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
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