Huskers prepare for tourney
TOURNEY from page 7
But there is a method to his
“Madness.”
“We’ve been pushing the mental
part of the game this week, the men
tal toughness,” Sanderford said.
“I’ve been hard to live with at prac
tice. I’ve been very demanding. I
don’t think you can win in the NCAA
Tournament with sunny-day players.
“You’ve got to be tough and
resilient. You have to be able to come
from behind and play in difficult sit
uations. The team that is resilient, the
team that can get themselves ready to
play, is going to win.”
Nebraska (22-9) has had limited
success in past tournaments.
Although it lost in the first round
during the 1996 NCAAs, the
Huskers advanced to the second
round in 1994.
Seniors Anna DeForge, Jami
Kubik and Emily Thompson, all key
contributors this season, competed
on NU’s last NCAA Tournament
team as sophomores. All agree this
year’s team has a different mentality
than the 1994 team.
“In the past, we were just excited
to get in,” DeForge said. “This year
we’ve got 22 wins and a very good
and experienced ball club. We’re
looking to win some games. The
mentality and attitude of our team is
probably the biggest difference.”
Other than its senior class, NU
has very little experience in the
NCAA Tournament. But its oppo
nent, New Mexico, has none. The
Lobos earned their first-ever bid by
winning four games in four days and
pulling off a surprising champi
onship in the Western Athletic
Conference Tournament.
Senior guard Abby Garchek, who
Sanderford compared with DeForge,
leads New Mexico (26-6) with 20.2
points per game.
“New Mexico is a carbon copy of
Iowa State,” Sanderford said. “They
shoot very well from the 3-point line
and play good defense. They have
some good, solid players, and I’m
sure they’ll be fired up after winning
the WAC Tournament.”
While the Lobos ended their sea
son on a high, NU finished its regu
lar season on a low after losing to
Oklahoma State 83-69 in the Big 12
Tournament. Sanderford said he
thinks the loss cost Nebraska a possi
ble four or five seed.
And NU’s lackluster perfor
mance and the consequences of it
have pushed Sanderford even harder
this week.
“Everybody knows he’s a great
coach,” NU forward Kubik said.
“He’s trying to push us every day. It’s
just a little harder now because we
are so run-down, and sometimes he
doesn’t think we’re giving him as
much as we feel like we’re giving
him.
“But we’re not tired of seeing
him. I want to see him for at least
three more weeks.”
Women’s Basketball Starters
NCAA Tournament
Today
Norfolk, Va. 5 p.m.
Nebraska 22-9
Poe. Name HL No. Yr. PPG RPG
-W :• a# tMW&W&a
F ArmaDeForge 5-11 30 Sr. 18.7 7.6
-M->• mmm- m •• m ts v&m uu
G Nicole Kubik 5-10 32 So. 13.1 3.1
':'G Brooke Schwartz - frit 21 :'So, *3.6
New Mexico 26-6
Poe. Name HL No. Yr. PPG RPG
m:-: BHK8m'% jv- • 6*2 36-.Jr.' . : ;f4£
F Jennifer Williams 6-0 42 Fr. 9.7 4.7
: C-'iC-:/' 66 31 ^Sr.87 8.3
G Abby Garchek 6-0 24 Sr. 20.2 4.8
G TamSsaSMee v"v: 36 14 St 31 i47
JonFrank/DN
By Darren Ivy
Assignment Reporter
Although the Nebraska men’s and
women’s gymnastics teams will be in
hostile territory Saturday ia State
College, Pena, they won’t be alone.
Sophomore Manny Galarza, junior
Laurie McLaughlin and women’s
Assistant Coach Rob Drass, who are all
from Pennsylvania and have ties to the
Nittany Lions, said friends and family
will be at the 6 p.m. meet at the 6,846
seat Rec Hall.
Women’s Coach Dan Kendig and
four of the other Comhusker gymnasts
also have ties to the state from working
and attending the Woodward (Penn.)
Gymnastics Camp.
“I know a lot of people, and it is fun
going back,” Kendig said.
The men hope a win over the No. 5
Nittany Lions will give them confi
dence for the NCAA Championships
April 16-18, which will be hosted by
Penn State.
Men’s Coach Francis Allen said he
was disappointed his No. 2 Huskers did
n’t put away No. 4 Ohio State last week
and hoped NU would compete well on
all the events against PSU.
“They are not going to let us run
away with it,” Allen said. “They have a
lot to prove.”
So does Galarza.
One of Galarza’s best friends, Mike
Dutka, competes for Penn State.
Galarza, who transferred to Nebraska
from Syracuse after the fall semester,
trained in the same gym with Dutka
growing up.
“With my buddy on (Penn State),
this is for bragging rights,” Galarza said.
