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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 11, 1997)
>> t§ Nebraska Football Coach Tom Osborne said Monday that he -would like to finalize plans in the ) next few days for NU to open its 1997 season playing host to the Pigskin Classic. The Comhuskers are currently scheduled to open Aug. 30 against Akron at Memo rial Stadium. Osborne did not mention a po tential Pigskin Classic opponent, but game officials may be interested in Georgia Tech. “We would definitely want a game here,” Osborne said. “The plus is it might give your players something to work for in spring ball and summer conditioning and give the schedule a little more ap peal to the fans.” Several NFL scouts visited the NU campus Monday to test seniors in preparation for the April draft. Osborne, who banned professional scouts from the campus last season, said he has made amends with the NFL. “I like the pro scouts person ally,” he said. “I have nothing against the NFL. But we tried to make sure they knew we had some concerns.” The NU coach became upset after the New England Patriots dropped former Husker Christian Peter days after drafting him last April. ■ In the men’s NCAA Tourna ment, No. 1 Kansas — which ended the season atop The Associ ated Press Top 25 for the 16th straight week and became the first season-ending unanimous No. 1 since Nevada-Las Vegas in 1991 — plays Jackson State Thursday in Memphis, Tenn. No. 17 Iowa State faces Illinois State Thursday in Auburn Hills, Mich. No. 18 Colorado battles Indiana Thursday in Winston Salem, N.C. Oklahoma faces Stanford Friday in Tucson, Ariz., and Texas plays Wisconsin Friday in Pittsburgh. Nebraska plays host to Wash ington Wednesday night in the National Invitation Tournament, and Oklahoma State plays host to Tulane Thursday. Baylor, which finished the regular season 18-12, was not invited to the NIT. In the women’s NCAA Tourna ment, Utii-ranked Kansas faces Detroit-Mercy, No. 18 Colorado plays Marshall, Texas Tech plays Montana, Iowa State faces Utah, Kansas State faces St Joseph’sand Tfexas plays Southwest Texas State. ■ RaefLaFrentz of Kansas earned first-team Associated Press All America honbrs Monday along with repeat-selection 'Em Duncan of Wake Forest, Ron Mercer of Kentucky, Keith Van Horn of Utah and Danny Fortson of Cincinnati. KU’s Jacque Vaughn and Colorado’s Cbaimcey Billups were among the second-team selections, and Iowa’s Andre Woolridge — a former Nebraska player from Omaha -— was named honorable mention. Big 12 Notebook compiled by senior reporter Mitch Sherman. ByMikeKluck Senior Reporter - A season that started with a lot of questions ended with the biggest ques tion of all Sunday night for the Ne braska women’s basketball team. The lingering question “what if’ hung heavily in the air at the Hewitt Center for the Comhuskers, who fin ished the season 19-9 but found them selves on the outside looking in at the NCAA Tournament. What if: ■ The Huskers had defeated No. 12 Texas in Austin, a team they led by five with less than two minutes re maining in overtime before falling 71 - 70 on a Longhorn putback with six seconds left. ■ Nebraska had beaten Kansas State or Iowa State in Huskers had beaten both teams in Both teams went on to earn at-large spots in the Big Dance. ■ The Husk ers won one of the geek six games they lost after having squandered second half leads, including losing to Kansas 67-59 in Lincoln after leading by 12 points with less than 11 minutes re maining. “What’s done is done and we can’t do anything about it,” senior Tina McClain said. McClain finished her career as the 14th-leading scorer in Nebraska history. This season McClain became the 17th Husker to score more than 1,000 points. “We can’t spend the rest of our lives beating our heads over it,” McClain said. “I’m very disappointed. This is the end of my career, and I’m not only disappointed for myself but also for my teammates. I wanted to leave an impression on the freshman class of going into the NCAA Tour nament.” It was the freshman class that left the Huskers with many questions at the beginning of the season. Beck called the freshman class of Cisco Gilmore, Nicole Kubik, Charlie Rogers and Brooke Schwartz— all of whom were in-state recruits except Gilmore — the most talented group of first-year players in her 11 years at NU. At the beginning of the season, Beck didn’t know how much contri bution she could count on from the group. Early on the freshmen proved they would be a class to take die program in a new direction as Kubik started the first 14 games of the season, and Schwartz — in only her seventh col legiate game — made some key free throws in the final seconds of the Big Please see RECAP on 11 Daniel Luedekt/DN SHORTSTOP BRYAH SCHMIDT tags oat Baylor* Marie CegAIII la HU* lass SatarOay. The Haskers hope to soap aa 11-gam skN at Kaasas State toOay. NU hot down after losses By David Wilson Staff Reporter It’s tough