAGUES INFORMATION MEETING Wednesday, Feb. 19 7:30 p.m. 2137 Comhusker 477-6410 Consumer Products Croup FOR TICKETS CALL 1-800-8-BIGRED _ , 4 _ Longhorns sick after NU game By David Wilson Staff Reporter Even with a case of strep throat, Reggie Freeman couldn’t save the 6 senior guard, who leads the Big 12 with a 23-points-per game average, played all 40 min utes against Ne braska Sunday, but scored just nine points in Texas’ 79-67 loss i. enough credit to Texas Coach Tom renders said. "He couldn’t even drink water (Saturday night).” Freeman, who spent an hour in the hospital Saturday night with a sore throat and fever, said — with a scratchy vuiuc — he did not play to his potential against Nebraska. 'Against NU, Freeman was l-of-10 from the field. But Freeman wasn’t the only Longhorn feeling ill. Starters Kris Clack, Dennis Jordan and DeJuan Vazquez also did not play at full strength. “(Vazquez) has been cramping, throwing up and on the toilet for three straight days,” Penders said. “He started in our last game against Baylor. He comes out, knocks down two 3s, then he has to go to the bathroom and barf. “It would have been a hell of a game if we were healthy, but Nebraska is a very good team. That’s life in the Big 12.” Despite the various flu bugs affect ing UT, Penders said Texas was not going to give up. But their sluggish ness forced them to play conservative and not put on a pressing defense against the Huskers, Penders said. UT — typically a running-style team—opened the first half playing a box-and-one defense. Texas held NU guard Tyronn Lue to three points in die first half but still trailed 38-27. Lue exploded for 19 in the second half, however. “The some was working,” Texas guard Brandy Perryman said, “but we couldn’t box people out. We’re not a zone team. We’re a man team.” Sheldon Quarles, a 6-10 forward, said he felt confident playing a zone defense, but he was unsure about how the rest of the team responded to play ing with a new defense. The Long horns were out-rebounded by NU 45 38. Texas (14-8 overall and 8-4 in the Big 12 Conference) also found itself in a shooting slump, making just 35 percent from the floor. Including Perryman, five Long horns came off the bench to shoot a combined 42 percent. The starters shot a woeful 26 percent. Perryman said he knew he needed to step up his game with Freeman under the weather. The 6-2 junior, who averaged 10 points per game entering Sunday’s matchup, scored a career best 20 points. “It was nice to come out and shoot the ball like I did,” Perryman said. Huskers get into swing of season SANDERS from page 7 and Pat Driscoll. The trio combined for 13 of the Huskers’ 27 wins last year. Driscoll, who boasted a 4.95 eamed-run average last season, will start on the mound in the first game against the Antelopes, and senior Jonas Armenta will take the hill in game two. Both pitchers saw action against Wayne State. “We have more depth at pitching than we’ve had in awhile,” Sanders said. “The bottom line is we’re ac countable for what we did last year and we’re tryingto do something about it.” Offensively, the Huskers are led by junior All-American candidate Todd Sears, who hit .380 last season with six home runs. Sanders said he ex pected his first baseman to produce impressive numbers this season. “He’s really swinging the bat bet ter than I’ve ever seen him swing it,” Sanders said. “He’s really stepped up. I think this year he has a chance to really jump out and be the kind of guy that can cany us in some tough times.” But Sanders said center fielder Francis Collins, who led the Huskers with a .424 average last season and set a school record with a 38-game hitting streak, may have a tougher time this season. “He’s going to be picked on,” Sanders said. “Now he’s not a surprise anymore. But he will be surrounded by better players so he won’t be such a focus.” The Huskers are solid up the middle defensively, Sanders said, with Canada College transfer Kevin Harrington likely starting at second and Mendocino (Calif.) Community College transfer Bryan Schmidt or junior Cliffton Durham playing short stop. , “We should have a lot of double plays,” Sanders said. “Tliat was sort of a mystery last year. There were a lot of botched attempts.” At catcher, NU will likely start Andrew Sawyers — also from Mendocino. “Sawyers will throw people out,” Sanders said. “He has a very good throwing arm. That’s something we’ve lacked. People have been run ning on us like crazy.” Nebraska will have its hands full with a 63-game schedule this season. it— We have more depth at pitching dual we’ve had in awhile.” John Sanders NU baseball coach The Huskers will play each of the 10 Big 12 teams three times—but NU’s non-conference schedule will also be tough, Sanders said. “Our non-league schedule is very, very, very demanding,” Sanders said. “I think it’s arguably the best sched ule we’ve played. And the league speaks for itself.” Nebraska travels to Phoenix to play in the Rawlings Spring Training Col lege Tournament Feb. 20. NU plays Northeastern, Creighton, Northern Iowa and an opponent that has not yet been determined. “It’s really a nice feature to have an all northern tournament in a south ern climate,” Sanders said. Nebraska pushes Texas to limit LOSS from page 7 of a one-and-one, which gave the Longhorns the opportunity for the win. Texas guard Angie Jo Ogletree missed a 3-pointer but Jackson was there again few the rebound and her basket gave Texas a 71-70 lead with six seconds remaining. Nebraska had one last shot, but Nicole Kubik’s 5-foot pull-up shot with one second left came up short and the Longhorns (18-4 and 9-2) held on for the victory. The 6-foot-4 Jackson finished the game with 12 points and 12 rebounds, but Beck said 6-2 freshman Charlie Rogers did an excellent job of ham pering the All-American’s perfor mance. Rogers—who finished with a ca reer-best 12 rebounds and 10 points —wasn’t in the game in the overtime period when Jackson made her two putbacks. “Chuck outplayed Jackson all night,” Beck said. Texas built a 59-56 lead in the sec ond half with 2:19 remaining, but Rogers cut the lead to one on a putback with 1:39 left. The Longhorns scored with 21 sec onds to regain a three-point lead, but on Nebraska’s next possession DeForge hit a 3-pointer from the cor ner with four seconds remaining to tie the game and force the overtime. DeForge led NU with 21 points on 6-of-16 shooting from the field. She also grabbed 10 rebounds. Amie Smith led Texas with 18 points and she grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds. Danielle Viglione added 15 points for the Longhorns. f, 4 Emery Tierfy^oo pm itojDItitet « HOCTVHI ' :: • -• ' Minter shines at combine COMBINE from page 7 the Colts and Denver since returning from Indianapolis. His first wish is to play for Pittsburgh, he said, but his running style is better suited for the West Coast offenses used by San Fran cisco and Green Bay. “They just hired (former Husker) Tom Rathman as the backfield coach out in San Francisco,” Benning said. “Hopefully I can find my way out there.” Tomich’s injury shouldn’t drasti cally affect him in the draft, Nebraska ♦ ♦ . . Defensive Coordinator Charlie McBride said. Several NFL scouts will be allowed on the NU campus to evaluate the Husker seniors on March 18 at Cook Pavilion. The scouts will test NU jun iors on March 19. The March testing should give the Nebraska players a chance to gain more personal attention from the scouts in a more comfortable setting, Williams said. “It’s a madhouse at the combine,” Williams said. “I think everybody will do better with the pressure off.”