NU diver
hopes to
make mark
I Freshman Amanda
Zins will compete in an
exclusive NCAA meet
this weekend in Texas.
By Lisa Vonnahme
Staff Reporter
Amanda Zins has some big
shoes to fill.
A freshman diver for the
Nebraska women’s swimming
and diving team, Zins wants to
prove she can fill the hole left by
T.D. Rowe, a diver who trans
ferred to Minnesota last year.
Starting Friday, Zins will get
her chance.
This weekend, Zins will be
one of two women and three men
representing Nebraska at the
NCAA Zone D Diving meet in
Austin, Texas. A qualifying score
is required by all athletes during
regular-season competition for
an invitation to the zone meet.
The two-day competition is
the only chance Zins will get to
qualify for the national champi
onships March 19-21 in
Minneapolis. The top six women
from combined finishes on the 1
and 3-meter springboards will
qualify for the NCAAs.
I'm not counting myselt in
and I’m not counting myself
out.” Zins said. “You have to be
solid. It’s not a meet for screw
ups.”
Because of her hard work this
season. Zins said, she has been
able to keep up with those who
used to be out of her reach.
Zins placed fifth on the 3
meter and seventh on the 1-meter
at the Big 12 Conference meet
last month.
“I’ve competed with most of
these girls before,” Zins said.
“This year I’ve been back and
forth with some girls who used to
just kick my butt.”
Zins, whose athletic career
originally began in gymnastics,
feels like she’s ready for the meet
because she’s worked harder this
year than ever before. In high
school, Zins only worked out
with her coach once a day for
four days a week. Now Zins
works out morning and night,
either lifting weights or practic
ing dives.
Zins said she also has tried
harder because she has had
someone push her this year: her
roommate and fellow teammate,
Molly McDonald.
“I think we work well togeth
er,” McDonald said. “We’re
friends outside of the pool, and
when we’re in the pool we push
each other in friendly competi
tion. We help each other a lot.”
Zins, along with McDonald,
will be facing strong competition
at the zones. The teams at the
meet include the Big 12 schools
plus Arkansas, Illinois, Southern
Methodist and Houston.
“Texas has five girls that
could be in there,” Zins said.
“They have five top divers.”
NU senior Kubik
adapts to new role
KUBIK from page 10
“I don’t know of many kids in my 20 years of coaching
that I respect more than I do Jami Kubik,” Sanderford said.
“We’ve gotten everything out of her that she’s had to
offer.”
Many coaches wondered if Kubik had enough to offer
five years ago when the Cambridge native prepared to
make the jump from Class C-2 high school basketball to
collegiate basketball. Kubik received walk-on offers from
both then-NU Coach Angela Beck and Volleyball Coach
Terry Pettit, but did not catch the eye of other Division I
programs.
Beck offered Kubik a scholarship at the last minute.
Kubik decided to accept, but many questioned her ability.
“When I first got here, it even felt like the coaches
were doubting me,” Kubik said. “A lot of players can just
come into college and everything is natural for them. I had
to come in everyday and work hard. I wasn’t going to play
just because I was here. I had to work hard to prove myself
every day in practice.”
Kubik’s hard work rarely goes unnoticed. Nicole
Kubik, a starting guard for NU and Jami’s younger sister,
said Jami motivates her every day.
NU All-American Anna DeForge agreed.
“Jami is kind of the unsung hero on our team,” DeForge
said. “She'll play gritty defense w'hen we need it. She’ll
get the loose balls and grab rebounds and steals.
“She’s also an offensive option. If she gets it from 15 to
18 feet, she’ll knock the shot dow n.”
But offensive statistics never have ranked high on
Kubik’s list of priorities, especially this year. In her final
season as a Husker, Kubik knows exactly what she wants
to happen for NU in the NCAA Tournament this weekend.
It's a black-and-white decision.
“I think we can definitely win some games if we go in
and execute,” Kubik said. “My ideal would be to play the
hardest game we can play. I would be really sad to end my
career any other way.”
Matt Miller/DN
NU SENIOR JAMI KUBIK has helped motivate the Huskers this season. Nebraska faces
New Mexico Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Norfolk, Va.
Huskers, Lue mean business
NCAA from page 10
will hav e to defy their underdog odds -
and the Razorbacks’ “40 minutes of
hell” full-court, pressure defense.
During the season, Arkansas was
one of the nation’s deadliest defenses,
leadmg the Southeastern Conference in
forcing 22.7 turnovers per game and in
turnover margin, taking 6.1 turnovers
per game more than they commit.
Nee said finding a way to dissect
that pressure will pave the way to good
looks at the basket.
“That’s the key to the game - how
we handle that tempo,” Nee said.
