Texas center Chris Mihm has
been named the Big 12 Player of
the Week after leading the
Longhorns to a 4-0 record thus far.
Mihm. has also, been named the
ESPN_and the College Hoops_
Insider Player of the Week. He was
named the MVP of the Puerto
Pico Shootout as well after lead
ing UT to wins over Michigan
State and Depaul.
■
Terry Black of Baylor has
been named the Big 12 Newcomer
of the Week after big perfor
mances in the first three games in
his Division I career. Black trans
ferred to BU from Indian Hills
Community College in Iowa. He
averaged 24 points and 15.7
rebounds while shooting 74 per
cent from the floor.
■
Nebraska center Kimani
Ffriend has 15 blocks in four
games thus far. Cincinnati center
Kenyon Martin had nine blocks in
the Bearcats’ win over Iowa~5tater
■
NU Coach Danny Nee’s take
on the poster situation in which
some of his players allegedly
made gang signs: “It wasn’t gang
signs. That is all I can tell you. The
fact of the matter is that people
were really reaching and was just
not accurate. The police depart
ment stated that too.
“So it was an interpretation,
and out of respect for the children
in Nebraska we don’t want any
thing at any time to ever insinuate
or any similarity so that was the
reason we thought it was very
judicious to pull the poster.
“We really regret it happened,
but I can guarantee they were not
gang signs.”
■
Texas continues its brutal
schedule after already facing
Michigan State and DePaul in
Puerto Rico.
UT will play host to Arizona
on Dec. 4, will play at Wisconsin
on Dec. 7, at Utah on Dec. 22 and
at Connecticut on Jan. 10.
Longhorn Coach Rick Barnes is
wary of the effects of the schedule
on his team.
“What I don’t like is our
schedule,” Barnes said. “I just did
n’t think it had a real good flow to
it. We are off this week, which is
maybe good and maybe is not.
When you are playing well, you
want to keep playing.
“We are not going to be able to
hide behind a soft schedule. We
are not going to be able to hide
behind "Some ranking ”
■
"• Kansas State is still looking
for a reliable point guard through
three games, and Coach Tom
Asbury said four players are con
tending for the job.
“We have not been very effi
cient there yet,” Asbury said. “I
don’t knowexactly what I expect
ed from there at this point of the
year.
“We have not found him yet.
We have four guys vying for. that
position^ and nobody has stepped
up and grabbed it by the throat.
“In lieu of the fact that is a key
position we need somebody to
evolve from that process and take
the job. It has been a major portion
of our offensive inefficiency.”
v! •
Compiled by staff writer
Joshua.Camenzind.
Bis _ts
By Joshua Camenzind
Staffwriter
Red-hot, on-fire and blazing are words that come
to mind when thinking about the Big 12 Conference’s
start in the college basketball season.
__Through the first two weeks of non-conference
play, the league has compiled an overall record of 36
10, with 11 of 12 teams posting a .500 winning per
centage or better.
Nebraska Head Coach Danny Nee, whose team is
2-2, said die start of die Big 12 is good for everyone.
“I am really pleased,” Nee said. “I just want to
congratulate Kansas and Texas because that is just
really great. The higher the top of our league pulls, it
is going to pull everyone up. This success early is
going to be beneficial to the whole league and help us
come tournament time.”
Four teams won five tournaments altogether, and
the same four are currently ranked in the top 30 of
both major polls.
Kansas (4-0) is ranked No. 6 in The Associated
Press Poll after winning the Great Alaska Shootout,
Texas (4-0) is No. 9 after upsetting No. 2 Michigan
State in winning the Puerto Rico Shootout, and
Oklahoma State (4-0) is the last team in the top 25 at
No. 21 while winning its own tournament in
Stillwater.
OSU has five players averaging in double figures
with Desmond Mason leading the way at just over 20
per game. The Cowboys’ sixth leading scorer is point
guard Doug Gottlieb, who is averaging 9.3 points and
12.3 assists. OSU Coach Eddie Sutton said his team
has played quite well despite poor rebounding.
“We are deeper than we have ever been,” Sutton
said. “I think we have more depth than we have had
for a while.”
Oklahoma is receiving votes in both polls after
starting 5-0 and winning the Top of the World and
Sooner Holiday Classics.
