No motives
Lions, Cornhuskers meet, but it's a new ballgame

By KEVIN GORMAN
Collegian Sports Writer

Years of intense rivalry between Penn State and Nebraska were renewed this year as controversy surrounded the awarding of the 1994 college football national championship to undefeated Nebraska on New Year's Day, despite the Nittany Lions' likewise perfect record.

The Penn State-Nebraska rivalry will take another twist when their men's basketball teams play in the National Invitation Tournament's second round.

So it would be the most unlikely of circumstances that the feud between the two schools will culminate on the basketball court.

Predictably, neither the Lions (18-10) nor the Cornhuskers (18-13) will acknowledge revenge as a motive when they meet at 7:30 p.m. today at the Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln, Neb., on ESPN (TCI Ch. 17, HFS Ch. 18).

"Initially from the very beginning when people realized it would be either Georgia or Nebraska, we wanted to play Nebraska," senior center John Amaechi said. "People have been excited about it, very much referring to football season.

"But I don't think we can get too caught up in that. It would be a bad thing, I think."

After defeating Miami (Fla.), 62-56, in the NIT's first round, the Lions won't be able to fall back on the home-court advantage that motivated a thrilling, 20-point second-half comeback.

For incentive, the Lions need only to look at the Big Ten powers failing to advance in the NCAA tournament. Each of the six conference bids in the men's tourney have been eliminated, leaving Penn State and Iowa as the only Big Ten men's teams remaining in postseason play.

Furthermore, the Lions are looking to extend their season longer than their Lady Lion counterparts, who fell to N.C. State in the second round of the women's tournament Sunday.

Nebraska, which defeated Georgia, 69-61, is making its fifth straight postseason appearance. However, a 4-10 conference record left the Cornhuskers with their first sub-.500 Big Eight finish since 1989-90, and broke a streak of four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.

"We know they're very athletic, a very good three-point shooting team," Parkhill said. "They shoot a lot of threes and have a terrific backcourt."

Behind the junior guard duo of 6-foot-6 Jaron Boone, the leading scorer at 17.7 points per game, and 6-foot-3 Erick Strickland, averaging 16.5 points, the Cornhuskers are an up-tempo, open court team with the ability to score from the perimeter.

"Hopefully the guys will get excited about playing again, playing a good team in a great league," Parkhill said. "They know you don't just show up and have success against teams like Nebraska."