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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 1999)
Energized second half nets Huskers a win AjjGIES from page 9s_ Conference) came out flat and fell behind by as many as 12 points. Each time NU would close the gap, A&M guards Clifton Cook and Chris Clayton had 3-point shots to answer. In the first half, the Aggies nailed 7 of 13 shot attempts from behind the arc. Clayton nailed his fourth one of the half at the buzzer to give A&M a 38-30 halftime lead. “When you shoot the ball that well from the 3 point line, you’re going to be in most games,” Markowski said. Trailing by 8, NU’s locker room was quiet at halftime. Then Cookie Belcher spoke up and said, “Let’s win this one for Andy.” “In the second half, we came out and played with more energy,” Markowski said. “When we show up and play with energy on defense, we seem to play better on the offensive end and we scored a lot of points in the second half.” Fifty-seven this time, to be exact. More points than it scored the entire games in recent losses to Oklahoma State and Kansas State. Several factors led to the resurgent offense, Nee said. Balanced scoring and fewer turnovers were two. In his first start of the season, Troy Piatkowski went 7-9 from the floor en route to a 17-point per formance. Larry Florence added 12 points and Belcher had 11 points and eight assists. And of course there was Venson Hamilton. “Again the big fella quietly does his thing with 23 points and nine rebounds, and we basically forgot about him the last 12 minutes of the game,” Nee said. As the clock wound down under two minutes, Hamilton was hoping Nee would forget about him a little longer. In fact, he yelled at Cary Cochran to hurry up and throw the ball in before his substitution could enter the game. “I wanted to shoot a 3-pointer,” the 6-foot-10 center said with a laugh. Hamilton didn’t get to shoot his 3-pointer, but it didn’t matter to the 11,294 fans in the Bob Devaney Sports Center, who gave him a standing ovation. It will be the last time NU fans will see Hamilton By Adam Hunker Senior staff writer Whatever second-half bug it was that bit the Nebraska men’s basketball team against Kansas State, rest assured it was remedied Saturday against Texas A&M. In fact, it may been catching - for what befell die Comhuskers in their dismal, 17-point second half against KSU on Feb. 24, spread to the Aggies on Saturday as NU exploded for 57 second-half points, and left A&M hacking in a cloud of dust The Huskers overcame a 38-30 halftime deficit to win in sterling, season-ending style 87-68. For the Aggies, it was another disappointment the team could ill afford. “I don’t know what came over us,” A&M junior guard Clifton Cook said. “It must have been that we just got a littie happy after the first half, got the big head. But after a while, we didn’t know what hit us.” Following a first half in which the Aggies were 7 13 (.538) from the 3-point line and shot 39.4 percent from the field, things pointedly deteriorated into a dismal second period shooting display. The Aggies were just 7-27 (.259) from the field and saw a marked drop in 3-point production with only five 3s in 16 shots (.313). Cook, who was 2-4 from the arc in the first half, was just 1-7 in die sec ond. “We’ve been coming out hot a lot, and then we just lose it,” Cook said. “Shots won’t fall, we turn the ball over. We’ve got to learn how to handle that, when bad things happen.” and the other seniors at home. But Nee is hopeful; the season still has a few more games. “Are we in (the NCAA Tournament)?” Nee asks. “I don’t think we are (right now). Can we play our Both Cook and senior guard Chris Clayton ended the game with 21 points to lead A&M. Only 5 of Cook’s points and 9 of Clayton’s points came in the second half. Clayton said the difference for him in the second half was A&M’s lack of focus and overly relaxed play in the second half. “It was like we were just standing around,” he said. “I caught myself standing sometimes. We came out lax, you can’t afford to do that” 1 Clayton had only five shots from 3-point land in the second half - he made three of them. A&M Coach Melvin Watkins credited the Husker defense for modifying its play accordingly. “They made the adjustment,” he said. “They made sure he didn’t get those open looks.” Yet like his players, Watkins said trying to muster a clear-cut diagnosis on his team’s play was a puz zling ordeal. One thing was for sure, though - NU’s hot streak didn’t help matters. While the Aggies suffered, Nebraska only got hotter, shooting 65.6 percent in the second half (21 32). NU was also finally able to pull out of its four game 3-point shooting funk by going 7-17 from die arc (.412) for the game. “They got hot,” Watkins said. “They hit some shots and our defense became a little too soft. We wore down. “This has kind of been our story all year. I can’t explain it On the road we have a different mind-set like, ‘We’re on the road, Coach.’ It messes with us a whole lot You can’t win when you have that mind set” selves in? Absolutely. We have done it before. “On Monday, it’s March 1. That’s the most important part of any basketball season for a coach and team. Our kids are going to be ready to play.” Aggies come out hot, then go cold in blowout loss to Huskers NU women reach goal of 8-8 record ROAD WIN from page 9 For most of the season, Kubik . was an 80 percent free-throw shooter, but she struggled in the last few games. With the game on the line, though, Kubik hit both free throws to seal the deal. “I just got up there and wasn’t thinking about anything,” Kubik said. “I just shot them.” A crowd of 1,730 at Gallagher-Iba Arena watched the Cowgirls (12-14 and 4-12) lose their seventh home conference game. “We just can’t get over the hump,” OSU Coach Dick Halterman said. The Husker win, coupled with an Oklahoma loss, gives Nebraska the No. 5 seed in the Big 12 Tournament. The Huskers will play Texas A&M Tuesday at 2:20 p.m. at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. Now, with an 8-8 conference record and a Ratings Percentage Index ranking of No. 36, Sanderford said the NCAA tour nament may be in NU’s future. But for now, Sanderford said he is excited about Nebraska winning in Stillwater for the first time since 1986. “I’m just happy to be alive,” Sanderford said. NU women narrowly lose to No. 6 Texas in tennis From staff reports The Nebraska women’s tennis team went south this weekend but their record is hardly spoiled. No. 66 NU (6-3 overall, 1-2 Big 12 conference) met two Big 12 teams in the Lone Star State, picked up its first Big 12 victory and came within a point of toppling No. 6 Texas in Austin. The Red Raiders (3-6, Big 12 1 -3) fell 8-1 to NU on Saturday in Lubbock, Texas. Their only point came after the No. 2 doubles team of Amy Frisch and Gina Pelazini defaulted after one game. Singles players No. 2 Katarina Balan and No. 3 Ndali Ijomah both picked up their sixth victories of the season in Lubbock, Balan 6-4, 6-4 and Ijomah 6-4, 0-6, 6-1. In Austin, Texas, NU picked up all three doubles points but only one singles as the Longhorns (5-3, Big 12 5-0) squeezed by the Huskers 5-4. The win extended Texas’ confer ence winning streak to 103 games. No. 6 singles Amy Frisch dropped Texas’ Jill Liberman 6-3, 6-0. The win was Frisch’s fifth of the season, i Nebraska men’s tennis team received a much colder reception in the Lone Star State, dropping to No. 10 SMU 6-1 and UT-Arlington 4-3. Coach Kerry McDermott said he had hopped to pick up at least one victory this weekend, and was disap pointed by the team’s loss in Arlington. Lance Mills scored NU’s only point against SMU, dropping No. 90 Toby Hanson 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 in No. 2 singles action. New national rankings are due out in two weeks. McDermott said he wasn’t sure how the team, currently No. 66, would fair when the new rankings come out. Meter relay team wins at USAs By Josh Camenzind Staff writer ■ The Nebraska track team experi enced a weekend of competition full of highs and lows. The men and women competed well at the Iowa State Last Chance Qualifier, but not well enough to gain any automatic qualifying marks for next weekend’s NCAA Indoor Championships. Jessica Thompson won the women’s high jump and Erin Wibbels finished third in both the weight throw and the shot put. Outstanding performances for the men included [ wins by Joe Erdkamp in the weight throw and Sheldon Hutchinson in the triple jump. While most of the Cornhuskers I were competing in Ames, Iowa, sev eral others were in Atlanta at the US A Indoor Championships. The women’s 4x400 meter relay team finished first with a time of 3:36.29. Their time in the event was fast enough for an auto matic NCAA mark. Shane Lavy fin- I ished fourth in the high jump clearing the bar at 7 foot, 3 inches. Dahlia I Ingram finished ninth in the long I jump with a mark of 19-9. Spring break vs. k Before you begin your journey to Spring Break mecca, make sure your car is road trip ready with a quick trip to Jiffy Lube. Well change your oil and check your car's other fluids. After that, all you have to worry about is getting sunburn. ■ wmm mmm an mm mmm mm - tmw $4 OFF Complete Oil, Filter & Fluid Service Regular Price: $27.99 + Tax Most Vehicles. With Coupon: $23.99 * Tax Most Vehicles Service includes: change on (up to 5 quarts); new oil filter: lubricate chassis; check air filter, wiper blades and exterior lights; vacuum interior floors; wash exterior windows and inflate tires to proper pressure. No appointment necessary. Coupon not valid with any other offer. Good at locations listed. Expires: June 15,1999 UNSB1 Keep your car happy. Store Locations 880 N. 27th Street 474-1657 6940 L Street 488-6337 1620 Pioneers Blvd. 423-5666 2402 S. 48th Street 1 r 488-3833 ' Store Hours I Mon. - Fri.: 7 am - 6 pm I Sat: 8 am - 5 pm Sun.: 11 am-4 pm No Appointment Necessary
