The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 53

Sports Normal West suffers loss F2 Illini win Classic F3 Heat burns Bulls F6 Outdoors column Fll 8, 1996 Undefeated nets fourth win ISU Uf, I Bryan CC- Bloodworth y'l Sports Editor Cartmill steps up for Redbirds By BRYAN BLOODWORTH Pantagraph sports editor Illinois State's undefeated basketball team used a balancing act Saturday night to derail Ohio University at Redbird Arena. The Redbirds had six players score in dou mm-, Valley beginning to open eyes with outcomes Illinois State's basketball team may have been the preseason pick to win the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship, but early indications are 1 that it won't be an easy road to travel. The 10-team conference is off to its best start in years with a No. 9 national ranking in. the latest Sagarin ratings (think what it would be if Tulsa was still in the confer-ence) and it hasn't come against a cupcake nonconference schedule.

"It's the best December I've ex- perienced in my nine years with the league," said Valley commissioner fs The PantagraphLLOYD YOUNG Illinois State's Rico Hill dunked in the first half against Ohio Saturday night at Redbird Arena as teammate Dan Muller (left) looked on. ble figures to extend their season-opening OHIO winning streak to four gj with an 81-69 noncon- 69 81 ference victory before 8,153 people. Sophomore forward Rico Hill led the Red-birds in scoring and rebounding for the second straight game with 17 points and seven boards. Reserve guard Kyle Cartmill came off the bench to add a career-high 15 points while Skipp Schaefbauer had 14, LeRoy Watkins 12, Jamar Smiley 11 and Dan Muller 10. "It's about time," said ISU coach Kevin Stallings about the balanced scoring attack.

"That is sort of what I was accustomed to at Kansas, having four or five guys in double figures. "That indicates to me that we're on the right track. We're a very balanced team. We are a team that can come at you from a lot of different angles. The great thing about having six guys in double figures is that a number of the guys didn't play nearly as well as they are capable of playing." The 4-0 start to the season is the best by a Redbird team since the 1982-83 NCAA Tournament team won their first six games.

Ohio, which used only seven of its 13 players because the other six (who were in uniform and on the bench) violated team rules, saw its record dip to 1-2. Bobcat coach Larry Hunter was prepared to end the game with four players on the floor. "I told the officials we had no more substitutions," said Hunter after Ed Sears fouled out and Damion Washington left the game late in the second half with an ankle injury. "Once again we were the beneficiary of timing," said Stallings. "They had three guys who play for them on a regular basis who didn't Carthage's Ian Whittington snared a rebound Hubbard in first-half action Saturday at Shirk Crabtree, Titans knock off physical Carthage 3 ULJ "Bryan is that type of player," Wesleyan junior forward John Baines said.

"He's so gifted. If you forget about him he'll make you remember real quick." "Crabtree is a very, very fine player. We made him even more of player than he is," Redmen coach Bosko Djurickovic said. "I thought he was a little soft coming out of high school, but he's developed a real strength to his game." Carthage led by eight points with 11:48 left in the opening half after a Cory Wilson driving layup. With Crabtree and Baines scoring four points each, the Titans reeled off 10 straight point to grab the lead.

Breaking from a 28-all tie, IWU scored the final 13 points of the half with Crabtree hitting two 3-pointers and reserve Matt Hoder adding five of his career-high 10 points. "The last seven minutes of the second half our defense was really good," Bridges said. "We stopped chasing them around and got a hand in their face." Crabtree's offense and the pesky defense of freshman guard Korey Coon helped Wesleyan to a 52-30 advantage early in the second half and both coaches would soon go deep into their benches. "We did a great job running our offense," Crabtree said. "That's the best we've done all year running completely through the play.

It opened up some easy shots." "Wesleyan adjusted a little and took us out of our patterns. We're not an experienced team. We don't make good decisions," said See TITANS, Page F3 I Page F3 play. That showed at times, but they did a great job of hanging in there and really competing." Watkins got the Redbirds started fast by scoring their first six points, but it took a 3-pointer from Dan Muller at the 16:43 mark to give ISU the lead for good at 11-9. Muller, who didn't participate in the pregame shoot-around because he wasn't feeling well, also started ISU on a 28-4 run that produced a 36-13 lead with six minutes left in the half.

