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Author: Dave Riggert

KU’s Ellis named to Wooden Award late season top 20 list

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riggertKULOS ANGELES – Kansas men’s basketball senior Perry Ellis has been named to the John R. Wooden Award presented by Wendy’s Late Season Top 20 List, the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced Wednesday.

Chosen by a poll of national college basketball experts, the list is comprised of 20 student-athletes who are the frontrunners for the John R. Wooden Award, based on their performances during the 2015-16 season.

Ellis has scored 19 or more points in five of his last six games, including four 20-point efforts. The Wichita, Kansas senior forward is averaging 19.5 points and 6.6 rebounds during Big 12 play, and 16.9 points and 6.5 rebounds overall. Ellis is the only player in the Big 12 to rank in the top-seven in scoring (third) and rebounding (seventh). He has three double-doubles on the season with all coming in conference action. The 2015 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, who was an All-Big 12 First Team selection as a junior, also ranks among the Big 12 leaders in field goal percentage (fifth at 53.0) and free throw percentage (14th at 76.1).

The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2016 John R. Wooden Award. The leading candidates will be further pared to 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA will be submitted to the voters on the ballot prior to the NCAA Tournament. Every year, players have made the ballots that are not on the preseason or midseason lists. Voters are permitted to take into consideration the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament when casting the ballot. The 10-man Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament.

The 40th annual presentation of the John R. Wooden Award will be the anchor presentation of the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show presented by Wendy’s. The men’s and women’s Wooden All-American Teams will be honored during the ceremony, as well as the 2016 Legends of Coaching Award, which will be presented to Tubby Smith, Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Texas Tech. The event will take place the weekend of April 7-9, 2016.

No. 3/3 Kansas (20-4, 8-3) will travel to No. 3/3 Oklahoma (20-3, 8-3) on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 1:30 p.m. on ESPN. For the second time this season KU will be part of ESPN College GameDay which will originate from Norman, Oklahoma, Feb. 13.

— KU Athletics —

Griffons move up one spot to No. 8 in WBCA/USA Today Top 25

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riggertMissouriWesternST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western women’s basketball team stayed in the top-10 this week, moving up one spot to No. 8 in the WBCA/USA Today poll.

The Griffons have been in the top-10 since early January and are in the midst of the most successful season for the program in more than a decade. The team’s 21 wins are the most since the 2003-04 season and the 18-game winning streak to open the season was the program’s best ever. Head coach Rob Edmisson’s team is on pace to win more MIAA games than any team in program history.

Missouri Western is one of three programs from the NCAA Central Region in this week’s top-10. MIAA foe Fort Hays State checked in at No. 5 and Winona State from the NSIC is on Missouri Western’s heels at No. 9. Also representing the region in the poll are No. 15 Arkansas Tech, No. 21 Emporia State, No. 23 Pittsburg State and No. 25 Sioux Falls. The Griffons defeated Fort Hays State and Emporia State in the only scheduled games between the schools earlier this season. Missouri Western split two games against Pittsburg State and will not face another team currently ranked in the top-25 in the regular season.

The Griffons play the first of three-straight on the road, Feb. 11 at Northeastern State followed by trips to Central Oklahoma (Feb. 13) and Northwest Missouri State (Feb. 20). Missouri Western will conclude the regular season with home games against Washburn (Feb. 24) and Central Missouri (Feb. 27). The Griffons currently lead the MIAA by a half game over Fort Hays State. With a spot in the MIAA Tournament already clinched, the Griffons can secure a spot in the top-four with one more win. The top four seeds receive a bye in the first round of the tournament and play their first games in Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium on March 3.

— MWSU Athletics —

No. 6 Kansas beats No. 10 West Virginia, moves into three-way tie atop Big 12

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riggertKULAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Landen Lucas rarely gets much credit for the work he does for Kansas, mainly because the blue-collar forward earns his minutes with rebounding and defense rather than offense.

