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Author: Dave Riggert

Lafayette boys, Benton girls each lose in the Class 4 sectionals

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The Lafayette boys and Benton girls each came up short in their Class 4 sectional games on Tuesday at Liberty North high school. The Fighting Irish lost to Kansas City Southeast 61-55, while the no. 1 ranked Cardinals were upset by Lincoln Prep 51-34.

After falling behind early Tuesday night, Lafayette battled back and took a 28-25 lead at the half against Southeast. But the Fighting Irish struggled with turnovers in the third quarter and the Knights outscored LHS 20-12 in the quarter and never trailed again.

Ike Book led Lafayette with 17 points as they end their season 18-8.

The Benton girls struggled all night Tuesday against Lincoln Prep and they never led in the game. The Cardinals made just two first half field goals as they were down 15-3 after the first quarter and 29-8 at halftime.

Benton wasn’t able to make a serious ran at Lincoln Prep as they trailed 31-15 after three quarter and never got the deficit under 11 points.

Gabby Fuller led the Cardinals with 12 as they end their season 23-3.

Griffons’ Hightower, Hudson, Carroll named All-MIAA

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The MIAA announced the All-MIAA Men’s Basketball selections on Tuesday afternoon, with Missouri Western’s Lavon Hightower, Bryan Hudson, and Tyrell Carroll all receiving All-MIAA honors.

ALL-MIAA SECOND TEAM
Lavon Hightower

ALL-MIAA HONORABLE MENTION
Bryan Hudson
Tyrell Carroll

Lavon Hightower becomes the first Missouri Western men’s basketball student-athlete to receive more than honorable mention since the 2011-12 season when Lavonte Douglas was named Third Team All-MIAA. He receives second team honors after being named All-MIAA Honorable Mention as a junior last season.

Hightower established himself as the Griffons’ most productive and consistent offensive threat, leading the team with 18.7 points per game and scoring in double-figures in 27 of the team’s 30 games this season. Hightower set a new Missouri Western single-season record with 231 total rebounds (7.7 per game). His 562 points this season ranks him third in the last 20 seasons at Missouri Western. He was also one of just three players in the MIAA this season in the top-10 in both points and rebounds per game.

Bryan Hudson earns All-MIAA Honorable Mention after his final season at Missouri Western. In his senior season, Hudson was the team’s second-leading scorer with over 15 points per game. He was the most improved player on the Griffons’ roster, upping his points per game from 5.3 as a junior. The most impressive part of Hudson’s scoring production was his efficiency throughout the season. Hudson ranked seventh in the MIAA with a 52 percent field-goal percentage, and was one of just two guards in the MIAA in the top-10. He was also second on the team with 45 made three-pointers and shot them at a team-high 41 percent.

Tyrell Carroll receives All-MIAA Honorable Mention honors in his first season at Missouri Western. The point guard averaged 14.3 points and 3.5 assists per game as a true freshman. After taking over the starting role eight games into the season, Carroll’s production increased as the season progressed. He averaged nearly 18 points per game in the second half of the season, scoring in double figures in each of Missouri Western’s final 15 games. Carroll dished out five or more assists in 11 games this season, including three games in which he finished with seven assists.

— MWSU Athletics —

Northwest Missouri State sweeps All-MIAA individual awards

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The Northwest Missouri State University men’s basketball team had all five starters earn all-Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletic Association honors. The Bearcats also swept all four of the specialty awards – Joey Witthus (Player of the Year), Trevor Hudgins (Freshman of the Year), Ryan Hawkins (Defensive Player of the Year) and Ben McCollum (Coach of the Year) as announced by the league office today.

Senior Joey Witthus and redshirt freshman Trevor Hudgins were named to the all-MIAA first team, while sophomore Ryan Hawkins earned all-MIAA second-team honors. Freshman Diego Bernard and junior Ryan Welty notched honorable mention status. In addition, Hawkins and Bernard were selected as members of the MIAA All-Defensive squad.

Witthus (Chanhassen, Minnesota) becomes the seventh different Bearcat to be named the MIAA Player of the Year. Witthus is averaging a team-best 20.5 points per game and shooting 50.8 percent from the field. Witthus has buried an-MIAA high 90 three-pointers, and he is shooting 45.5 percent from beyond the three-point arc. Witthus also leads Northwest in free throws made (108) and his shooting 85.7 percent from the free throw line. In MIAA games, Witthus is scoring at a 21.7 per game clip. Witthus has scored 30 or more points five times this season, including four times in MIAA play.

