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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 2001)
Huskers get lost in Phog as Jayhawks roll BY JOSHUA CAMENZIND LAWRENCE, Kan. - A question abounded in the days leading up to Nebraska's Wednesday night matchup with No. 5-ranked Kansas. Just which team would show up? Would it be the Huskers that upset Texas last Saturday and played Missouri tough on the road? Or would it be the team that didn’t show up to play in losses to Murray State and Creighton just a week earlier? The answer became obvious as Kansas (14-1, 3-0) ran all over Nebraska (8-8,1-2), stomping them 84-62 before the routine sellout of 16,300 at Allen Fieldhouse. Nebraska never led in the contest as the Jayhawks pressured the Huskers into 14 first-half turnovers Kansas 84 Nebraska 62 and had runs of six, eight and 10 points to gain a 38-20 halftime advantage. “They really wanted to keep us out of running our sets in the first half,” Nebraska Coach Barry Collier said. “Kansas was very physical and that hurt us inside early.” The second half wasn’t much dif ferent as KU jumped out early behind a Kenny Gregory slam and two more dunks from Drew Gooden. Gregory, Kansas’ leading scorer, had 20 points in the contest and three high-flying dunks. As if that wasn’t enough, Gooden and Nick Collison threw down five more to keep the crowd entertained during the blowout. Such high percentage shots allowed Kansas to shoot 50.8 percent from the field while it held NU to a cold 34 percent for the first half and just 41 percent for the game. KU grabbed its biggest lead of the game at 25 after Jeff Boschee hit a 3 pointer with 7:47 remaining in the game to give the Jayhawks a 71-46 lead. Boschee ended the game with nine points, while fellow point guard Kirk Hinrich racked up nine assists. Collier said Kansas has a great home-floor advantage but Gregory, Gooden and Nick Collison were the reason Nebraska lost big. Gooden finished with 17 points, while Collison ended the game with 16 points, six rebounds and six blocks. NU ended the game with 23 turnovers, which Collier said was about the norm. “We are not exactly a zero turnover team, but they got into position to pick off the passes, so credit them,” Collier said. The Huskers tried to counter with its own trio, but results came too little too late. Cary Cochran finished with 17 points on five 3-pointers four of which came after the break. “I got decent looks and even on the misses, I felt just off,” Cochran said. Kimani Ffriend collected his third consecutive double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Steffon Bradford added 13 points. But most of their points came after Kansas had done its damage, mostly as a result of the Huskers inef fectiveness against the press. “They came at us quick,” Cookie Belcher said. “We didn’t know where the traps were coming from.” Belcher, who scored 10 points on 4-12 shooting, said NU must recover quickly from this type of loss. “You have to shake it fast,” Belcher said. MEDAL MAN: Assistant wrestling coach Terry Brands is a former Olympian and two-time national (tam pion. Despite his accomplish ments, he said it isa bigger thrill watching his wrestlers be suc cessful:*lflcan help somebody dimb the ladder of success, thart all (needto know. I don't need any thanks.* JoshWotfe/DN More the mantra of assistant Brands BY DAVID niPHI - - There’s a photo on the inside cover of the Nebraska wrestling media guide that will help you understand the desire and competitive nature of Terry Brands. The 32-year-old assistant wrestling coach stares straight ahead, lips pursed tightly, and his stoic, displeased expression tells you everything you need to know about the Olympic bronze medal that drapes around his neck. "I’m not going to think that a bronze medal will ever be as brilliant as a gold medal," Brands said. “Ever.” “It's not about medaling in that type of thing,” he said. “It’s about winning the damn competi tion.” So being one of the top three wrestlers in the world at 127-pounds isn’t enough for Brands. Now as a first-year assistant at NU, he is bringing that determination and drive to be on top inside Nebraska’s wrestling room. After spending eight seasons as a strength trainer and an assistant coach at his alma mater, Iowa, Brands was selected by Coach Mark Manning to work with Nebraska’s lightweights. Besides making great wrestlers, Brands sees anoth er, more important aspect of this job: making them These guys are preparing for the rest of their lives- where they can quit on their family, their job, friends, parents, or peers. That’s not the kind of young men this country needs. It needs people who are going to fight for what they believe in when the going gets tough." Terry Brands NU assistant wrestling coach even better people. When Brands speaks of the goal, one can tell by the command and intensity in his voice that he is serious in his coaching credo. "It's not ‘Oh do the best you can and win or lose we’ll have fun.’ That’s not the way I approach it,” said Brands, who has been married four years and has two children, the oldest just under two years old. “These guys are preparing for the rest of their lives - where they can quit on their family, their job, friends, parents, or peers. That's not the kind of young men this country needs. It needs people who are going to fight for what they believe in when the going gets tough.” So far Brands hasn’t been doing too bad at grooming pretty good wrestlers either. He and the rest of the staff have led Nebraska to its best start in school history standing at 9-1 and ranked eighth nationally going into this weekend’s national duals in College Park, Pa. Two of the lightweights he works with, 125 pounder Jason Powell and 133-pounder Todd Beckerman, are ranked eighth and third respec tively. Powell said the intensity Brands brings to the mat is a “go get 'em” style looking to score points all the time and never let up. “I’ve been coached always to score points," Powell said. "But he’s always like ‘more, more, Please see BRANDS on 9 Kansas forward Nick Collison shoots over Nebraska for ward Steffon Bradford on Wednesday night during the Jayhawks' 84-62 thrashing of tfie Huskers. Bradford had 13 points during the game. Banked track 'magnificent7 BY TOBY BURGER_ It is not high tech in the sense of Pentium proces sors, but a hydraulic-banked track was all Nebraska needed to become a premier indoor track facility. Wednesday, in front of a crowd of approximately 100 people, the university unveiled the new track that can transform from a flat surfaced track to one with raised banks in the turns. Interim Chancellor Harvey Perlman, Athletic Director Bill Byrne and Thick Coach Gary Pepin were all present at the ceremony and commented on the impact of the track. "This is a magnificent facility,” Pearlman said, “and we’re very proud to have it as part of the Nebraska athletic program.” The track is only one of three hydraulic-banked tracks in the nation and one of seven in the world. The track lies on what is called a sleeper system. The system is composed of both steel frames on the banks and wood frames on the straightaways. But while Hawkins Construction of Omaha oversaw the project, the construction of the track occurred half a world away. Manufacturing occurred in Gallo d’ Alba, Italy, and the track traveled over 6,000 miles to Lincoln. The unique aspect of the track is that engineers are able to calibrate the track from Italy using an Internet connection by controls within the track. Such technology does require more than pocket change. The price tag on the track renovation totaled $2,979 million, but Athletic Director Bill Byrne quickly pointed out the bill was not footed by tax payers. “Not one penny of the taxpayers' money went into this facility,” Byme said. Gifts and revenue from the Memorial Stadium Skyboxes’ sales covered the cost of the track. Byme also added that the project came in several hundred thousand dollars under budget and was completed 44 days ahead of schedule. Pepty was thrilled about the track being com pleted before its projected date. vve were reauy struggling nor navrng a nome base, and we could see that in our first meet” Pepin said. In their season opener Jan. 12-13 the NU women took second place and the men placed first in Kansas State's Wildcat Invitational. Now Pepin is looking forward to the track being a hook for gaining new recruits and improving times, possibly breaking world-record marks. “In a race like the 400-meter or the 200-meters I think it will be a tremendous change, a gigantic improvement,” Pepin said Senior All-American sprinter Lesley Owusu agreed with Pepin that the track will be a great bene fit for the athletes and the