So when Perry Ellis had the ball with a clear path to the rim Tuesday night, he decided to reward his teammate. With a deft flip of his wrist, Ellis lobbed up a pass that Lucas dutifully flushed.

“He was open,” Ellis said with a shrug, “so I had to get him some.”

Lucas had certainly earned it. He pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds, scored nine points and even had four blocks in the sixth-ranked Jayhawks’ 75-65 victory over No. 10 West Virginia.

“I see him out there working hard,” Ellis said. “You got to reward your teammate.”

Besides, Ellis still scored a game-high 21 points. Frank Mason III added 14 for the Jayhawks (20-4, 8-3), who handled the Mountaineers’ pressure well most of the night in avenging their lopsided loss lost month in Morgantown, West Virginia, that had them playing catch-up in the league race.

Now, they are tied with the Mountaineers (19-5, 8-3) and No. 3 Oklahoma (20-3, 8-3) as they pursue their 12th consecutive Big 12 championship. All three teams have seven games remaining, with the Jayhawks and Sooners to meet on Saturday in Norman, Oklahoma.

“We knew we weren’t too far out of it,” Lucas said. “We handled business, but now we have a big one Saturday. We’re just going to get mentally prepared to go down there and win.”

Devin Williams had 14 points and nine rebounds, and Jaysean Paige also scored 14 points for the Mountaineers — though their leading scorer was just 5-of-16 from the field.

“You just can’t miss that many shots,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. “You can’t miss that many transition opportunities. We had all kinds of transition opportunities and we didn’t convert one.”

Unlike their meeting in Morgantown, the Jayhawks were the ones who dominated the first half Tuesday night. They committed six turnovers — they had 22 total in the first game — and shut down West Virginia at the other end, which prevented the Mountaineers from getting into their pressure defense.

“It wasn’t all them,” Huggins said. “You have to give us credit, too, for screwing the game up.”

Quickly outletting the ball after every defensive rebound, the Jayhawks rushed up court before the Mountaineers could retreat, often with Mason and Devonte’ Graham taking it all the way to the rim.

Kansas built a 36-24 lead late in the first half, but Tarik Phillip threw in a prayer off his own miss and Paige curled in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to slice into the Mountaineers’ deficit.

The Jayhawks used a 13-2 run early in the second half to take a 53-40 lead, their biggest of the game. But the Mountaineers finally got some traction with their press, forcing turnovers on four straight possessions, and slowly trimmed the lead to 54-50 with about 8 minutes left in the game.

The decisive point may have come moments later, when Phillip was fouled while driving to the basket. He whipped an elbow that clipped Mason in the chin and was assessed a flagrant foul. So after Phillip air-balled his free throw, Mason made one at the other end to start another Kansas run.

Ellis finished it off with a 3-pointer that made it 70-58 with 3:21 to go.

Despite a few sloppy moments down the stretch, the Jayhawks were able to coax the final minutes off the clock to remain perfect against West Virginia in four games at Allen Fieldhouse.

“I thought we got punked in Morgantown,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “What I take away from this is we played more like men than we did when we went to Morgantown.”

HOLTON STILL OUT

Mountaineers forward Jonathan Holton remained out after violating team rules. Huggins has not said when he’ll return from his suspension, which has now cost him four games.

TIP-INS

West Virginia: Daxter Miles Jr. was held to two points on 1-for-8 shooting. … Huggins coached his 300th game at his alma mater. … The Mountaineers committed only 10 turnovers.

Kansas: Wayne Selden had 11 points. Graham and Brannen Greene scored 10 apiece. … Self improved to 203-9 in Allen Fieldhouse. … The Jayhawks shot 56 percent from the field.

UP NEXT

West Virginia plays TCU on Saturday.

