Page 10_623_Thursday, October 30,1997
Andrew Strnad
Basketball
at NU lacks
popularity
By Andrew Strnad
Staff Reporter
College basketball is right around
the comer, and frankly, I don’t care.
Apparently, neither does the rest
of the student body.
Students have the opportunity to
buy tickets to Nebraska men’s basket
ball games for $3.50 a piece.
However the tickets are only offered
in two separate packages. Each pack
age costs just under $30.
Only 720 packages have been
sold so far.
At the most, 720 students out of
about 24,000 have purchased season
tickets. I assume some students
bought both packages, while some
may have only bought the package
with Kansas.
Buying tickets for eight games to
see a Division I team play basketball
in one of the premier conferences in
the nation is not a bad deal at all. It is
a conference slate which includes
Kansas, not to mention two non-con
ference games vs. schools from
North Carolina.
Here’s the problem: These games
aren't against the Tar Heels and the
Duke Blue Devils, but the Seahawks
(UNC-Wilmington) and the Spartans
(UNC-Greensboro).
If those games aren’t scintillating
enough, buy the package that
includes Western Illinois Who
knows, perhaps Brian Knuckles will
show up wearing the purple and gold
of the Leathernecks.
I highly doubt the reason for low
student interest is completely related
to the home schedule. The overall
interest in basketball in the state of
Nebraska just can’t match the support
of Husker Football.
We all know about the 218 con
secutive sellouts at Memorial
Stadium. What we might not know
about is that the Huskers have only
sold out the Bob Devaney Sports
Center two times in the last 36 home
games, both times against Kansas.
There has to be some logical
explanation for this.
Nebraska has a successful basket
ball program. Danny Nee wins 58
percent of his games. He has taken
the Huskers to the big dance four
times more than any other coach in
NU history, and fans still don’t come.
Husker fans are spoiled. They
demand an unreasonable level of suc
cess in every sport or they refuse to
attend. The standard applies to each
and every sport at NU.
So what’s the team’s solution to
its decline in attendance? A billboard
on Normal Boulevard crying out,
“Fans wanted.” And a schedule of
who’s who m college basketball.
I think I’ll keep my $3.50 and go
see “Boogie Nights.”
Strnad is a junior broadcast
major and a Daily Nebraskan
staff reporter.
Colorado hammers Huskers again
By Andrew Strnad
Staff Reporter
Colorado did it again.
The Buffaloes proved their five
game victory over Nebraska on Oct. 8
was no fluke as CU defeated the
Huskers in three-games 15-4, 15-13,
15-12 before 1,623 fans in the Coors
Events Center in Boulder, Colo.
No. 23 Colorado (11-7,7-3) came
into Wednesday’s contest on a three
match losing streak after falling to
Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech.
But the Buffaloes wasted no time in
putting away No. 11 Nebraska (15-6,
6-4) as they never trailed in the
match.
Colorado jumped out to a 3-0 lead
and hammered the Huskers through
out the first game as NU never got
closer than 7-4, before allowing eight
straight points to CU.
In the second game, the Huskers
again fell in a hole early and could
never recover.
After trailing 10-4, NU managed
to battle back to 14-13, but Colorado
sophomore Kristin Dorsch’s spike
gave the tJurtaloes match point. (Jn
the next serve, NU’s Mandy Monson
hit the ball out of bounds giving CU a
15-13 victory in game two.
Dorsch, normally a bench player,
started the match and was a major
weapon in defeating the Huskers. She
finished the match with 10 kills.
The Buffaloes hit .231 for the
match, the highest hitting percentage
allowed by Nebraska in a three-game
match all season. The Huskers hit a
mere .150.
Game three was very similar to
game two, with Colorado controlling
the Huskers from the beginning, rac
ing to a 13-6 lead. But NU battled
back to 14-12 before giving in to tu
on the Buffs sixth match point.
Junior outside hitter Sarah Lodge,
who haunted the Huskers on October
8th with 27 kills, added 16 in the sec
ond meeting between the two schools
to lead the Buffaloes.
With the win, Colorado becomes
the first-ever conference team to
sweep the season series against the
Huskers.
NU is now tied for fifth place in
the Big 12 and will play Oklahoma
Saturday night at the NU Coliseum at
7:30 p.m. in a match to be televised
(tape delay) by the Fox Sports
Network.
EBKttl
Young teams
not disturbed
over their lack
of experience
By Sarah Dose
Staff Reporter
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - If experi
ence is one key to a successful
women’s basketball team in the Big
12 conference this year, then some
teams might have to take a trip to the
locksmith.
Colorado, Kansas, and Kansas
State all return young teams, but at
Wednesday’s Big 12 Women’s
Basketball Media Day, neither the
coaches nor the players said they
were ready to give up.