team. “People are going to essentially destroy their records,” Owusu said. “I am so happy I get to run on it for my senior year.” The floor will be first utilized for competition when Nebraska opens its home indoor season on Feb. 3 against Kansas State and Abilene Christian. NU will also host this year’s Big 12 Indoor Championships on Feb. 23-24. Ked Raiders shut down struaahna NU women BY JOHN GASKINS Now its clear why Texas Tech is ranked two spots lower than Iowa State in this week's AP women’s basketball poll. The Lady Raiders (14-2, 5-0) only beat Nebraska (9-8,1-3) by 16 points Wednesday night, 66-50. That’s a slack job compared to the Cyclones' 43-point walloping last Saturday. Other than the scoreboard, not much was dif ferent. The young Huskers didn't grow up much in last four days. Like it did at No. 7ISU, the Big Red treated the ball like a hot potato and couldn’t hold on to it. Passes ended up flying out of bands or in defenders’ hands. Dribbles bounced off feet. And a well-disci plined top 10 team turned nearly every NU mis take into gold. The Huskers committed 33 turnovers for the third time this season while ninth-ranked Tech scored 29 points off of them. The Lady Raiders handed NU its fifth loss in six games while snap ping the Big Red’s 11 -game home winning streak. “At this level, when you play top 10 basketball teams, you can’t make mental mistakes. You can’t have lapses,” NU Coach Paul Sanderford said. “Texas Tech's defense was good, but they didn't Tech 66 Nebraska 50 force a lot of turnovers. We made a lot of turnovers. I think we’re a little shaky with the basketball right now. Again, that's youth and inexperience." A crowd of 4,640 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center watched in silent frustration as both NU’s guards and post players coughed up ball after ball. Four Huskers - including three forwards - had four or more turnovers. Wounds from the ISU loss - the worst in school history - seemed to be healing after Monique Whitfield hit a jumper to cap an 8-2 NU run and tie the game at 17 midway through the first half. It was all downhill for the Huskers after that. On its next 10 possessions in a span of over six minutes, NU didn’t score and turned the ball over eight times while Tech went on a 14-0 to all but put the game away at the 3:43 mark, 31-17. Six of the turnovers came from fresjiman guard Shannon Howell and sophomore guards Isha Kelley and Shahidrah Roberts. “We knew they were young and inexperienced at those positions,” Tech Coach Marcia Sharpe said. “During that time we created several offen sive possessions with our defense. That created some easy opportunities for us.” Senior guard Katrisa O’Neal broke the Tech Please see LOSS on 9 Steven Bender/DN Nebraska forward Stephanie Jones attempts a first-half shot as Texas Tech guard Katrisa O'Neal defends. Twins commit to Huskers ■ Pair gives Huskers four recruits at safety. BY DAVID DIEHL Nebraska's recruiting class now has a little more of a family feel to it. Daniel and Josh Bullock of Hixson, Term, gave oral commit ments to Nebraska Coach Frank Solich on Wednesday bringing NU’s number of known oral com mitments to 16. The Bullock brothers, both listed at 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds, starred at Hixson (Tenn.) High school and are rated by rivalslOO.com as the 43rd and 44th top safety prospects in the nation. “We just couldn’t wait any more,” Daniel said. “Both Josh and I called Coach Solich today and told him that we wanted to be Comhuskers.” Nebraska has received com mitments from two other safeties besides the Bullock brothers, Phillip Bland from Boulder, Colo, and Antwon Guidry from San Jose, Calif. The Cornhuskers lost safeties Joe Walker, Clint Finley, and Troy Watchom from its 2000 squad. Along with the Bullock twins, NU’s recruiting class may grow by one more safety as soon as tomor row. Mater Dei High standout Brown Faavae, a 6-foot, 205 pound safety, may also commit to NU as soon as his ACT results are returned. Faavae said if he scores 17 or above NU is his choice. If not, he will head to West Virginia. “It’s that easy,” he said. "Nebraska has already told me they want me and I’ve told them the same.” Faavae gave simple reasoning for his decision being based on his test. “Nebraska can’t take me Prop 48,” said Faavae, out of Santa Ana, Calif. "West Virginia can.”