Kansas visits No. 3 Oklahoma on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

Kansas State women upset No. 21 Oklahoma

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riggertKansasStateMANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Kindred Wesemann made 6 of 8 from 3-point range, 8 of 10 free throws and finished with 26 points and five assists to help the Kansas State women beat No. 21 Oklahoma 87-71 Tuesday night.

Breanna Lewis had 15 points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots, while Bri Craig scored a season-high 12 for Kansas State.

Gabbi Ortiz hit a 3-pointer to give Oklahoma (16-7, 7-5 Big 12) an 18-9 lead with 2:56 left in the first quarter.

Wesemann hit back-to-back 3s — and added two more — to start a 27-7 run that was capped by four-straight points from Kayla Goth with 3:44 left in the half that gave Kansas State (15-8, 5-7) a 38-27 lead.

Derica Wyatt’s layup with 2:14 left in the third pulled the Sooners within three, 56-53, but Wesemann answered with a 3-pointer and Oklahoma went eight minutes, 55 seconds without a field goal while Kansas State pushed its lead to 23 with 3:31 to play.

Gioya Carter led Oklahoma with 19 points.

— Associated Press —

Griffon baseball drops series finale at Arkansas Tech

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riggertMissouriWesternRUSSELVILLE, Ark. – The Missouri Western baseball team didn’t have much trouble getting on base Sunday at Arkansas Tech but bringing runners home proved challenging in a 7-6 game three loss to the Wonder Boys.

The Griffons piled up 11 hits but left 16 runners on base, going 5-23 with runners on and 3-14 with runners in scoring position. Missouri Western stayed off the board until the top of the fourth, scoring three, but Arkansas Tech added five it its half of the fourth. The Griffons would mount one more run in the fifth and two in the sixth but the late rally came up short.

David Glaude opened the fifth with a solo homer to right and Brandon Downs brought two home with a ground out to first that put MWSU up 3-2 headed to the bottom of the fifth. A big inning from the Wonder Boys in their half of the inning culminated and a three-run double that put Arkansas Tech back up 7-3.

Nick Gawley hit a two out, RBI single to center in the sixth that got Missouri Western closer. Downs was the first to score in the seventh, coming home on a bases loaded wild pitch with one out. Orencio Fisher picked up a sacrifice fly to pull the Griffons within one on the pitch after Downs scored. Glaude would follow with a walk, bringing Cosimo Cannella to the plate with the tying run on third, bases loaded, two out. Cannella grounded out to the pitcher to end the inning.

Conner Schwienbart took the loss. He pitched into the fifth, giving up five runs on nine hits. The transfer walked two and struck out one. Glaude was as triple short of hitting for the cycle, going 3-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Downs was 2-4 with two driven in and Gawley went 2-5.

The loss dropped MWSU to 1-2 on the season. The Griffons return to Arkansas next weekend, playing four games in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.

— MWSU Athletics —

No. 21 Mizzou women lose at No. 11 Mississippi State 52-42

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riggertMissouriSTARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Morgan William scored 17 points and Victoria Vivians 13, and the two guards made big plays late in No. 11 Mississippi State’s 52-42 victory over No. 21 Missouri on Sunday.

Mississippi State (21-4, 8-3 SEC) led 45-42 when William scored and Vivians followed with a steal and 3-point play for an eight-point lead with a minute left. William added two free throws with the duo combining for the Bulldogs’ final 11 points.

Sophie Cunningham scored 13 points and Jordan Frericks had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Tigers (18-6, 5-6).

Both teams shot under 33 percent, combining to make only 3 of 22 3-pointers. But the Bulldogs made eight steals and turned 27 Missouri turnovers into 29 points in picking up their fourth straight win and splitting the season series.

Mississippi State led from midway through the first quarter but Missouri stayed within single digits most of the way.

— Associated Press —

No. 16 MWSU softball finishes 2-2 at Ronnie Hawkins Invitational

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riggertMissouriWesternARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The Missouri Western softball team finished the Ronnie Hawkins Invitational 2-2 after another split on day two Sunday. The No. 16 Griffons lost game one 9-6 to Arkansas-Monticello and defeated Harding for the second time in two days, 4-1, in game two.