Cartmill also was a key factor in the run as he hit three baskets from 3-point range. ISU owned a 46-26 lead at halftime. The Redbirds extended the margin to 30 at 61-31 with 13:56 remaining before Ohio used a 24-6 run to cut the deficit to a dozen at 67-55 with 6:27 to go. "I was starting to get a little worried," admitted Hill, who helped key an 11-5 surge that put the game out of reach. "I thought for the first 25 minutes our team was very solid and played with a lot of emotion, enthusiasm and purpose," added Stallings.

"I was pleased with our effort and defense, especially first half to three-quarters of the game. That was the difference. "I told the team after the game that when you play a game against a good basketball team and you're never in danger of losing, then you've played pretty well. We got careless and sloppy in the end, but there was never a time when the game was in doubt." Geno Ford led all scorers with 26 points for Ohio. The 5-foot-8 guard did most of his damage after the outcome had been decided.

"I was extremely impressed with ISU on video at both ends of floor," said Hunter. "There wasn't much I saw tonight to change my mind. They are definitely a top 25 team." 7i The PantagraphLLOYD YOUNG from Illinois Wesleyan's Nathan Center. Texas stuns Nebraska Page F9 This time, the national title is the prize if the Seminoles can win. The Cornhuskers lost their chance at a third straight national title with their loss to the Longhorns, but will likely play No.

11 Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl, completing the alliance picture. There was a chance, however, that Tennessee would go to the Orange instead of Nebraska, reshuffling some other bowl matchups. Unlike last season, when No. 1 Nebraska played No. 2 Florida in the Fiesta Bowl, there will not be a true national title game, which is what the bowl alliance set out to do when it was formed.

As it stands Saturday night the biggest bowl alliance losers are No. Brigham Young and No. 7 Colorado. The Buffaloes (9-2) were set to play the Nittany Lions in the Fiesta Bowl before the Longhorns beat the Huskers. By RANDY REINHARDT Pantagraph staff A couple of times through his own hustle, but more frequently propelled by jarring fouls, Illinois Wesleyan senior forward Bryan Crabtree found himself deposited on the Shirk Center floor Saturday.

CARTHAGE 61 Crabtree always WESLEYAN 88 got up, but the same could not be said for Carthage College. The blows delivered by Crabtree's jumpers staggered and eventually incapacitated the Red-men in Wesleyan's 88-61 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin basketball victory before a crowd of 1,800. "They played real physical. I'm getting used to that Every team has had some guys lay hard fouls on me," said Crabtree, who led the Titans to their fourth victory in as many games with 31 points. "I have to keep my composure and not let it get to me." Wesleyan needed its composure when Carthage (3-3) pulled out to a 22-14 first-half lead.

But the Titans closed the half on a 27-6 run and were never threatened again in the CCIW opener for both teams. "They thought the way to stop Bryan was to manhandle him, but they ended up putting us on the (free throw) line," IWU coach Dennie Bridges said. "Their intensity was dramatic early in the game. They played really hard, but they didn't play too smart. They were getting themselves in trouble by fouling." Crabtree scored 17 first-half points and added 14 more despite playing only 8:31 of the second half.

Doug Elgin. ''We have a league that continues to be one of the most underrated in the country. The fact Illinois St- ate doesn't have any Top 20 i votes (in the As- sociated Press poll) is ridicu- lous. "Our record shows that we have really good floor coaches and players, when challenged, certainly playing to the level of their competition. "Sprinkle around a couple of 3-pointers here and there and we could have five or six more wins.

"And the near wins that we've had is pretty telling. It shows the difference in team strength between our league and other leagues that are traditionally thought to be tougher is not that great" Of the 18 losses, nine have 1 iP The telling losses are a two- pointer in overtime by Bradley to Michigan; a one-pointer to Minnesota and a two-pointer to Missouri in overtime by Creighton; a two-pointer by Drake at Colorado; and a one-and four-pointer to Indiana and Tulsa by Evansville in the preseason National Invitation Tournament. 1 The league holds victories over Kansas State (by Wichita State); (by Creighton); Pittsburgh DePaul (by ISU); Wisconsin-i Green Bay and Oral Roberts (by Northern Iowa); and Saint Louis (by Southern Illinois). ilgin said the major reason I the Valley is on an upswing mow is because of the conti nuity of the coaches in the league. "If you look at the contenders in bur league you see coaches who have been there awhile," added "They their programs and players in place.

