Wildcats flurry of three-pointers sinks Nebraska
By Matthew Hansen
Staff writer
MANHATTAN, Kan.— Hot outside shoot
ing had been the biggest reason for the
Nebraska Cornhuskers’ recent three-game win
ning streak. It was the Huskers’ undoing in their
conference opener against Kansas State.
It was the Wildcats, not NU, who lit up the
scoreboard early and often, mainly from long
range. When the nets had settled, NU was the
victim of 15 Wildcat three-pointers and on the
short end of a 97-79 score.
Sophomore guard Cary Cochran said the
Wildcat’s shooting performance was something
the Huskers could do little about.
“You can’t prepare for a team to hit every
shot like K-State did,” Cochran said. “When
they shoot that well, your perimeter defense is
going to look bad. We’ve done that to a couple
of teams this year and embarrassed them.
Tonight we got embarrassed.”
Kansas State Coach Tom Asbury said his
team’s performance wasn’t one capable of
being duplicated.
“To ring up 97 points in a game that’s not
really uptempo, that’s something impressive,”
Asbury said. “The way we shot tonight, we
could’ve beat anybody in the country, and it’s
the reason we beat Nebraska by 20. In our
wildest dreams, we didn’t think we would blow
them out like we did.”
Former Omaha Central standout Galen
Morrison was the main reason for Nebraska’s
embarrassment. Morrison, a junior college
transfer from Iowa Western, hit seven three
pointers, including five in the first half.
WILDCATS 97
HUSKERS79
Morrison’s hot start was nearly matched by
guard Cortez Groves and forward Tony Kitt.
The trio was instrumental in building a first
half Kansas State lead that the Huskers would
never recover from.
Already trailing 34-23, Nebraska watched
KSU reel off 15 straight points, all of them
scored by Morrison, Groves and Kitt. The
deficit would reach 27 late in the first half, and
Nebraska wouldn’t seriously challenge K-State
again.
The Huskers’ only second-half highlight
was provided by Cochran, who matched
Morrison’s first-half performance with five 3
pointers of his own after intermission. ,
Cochran finished the game with 17 points.
Nebraska was led by Steffon Bradford, who had
19 points and eight rebounds for the Huskers.
Morrison led all scorers with 27 points, with
Groves close behind at 24.
The loss was the Huskers’ fourth straight in
a conference opener and their sixth loss in a row
at Kansas State.
Cochran said that while he was disappoint
ed in the team’s play, the loss itself wasn’t too
upsetting.
“No one is even considering lying down
because of this loss,” Cochran said. “The bot
tom line is that it’s tough to win on the road in
this conference. Teams protect their home
courts well. To be successful you have to win at
home, and then steal a couple on the road. We
can come back from this and still do that ”
NU unable to stop KSU’s Morrison
By Joshua Camenzind
Staff writer
MANHATTAN, Kan. - As much as he
tried to deny it, Kansas State’s Galen Morrison
couldn’t hide his pleasure in lighting up his
home state’s university.
Morrison, a graduate of Omaha Central
High School, led the Wildcats to a 97-79 victo
ry over Nebraska on Saturday night with 27
points in 27 minutes. He opened the game hit
ting his first four shots and set a career high for
the second straight game.
“Every time I shot the ball it just seemed
like I couldn’t miss,” Morrison said. “I was out
there shooting earlier, and I told the guys in the
locker room that I felt I could score 30.1 felt
like I was throwing rocks in the ocean.”
Morrison and fellow guard Cortez Groves,
who scored 24 points of his own, scored 31 of
KSU’s first 43 points. The two, along with Josh
Kimm, connected on 15 of24 3-pointers for the
Wildcats.
NU never recruited Morrison, and he
played at Iowa Western Community College in
Council Bluffs before transferring to KSU this
season. He said the only contact he had with the
Huskers was when he received a congratulato
ry letter for making the Nebraska all-state
team.
On Dec. 1 he partially tore his medial col
lateral ligament against St. Louis. But that did
not seem to hurt the junior as he hit 10 of 13
shots and 7 of 9 three-point shots.
“After the first shot I knew,” Morrison said.
“I knew in warm-ups that I was going to feel it
tonight.”
Morrison came into the game averaging
10.4 points per game while hitting 44 percent
of his three-pointers.
When asked if he thought Husker Coach
Danny Nee would like him to come to NU now,
Morrison responded: “I don’t know; it’s too late
for that.”
Nee said Morrison’s and the Wildcats’
three-point shooting was the difference, but
Cary Cochran, who played against the Omaha
native in high school, said more.
“I have known Morrison for several years,
and I knew how explosive of a scorer he was
and you could see that fire in his eyes,” said
Cochran, who hit five three-pointers of his
own. “He was playing his home state. He hit
every shot.
“You have to give him credit. When a guy
gets in the zone, they are just going to hit shots.”
Wildcat Coach Tom Asbury said he was
happy with the transfer’s play so far.
“He has been solid,” Asbury said. “He has
played very well and has not had any bad games
this season. His decision-making was better
tonight, and he also used his range very well.”
Huskers place
fourth in
Super Six
Challenge
From staff reports
Nebraska’s sixth-ranked women’s
gymnastics team kicked off its 2000
season with a fourth place perfor
mance Saturday in the Super Six
Challenge.
The competition boasted six of
the nation’s top-ranked teams,
including the top four: Georgia,
Alabama, UCLA, Michigan. No. 9
Florida also competed Saturday.
With four freshmen in the lineup,
the Comhuskers finished fourth with
' 193.225 team points, with Alabama
taking first and Georgia and
Michigan following.
Freshman A.J. Lamb notched the
second best all-around score ever
posted by a Husker gymnast in her
first competition. Her 38.90 all
around was good enough for fifth
place behind four returning All
Americans.
we are very pleased with A.J. s
performance tonight,” Coach Dan
, Kendig said. “To come into this situ
V_ation and hit four routines is a
tremendous accomplishment for a
freshman. She has a lot of natural
ability, and she will continue to get
better for us.”
Senior All-American Heather
Brink was the other Husker posting a
top-10 all-around score with a ninth
place 38.625.
Laura Goss, who returned to her
home state of Georgia for the event,
posted a career-best 9.875 on the bal
ance beam, tying for the title with
two other gymnasts.
“We felt ready to perform and did
a decent job overall,” Kendig said.
“We had a few mistakes, but they are
all correctable. I was pleased with the
performance, especially of our fresh
men, in this type of environment. The
best thing is that we have the entire
season ahead of us, and we will get
better.”
The event will be replayed twice
on television, showing on espn2 Jan.
16 at 2 p.m. and ESPN Jan. 23 at 1
p.m.
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