to stay positive after 11 straight losses, but that’s the challenge for the Nebraska base ball team, NU Coach John Sanders said. “We just have to keep our guys as up as they can' possibly be,” Sanders said. “Right | V . now, our job is just to keep them from [among ana just saying, wnat ever’” The Comhuskers (5-11 over all and 0-6 in the Big 12 Canfer ence) will travel to Manhattan, Kan., to face Kansas State (8-6.and 1-5) in a doubleheader today at 1 p.m. at Frank Myers Field. The game will not count in the confer ence standings. Baylor swept three games from Nebraska in Lincoln over the weekend to continue NU’s slide. But Baylor Coach Steve Smith said Nebraska’s record does not reflect the Huskers’ difficult schedule. Nebraska has played eight games in 10 days, losing to Min ♦ nesota, top-ranked UCLA, Wash ington, Kansas (twice) and Baylor three times. “The ballgames that they are losing are against pretty good people,” Smith said. “If you’re going out there and losing to Di vision II teams, that would be something else. But (Sanders) has challenged them with that sched ule. They’ve really been tested early.” Smith said he was a little ner vous playing in Lincoln in March. “This is a big relief to have this trip behind us,” Smith said. “When you get the schedule and see you are at Nebraska toe sec ond week in March, you automati cally think the worst. But I’m sure that over time were going to get a taste of what these guys have to endure.” Baylor (12-5 and 5-1), which has beaten No. 4 Rice, was no ex ception to NU’s tough schedule, Sanders said. “They’re hot,” Sanders said. “They’ve beaten some good people and they’ve played in some tough situations. “When you make mistakes like we did against a team like Baylor, there’s no forgiveness. Everything speaks out very loudly.” Against the Bears, Husker starters combined to throw 14 2/3 innings and allowed 17 earned runs on 30 hits. NU raised its staff eamed-run average to 6.24. Sand ers said NU needs to improve its middle relief. Junior left-hander Brian Zubor threw in all three games against the Bears and allowed one run in four innings while striking out two. “Zubor stepped up,” Sanders said. “That was good. He’s back now and that’s big for us. We’re desperately looking far someone to come out of the bullpen.” , Nebraska has not been consis tent at the plate either. The Husker offense scored 13 runs on 15 hits, batting just .132 against Baylor. But All-America candidate Todd Sears has continued to pro duce for Nebraska. Sears went 4 for 10 with a home run and five RBIs against BU, improving his team-high average to 3,86. Smith said Seara reminds him of former Husker Darin Erstad, who is now playing for the Anaheim Angels. Despite the losing streak, the Huskers have not given up, Smith said. “I think they’re playing hard,” Smith said. “I was really im pressed with the way they just kept battling. You can tell they’re a little frustrated right now, but there’s no lack of effort. “It’s tough, but you have to get out of that downward spiral some time. They’ll make somebody pay for this.” •. NUb Evans may miss spring ball By Mitch Sherman Senior Reporter Nebraska’s most durable rusher from last season may not play one down of spring football because of a lingering groin injury, Coach Tom Osborne said Monday. De Angelo Evans, who played in 11 of 12 *■ regular-season games and rushed for 776 yards and 14 touchdowns as a true freshman, probably will not be ready for contact when spring prac tice begins March 31. The 5-foot-9, 210-pound I-back originally hurt his groin late last sea son but played through the pain. He ran for 255 yards and four touchdowns in NU’s final two regular-season games, a win over Colorado and a loss to Texas in the Big 12 Conference championship same. Evans' injury worsened as the Comhuskers prepared for their Dec. 31 meeting with Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl, and Evans did not play in the 41-21 Nebraska win. “Frankly 1 had hoped that he’d be further along right now than he is,” Osbome said. During winter-conditioning drills, Osborne said, Evans ran straight for ward, but he hasn’t been able to cut. Lately, Osborne said, the former high school All-American from Wichita, Kan., has been limited to time in the swimming pool. A similar injury hampered several NU defensive backs in recent years, causing comerback Mike Fullman to miss nearly all of spring practice and two-a-day workouts last year. “With weight lifting,” Osborne said, “it’s become a problem, and it may have to do with some muscles getting so strong that your groin just isn’t able to handle it. “We’re naturally concerned. I think he’ll be able to play next fall. I don’t know if he’ll be able to play this spring. It may be we'll have to lay him off three, four months and during part oftwo-a-days.” Nebraska’s other top returning I backs, Ahman Green and Jay Sims, have completely recovered from late season injuries, Osborne said. ■ V ■ ' •
