i
Huskers fall to CU
■ Nebraska’s loss to CU
drops them to 1-8 in games
on die road.
By Matthew Hansen
Staff writer
The Nebraska Cornhuskers
hoped a wardrobe switch would
change their luck on the road on
Tuesday night against Colorado.
But the black uniforms, taken out
of the closet for the first time this sea
son, most definitely didn’t work.
Nebraska (10-12, 3-6) struggled
offensively from opening tip to final
buzzer and succumbed to the
Buffaloes 70-59. The road defeat
dropped NU to 1 -8 in games away
from the Devaney Sports Center.
Coach Danny Nee said his team’s
road play was disappointing.
“We just have to break this trend
and start playing better on the road,”
Nee said. “We have a lot of tough
road games coming up.”
The Huskers’ offensive struggles
were worst early in the first half.
After leading 3-2 with almost 17 min
utes left, Nebraska didn’t score
another point until the 9:09 marie. The
7:27 scoring drought allowed CU to
build a 17-3 lead, one it would not
lose.
The Huskers clawed back from
the deficit, with Larry Florence lead
ing die charge.
Florence, who finished with a
game-high 17 points, nailed a jumper
as the first half buzzer sounded to cut
the Colorado lead to 31-22. When
Cary Cochran hit a three-pointer to
open play after intermission, NU was
within six.
That was it for the Cornhusker
run, though. The Buffs promptly
began all-0 surge of their own as the
Huskers’ offense was held scoreless
for the second extended period in the
game.
When the dust had cleared, the
Colorado lead was 17, 42-25. The
margin extended to as much as 20
before the Huskers cut into the lead in
the final minutes.
Colorado finished with three
BUFFALOES 70
HUSKERS59
scorers in double figures, with back
up guard Nick Mohr leading the team
with 15, but it was the many and var
ied offensive problems for NU that
concerned Nee following the game.
“We never got into a rhythm
offensively,” he said. “We weren’t
able to get ovir guards involved in the
game.”
The Nebraska guards failed to
score a field goal in the first half
before Cochran got untracked for
three treys in the final 20 minutes.
For the game, Nebraska shot only 25
percent (4-16) from the three-point
line and 33 percent (1*9-57) from the
field.
And the offensive woes didn’t
stop there.
For the third straight game, NU
was outrebounded. The Buffs edged
the Huskers 42-38 on the boards after
pulling down 12 more rebounds in
the first half. Nebraska also commit
ted 23 turnovers in the loss.
(Chiefs mourn death
of pass rusher Thomas
MIAMI (AP) - NFL star
Derrick Thomas died Tuesday in a
hospital where he was being treat
ed for injuries from a car crash that
left him paralyzed from the chest
down.
The Kansas City Chiefs said
he died of a heart attack. Jackson
Memorial Hospital called it “car
dio-respiratoiy arrest” and doctors
were expected to elaborate later in
the day.
Kansas City Chiefs President
Carl Peterson said he was with the
33-year-old linebacker Monday.
“He was upbeat, he was posi
tive, he was Derrick,” a tearful
Peterson, wearing a button with
Thomas’ No. 58, said from
Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas
City.
“He was in a wheelchair ... I
said ‘Son, you’re mobile.’
“He said, ‘Father, I am. I’ve got
wheels.’”
Thomas was injured Jan. 23
when the speeding car he was dri
ving flipped an an icy road. A
friend was killed in the crash.
Thomas, a nine-time Pro Bowl
player and one of the game's most
feared pass rushers, had been
heading to the Kansas City airport
with two companions to fly to St.
Louis for the NFC title game.
Thomas was one of the most
popular athletes in Kansas City,
and Peterson called the death a
“devastating tragedy.”
Flags were lowered to half
staff at Arrowhead Stadium. The
Missouri Legislature paused for
moment of silence. Thomas’ death
was announced by Bill Kenney, a
state senator and former Chiefs
quarterback.
