Tigers pounce in KU win
■ Missouri gets a big win
over the Jayhawks, but still
struggles with inconsistency.
By Jason Merrihew
Staff Writer
It has been a roller coaster ride
* this season for Missouri men’s bas
ketball Coach Quin Snyder.
Right now, the Tigers are on a
high. Missouri beat No. 7 Kansas at
home on Saturday 81-59.
The 22-point margin of victory
was the largest by MU (11-6 overall,
4-1 in the Big 12)overKU(15-3,4-l)
since 1989.
According to Kansas Coach Roy
Williams, the crowd helped the
Tigers get rolling.
“If they can be as fired up every
game as they were for us, meaning
the crowd, it would be tough pressure
place to try to get a win,” Williams
said.
Missouri’s Snyder agrees that the
crowd has helped boost his team to a
4-1 record in the Big 12.
“We have been at home for a little
bit, so that has helped us out,” Snyder
sakb
Missouri is expected to become
stronger by the end of the week with
the addition of freshman Kareem
Rush. Rush had been suspended by
the NCAA for the last nine games
because of past relations with a for
mer AAU coach.
“If it makes them any better than
they were Saturday, we are all in trou
ble,” Williams said, regarding the
return of Rush. “There is no doubt
that (Rush) will help them.”
Despite the four-game winning51
streak and the thrashing of Kansas,
the Tigers have been inconsistent.
On Jan. 18, Missouri went to
Waco, Texas, and survived a scare
from perennial cellar-dweller Baylor,
74-72.
The lowest point this season,
however, came during the Jan. 4
matchup against Winthrop. The
Tigers lost at home 51-46.
The Winthrop game fell in the
middle of a three-game losing streak.
Missouri was whipped by Kentucky
70-53, then lost a close game to Big
12 foe Iowa State, 86-81.
Missouri has also won some
tough games this year. MU has been
able to split games against the Big 10.
The Tigers beat Illinois and Iowa
while losing to Indiana and
Wisconsin earlier this season.
Big 12 coaches can see the poten
tial power the Tigers hold,
“When (Missouri) shoots the ball
well from the perimeter, they can beat
anybody,” said Oklahoma State Head
Coach Eddie Sutton.
Missouri will next be in action
Saturday against Texas A&M.
Jones waits for eligibility answer
JONES from page 16
season I played, summer, I played. All
of the sudden ...”
Coach Paul Sanderford walked
by.
! “Hey, Coach,” Jones said.
Jones, you sense, misses
Sanderford a little, too, or at least his
gruff voice, barking out orders to the
players on the floor. From her exer
cise bike, Jones can hear him - well,
everyone with a few hundred yards
can - but she can’t be on the floor to
compete.
Her teammates, Jones said, have
given her tremendous support. But
still, rehab is something she has to do
all on her own. There are few fans to
cheer her on. Outside of a few trainers
and a doctor every so often, nobody
else is getting up at 7 in the morning
to stare at the ceiling and watch grass
grow.
So, in a time of less, Jones thinks
more.
She focuses on her return, as her
rehabilitation is going as fast as her
doctors have ever seen, she said. She
focuses on the day when her knee will
be stronger than it originally was - a
common case fof women athletes.
And Jones focuses on getting that
year back. It keeps her awake at night,
that mythical season. The season that
doesn’t even kick into effect for four
years. But she wants it so badly -
she’ll send the NCAA tape of her
choice but to wait Wait and focus,
not on the unfairness of what is, but
the potential greatness of her future to
be.
Samuel McKewon is a junior
political science major and a Daily
Nebraskan senior editor.
- - -
injury. It there s anyone who tits the
spirit of the injury rule, Jones figures
it has to be her.
“They’re taking every case as an
individual case,” Jones said. “It’s just
like you go into a courtroom; you’ve
got to present your side.
“It’s amazing because you always
think the NCAA is there for you.
Then you look at a situation, and you
just have a whole bunch of question
marks.
“And nobody can really answer
them for you.”
Bureaucracy doesn't fit Stephanie
Jones’ style. But she has no other
NU hopes frontcourt
can stand up to Texas
TEXAS from page 16
Nebraska, 9-9, has not won a road
game this season. In those games, the
team has not come closer than 15
points to any of its opponents. .
“Playing on the road is very diffi
cult,” Nee said. “Any time you get a
win on the road, it is a major accom
plishment. I don’t care who you are
playing, where you are playing. It is
just very difficult. I find none (of the
Big 12 cities) pleasing.”
Walker believes it is time for his
team to grab one of those tough road
wins against tire 12-5 Longhorns.
“I think this is a game that we can
win,” Walker said. “StefFon and Larry
were talking about it last night, and
we feel good about the game plan.”
Nebraska and Texas match-up
well, despite Texas’ greater depth,
Walker said.
Solich likes work ethic
of Huskers ’ next team
FOOTBALL from page 16
because they start out as a group doesn’t
mean they end up that way”
Coming within one game of the
national title last season, and just one
-year removed from a 9-4 season in
1998, serves as motivation for most
-players on the squad. But there are
always exceptions.
“When you have a large group of
athletes, it’s tough to motivate all of
them,” Epley said. “Some are easily
motivated, but there usually are a hand
ful that are tough to get working. But it
is a required workout”
Given die character of the team last
year, Football Coach Frank Solich said
he doesn’t expect any drop off from last
season’s strong finish.
“I thought we ended the season
^ “This is the
time of the year
to make physical
improvements.”
Boyd Epley
Director of Athletic Performance
strong,” Solich said. “They are ready to
go. We’re not going to have to push
them into a conditioning program.
Several of them started working out
immediately after we got back from
Arizona.
“I believe it will be a football team
that will do the right things to make it
work.”
— BIG 12 CONFERENCE —
The road was not a friendly
place for Big 12 conference teams
this weekend. Home teams went 5
1 with the lone win by Texas over
Texas Tech.
■
Speaking about being friendly,
let’s talk about everybody’s
favorite Ffriend, namely Kimani.
The Nebraska center was the Big
12’s newcomer of the week for the
second straight time and the third
time this year. He averaged 17
points and 15.5 rebounds in con
ference wins over Texas Tech and
Baylor.
Colorado senior guard Jaquay
Walls was the Big 12 player of the
week averaging 30 points and six
assists in wins over Oklahoma and
Kansas State. His 32 points against
the n^-ranked Sooners were two
shy of his career high of 34 set last
year.
■
By beating Oklahoma State on
Saturday, Texas A&M did some
thing they haven’t done in more
than 12 years — beat a ranked
team. The win over the then 12th
ranked team was the Aggies’ first
in 29 games.
■
Missouri needs junior Tajudeen
Soyeye on the floor. When the cen
ter plays at least 26 minutes, the
Tigers are 11-1. But the Tigers are
a hapless 0-5 when he plays 25
minutes or fewer.
■
If going 0-4 in conference play,
which includes a home loss to rival
Texas, weren’t enough for Texas
Tech to swallow; it now has to deal
with the loss of center Andy Ellis.
The 6-foot-10-inch Ellis, who led
the team in rebounding and was
second in scoring, is out for the
season with a shoulder injury.
■
With a victory tonight against
Texas, NU Coach Danny Nee can
tie Nebraska’s all-time career vic
tory mark. Joe Cipriano currently
holds the record of 253.
Big 12 Notebook is compiled
by staff writer Trevor Johnson.
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