“I am coming back home and want to
show I am on the best team in the coun
try and that my sacrifices to move far
away were worth it”
He also said beating Penn State at
home would help NU down the line.
“It would be a confidence booster,”
Galarza said “We would have the upper
hand because wed know we had been
here before and beaten them and could
beat everyone else here, too.”
The men and women will compete
at the same time, but Drass, a former
Penn State gymnast, said he won’t pick
sides in die men’s dual.
If he does, he’ll hear from both
Allen and Penn State Coach Randy
Jepson.
“I stay out of it,” Drass said.
“Francis gives me a hard time if I’m pro
Penn State, and Randy gives me a hard
time if I’m pro-Nebraska.”
Drass and Kendig hope the prepara
tions pay off for the No. 13 Huskers
against 15th-ranked PSU because
Kendig said NU is due for a big meet
McLaughlin hopes she can con
tribute to a big score in her return to
State College, which is her hometown.
Growing up, McLaughlin’s club
coach was Penn State Coach Steve
Shepard. While die was recruited by the
Nittany Lions, she was not offered a
scholarship, so she came to Nebraska.
That decision was hard on her
father, Dennis, who works at Penn
State.
“(My dad) is a big Penn State fan,”
McLaughlin said. “He’s tom between
schools, but for gymnastics, he is all for
us.”
Note:
Sophomore Nicole Wilkinson was
named the Big 12 Conference Gymnast
of the Week after scoring a 9.80 or high
er in three events to help Nebraska
defeat Iowa State 194.625-194.55 on
March 3.
NU unable
to hold lead
in 2nd half
NCAA from page 7_
NU turnover. Guard Kareem
Reid missed a layup, but
Hamilton lost the rebound, giv
ing the ball back to the
Razorbacks.
Arkansas made 13 of its last
14 free throw attempts in the
final three minutes.
“We took a little better care
of the basketball and we made
free throws,” Arkansas Coach
Nolan Richardson said of his
team’s second-half performance.
“That was the difference in the
game.”
Hamilton also said the
Razorbacks played better than
NU in the second half.
“I think they slowed the pace
down and they worked harder
than us,” Hamilton said. “We
didn’t play the whole 40 min
utes. If we played 40 minutes,
we could have made it to the
Sweet 16.”
With the win, the Razorbacks
(24-8) advanced to the second
round of the West regional and
will play Utah Saturday at 3:45
p.m. in Boise. The Utes (26-3)
defeated San Francisco 85-68
earlier Thursday.
Arkansas was led by guard
Pat Bradley’s 19 points and
Reid’s 17.
Along with Lue’s 19,
Hamilton added 14 points and a
game-high 10 rebounds.
Nee said he was looking for
ward to Nebraska basketball tak
ing it to “the next step.” The
Huskers could return all five
starters next season. Lue said
after the game he was not sure if
he would enter the NBA draft.
NU junior forward Andy
Markowski, who scored 10
points, also said he was looking
forward to next season.
“Hopefully, we’ll get every
body back next year and we’ll
make a run at it again,”
Markowski said. “I think this is
something we can build on. It
left a bad taste in my mouth.”
1998
SUE TIDBALL
AWARD FOR
CREATIVE HUMANITY
HONORS:
Kirby Baird
Keith Bartels
Cheryl Card
Carol Danielson
Sue Eckerson
Gina Matkin
Webster Robbins
(posthumous)
Kim Schellpeper
Karen Schurr
AWARD CELEBRATION &
RECEPTION
SUNDAY, MARCH 15
7:00 PM
St. Marks Episcopal Church
1309 R. Street
Celebrative Music &
Entertainment
PUBLIC INVITED
NCAA 1st round upsetting for top seeds
(AP) - It was a day of upsets and
close calls in the first round of the
NCAA Tournament Thursday.
For the second straight season, No.
3-seed South Carolina lost in the first
round of the NCAA Tournament, this
time falling to 1 ^-seeded Richmond
62-61 in Washington, D.C.
The Spiders (23-7) held the
Gamecocks (23-8) scoreless for the last
76 seconds of the game as South
Carolina guard B J. McKie missed a 5
footer as time expired.
Last season, South Carolina was a
No. 2 seed and lost to No. 15 seed
Coppin State.
In other action Thursday:
Cincinnati 65, N. Arizona 62
BOISE, Idaho - Finally, a long shot
went in for Cincinnati, and the Bearcats
survived the long-shot challenge of
Northern Arizona with a harrowing 65
62 first-round victory in the NCAA
West regional.
D’Juan Baker, 4 for 14 from the
field up to that time, sank a 3-pointer
with 3.6 seconds to play Thursday as the
Bearcats avoided becoming only the
fourth No. 2 seed in tourney history to
falltoaNo. 15 seed.