“They’re going to make a 100-mile-an
hour-type basketball game. That’s what
Arkansas basketball is all about.”
NU plans to counteract the pressure
with Lue, a first-team All-Big 12 selec
tion who averaged 21.3 points and 4.7
assists per game during the season.
Nee said Lue will more than likely
play all 40 minutes against the
Razorbacks and be responsible for
breaking the press. Lue said he has no
problems with that.
“I’m going to try to be the primary
ball handler against the press and try
and break it myself,” Lue said. “I don’t
know how we're going to slow down the
tempo, but I’m going to try to.”
Offensively, Nee said, Arkansas is a
team that runs “no set offense” and will
take any shot, anywhere on the floor,
whether players are guarded or not.
In a Monday press conference,
Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson
agreed with that notion, adding that his
team sets up its offense with its defense.
“We don’t have a great inside
game,” Richardson said. “We have to
rely on traps in our defense. We don’t
have a post-up offense.”
If those traps are allowed to be set,
Nee said, players like guards Pat Bradley
(15 points per game) and Tarik Wallace
(10.4 points per game) - could go off.
Another concern for the Huskers is
depth. While NU uses an eight-man
rotation, Arkansas regularly plays 12
men, with all 12 averaging more than 8
minutes per game.
That depth could take a hit today, with
forward Derek Hood still nursing a
sprained ankle that kept him out of the
Razorbacks’ 99-74 loss to Kentucky in the
semifinals of the SEC Tournament.
Richardson said that if Hood is at least 80
percent healthy by game time, he will play.
Hood or no Hood, Nee said,
Arkansas can break teams with its
waves of players.
“They have major, major depth,”
Nee said. “You never catch your breath
with that tempo.”
If Nebraska does defeat Arkansas,
they will play again in the second round
Saturday at 3:50 p.m. against the winner
of the game between No. 3 seed Utah
and No. 14 seed San Francisco.
A match with the Utes would
reunite Lue with Utah Coach Rick
Majerus, who coached Lue last summer
for the USA 22 & Under World
Championship Team.
Men’s Basketball Starters
NCAA Tournament
Today
Boise State University Pavilion
Boise, Idaho 9:20 p.m.
Nebraska 20-11
Pos. Name Ht. WL Yr. PPG
G TyronnLue 6-0 175 Jr. 21.3
G Cookie Belcher 6-3 205 So. 11.1
C Venson Hamilton 6-10 235 Jr. 11.1
F Chad Johnson 6-6 220 Fr. 3.8
F Larry Florence 6-5 220 Jr. 9.0
Arkansas 23-8
Pos. Name Ht Wt. Yr. PPG
G Pat Bradley 6-2 195 Jr. 15.0
G Kareem Reid 6-2 165 Jr. 11.6
F Derek Hood 6-8 215 So. 8.5
F Nick Davis 6-9 205 Sr. 10.8
F Brandon Davis 6-5 200 Fr. 2.9
Sutton teen set to defend title as ESPN pool winner
HASTINGS (AP) - After watching
four to six college basketball games a
week, reading numerous articles and lis
tening to others’ opinions, Aaron
Plettner of Sutton said he’s fully pre
pared to defend his title in the ESPNET
SportsZone Tournament Challenge - a
tournament bracket contest on the
Internet.
Plettner, who last year won a $4,000
prize package - including tickets to this
year’s NCAA men’s basketball Final
Four - by collecting the most points
among 176,476 participants in the con
test, finished filling out his bracket for
this year’s 64-team tournament Tuesday
night.
Contestants have until Thursday to
enter.
Plettner, who correctly picked
Arizona to win last year’s tournament,
said he’s banking on the Wildcats to win
again this season.
“I’ve liked Arizona for a long time
so to pick them to lose would be hard,”
said Plettner, a 16-year-old sophomore.
“That’s why I picked them to win last
year. When you like a team, it’s hard to
go against them.”
Plettner chose Kansas in the
Midwest region, Duke in the South and
North Carolina in the East to join
Arizona in the West in the Final Four,
which will be played March 28 and 30 at
San Antonio.
In addition to his Final Four teams,
Plettner chose Purdue, Kentucky,
Connecticut and Utah to reach the Elite
Eight. Of those eight, only Utah - a third
seed - is seeded lower than one or two.
Plettner said he tried not to let person
al bias for a team affect his picks, except
for Arizona, Nebraska and Big 12 teams
Kansas, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma.
He chose the Huskers, seeded 11th,
to upset sixth-seeded Arkansas in the
first round Thursday night.
“It’s tough to pick against the home
team,” Plettner said. “I think Nebraska
has a chance to win, but they’re really
going to have to play well. They’ve been
a little unpredictable this season.”
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