Northwest’s MIAA Player of the Year Award Winners
1971 – Carl Jenkins
1998 – Shakey Harrington
2004 – Kelvin Parker
2007 – Hunter Henry
2014 – DeShaun Cooper
2016 – Justin Pitts
2017 – Justin Pitts
2018 – Justin Pitts
2019 – Joey Witthus

Hudgins (Manhattan, Kansas) is the sixth Bearcat to earn the MIAA Freshman of the Year award. Hudgins is scoring 18.4 points per game and handing out 5.2 assists per game, which ranks him at No. 3 in the nation among freshmen in each category. Hudgins is shooting 53.9 percent from the field, including 47.3 percent from three-point range. Hudgins is making 82.7 percent of his free throws and tied the all-time MIAA record for consecutive free throws made at 36. Hudgins has scored 20 or more points 15 times this season. He has set the Northwest freshman scoring record with 534 points.

Northwest’s MIAA Freshman of the Year Award Winners
1996 – Matt Redd
2007 – Lance Sullivan
2010 – DeShaun Cooper
2014 – Zach Schneider
2015 – Justin Pitts
2019 – Trevor Hudgins

Hawkins (Atlantic, Iowa) becomes the second Bearcat to earn the MIAA Defensive Player of the Year honor. Hawkins leads the MIAA in steals (67) and he ranks third in the league in rebounds (9.1 rpg). Hawkins has recorded at least two steals in 21 of 29 games. He has tallied a team-best 22 blocked shots. Hawkins is one of two MIAA players (Lincoln’s Jonell Burton) with at least 20 steals, 20 blocks, 20 assists and 20 three-pointers made.

Northwest’s MIAA Defensive Player of the Year Award Winners
2015 – Matt Wallace
2019 – Ryan Hawkins

Bernard (St. Joseph, Missouri) earned honorable mention all-MIAA status and a spot on the MIAA All-Defensive squad. Bernard is averaging 11.8 points per game and is shooting 49.0 percent from the field. Bernard has scored in double figures in 23 of 29 games this season. In MIAA play, Bernard is averaging 5.1 rebounds per game, which ranks second on the Bearcat squad.

Northwest’s MIAA All-Defensive Team Members
2003 – Kelvin Parker
2004 – Kelvin Parker
2006 – Mose Howard
2007 – John Hawkins
2008 – Mat Withers
2009 – Hunter Henry
2012 – Jake Reinders
2013 – Matt Wallace
2014 – Bryston Williams
2015 – Matt Wallace
2017 – Chris-Ebou Ndow
2018 – Brett Dougherty
2019 – Ryan Hawkins, Diego Bernard

Welty (Parkville, Missouri) also captured honorable mention all-MIAA honors. Welty is averaging 8.5 points per game. Welty has made 62 three-pointers and is shooting 50.4 percent from beyond the three-point arc. Welty is shooting 53.1 percent overall from the field.

McCollum secured his fifth MIAA Coach of the Year Award after having guided Northwest to the first 19-0 MIAA season in the history of the league. McCollum helped lead the Bearcats to their sixth straight MIAA regular season crown – becoming the first program in the history of the MIAA to win six in a row. McCollum has Northwest off to its best start to a season since the Bearcats posted a 31-0 mark under Hank Iba in the 1929-30 season. McCollum and the Bearcats have won all 29 games this season by a scoring margin of +22.4, which would best the MIAA’s all-time mark of +22.3 set by Missouri State in the 1959-60 season.

Northwest’s MIAA Coach of the Year Award Winners
1989 – Steve Tappmeyer
1998 – Steve Tappmeyer
2001 – Steve Tappmeyer
2007 – Steve Tappmeyer
2012 – Ben McCollum
2015 – Ben McCollum (co-title)
2016 – Ben McCollum
2017 – Ben McCollum
2019 – Ben McCollum

The Bearcats will take to the floor again at noon Thursday in Kansas City in the quarterfinals of the MIAA Tournament. Northwest will play the winner of Wednesday’s first round game between No. 8-seeded Emporia State and No. 9-seeded Northeastern State.

2019 Men’s Basketball All-MIAA Teams

First-Team
Brady Werth – Fort Hays State, Senior
Cam Martin – Missouri Southern, Sophomore
Trevor Hudgins – Northwest Missouri – Freshman
Joey Witthus – Northwest Missouri – Senior
Javion Blake – Washburn – Senior

Second-Team
Adarius Avery – Central Oklahoma, Senior
Terrance Smith – Lincoln, Senior
Brad Newman – Lindenwood, Senior
Lavon Hightower – Missouri Western, Senior
Ryan Hawkins – Northwest Missouri, Sophomore

Third-Team
Elyjah Clark – Missouri Southern, Junior
Caleb Smith – Northeastern State, Junior
Donovan Franklin – Pittsburg State, Senior
Grant Lozoya – Pittsburg State, Senior
Karim Mouliom – Southwest Baptist, Senior

