Green takes a chance
GREEN from page 9
runner, a north-south guy,” Kiper
said of Green Tuesday. “The ques
tion with Green is this: Will he be
elusive and creative enough as an
NFL runner?”
But Green knows there are no
absolutes in determining exactly
where he will fall in the draft.
“There is no guarantee. It’s all
only predictions,” Green said. “I still
have the NFL combine to go to do my
running and show the NFL scouts my
ability.”
x Green, from Omaha, leaves
Nebraska after having one of the
most prolific careers of any NU run
ning back.
His 1,877-yard performance this
season ranks as the best ever by a
Husker junior. Green finished his
career running for more than 100
yards in each of his last 12 games, but
he might have saved his best game for
last.
In a 42-17 Orange Bowl victory
over Tennessee on Jan. 2, Green ran
for 206 yards - an Orange Bowl
record - and was named the game’s
MVP.
The game went a long way toward
convincing Green he was ready for
the NFL.
“It made me feel a little better that
I was making the right decision,”
Green said. “If I would have had a
mediocre game or a not-so-well
game, it might have made my options
sway the other way. But I had a great
game.”
With Green’s departure, the
Starting running back job is open
for the 1998 season. Sophomore I
backs DeAngelo Evans, Correll
Buckhalter and Dan Alexander
appear to be front-runners for the
job.
Evans sat out this season with a
groin injury, while Buckhalter, a true
freshman, had 54 carries for 313
yards. Alexander, who was slowed by
a knee injury early this season, ran 16
times for 74 yards.
First half dooms GU
By Darren Ivy
Assignment Reporter
A strong first half by a rejuvenated
Nebraska men’s basketball team cou
pled with a bad first half by Colorado
proved to be the
difference Sunday
at the Bob
Devaney Sports
Center.
CU trailed 15
3 just 4:04 into the
game and never
cut the lead to
fewer than 10
points the rest of
die game.
“We lost the
game in the first half,” said CU Coach
Ricardo Patton. “We started out down
15 and that is about what we lost by.”
The Buffaloes’ first half of poor
shooting, blocking out and transition
defense put them down 42-27 at half
time, Patton said.
In the first half, CU shot 27 percent
from the floor, gave up 10 offensive
rebounds and allowed NU to get
numerous easy shots and baskets.
Patton said poor defense and
rebounding was why all five of NU’s
starters scored in double figures for the
first time this year.
“They had guys who weren’t aver
aging double figures that had double
figures tonight,” Patton said. “One rea
son was because they ran the ball in
transition and got easy baskets.”
CU (6-7 overall and 0-3 in the Big
12 Conference) played better in the sec
ond half as both teams scored 45 points.
The Buffaloes have seven players
with no Big 12 experience, which hurt
CU, Patton said.
“We hfave to get out of this state of
not coming out and being as aggressive
as we do when we find ourselves in a
hole,” Patton said. “It is a mentality and
part of the learning curve they are in
right now.”
Gymnasts claim 2nd
By Darren Ivy
Assignment Reporter
In between hula dancing and lying
on the beach, the Nebraska women’s
gymnastics team turned in a second
place finish at the first-ever Maui
Invitational on Saturday
The No. 7 Comhuskers finished
1.65 points behind 1997 NCAA runner
up and pre-season No. 3 Arizona State.
“We would have loved to finish
first, but we can learn from what took
place,” Coach Dan Kendig said.
The Huskers were paced by Misty
Oxford, a junior All-American from
Kelso, Wash., and Heather Brink, a
sophomore All-American from
Lincoln.
Oxford won the all around with a
score of38.475 and Brink finished sec
ond with a 37.950.
Brink claimed the only individual
title with a 9.70 on the vault. With Brink
leading the way, die Huskers took three
of the top four places in the vault.
Oxford finished third and Arica Lamb
took fourth.
For Kendig, the stronger-than
expected vault performance was the
highlight of the meet
“Heading in, I had some questions
marks about vault,” Kendig said “Some
of our athletes really stepped up tonight.
I was pleased with how she (Lamb)
started us off on the vault. Arica played
the same role she did last year - leading
off and performing well. I hope she can
use this as a springboard”
The Huskers were down 1.825
points after uneven bars, the first event,
and Kendig said it could have been
worse.
After Laura Ohlendorf fell off the
bars to open for the Huskers, the rest of
the team had pressure to perform well.
Jess Swift, NU’s next gymnast, had
some trouble, but managed to stay on.
. “I was proud of her for not giving up
when she could have,” Kendig said
Kendig said the meet gave him a
chance to see what NU has to work on.
for the rest of the year,
siaiggoq n&iJsimg yisvo m rovo I!f?d !!
Coach upset with mat finish
From staff reports
Only half of the Nebraska
wrestling team’s starters traveled to
Minnesota Friday as die Comhuskers
fell to the second-ranked Golden
Gophers 43-3.
NU claimed third place at the
Great Plains Open Jan. 4 and defeat
ed North Carolina 29-6 Jan. 2 at the
Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Preseason favorite Ryan Tobin
wrestled at 190 pounds for the first
time this season and pinned No. 7
Scott Stay in one minute, 11 seconds.
But Coach Tim Neumann said he
was disappointed ip the team’s finish.
“Paul Gomez, Temoer Terry and
Jeramie Welder all had to drop out
after the first round because of
injuries,” Neumann said. “It was a lit
tle disappointing.”
Nebraska will travel to Iowa City
Jan. 17-18, for die National Duals.
If you’re a YYlClth whiz, you’ll
know it’s a gYCCLt deal.
(If you’re not, well, you can come along, too.)