k p|
Madsen
assistant
will experience
mixed emotions
Sunday’s double dual between
the Nebraska and Penn State men’s
and women’s gymnastics teams will
be an interesting one for women’s
assistant coach Rob Drass.
He’ll be busy with his coaching
duties for the Comhuskers, yes.
But he’ll also be sneaking a
peek at his alma mater while the
men are competing.
Drass was a Nittany Lion from
1987 to 1990, during which he
competed at the NCAA Champion
ships in each of his four seasons.
Sunday will be the first time in
his six years at NU that the Husk
ers meet Penn State at the Bob
Devanev Sports Center.
“My focus will be on us, of
course,” Drass said. “I’d like to see
as much of (Penn State) as I can,
but with my time schedule it’s not
going to be very much. Yeah, I’ll
sneak a peek over there.”
At Penn State, Drass gained
valuable experience both compet
ing and coaching.
He assisted at the McCracken
Gymnastics School in Kansas City,
Mo., in 1987, and ran the Nittany
Gym School for boys in 1988. He
spends his summers — along with
NU Women’s Coach DarrKendig
—- at the Woodward Gymnastics
Summer Camp, just 30 mites from
State College, Pa.
In 1993, Kendig hired him as a
full-time assistant.
Witn all his ties to PSU, Drass
hopes to make a good impression
on the folks back home Sunday.
The. Hnsker women shouldn’t
have much trouble with Penn State.
The Lions are averaging a 193.44
team score per meet, while the
Huskers hitfor an average 195.635.
But the men’s competition will
be more than just a meet for Drass,
it’s tradition vs. tradition.
Nebraska men’s teams have
won eight national titles — second
only to Penn State’s nine.
Even though all of Penn State’s
crowns came before 1979 — the
year Nebraska won its first — it’s
still a grudge match in Drass’ mind
when the Nittany Lions and Husk
ers hook up.
And it won’t just be a quality
meet. Drass will have to pick a team
to support—the hometown Nittany
Lions or NU, the local favorite.
“I really want them both to win.”
Winning has become second na
ture to Drass, who has been a cru
cial leader as the women’s program
has moved up the ladder to the top
' of NCAA gymnastics.
Sunday on the men’s side,
whether the Lions pull off the up
set Or Nebraska wins its third
straight home meet, Drass will still
walk away a winner.
Madsen is a junior news-edi
torial major and a Daily Nebras
kan staff reporter.
Lue hopes to be j|
healthy for Tuesday’s^!
game in Reno, Nev. ft
By Mitch Sherman
Senior Reporter
In a hushed silence, the Bob
Devaney Sports Center crowd of
6,015 watched Wednesday night as
Nebraska’s little general crumpled
at the feet of Washington’s 7-foot,
280-pound monster. *
What came next was the defin
ing moment of NU’s 67-63 first
round victory in the National. Invi
,v Station Tournament. After Tyronn
Lue hobbted4jff the cdurC«nable
to walk on his right foot, Nebraska
did not collapse in the final minute
without its unmistakable oh-cottft
leader. . .
Instead, the Comhuskers limped
to victory, holding off Washington
with a pair of free throws to build
momentum for what the NU play
ers truly believe can translate into
another torrid run through the
97-86 Wednes
day night in
Fresno, Calif.
With its
12th win in 13
NIT games at
the Devaney
Center, NU im- .
proved tp 17
14 and took the first step toward
defending the NIT championship it
won last March in New York.
The Huskers led 65-61 with 1:32
to- play Wednesday when
Washmgton’aMark Sanford missed
the front end of a one-and-one op
porfdnj|y. Lue leaptfor a loose ball
and came down on the foot of
Husky center Todd MacCulloch,
who outweighs Lue by 120 pounds
and stands a foot taller than NU’s
sophomore point guard.
Lue fell to the floor near the free
throw line and reached for his right
u~~
*3L
ankle as Troy Piatkowski dribbled
up the court before an official
whistled play to a stop.
“When he went down,” NU
guard Cookie Belcher said, “Coach
(Danny) Nee’s face just lit up and
he didn’t know what to say. He was
just looking at (Lue).”
Lue left for the locker room
shaking his head to a chorus of
“Loooos” from the small, but noisy
crowd.
“I got scared,” NU forward
Venson Hamilton said, “real scared.
But I know Tyronn’s a warrior. He’ll
come back.”
The Huskers proceeded to lose
the ball off Bernard Gamer’s foot
with 58.9 seconds to play. Washing
ton guard Jamie Booker then hit two
free throws to cut Nebraska’s lead
to 65-63 with 32 seconds left. But
after Lue returned to the bench and
began to tighten his shoelaces, se
niors Mikki Moore and Gamer put
Please see NIT on 11
-:
Thmovers
costUW
chances
By Mike Kluck
Senior Reporter
Washington’s inability to take care
pf the ball this season was a key rea- ~"
son the Huskies were playing in the Na
tional Invitation
Tournament in
stead of the
NCAA Tourna
ment.