All-Defensive Team
Diego Bernard – Northwest Missouri, Freshman
Ryan Hawkins – Northwest Missouri, Sophomore
Jonell Burton – Lincoln, Junior
Karim Mouliom – Southwest Baptist, Senior
David Salach – Washburn, Senior

Honorable Mentions

Central Missouri: Daniel Farris – Sophomore, Jafar Kinsey – Senior, Jacob Lowrance – Senior

Emporia State: Kooper Glick – Senior, Julius Jackson – Senior

Fort Hays State: Marcus Cooper – Senior, Kyler Kinnamon – Senior

Lincoln: Jonell Burton – Junior, Amariontez Ivory – Senior, Grant Olsson – Senior

Lindenwood: Chandler Diekvoss – Senior, TJ Crockett – Sophomore

Missouri Southern: Kinzer Lambert – Junior, Braelon Walker – Junior

Missouri Western: Tyrell Carroll – Freshman, Bryan Hudson – Senior

Nebraska Kearney: AJ Jackson – Junior, Kanon Koster – Freshman

Northeastern State: Josh Ihek – Junior

Northwest Missouri: Diego Bernard – Freshman, Ryan Welty – Junior

Washburn: Tyler Geiman – Sophomore, David Salach – Senior

— Northwest Athletics —

Kansas falls at Oklahoma to end Jayhawks’ run of Big 12 titles

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NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Kristian Doolittle had 24 points and 11 rebounds to help Oklahoma beat No. 13 Kansas 81-68 on Tuesday night and end the Jayhawks’ run of Big 12 regular-season titles at 14 years.

The last time Kansas didn’t at least tie for the conference crown, Oklahoma State won it outright in 2003-04. Now, Kansas State and Texas Tech remain in contention for the championship. The fans knew — they chanted “streak is over” in the closing minutes.

Brady Manek scored 21 points and Rashard Odomes added 12 for Oklahoma (19-11, 7-10 Big 12), which boosted its chances of earning an NCAA Tournament bid.

Dedric Lawson, the Big 12’s leading scorer, had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Kansas (22-8, 11-6). David McCormack added 18 points for the Jayhawks.

Manek scored 10 early points to help the Sooners roll out to a 23-7 lead. Kansas crept back into the game before a dunk by Manek put the Sooners up 30-18.

In a perfect example of the way the first half went, the Sooners ran the shot clock down so far that the student section started counting. As time ran out, Doolittle bulled his way through Kansas’ defense for a layup to put the Sooners up 41-22. The Sooners led 41-28 at the break.

Oklahoma poured it on in the second half. A 3-pointer by Odomes pushed the Sooners’ lead to 59-37, and Oklahoma remained in control the rest of the way.

BIG PICTURE

Kansas: Sure, the Jayhawks lost a road game to a team that has caught fire late in the season and likely will reach the NCAA Tournament. But the way they lost should be a concern, as should the close call in a win over struggling Oklahoma State last Saturday. Kansas doesn’t look like Kansas right now.

Oklahoma: The Sooners finally got that marquee win they have been looking for during conference play. The Sooners had lost five straight at one point, but now have won four of five. They head toward the postseason with momentum this season.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Kansas will likely drop for this one because the game was more lopsided than the final score indicates. Kansas trailed by 19 with 1:53 to go before a late flurry.

UP NEXT

Kansas: Hosts Baylor on Saturday.

Oklahoma: At Kansas State on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

MWSU’s Roenfeldt earns First Team All-MIAA honors

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The MIAA announced the Women’s Basketball All-MIAA teams on Tuesday. Katrina Roenfeldt, Melia Richardson, and Brittany Atkins all received All-MIAA recognition.

ALL-MIAA FIRST TEAM
Katrina Roenfeldt

MIAA ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
Melia Richardson

ALL-MIAA HONORABLE MENTION
Brittany Atkins
Melia Richardson

Katrina Roenfeldt was named First Team All-MIAA after returning from a season-ending injury last season. The redshirt junior guard was one of the top scorers in the conference, finishing second in the MIAA with 467 total points (16.7 per game). Roenfeldt broke the Missouri Western single-season record for three-pointers in a season with 84 made three’s. Roenfeldt was known for more than just her scoring, also leading the team in rebounds (5.1) and minutes (33.8) per game. She was the most consistent offensive threat for the Griffons as she scored in double figures in 25 of the team’s 28 games. Roenfeldt enters the MIAA Championships on the most productive scoring stretch of her career, averaging nearly 20 points per game over her last 10 games.

Melia Richardson receives both MIAA All-Defensive and All-MIAA Honorable Mention honors. Richardson has now been named All-MIAA Honorable Mention in back-to-back seasons. Richardson wraps up her four-year career at Missouri Western with 114 games and over 3,000 minutes played. The senior averaged 8.5 points per game while also leading the team with 2.5 assists per game. She registered double-figure scoring in eight games this season, including a season-high 22 points at Southwest Baptist on Feb. 21.