The really excit- lug Llllug lo uiaL IX juu uaive a 14u11.11 look around the league the four or five contending teams don't have many seniors. The league should be 1 even better next year." For Your Information Retired Pantagraph sports editor Jim Barnhart phoned from his new home in Las Cruces, N.M., to report that he has a new neighbor. Former University of Illinois basketball coach Lou Henson, who spent 22 years in Las Cruces as the coach at New Mexico State before heading for the Illini job, recently purchased a house across the street and two doors down from Barnhart "Lou said he and his wife, Mary, plan to live in Las Cruces during the winter months," said Barnhart. Veteran Missouri Valley Conference basketball referee Ron Zetcher tore his Achilles tendon nf Ua Can Tuan wiiuc hui mug ai 11a. uan vuuti Shootout in Puerto Rico recently and his season is finished.

Speaking of Valley officials, ISU fans won't see nationally acclaimed referee Ed Hightower working any more Redbird games for the next few seasons. Hightow-er's daughter, Julie, is a freshman at ISU. "I'm now one of ISU's biggest fans," said Hightower. Bryan Bloodworth's column appears each Sunday in The Doug Elgin Florida-Florida State set for bowl rematch ISU hangs tough before No. 1 Florida pulls away Redbirds see 21 -match streak end 'f.

ft By BOB POCKRASS Special to The Pantagraph DELAND, Fla. Florida might have owned all of the frustration associated with volleyball Saturday afternoon. But Illinois State shouldered all of the disappoint ment associated with defeat in an' NCAA Tourna 2 Fmm' 1 AP ST. LOUIS (AP) The rematch is set: No. 1 Florida State vs.

Florida in the Sugar Bowl. The stakes? A win by the Semi-noles (11-0) and coach Bobby Bow-den will have his second national title in four years. A loss by Florida State and No. 2 Arizona State (11-0) could win its first championship, provided it beats No. 5 Ohio State (10-1) in the Rose Bowl.

The bowl alliance took a big hit Saturday, when unranked Texas upset No. 3 Nebraska 37-27 in the Big 12 championship game, moving the Longhorns (8-4) into the alliance, where they will probably play Penn State (10-2) in the Fiesta Bowl. Texas' upset set the stage for a Florida State-Florida rematch as the Gators (11-1) beat No. 15 Alabama 45-30 in the SEC title game Saturday night Last week, FSU beat Florida 24-21 to replace the Gators at No. 1.

It'll be the second time in three years the Gators and Seminoles will meet in a bowl. In the 1995 Sugar Bowl, Florida State won 23-17 after a regular-season tie with Florida. for what it meant: Florida (35-1) will prepare for the Sweet Sixteen and Illinois State (29-8) will prepare for the future. "There is a little disappointment in the fact that we thought we were in control at the end of games one and two, and we weren't able to close the door," said Illinois State coach Julie Morgan. "Much of that is due to Florida's experience at this level and I have to hand it to them to come back and stay poised and stay composed.

"Obviously their experience really showed in game three." Florida's Jenny Wood, the Southeastern Conference player of the year, smashed nine of her match-high 22 kills in the third game. Hardwick, the Missouri Valley Conference player of the year, had only two kills in that final game. But maybe more importantly, the Gators held Patti Hoppa to one kill in 14 attempts. Hoppa had 19 kills on 39 attempts in the first two games. "Going into the match, I felt like ment second-round match.

The top-ranked Gators defeated the pesky Red- Illinois State's Krista Ridder tried to tap the ball over the net as Florida's Jenny Wood (left) and Julie Stanhope went up to block it in Saturday's NCAA match at DeLand, Fla. Hardwick would get her kills, but I didn't know if they could pass consistently throughout the entire match," said Florida coach Mary Wise, who earned her 206th career victory at See NCAA, Page F6 birds, 16-14, 16-14, 15-3, at Stetson University's Edmunds Center. "We were playing so good in the first two games and the fact that we could have very easily pulled them out, it is kind of disappointing," said ISU senior Andi Hardwick. A match that pitted winning streaks, league stalwarts and coaching milestones will be remembered.