“Derrick Thomas was a true
hero,” said Kenney, who urged
lawmakers to support a bill for
spinal cord research in Missouri.
Thomas broke his spine and
neck in the crash.
NU women hope to regain strength
Peterson finds
solace in Husker
basketball
By John Gaskins
Staff writer
Nebraska point guard Melody Peterson is
one of those rare people who had the opportu
nity to live out her childhood dream.
She’s also one of the few people who can
tell you that those dreams aren’t always what
they are cracked up to be.
And when her dream turned sour, it was
good news for the Nebraska women’s basket
ball team.
Since Peterson transferred from national
powerhouse Stanford this season and was
declared eligible to play Dec. 21 by the
NCAA’s Administrative • Review
Subcommittee, the action-packed junior has
added an extra dimension to NU’s already
dangerous offensive attack. Her skills go well
beyond her 7.6 points and 4.1 assists per game
in her 10 starts.
“When she comes out and plays well, she
can make a tremendous difference,” Coach
Paul Sanderford said.
Mel s just a catalyst, fellow guard
Brooke Schwartz said. “She’s a new burst of
energy we didn’t have at the beginning of the
season. She sparks us defensively, really ener
gizes us. Offensively, when she pushes the ball
ahead at the beginning of the game, we’re
going to run all night.”
Running has never been Peterson’s prob
lem. Since she first dribbled a basketball, the
Pasadena, Calif., native chased down her
dream of playing for Stanford, which caught
her attention through legendary Coach Tara
' VanDerveer and two national championships •
from 1989-92. She also sought her dream to
go to law school in Palo Alto.
Peterson’s talent and brains got her there.
The book-smart Peterson “loved” her academ
ic experience - to the point where she earned
two degrees (one in political science and one
in African-American studies) in three years
from the top-rate institution.
But her hoop dreams and love affair with
VanDerveer’s program quickly wilted.
“Tara had just come off of coaching a
bunch of pro players on the U.S. National
\ Please see PETERSON on 15
r " Josh Wolfe/DN
Melody Peterson shares a laugh with her teammates during practice TOesday in the
Devaney Center. The Huskers will face Colorado at the Coers Event Center In Boulder,
Cole., tonight at 8.
f
Colorado game
could get team
back on track
By Brandon Schulte
Staff writer
Questions abound for the Nebraska women’s
basketball team as it readies to play Colorado
tonight in the Coors Event/Conference Center at 8.
Can the Comhuskers regain momentum they
lost in two tough losses to Iowa State and
Oklahoma in the past week?
And does NU
CC rrii 7 . 1 have to win
Ine Kias Wednesday
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realize that Boulder, coio., if
it wantc an
we didn’t play ncaa Tour
nament invita
well at aon?
The man who
Oklahomahope, he has the
answers, Coach
Paul Sanderford Paul Sanderford,
Nebraska Women’s basketball w0. ^ answer yes
, and no, respec
coach . • , * r
tively, to the
above questions.
Sanderford said he thought Nebraska (11-9
overall and 5-4 in conference) would regain the
form it had before the consecutive losses, when the
Huskers won four straight Big 12 Conference
games.
“The kids realize that we didn’t play well at
Oklahoma,” said Sanderford, ofNU’s 91-69 loss in
Norman, Okla., on Saturday, “I think we’ll be
resilient and bounce back.”
On paper it would appear that CU would be a
perfect opponent for NXJ to start a new winning
streak against.
The Buffaloes are on a five-game losing streak
and.are tied for second-to-last in the Big 12
Conference at 1-8 and are only 6-14 overall. The
Huskers whipped Colorado 79-66 in Lincoln on
Jan. 26.
But Nebraska hasn’t swept the season series
with Colorado since 1984. And Sanderford said he
expects die Buffaloes to be much improved since
die first meeting.
“I think the first win gives us confidence,”
Please see COLORADO on 15