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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 11, 1998)
Belcher returns in 86-76 victory - —* _. By Darren Ivy Staff writer The return of Cookie Belcher to the Nebraska lineup provided a big boost for the Comhuskers on Tuesday night as they defeated Next Level Sports 86 76 before 5,046 fans at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Belcher, who sat out the last game with a bruised thigh, scored 15 points, dished out seven assists, grabbed six rebounds and made four steals in 31 minutes of action. With Belcher back in the starting lineup, NU looked more in sync than they did vs. Pella Windows. “(Our starters) have good chem istry,” Belcher said. “This is the best chemistry we’ve had since I’ve been here. We know there is not a star player. We each try to play our own role.” One key role player is senior center Venson Hamilton. He scored 27 points, Basketball Nebraska Next Level Sports grabbed nine rebounds and made five steals. However, he committed five turnovers for the second-straight game. “We need to cut down our turnovers,” Hamilton said. “I need to cut down my turnovers. I don’t want to have any, but that’s not always possible. I want not more than two.” Snyder keeps KSU quiet before game By David Wilson Senior staff writer r MANHATTAN, Kan. - Bill Snyder’s fair-skinned face turned bright red in fewer than five seconds Masked a question Suddenly, he smiled. faced Kansas Cll . „ State football anyuer coach has kept his Heisman Trophy candidate, quarter back Michael Bishop, away from the media for more than a month. . “I don’t know how to answer that,” ne saia. “We do have players that can be emotional - and I appreciate that The game is played with a huge degree of emotion. Obviously, it has to be tem pered.” Snyder put the same media restric tions on Bishop after he called his teammates “quitters” following last' season’s matchup with Nebraska. But that’s typical of the way Snyder runs his program - high on focus, low on distractions. Currently ranked No. 1 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll and No. 2 in The Associated Press Poll, the Wildcats hold closed practices within barbed-wire fences that surround the stadium - despite the increased media attention. And Snyder still generally limits his interviews to news-confer ence settings. Only ESPN was granted an inter view with Bishop this week as KSU (9-0 overall and 6-0 in the Big 12 Conference) prepares to face Nebraska (8-2 and 4-2) in Manhattan on Saturday. * Surrounded by hype, Snyd< yet to publicly get psyched about play ing the 1 l^-ranked Comhuskers. “I’m not comfortable or uncom fortable,” Snyder said. “If we didn’t have this press conference, I could stay in my office and work. That would be just fine with me. Anything else that could become a distraction, we’d just assume that they weren’t there.” On more than one occasion Tuesday, Snyder insisted he was not trying to downplay the importance of Saturday’s game. The Wildcats, who won one game in 1989 - Snyder’s first season - have slowly improved to the point where they now are considered national championship contenders. However, KSU has not defeated Nebraska since 1968. Its only loss last season came from NU at Memorial Stadium. “Is it important?” Snyder said. “Why, shoot, yes. (Nebraska) is always important to me. It’s a very sig nificant ballgame. But there’s not a ballgame that is going to make or break this program.” The game-by-game approach is nothing new to KSU fifth-year senior guard Jeremy Martin. * “We were here when it was a strug gle to win,” Martin said. “You truly didn’t look ahead. For the guys that have only been here a few years, it might be a little harder.” Snyder’s mild-mannered persona just days before one of the biggest games of his career doesn’t surprise Martin either. “I’ve seen him get angry, and I’ve seen him upset,” Martin said, “but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him excit ed.” ■... ' ♦ \ ' .V : . ■ " one week only November 9th - November 14th ■ . • . /, . . • ' . • ;■ www.unl.edu/DailyNeb 1 ■ , • :’ -•■ti'-&*^l ‘llvll is* • - 'i'&'fc’A-S:-;**.^-1 a«Pfc. •rfia-.«tiv*r«g;» a&ki- rSi-a® il^HP'iWl ./,... \ • ; Lower Level, Nebraska Union ■ 472-7300 Lower Level, East Union ■ 472-1746 www.irnabraska.bkstr.com P:'