Colorado, which ended last year’s
season at 23-9 overall and 12-4 in the
conference while winning the inau
gural Big 12 Conference
Tournament, enters this season No. 2
in the preseason media poll behind
Texas Tech. The Buffaloes return
senior point guard LaShena Graham,
who has realized her purpose in lead
ing the team.
“I need to do whatever I can to
help the team be successful in every
way this year,” she said. “But I’m not
just a leader, I’m a teammate, and I
want to help build confidence.”
Along with senior leadership,
Coach Ceal Barry has to work with
six true freshmen. Barry still sees
some promise, but she also sees some
caution.
“We don’t want to be too patient,
1 1Y11 L,L,r> IV L/l”
NEBRASKA’S NICOLE KUBIK tries to knock the ball away from a Texas player during last season’s Big 12
Tournament. The Big 12 Conference begins its second season when the Huskers play in the National Invitational
Tournament on Nov.14.
too methodical, too teaching, she
said. “That could be a hazard.”
Kansas, which was picked to fin
ish fourth in the conference, doesn’t
discount itself, either. The Jayhawks
lost five seniors, including point
guard Tamicka Dixon, from last
year’s squad, which finished the sea
son 25-6 overall and 14-2 in the con
ference.
“We not only lost a senior class,
but we also lost a senior class who
contributed,” KU Coach Marian
Washington said. “But the new play
ers are working hard, and in one more
year we’ll back in the hunt.”
Washington also said she is
impressed with the optimistic attitude
of everyone on the team.
“We have nothing to lose, and
everything to gain,” she said.
Kansas State Coach Deb
Patterson also said her team has noth
ing to lose this season.
The Wildcats, which earned the
No. 7 preseason seed after qualifying
last year for the NCAA Tournament
for the first time in 10 years, return
five letter winners and welcome
seven new players.
“I’m very happy with the young
players’ work ethic,” Patterson said.
“but from a basketball perspective,
we have a long way to go.”
Patterson said the most important
thing is to teach the new players how
to return to the fundamentals of bas
ketball. .
Colorado, Kansas and Kansas
State are all looking at a year that
could produce many surprises in just
the second season of the Big 12
Conference.
“We have some young posts, who
have to assume scoring responsibili
ty,” Patterson said. “But I think they’ll
scrap and fight to win.”
Missed field goal sealed championship loss
Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne
goes for his 250th win this
Saturday against Oklahoma. This
week the Daily Nebraskan high
lights Osborne’s five most memo
rable games.
Nebraska entered the 1994
Orange Bowl undefeated and ranked
No. 2 in The Associated Press, but
was a 171/2 point underdog to No. 1
Florida State.
Before the game, Osborne said
he didn’t put much stock into point
spreads, and his words proved
prophetic as the Huskers were in a
position to win their coach his first
national championship until Byron
Bennett’s 45-yard field goal sailed
wide left as time ran out with 1 sec
ond remaining, giving the
Seminoles an 18-16 victory.
Nebraska appeared to win the
game when Bennett kicked a 27
yard field goal with 1:16 remaining.
But FSU quarterback Charlie
Ward orchestrated a 60-yard drive to
set up Scott Bentley’s 22-yard game
winning field goal with 21 seconds
remaining. The win gave Florida
State Head Coach Bobby Bowden
his first national championship.
Except for the scoreboard,
Nebraska won every other battle,
out-yarding the Seminoles 389-333,
and holding the nation’s No. 1
offense to just one conversion on 12
third-down attempts.
NU goes to Orange Bowl after close OU win
After Saturday’s game against
Oklahoma, the NU/OU rivalry will
take a two-year hiatus. This week
the Daily Nebraskan reviews the
top five games that have made this
an intriguing rivalry.
Nebraska had possibly its greatest
goal-line stand in years to preserve its
No. 1 ranking and national title hopes
in NU’s 28-21 victory over Oklahoma
in 1983.
Behind Heisman Trophy winner
Mike Rozier’s 205 yards, Nebraska’s
“scoring explosion” offense over
came a 21-14 third-quarter deficit to
take a 28-21 lead late in the third with
Mark Schellen’s 17-yard run.
In the last minute of the game, OU
moved to the Nebraska 1-yard line
and had a second and goal before
being hit with an illegal procedure
penalty and a sack to move the ball
back to the NU 9-yard line for third
down.
Then, NU comerback Neil Harris
knocked away two consecutive
Danny Bradley passes to secure the
win. The fourth down pass, intended
for Buster Rhymes, was a controver
sial one, as OU Coach Barry Switzer
screamed for a pass interference call
against Harris, but to no avail.
NU went on to play in the Orange
Bowl, where they lost 31-30 to Miami
for the national championship.