Baylor joins those four at the top of the confer
ence with a 3-0 record to start die season. Missouri is
4-1 after a season-opening loss to Wisconsin;
Colorado (3-1) lost its first game Monday night to
Virginia Commonwealth in overtime. Texas Tech has
won two road games since falling to Indiana. Iowa
State (3-2) lost 75-60 in the championship game of
the Big Island Invitational against No. 1-ranked
Cincinnati.
Kansas State (2-1) and Nebraska round out the
bottom, while Texas A&M is die only team in the Big
12 without an even record or better.
But the big story is die play of the top two teams -
Kansas and Texas. KU knocked off Xavier, Georgia
and Georgia Tech en route to its undefeated start, and
UT upset the Spartans, who are without All
American guard Mateen Cleaves, and No. 18 Depaul.
Texas Tech Coach James Dickey said the
Jayhawks and Longhorns are for real.
“Kansas and Texas are probably as good as any
one in the country,” Dickey said.
The Big 12 joins the Pac 10 Conference as the
only two conferences in the country with two teams in
the top 10, as Stanford and Arizona are ranked No. 3
and 4 in the latest AP Poll.
Sutton agreed with Dickey while noting that
maturity was a main factor.
“I thought overall the league was down last year,”
Sutton said. “I think the reason was there was so many
young players and young ball clubs. I think all the
coaches expressed die fact that the league should be
much stronger this year. Thus far it has been proven to
be true.
“I don’t think anybody in the country is playing
better than Kansas right now. Texas evidently really
played well down in Puerto Rico, and Oklahoma
played really well in Alaska as well. It seems like to
me that the league has showcased themselves quite
well.”
UT has made the biggest jump in the polls, climb
ing from No. 20 to No. 9. As expected, the Longhorns
have been led by center Chris Mihm. Mihm has aver
aged 19.8 points and 12.5 rebounds per game.
Forward Gabe Muoneke has also lived up to expecta
tions, averaging 16.8 points and 7.3 rebounds.
KU has also been tearing up the court, averaging
95 points per game despite preseason All-American
Eric Chenowith’s struggles. Picking up Chenowith’s
slack has been no problem thus far for the Jayhawks*
with six players averaging nine points or better.
Jayhawk Coach Roy Williams downplayed his
.Ill.Iff—_J
OSU Sports Information
FORWARD DESMOND MASON and the Oklahoma
State Cowboys are off to a flying start at 4-0 and
what Coach Eddie Sutton terms his deepest OSU
team ever.
team’s performance thus far.
“Just about every coach thought the league was
going to be much stronger, and I tried to emphasize
that,” said Williams, who has used a rotation of up to
13 players this season. “I think that we have proven
that is the case. Yet we all sit back and know that it
depends on how you play at the end of the year.
“The league has shown that it is going to be one of
the best leagues in the country and will continue to
show that throughout the year.”
NlTs Cochran, Belcher
-. ip * ... . ... - ■ .
out for weekend slate
■ Injuries may force a
redshirt into action for the
Ameritas Classic.
By Matthew Hansen
Staff writer
With the limited role of Cookie
Belcher because of an injured wrist and
only three other scholarship guards, the
Comhusker basketball team was in no
condition to sustain further backcourt
carnage.
That’s exactly what happened,
though, as Cary Cochran injured his
shoulder Sunday in the final game of
the Hoop and Quill Classic against
Rutgers. Cochran and Belcher, who
played sparingly in the tournament,
will both miss this weekend’s Ameritas
Classic.
Head Coach Danny Nee said at
Tuesday’s press conference that the loss
of Cochran would hurt his team on both
ends of the floor.
“Without Cary, we lose an impor
tant part of our offense, especially out
side shooting,” Nee said. “Defensively,
we can’t afford fouls because of our
very thin backcourt. We won’t be able
to be as effective on the defensive end
as we’d like to be because people like
Danny Walker can’t get into foul trou
ble.”
Walker and Rodney Fields have
been Nebraska’s starting guards in each
of the four games. According to Fields,
the tandem will have to carry a heavy
load until Cochran’s return next week.
“It really falls on Danny and me to
get the job done,” Fields said. “We are
going to have to play more minutes. We
also have added responsibility out
there.”