Northern Arizona (21-8), a 15-point
underdog in its first NCAA tournament,
frustrated the bigger, stronger Bearcats
(27-5) all afternoon with a pestering
defense and a patient offense as the
crowd at Boise State University
Pavilion roared its approval.
West Virginia 82, Temple 52
BOISE, Idaho -Temple’s trademark
matchup zone proved no match for West
■ •
Virginia.
The taller lOth-seeded
Mountaineers passed the ball through,
over and around the No. 7 Owls and
used an effective full-court press to
hand Temple its most lopsided loss of
the season, 82-52, Thursday in the first
round of the NCAA West regional in
Boise, Idaho.
West Virginia (23-8) advanced to
Saturday’s second round to play No. 2
seed Cincinnati.
The younger Owls (21-9) never got
untracked against West Virginia’s five
senior starters.
Jarrod West led West Virginia with
15 points, and Brent Solheim added 13
points and 10 rebounds. Brian Lewin
also had 10 rebounds as the
Mountaineers controlled the boards, 44
22.
North Carolina 88, Navy 52
HARTFORD, Conn. - In a game
that saw top-seeded North Carolina take
only a 38-28 halftime lead, the Tar Heels
outscored the Midshipmen 50-24 in the
second half in a 88-52 win in the first
round on the East regional.
All-American forward Antawn
Jamison led UNC with 17points and 14
rebounds as die Tar Heels (31-3) outre
bounded Navy (19-11) 57-37 despite
committing 12 turnovers in the first
half.
NC Charlotte 77, IlL-Chicago 62
HARTFORD, Conn. - In the game
to decide who would play top-seeded
North Carolina in the second round, No.
8 seed UNC-Chariotte rolled over No. 9
seed Illinois-Chicago 77-62 in the first
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round of the East regional.
DeMarco Johnson dominated for
the Forty-Niners (20-10), as he had 30
points and 13 rebounds.
Washington 69, Xavier 68
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Forward
Deon Luton hit a 17-foot jumper with
11.2 seconds remaining to give 11 to
seeded Washington a 69-68 upset of
sixth-seeded Xavier in the first round of
die East Regional
Luton led the Huskies (19-9) with
17 points.
Princeton 69 UNLV 57
HARTFORD, Conn. - Fifth-seeded
Princeton used a 20-2 run in the first
half to help put away 12to-seeded UNLV
69-57 in the first round of the East
regional.
Princeton extended its nation-long
winning streak to 20 games and moved
to 27-1 on the season.
Indiana 94, Oklahoma 87 OT
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Seventh
seeded Indiana outscored Oklahoma
14-7 in the overtime period after blow
ing a 19-point lead in regulation in the
first round of the East Regional.
Senior guard Corey Brewer led the
Sooners (22-11) with 22 points, but
fouled out in the extra period, ending the
run for OU. The Hoosiers improved to
20-11 as forward Andrae Patterson
scored 25 points and grabbed six
rebounds.
Maryland 82, Utah State 68
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Fourth
seeded Maryland buried 13 to-seeded
Utah State 47-27 on the boards as
Maryland beat the Aggies 82-68 in the
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first round of the West regional.
Forward Obinna Ekezie led the
Terrapins (20-10) with 21 points and 11
rebounds. UM will play Illinois in the
second round Saturday.
Illinois 64, South Alabama 51
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Fifth
seeded Illinois forced 19 turnovers and
had 12 steals en route to a 64-51 victory
in die first round of the West regional.
Illinois senior guards Kevin Turner
and Matt Heldman had 18 and 15
points, respectively, as the Fighting Dlini
(23-9) advanced to play No. 4 seed
Maryland in the second round Saturday.
South Alabama, who nearly defeat
ed national champion Arizona last sea
son in the NCAA Tournament, finished
the season at 21-7.
Illinois St 82, Tennessee 81OT
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Forward
Dan Muller hit a point-blank layup with
1.8 seconds remaining as Illinois State
outlasted Tennessee 82-81 in overtime
in the first round of die West regional.
Muller received the pass from Rico
Hill, who was double-teamed, and made
the layup before the Volunteers’ Vegas
Davis missed a desperation heave at the
buzzer.
Hill had 22 points as the Redbirds
moved to 25-5 on the season. Tennessee
went home at 20-9.
Utah 85, San Francisco 68
BOSIE, Idaho - No. 3 seed Utah
rolled past No. 14 seed San Francisco
85-68 as center Michael Doleac scored
27 points, including making 15 of 17
attempts from the free-throw line. Drew
Hanson added 13 fortheUtes (26-3).