Game 1: Arkansas-Monticello 9, #16 MWSU 6

Two, four-run innings by Arkansas-Monticello doomed Janie Smith and the Griffons in a 9-6 loss to open day two at the Ronnie Hawkins Invitational.

UAM chipped away at Smith for four in the top of the third and used a grand slam to add four more in the fifth, scoring all but one of its runs in those two innings. Smith would surrender another run, her ninth earned, in the seventh on an RBI single. The senior fell to 1-1 on the season, allowing 11 hits, striking out four and walking two in seven innings of work.

Freshman Taylor Hamilton drove in two of the Griffon runs, including her first home run as a Griffon in the third. She put MWSU up 1-0 in the first with a sacrifice fly to center. Shelbie Atwell made it 3-0 Missouri Western in the first with a 2-RBI double to left. Kailey Green’s RBI-double and Paige Shifflett’s RBI-single in the sixth pulled the Griffons within two, but that would be the end of the scoring for Missouri Western in the game.

Shifflett and Atwell both finished the game 2-4 at the plate. Atwell drove in two and Shifflett added an RBI and a run scored.

Game 2: #16 MWSU 4, Harding 1

The Griffons used a little small ball to scratch out four runs and Shyanne Saladino held off a rally attempt by Harding for Missouri Western’s second win over Harding in two days.

Neither team scored through the first three innings, then the Griffons went up 2-0 in the fourth on a sacrifice bunt, RBI by Shifflett and an RBI-single from Hamilton. Green added an RBI-single in the top of the seventh and Megan Korgie followed Green’s RBI with one of her own on a bunt single.

With two down in the bottom of the seventh, Harding had the tying run at the plate with runners on second and third but Saladino got the batter to strike out looking to end the game. Saladino finished with five strikeouts, allowing just one unearned run on six hits and a walk to move to 1-1 on the year.

No Griffon finished with more than one hit and Katie Klosterman’s double in the seventh was the team’s only extra-base hit.

Missouri Western will see Harding again next weekend when it plays at the Arkansas-Monticello 8-State Classic in Bentonville, Arkansas. The Griffons will play six games in three days beginning on Friday.

— MWSU Athletics —

No. 9 Missouri Western cruises to 31-point win over Blue Tigers

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MWSUST. JOSEPH – The No. 9-ranked Missouri Western Women’s Basketball team rebounded from a cold first quarter to dominate Lincoln for the next three on the way to an 82-51 win over the Blue Tigers Saturday in the MWSU Fieldhouse.

The Griffons shot little better than 20 percent from the field in the first quarter and went into the second tied at 14 with Griffon Hall of Famer Nicole Collier’s team. From there, Missouri Western turned on the after burners, outscoring Lincoln 26-11 in the second; 20-15 in the third; and 22-11 in the fourth. The Griffons finished with a 50.8 field goal shooting percentage on the night, including 62.5 percent from behind the arc. Missouri Western held Lincoln to a 29.4 field goal shooting percentage and forced 19 Lincoln turnovers.

Miliakere Koyamainavure led Missouri Western, scoring a career-high 22 points and pulling down a career-high 11 rebounds. Julia Torres also finished with a double-double, scoring 11 and adding 10 rebounds. LaQuinta Jefferson finished with 19 points and five rebounds. Chelsea Dewey finished with seven points, six assists and five rebounds.

The win moved Missouri Western to 21-1 on the season and 15-2 in the MIAA. It’s the most wins in a season for the program since going 21-9 in 2003-04. Next week Missouri Western heads to Oklahoma for rematches with Northeastern State on Feb. 11 and Central Oklahoma on Feb. 13. The Griffon defeated both teams in St. Joseph earlier this season.

— MWSU Athletics —

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