For Fields, that responsibility
involves playing both guard positions
for Nebraska. Fields said he isn’t entire
ly comfortable at the point guard but
may have to relieve Walker some at the
position.
Meanwhile, Belcher’s wrist prob
lems continue. The leading returning
scorer from last year made his first
appearance of the year against
Northwestern, scoring four points and
grabbing three rebounds in 15 minutes.
He was forced into action the following
day against Rutgers after Cochran’s
first-half injury, despite his sore wrist.
Belcher’s status for this season is
still unclear. The senior has the oppor
tunity to redshirt after participating in
six games.
Fields said Belcher’s absence and
limited role has hurt die team in more
than one way.
“Cookie is the guy for us,” Fields
said. “He’s a great player, and he’s our
emotional leader. It’s been pretty tough
so far for us without him, and it’ll be
real tough without both him and Caiy.”
As a result of the extreme lack of
depth, some lesser-known Huskers
may see additional minutes at the guard
spot Nee cited Nick Lahners, a junior
walk-on, as a player who will probably
take the floor for the first time this
weekend in relief of Walker and Fields.
“You had better go look him up in
your media guides,” Nee told reporters
at the press conference.
Upon further inspection of the
guide, though, it became clear that a
person interested in Lahners would
learn little. The Lincoln native, who
earned a spot on the team during open
tryouts, isn’t even mentioned.
Both Nee and Fields professed con
fidence in Lahners and other little-used
players to back up the guard positions.
Fields, though, said the regulars would
have to play better to make up for the
' losses of Cochran and Belcher.
“Everyone, including the forwards
and the post players, are going to have
to pick up the slack,” Fields said.
“We’re going to need to work hard in
practice this; week, get the kinks out aid
come ready to play without Cookie and
Cary this weekend.”
Miron defies role
of freshman for NU
MIRON from page 12
watch TV or do something like that.
I like to lift. It kind of relieves stress
forme.”
Miron’s sheer size doesn’t pass
on team captain, 197-pounder Brad
Vering, who wrestles live at prac
tices with Miron.
“He’s a moose,” Vering said.
Strength alone won’t make a
great wrestler, Vering said. The
mental capabilities need to be there
along with the physical ones to
combine for success.
“He makes a lot of high school
mistakes,” Vering said. “But you
can’t blame him for that. He’s only
been here for a couple months. He’s
wrestling guys that have been here
for three or four years.”
He has been going through what
Neumann called typical freshman
roadblocks, like adjusting to the
strength of Division I wrestlers. In
high school, Miron was used to pin
ning his opponents or beating them
by a substantial margin.
In college, Miron wrestles peo
ple like Vering, the fourth-ranked
wrestler in the nation at 197. Miron
has had trouble setting him, and
others, up for attacks, whereas in
high school he was skilled enough
that he didn’t have to set anything
up.
“He’s had a tough time with the
college adjustment,” Neumann
said, “because he’s wrestled close
matches with opponents that in a
month he’ll be beating by 10
points.”
Miron has wrestled in two
events this year, a dual vs. Lock
Haven to open the season (a 2-1
loss), and an open meet in Ithaca,
N.Y., on Nov. 20 hosted by Cornell,
where he took second place in the
heavyweight division.
In his first collegiate match,
Miron was wrestling after NU had
u
If you ve got a hard
working guy at the
end of your lineup, it
makes everybody feel
like they can work
that much harder.”
Tim Neumann
NU coach
already clinched die team victory
after a Vering pin.
“I wasn’t totally awake,” Miron .
- saidv^I wasn’t wrestling to my
potential. I was disappointed with
myself that I didn’t perform like I
can, and I was better than that
wrestler, too.”
The finals of the Black &
Decker Cornell Classic found
Miron wrestling the No. 12 heavy
weight in the country, and the
match was undecided, 0-0 until the
last 40 seconds of the third period.
Miron ended up losing by a point.
From here on, Miron has a
chance to make a big impact on the
collegiate wrestling world,
Neumann said. It’s up to Miron
when he makes that impact and how
big it is, the coach said.
Miron has to make a decision
that he has to trust his technique,
Neumann said, and not rely solely
on the Paul Bunyan strength that he
has.
And as soon as he does that,
watch out.
“I honestly think that he can be
in the top 10 or 12 heavyweights in
the country this year,” Neumann
said.