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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 9, 1998)
Darren Ivy Equity may harm men’s gymnastics Men's Gymnastics Coach Francis Allen has seen it all in his 29-year coaching career. When he started in 1969. there were more than 125 collegiate teams. Now. there are only 25 teams left. In fact. NCAA men's gymnas tics seemed to be all but dead five years ago The number of men's gym pro grams had dropped below 40 - less than 7 percent of the total NCAA schools which meant the NCAA didn't have to host a championship. In 1996. NCAA legislation was passed to save the championships, but the sport is still struggling to get back on its feet. One of the main reasons men s gymnastics is struggling is Title IX. which states that men and women should be given equal opportunities and funding in sports. To get an equal number of men's and women's teams, many schools dropped their men's gy m nastics program. "They have to get rid of some thing." Allen said. "There is only so much money football will make. "It costs $400,000 to start a new (gymnastics) program. Then you have to spend another S400.000 to start a women's team " Evidence of Title IX is seen in the Big 12 Conference, where Kansas. Kansas State. Iowa State and Colorado once had programs that helped make the Big Eight the premiere men's gymnastics confer ence in the nation. Now, Oklahoma and NU are the only schools that still have teams. Getting rid of men's gymnas tics is not the answer to the gender equity issue. Why should these athletes be punished for being males? They practice four hours a day, doing something they love. Some even have goals of being Olympians some day and go to col lege to prepare for competition. If too many more national teams drop programs, the NCAA may not even be able to justify a championship. If that happens, high school gymnasts will be forced to hone their skills for the Olympics in pri vate clubs rather than colleges. And that is not fair to these ath letes, Ted Harris, a former NU gymnast, said. "We have a lot of kids who are hard-working and deserving of college experience," Harris said. "We will be sacrificing their col lege education if they have to train in private clubs.” Darren Ivy is a sophomore news-editorial major and an assignment reporter and copy editor at the Daily Nebraskan. Wildcats tear into Huskers Final two minutes doom NU By Andrew Strnad Staff Reporter Lately for Nebraska, the Bob Dev aney Sports Center has been any thing but home sweet home. Unable to score in the last two min utes, the Nebraska basketball team dropped its fourth straight game Saturday 69-63 to Kansas State in front of 10.730 fans. NU has now lost two consecutiv e home games - including an 82-71 loss to Kansas on Feb. 1. "Obviously, this is a major setback," NU Coach Danny Nee said. "The tim ing of it couldn't be any worse " Trailing 62-60 with 2:19 remaining in the game, NU forward Troy Piatkowski drained his fifth 3-pointer of the game to give the Comhuskers a one-point lead. But Kansas State (14-6 overall and 5-5 in the Big 12 Conference) answered back when Aaron Swartendruber hit his third 3-pointer with just three seconds on the shot clock and 1:55 left in the game. The Huskers (13-10 and 4-6) would not score auam. "K-State came in and gist made the plays especially the 3-point shots," Nee said. "1 thought K-State deserved it. the wa\ they played those last two. three minutes." KSU scored on four of its last five possessions, and Mannv Dies sealed the victorv with a dunk with 13 seconds on the clock. After Piatkowski's last 3-pointer, the Huskers took only two shots in the last two minutes, missing both. For the second time in two weeks, junior Tvronn Lue had difficulties against the Wildcats. On Jan. 28, Lue had a season-low seven points as the Huskers were defeated 72-49 in Manhattan, Kan. Saturday, Lue made 6 of 16 shots and scored 16 points. After his short jumper with 4:10 remaimng, Lue didn't take a single shot. “(I'm) mad." Lue said. “They just came in and outworked us. At times we play hard then we relax." In the first half, both teams traded leads eight times before the Huskers went on an 8-0 run to end the half. KSU forward takes control to seal victory By Sam McKewon Senior Reporter For 35 minutes of the Nebraska- Kansas State men's basketball game, KSU forward Manny Dies played the role of the invisible man. But with time running out and the Wildcats’ first Big 12 Conference road win hanging in the balance, Dies suddenly appeared and took center stage, scoring seven of KSU’s last 13 points in a 69-63 win over the Cornhuskers Saturday. “I realized that other guys were going to do most of the scoring," Dies said. “But when they got me the ball at the end I made the plays.” Dies, who came in averaging 16.9 points per game, had only scored three points with 4:55 remaining in the game - tied at 56. Then Dies came alive. He con verted a three-point play to put KSU up 59-56. Then, with the Wildcats clinging to 65-63 lead Dies hit a running four-footer that delivered the final blow to Nebraska with 43 seconds left. “We were designing our motion offense and wanted to wait until we got fouled'' Kansas State Coach Tom Asbury said. “We got out of sync a little, and Manny just marlp a orpst nld\/“ Matt Miller/DN KSU’S JOSH REID drives past NU forward Troy Piatkowski during the Husker’s 69-63 loss Saturday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Dies s barrage was one part of j the clutch execution down the ; stretch against the Huskers by the Wildcats. KSU scored on four of itc 1 a c t f i v nnccpcsinnc n f t h ! Piatkowski hit two 3-pointers in the last minute. The 6-foot-5 junior had a game high 17 points and made 5 of 9 shots from 3-point range - including 4 of 5 in the first half. “That's his shot.” Nee said. "That's the best shot that Troy Piatkowski brings to the table, and that's why we recruited him.” Piatkowski's fourth 3-pointer came with four seconds remaining in the half and gave NU a 39-34 halftime lead - its biggest of the game. After shooting 50 percent from the field in the first half, the Huskers made just 9 of 25 shots in the second half. “We need to get it inside and estab lish an inside-outside game.” Piatkowski said. “We can’t just depend on Tyronn shooting the ball all the time. When the game is close, we all tend to stand around and watch Tyronn dribble the ball and we just don't do anything for ourselves to get open” Nebraska was outrebounded 42-31 and made only 6 of 13 free throws. But the W ildcats didn’t fair any bet ter at the line, converting on 2 of 8 free throws. With the loss, Nebraska fell to ninth in the Big 12. The Huskers will have to go 4-2 the rest of the way to finish .500 in the conference. “We need to pull together and get some wins here,” Piatkowski said. NU will return to action Wednesday night in College Station, Texas, against Texas A&M. The Aggies are 6-14 and 0-10 in the Big 12. game, including 3-pointers from guards Duane Davis and Aaron Swartzendruber. Asbury said the conversions j were the difference in the game. “It was a war," Asbury said. “But we made the plays down the stretch. You don't have to make the spectacular plays - just the little, hard-nosed ones." The win gave KSU a much needed road victory in the Big 12 and opened the door for a winning conference record. “That’s a real monkey off our back," said KSU forward Josh Reid, who led the Wildcats with 12 points. “We hadn’t won on the road since I’ve been here, so it feels real good to come in here and do it.” Cyclones spin by NU to wm 83-69 By Mike Kluck Staff Reporter AMES, Iowa - Before Saturday’s Nebraska women’s basketball game against Iowa State, the No. 25 Cornhuskers appeared to be ready to go on the road and play anybody. ' After all, NU had beaten Texas, Oklahoma State and Missouri by Crhufart* an average of 21 OUnWdriZ points over the last week and a half. Those three wins had given the team confidence and moved Nebraska back into the race for the Big 12 Conference champi onship. It only took Iowa State 20 minutes Saturday night to dismantle and crumble the Huskers’ work. The Cyclones - in front of a record crowd of 6,120 at Hilton Coliseum - used first half runs of 9-2 and 15-6 to build a 42-22 halftime lead en route to a 83-69 victory. The win moved ISU to 19-4 over all and 8-2 in the Big 12 Conference. Nebraska fell to 17-7 and 6-4. “Obviously the first half was crit ical,” Iowa State Coach Bill Fennelly said. “It was the first game all year where we really came out and played great in the first half. The Cyclones connected on 52 percent of their field goals in the first half including 6 of 15 shots from behind the 3-point arc. The Huskers, on the other hand, made just 9 of 33 field goal attempts in the game. “It might be one of the worst first halves I ever sat through,” NU Coach Paul Sanderford said. But not all Huskers were stopped by the Cyclone defense. NU guard Brooke Schwartz, who finished with a career-high 21 points, connected on a career-best five 3 pointers. “I haven’t been much of a threat all this year, so they weren't keying on me,” Schwartz said. “Heck, I wouldn’t key on me. Then I come into the game and I just felt they should have a little more respect for me. I just had the hot hand, and the hoop looked really big tonight.” The Huskers switched to a full court press to open the second half and were able to cut the Cyclones’ lead to 10 when DeForge made a jump shot with 12:09 remaining in the game. Iowa State then went on an 8-2 run to retake control of the game. Despite the loss, Sanderford said, the Huskers will still be a factor in the Big 12 race. Nebraska will face Kansas Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. in the Bob Devaney Sports Center.