Nebraska senior rush end
Grant Wistrom was named the Big
12 Defensive Player of the Year by
the Big 12 coaches. It is the second
straight year that Wistrom has won
the award.
The Big 12 Offensive Player of
the Year was Texas running back
Ricky Williams, and the Big 12
Coach of the Year was Oklahoma
State’s Bob Simmons.
The Big 12 Offensive
Newcomer of the Year was Kansas
State quarterback Michael Bishop,
and the Defensive Newcomer of
the Year was KSU linebacker Jeff
Kelly. The Big 12 Offensive
Freshman of the Year was
Oklahoma State quarterback Tony
Lindsay, while the Defensive
Freshman of the Year was
Colorado defensive back Ben
Kelly.
■
Six Huskers were selected to
the Coaches’ First Team All Big 12
Saturday. Heading the list were
Wistrom and senior defensive line
man Jason Peter. Joining them on
the defense was sophomore defen
sive back Ralph Brown. On
offense, junior I-back Ahman
Green joined Williams at running
back, while senior guard Aaron
Taylor and senior tackle Eric
Anderson were named to the first
team offensive line.
■
Junior linebacker Brian Shaw
heads a list of 12 Huskers named to
the Big 12 All-Academic team.
Shaw was one of four players to
receive special honors for having a
cumulative 4.0 GPA.
Other Huskers on the list were
Wistrom, senior quarterback Scgtt
Frost, junior fullback Joel
Makovicka, senior spilt end Jeff
Lake, senior wingback Lance
Brown, senior offensive linemen
Eric Anderson, Jon Zatechka and
Matt Hoskinson, sophomore Chad
Kelsay, sophomore rover Mike
Brown and junior place-kicker
Kris Brown.
■
Nebraska became the third
team in die history of college foot
ball to score at least 500 points in
three consecutive seasons, afett ii i
accomplished from 1995-1997.
The Huskers had 511 points this
season, and have 1,828 points over
three seasons. The other two teams
to complete the task were Florida
from 1993-1995, and Yale from
1887-1889.
For the second season in a row,
the Big 12 will have the nation’s
top two rushers. Ricky Williams of
Texas is first in the nation with
1,893 yards, while Nebraska’s
Ahman Green has 1,698 yards.
Green needs 196 yards against
Texas A&M in the Big 12
Championship to overtake
Williams for first.
Big 12 Notebook compiled by
staff reporter Sam McKewon.
Huskers blown away in second half
By David Wilson
Senior Reporter
Supported by Nebraska’s lowest
scoring half of the season, Tulsa handed
the Comhuskers their first loss Monday
night before 6,723 fans at the Tulsa
Convention Center.
Nebraska, which fell to 5-1, made
just six of 30 shots in the second half as
the Golden Hurricane (4-2) downed the
Huskers 85-68.
NU committed a season-high 24
turnovers - including 14 in the second
half - and had no assists in the second
half.
“We just didn’t play with as high of
intensity in the second half,” NU center
Venson Hamilton said. “We just came
out flat.”
Hamilton finished with 16 points
and 15 rebounds - his fifth double-dou
ble of the season - but said he was not
satisfied with his performance. Tulsa
center Michael Ruffin, who matched up
with Hamilton for a good part of the
game, entered the contest averaging 6.6
points per game and finished with 20.
“I still can play better,” Hamilton
said. “My man shouldn’t have scored so
many points on me. I let my team down
by letting him score 20 points.”
The Golden Hurricane were led by
guard Rod Thompson, who scored a
game-high 25 points. Thompson helped
close Nebraska’s lead to six at halftime,
scoring Tulsa’s final four points.
In the second half, Thompson
scored eight points in the first seven
minutes as the Golden Hurricane
outscored the Huskers 47-24. NU lost
the ball seven times in the first eight
minutes of the second half and were
held to just seven points in the first 10
minutes.
But the first half was a different
story for Nebraska.
After the Huskers jumped to a 9-1
lead, Tulsa battled back to take an 18-16
advantage with just under 13 minutes
remaining in the first half. But NU fol
lowed with a 14-0 run and took a 44-38
lead into the locker room at halftime.
True freshman Chad Johnson pro
vided a bright spot off the bench for
Nebraska, as the forward scored eight
Please see LOSS on 8
Matt Miller/DN
NU FORWARD CORIMC01LL drives to the basket. The junior from Gillette, Wyo.^Jns become a moi
rebounder this season and has increased her playing tbne.
McDill does Nlrs dirty work
Effort lands forward on starting lineup
By Shannon Heffelfinger
Assignment Reporter
Cori McDill never wanted to be
the star of the Nebraska women’s
basketball team.
She never really cared if she was
the leading scorer or if she received
~ the loudest applause or spent the
most time in the spotlight.
McDill only wanted to con
tribute.
But during her first two years at
Nebraska, she never received the
chance.
The 6-foot-1 -inch forward spent
most of her time on the bench last
season, feeling confused about her
part on the team and questioning
her abilities.
“The past two years, I’ve hated
basketball,” McDill said. “It was
frustrating, and I never knew my
role. Nobody told me what it was,
and I was always trying to find one.
\
I wasn’t happy at alt. I just couldn’t
get into it
“But this year, I love basketball.
I have a part now.”
After averaging four minutes
per game last year, McDill has
earned a spot jn the Comhuskers’
staring lineup in her junior season,
playing an important if sometimes
unnoticed, role.
NU Coach Paul Sanderford
Please see McDILL on 8
H
UT begins
search for
next coach
■ Northwestern’s Gary
Barnett is among about 30
candidates to become
Texas’ next leader.
(U-WIRE) AUSTIN, Texas - The
search for the next Darrell Royal is
on - again.
Minutes after announcing that
John Mackovic was out as head foot
ball coach, UT Athletic Director
DeLoss Dodds said the manhunt for
a successor is already underway.
names. The list wilfbe presented to a
small screening committee, headed
by Dodds, for discussion as early as
Monday.
The committee will consist of no
more than 10 people, including
Waneen Spirduso, chairwoman of
the Men’s Athletics Council; ex
players Doug English, Alfred
Jackson and Bob Moses; representa
tives from the Longhorn Foundation
.and the Ex-Students’ Association;
Regent Tom Hicks of Dallas; at
large selection Professor Charles
Alan Wright of the UT School of
Law; and the legendary Coach Royal
himself.
The selection of a new coach, the
school’s fourth since Royal’s resig
nation in 1976, should be announced
within the next two weeks, Dodds
said.
“Timeliness is important for
many reasons, recruiting being one
of them,” Dodds said. “We’re going
to do it just as quickly as we can and
still be sure we’ve got the right per
~ son. But it takes time - you can’t
force it.”
Northwestern Coach Gary
Barnett has been die most oft-men
tioned replacement for Mackovic in
recent weeks, while the names of
North Carolina’s Mack Brown,
Miami’s Butch Davis and 1997 Big
12 Coach of the Year Bob Simmons
of Oklahoma State have also been
cited with high frequency.
Dodds said neither he nor any
other UT official has yet contacted
anyone about the opening, though
“some people have called saying
‘such-and-such’ is interested in the
job, but it’s all been third- and
fourth-hand.”
All signs, though, seem to point
to Barnett, a 51-year-old former
Colorado assistant who turned
around the Northwestern football
program in four years.
Barnett earned National Coach
of the Year honors from a handful of
Please see TEXAS on 8 _ t