1urnovers
were also a big
• reason Washing
ton lost 67-63 to
Nebraska on
Wednesday night
in the first round Sanford
of the NIT at the Bob Devaney Sports
Center.
The Huskies — who led the Pacific
10 Conference in turnovers averaging
20.5 per game — end their season at
17-11 after losing for the second
straight year in the first rouncfof the
NIT. In Washington’s final regular-sea
son game against Southern Cal, the
Huskies committed a season-high 34
turnovers in a 94-84 loss.
“We had some opportunities to take
control, but then turnovers took that
away.ftspn Us,” fourth-year UW Coach
* B3b’Beider said. “We did a poor1 job
of handling the basketball, and they did
a great job of trapping us. Turnovers
killed us. We played well enough to *
win, but turnovers negated that.”
Against NU, the Huskies commit
ted 22 turnovers, compared with the
Comhuskers’ 17.
It was Nebraska’s aggressive three
quarter court trapping defense in the
second half that allowed Nebraska to
go on a 8-0 run, eventually taking its
first lead of the second half 56-53.
During NU’s run, Washington
turned the ball over seven of eight pos
sessions, and its only scoring opportu
nity was a missed dunk by 7-foot
sophomore Todd MacCulloch.
“That stretch put us back on our
heels,” Bender said.
It also put the 6,015 die-hard Ne
braska fans at the Devaney Center on
their feet.
After a Washington turnover, NU
point guard Tyronn Lue hit senior
Mikki Moore for an alley-oop dunk.
Then the Huskies turned the ball over
again, and freshman Cookie Belcher
Please see HUSKIES on 11
--- - ... .-item
By Mitch Sherman
Senior Reporter
Two high school seniors still wait
ing to gain academic eligibility favor*
^Nebraska as basketball’s spring sign
ing period approaches.
Antoine Broxsie, a 6-foot-10 power
forward from Tampa, Fla., and Todd
Smith, a 6-4 shooting guard from
Milledgeville, Ga., have visited Lincoln
and plan to choose a school in the next
month, their coaches said Wednesday.
Nebraska loses two seniors from its
current team—which consists of only
nine scholarship players — and signed
one player last fall, leaving five schol
arships available. The spring letter-of
intent signing period begins April 9.
Broxsie, who attends Tampa Bay
Tech High School, averaged 16 points,
12 rebounds and nine blocks as a se
nior, leading his team to a 22-4 record
in Florida’s second-largest class.
“Nebraska is No. 1 on my list,”
broxsie said, “but I’m still looking
around. The people there are very nice
and they seem like they support the
athletes.”
Broxsie, who is also considering
Minnesota, Clemson and Arizona, will
retake the SAT later this month.
“I know I’m going to make it this
time,” he said.
Rodney Fields, a 1996 Tech gradu
ate, signed with Nebraska last April but
did not qualify academically. Fields
attends Tyler (Texas) Junior College
and still intends to play basketball at
NU in 1998.
“They’re a first-class program,”
Tech Coach Adrian Johnson said. ‘T
like the things they are doing. Antoine
is an outstanding young man, but the
thing I like most about him is his char
acter. You’ve got to have the charac
ter, and he runs and jumps as well as
any big man I’ve seen.”
Smith, who attends Baldwin High
School in Milledgeville and plays in
Georgia’s largest class, averaged 17
points and nine assists this season.
Baldwin fell one game short of the state
tournament, Coach James Lunsford
said, and Smith contributed heavily to
every victory. *
“He’s one of the top players we’ve
had here,” said Lunsford, who has sent
120 players to the college ranks in 27
years as the Baldwin coach. “Nebraska
is his choice. He loved his visit, and
now we are waiting for things to come
through on this end.”
Lunsford said Jimmy Williams,
Nebraska’s head assistant coach, im
pressed Smith during his visit to Lin
coln earlier this month. Smith watched
Nebraska’s 85-65 loss to No. 1 Kan
sas on March 2 at the Bob Devaney
Sports Center.
“He’s my most valuable player,”
Lunsford said. “And I’m confident he
will get the test score. It just takes him
a little time. We’ve done what we can
to get him ready, but like a lot of kids,
he probably hasn’t prepared himself
adequately. Now he’s going to have to
catch up.”
Brant Harriman, a 6-11 center from
Mason City, Iowa, signed a letter of
intent with NU last November.
Harriman, who is academically eli
gible, will join the team next fall.