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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 27, 1998)
NU NCAA hopes looking brighter By Sam McKkwon Si ■•lint' Rc’u,rt>‘>’ Depending on who vou ask. the Nebraska men's basketball team mav have alreadv secured a spot in the N C A A Tournament A s k I e x a s Tech Coach James Dickey, whose Red Raider team lost to the Comhuskers 82 65 Wednesday, and he'll say they’re in. “Nebraska shouldn’t even be questioned about being in the NCAA Tournament,” Dickey said. “They ought to be there. They're good.” Ask NU point guard Tyronn Lue, and he’ll say he'd still like to win the Huskers’ last regular season game at Iowa State Saturday -just to be safe. “We just want to win out,” Lue said. “If we won six straight games, we’d be a hot team going into the (NCAA) Tournament.” Nebraska already has some good arguments to be in the tourney going mto Saturday’s ESPN-televised game with the Cyclones, set for 6:30 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa. -At 18-10 overall and 9-6 in the Big 12 Conference, NU has a record indicative of a NCAA Tournament bound team. Last season, Texas made the Big Dance with a 16-11 overall record and a 10-6 record in the Big 12. M s Rating Percentage Index is high 1 lie NCAA Tournament Committee uses the RP1 which com- i bines strength of schedule. Division I vv inning percentage and opponents' strength of schedule to help deter mine tourney teams. While the NCAA doesn't release its off icial RP1 ratings, an independent organization that duplicates its find ings showed Nebraska to be 39th in the nation. It showed NU’s schedule to be the 23rd toughest out of 306 teams. Nebraska Coach Danny Nee said any RPI under 40 is good. But Nee said he isn’t looking past ISU (12-16 and 5-10), which is 5-2 vs. Big 12 teams at home this season. And he doesn’t think the Huskers have secured a spot in the NCAA Tournament yet. “We’ve got to win a couple more games,” Nee said. “At least two. I told the guys that we have to stay focused for Iowa State.” A big part of NU’s game plan will go back to its defense. Nee said. The Huskers held the Cyclones to 34.6 per cent shooting from the field in Nebraska's 63-49 win over ISU on Jan. 24. “Our defense was sound against Colorado and Texas Tech,” Nee said. “We've got to go out and play damn hard on defense for 40 minutes to win on the road.” Buskers settle for split From Staff Reports Alter tailing to ( astern kentuckc earlier in the day the Nebraska baseball team u armed up its bats and defeated C incmnatt 12~7Thursda\ in Louis\ tile. k\ The C ornhuskers (4-4) knocked a season-high 14 hits against the Bearcats including eight for extra bases. ‘AVe jumped on them earl\ and did n't let up until the end.” NU senior Cliffton Durham said. In the bottom of the first, freshman Daniel kinnira ripped a two-run double to right field. NU added another run in the second on a single by shortstop Bryan Schmidt to take a 3-0 lead. Cincinnati (1-6) scored a run in the top of the third before the Huskers jumped on Bearcat starter Larry Mohs with three runs in the fourth and six in the fifth. Nl designated hitter Craig Moore led the ! luskers at the plate going 5 for 9 on the dax \x ith six RBis. The junior upped his season axerage to .400. Lettx .lax Siriani (2-1) earned the \x m tor Nebraska tossing sex en innings and going up fixe earned runs while striking out six. The 1 luskers had similar success on the mound in the first game, but didn't get the run support. First baseman Ken Harvey smacked a 385-foot homer to put Nebraska up 2 0 in the first inning against Eastern Kentucky, but the Huskers scored just twice the rest of the game. Flarvey fin ished the day 4 for 8 keeping his season average at .500 (15 for 30). Senior right-hander Ken Duebelbeis (1-1) threw seven innings allowing five earned runs and striking out two. “The pitching was solid,” Durham said. “We just didn’t score when we had mmm the opportunities to. We didn't have that killer instinct." The Huskers will face Louisville at 1 p.m. today and will play two games Saturday and one Sunday before leav ing Louisville. Despite the loss, NU still has a posi tive attitude, Durham said. “I still think we're the cream of the crop down here,” Durham said. "We should go 5-1.” DeForge up for final home game By Shannnon Heffelfinger Senior Reporter Twenty minutes after the Nebraska women’s basketball team finished prac ticing Thursday Anna DeForge lingered on the court at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. She circled the 3-point arc, lofting shot after shot until she began to make more than she missed. DeForge, who leads the Comhuskers with 18.2 points per game, finished with eight points in Wednesday’s loss at Texas Tech - the second time in three games the senior All-American has failed to score in dou ble digits. “I need help, that’s for sure,” DeForge said. DeForge is one of five NU seniors who will play at the Devaney Center for the final time in her career Saturday at 7:05 p.m. against Iowa State. And when DeForge - along with Jami Kubik, Emily Thompson, J.J. Jurgens and Amy Gusso - takes the home court for the last time, she wants to go out in style. “I've really thought quite a bit about it,” DeForge said. “It will be emotional, but I am also excited for it. I’ve put in a long four years here. You want to go out with a bang in your last game at home.” ISU Coach Bill Fennelly suspects the Cyclones will receive DeForge’s best effort and then some. The Cyclones own the second-place spot in the league as the Big 12 Conference Tournament approaches, while the Huskers could finish any where from third, if they win tomorrow night, to sixth, if they lose. “(DeForge) has just got to be bounc ing off the walls,” Fennelly said. “I’m just glad she’s a senior and, thank good Please see WOMEN on 8
