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■ Nebraska forward
Larry Florence misses two
shots in final six seconds.
By Joshua Camenzind
Staff writer
Iowa State came into the Bob
Devaney Sports Center on
Wednesday night and gave the
Nebraska men’s basketball team a
typical, physical Big 12 game.
The Cornhuskers responded
with physical play of their own, but
in the end the Cyclones prevailed,
66-65 in front of 8,717 fans - the
largest home crowd of the season.
NU Coach Danny Nee said the
game with the 14-2 Cyclones, who
moved to 2-0 in the conference, was
just as he had expected.
“The game was kind of like I
dreamt it,” Nee said. “I knew it was
going to be a hard-fought game, and
Iowa State was a very sound basket
ball team.”
Husker and Cyclone players had
to be separated several times
throughout the game to be cooled
down, but in the end, the contest
came down to free throws and execu
tion.
With 10 seconds remaining,
Michael Nurse missed two free
throws, and after NU center Kimani
Ffriend rebounded the second miss,
Nee opted to go for die win in transi
tion without calling a time out.
“I did not want to call time out,”
Nee said. “I wanted to get something
going to the basket so I wouldn’t
have to play against a set defense.”
So Ffriend passed the ball up to
guard Danny Walker, who then
passed to Larry Florence on the left
wing. Florence’s baseline running
shot rimmed out. After getting his
own rebound, Florence missed a fol
low-up fade away jumper at the
buzzer.
CYCLONES 66
HUSKERS 65
“I was kind of behind the back
board,” Florence said. “It wasn’t a
good shot, but I was hoping that I
could get the foul if I didn’t get the
shot”
Florence said losing the confer
ence home opener hurt.
“It is discouraging, but we can
also take something from it,” said
Florence, who led NU with 17 points
on six of 18 shooting from the floor.
The Huskers, now 7-8 overall
and 0-2 in the conference, hurt them
selves with a lackluster finish to the
first half. NU matched ISU’s tough
ness early on, but after tying the
game at 24-24, the Cyclones went on
all-0 run. ISU led by eight at the
half and the Huskers found them
selves looking to adjust at halftime.
Nebraska opened the second half
on a 8-2 run, which gave them
momentum to eventually gain a 44
44 tie with 11:41 to play.
“The only point that really both
ered me was the first half,” Nee said.
“We just had guys not running the
floor. That was the lead and die dif
ference in the game.
“The second half, Nebraska
played a very solid basketball game.
We did a lot of things right; we just
didn’t make shots.”
Marcus Fizer led ISU with 26
points and 11 rebounds while pound
ing down low with NU’s Steffon
Bradford and Ffriend. Fizer won the
matchup for most of the night
The Huskers were also hurt by
poor outside shooting (3-13 on 3
pointers), part of which Walker con
tributed to the ISU defense.
“They switched a lot,” said
Walker, who shot 1 of 9 on the night.
“They were getting in our face and
• trying to not let us get a good look at
the shot.”
Nate Wagner/DN
HUSKER CENTER Klmani Ffriend releases a
jump shot over ISU player Marcus Fber during
Wednesday nightfs game. The Cyclones won
cc eg
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New weight is a good fit for NU’s McTorry
After drastically shedding pounds
last season, junior returns to form
By David Diehl
Staff writer
It was an ugly 1998-99 season for Nebraska wrestler Charles McTorry.
He had to lose weight every week off the mat. The losing carried over onto
the mat, culminating in a disappointing 13-19 record.
Without a wrestler to compete at 174 pounds last season, McTorry, who
naturally wrestles at 184, began a dismal season at the lower weight, which
included dropping weight and wrestling fatigued.
“Trying to lose weight made it hard for me,” McTorry said. “It affected me
some. Then everything started rolling in the wrong direction.”
But after a discouraging season last year, McTorry has busted onto the
national wrestling scene in strong fashion.
It’s a far cry from his showing last season. Without any energy or confi
dence, the season snowballed into a mountain of frustration.
Every week, McTorry would lose about 10 pounds the day of the meet,
” My expectation
this year was to
forget about last
year. Forget
about the bad...
Look forward
instead of back."
Charles McTorry
NU wrestler
Assistant Coach Mark Cody said.
And then he would gain it right back
in a few days, weighing more than he
did before he cut the weight.
And then he’d have to lose it
again. Gain more back. Lose it again.
McTorry would run around in
heavy sweats, losing about a pound an
hour, Head Coach Tim Neumann
said. It left the native of Nashville,
Tenn., drained by match time.
“I had no energy,” McTorry said.
“The matches were seven minutes
long, and 1 would wrestle for a minute
and a half. I really didn’t get spanked
by anybody, but I didn’t have enough
energy to do anything except stand
there.”
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season, especially in the latter half of
die season when six of his last eight losses were by three points or fewer.
Said Neumann: “He’s an outstanding athlete. But he just had his heart
taken away.”
Sticking through last season was tough, McTorry said, but there was no
way he could have made it without his teammates and coaches.
“Last year was bad for me,” McTorry said. “But I could never imagine
abandoning those guys because they supported me so much. It’s an individual
sport, but out of all the sports I’ve ever done, this team is tighter than any other
team I’ve been on. It’s like a bunch of brothers on this team.”
The beginning of tins season didn’t start much better for McTorry. His
first match was a one-point loss.
McTorry might have been a little afraid to believe he could have high
goals or expectations at the beginning of this year, Neumann said, which
probably helped lead to that opening loss.
“I swear to God that was only a hangover from last year,” Neumann said.*
“It was lack of confidence, and he was in familiar territory. I think he took it
for granted that he was going to get tired again.”
But since then, McTorry has been on fire on the mat. *
Wrestling at his natural weighty 184, McTorry, who began the year
unranked, has compiled a 14-4 record and shot up to No. Sin the National
Wrestling Coaches Association rankings.
“My expectation this year was to forget about last year " McTorry said.
“Forget about the bad. There’s positives that you can break out of anything.
Look forward instead of back. I expected to do well, and I was looking for
ward to being able to enjoy wrestling again.
Please see MCTORRY 15
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Sharon Kolbet/DN
Putting last season’s frustrations behind him, wrestler Charles McTorry Is now establishing hhasetf on the nation
al scone. McTorry began the year unranked hot has since risen to the No. 5 spot on the National Wrestling Coaches
Association rankings.