Brittany Atkins earns All-MIAA Honorable Mention recognition in her final season at Missouri Western. She was the Griffons’ second-leading scorer with 11.7 points per game. Atkins scored at least 10 points in 12 of her 19 games played, which included a streak of six-straight games. She poured in season-highs with 24 points, nine rebounds, and five assists in the Griffons’ win at Lincoln on Feb. 7.

— MWSU Athletics —

Nebraska loses at No. 9 Michigan State 91-76

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EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Kenny Goins and Matt McQuaid have been role players for much of their careers at Michigan State.

On the same night and in timely fashion, the seniors were stars for the ninth-ranked Spartans.

Goins scored 21 of his career-high 24 points in the first half and McQuaid finished with a career-best 22, leading Michigan State to a 91-76 win over Nebraska on Tuesday.

“It’s our last week in the Breslin and both of us are trying to go out with a bang,” Goins said.

Goins and McQuaid, along with freshman Aaron Henry, who scored a season-high 15 points, made up for Cassius Winston matching his season low with eight points.

Winston was slowed by knee tendinitis.

“Nothing that will linger,” coach Tom Izzo insisted.

The Spartans (24-6, 15-4 Big Ten) close the regular season against No. 7 Michigan (26-4, 15-4) at home Saturday night with at least a share of the conference championship at stake. No. 11 Purdue lost at Minnesota, dropping the Boilermakers into a three-way tie with Michigan State and the Wolverines.

“With a championship at stake, that just adds that much more,” Goins said.

The Cornhuskers (15-15, 5-14) have lost four in a row and 11 of 13 in what might be Tim Miles ‘ final season as their coach. Relatively speaking, they bounced back after an 82-53 loss at Michigan.

“That was such a disappointment,” Miles said. “We’ve got to have more in us than that and tonight we did. There are no moral victories, but at the same time, we fought back to seven.”

Nebraska’s James Palmer matched his season high with 30 points. Glynn Watson equaled his season best with 25 points while Isaiah Roby added 10 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Michigan State started slowly before taking control and leading 47-29 at halftime after Goins was 5 of 5 on 3-pointers and McQuaid scored 13 in the opening 20 minutes.

“The basket looked huge in the first half,” Goins said.

Goins entered scoring 7.8 points per game and the former walk-on averaged 3.4 or fewer points over his first three seasons.

“He’s a self-made guy,” Miles said. “He went from a guy not in the scouting report years ago to going out and having a great night.”

McQuaid topped his previous best scoring game with a 3 midway through the second half to give the Spartans a 69-55 advantage after Nebraska rallied to pull within seven points.

“He’s playing some of his best basketball,” Izzo said.

BIG PICTURE

Nebraska: Miles fired back at a heckling fan who shouted his name and said he was going to get fired. “You think so?” Miles asked. “Maybe they’ll hire you.”

Miles is 112-112 at Nebraska, which would have to give him a $2.52 million buyout if the school fires him with two years left on his contract.

“It’s been a tough run for him, but his team had enough character to not quit,” Izzo said.

Michigan State: Henry played the way Izzo hopes he can for the rest of the season. The shooting guard entered averaging just 4.9 points per game. He has not looked confident starting in place of Joshua Langford, who had season-ending foot surgery.

“He did a good job of being aggressive,” McQuaid said. “He hit that 3 and that really got him going. He was on the boards and he was looking for his shot.”

INJURY REPORT

The Spartans, already without Nick Ward and Langford, were missing Kyle Ahrens because of a back injury. Izzo isn’t sure how long Ahrens will be out. Izzo doesn’t expect Ward , who had surgery on his left hand last month, to play against Michigan.

Ward’s shooting hard was broken and repaired, adding an obstacle to his comeback.

“I’ve learned I can do a lot of things with either hand,” he said. “It’s harder, but I can do it.”

Nebraska guard Thomas Allen, who averages 8.7 points, was on the bench with a walking boot on his left foot after being injured last week against Michigan.

WELCOME BACK

Michigan State’s 1959 Big Ten championship team , which was led by Jumpin’ Johnny Green, was honored on the court during the game.

UP NEXT

Nebraska: Will play Iowa at home on Sunday.

Michigan State: Hosts the rival Wolverines on Saturday night.

— Associated Press —

Missouri’s Cunningham, Porter and Levy earn All-SEC recognition

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COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Women’s Basketball had three players earn All-SEC recognition, announced Tuesday by the Southeastern Conference. Senior guard Sophie Cunningham (Columbia, Mo.) was named to the All-SEC First Team for third consecutive season, senior forward Cierra Porter (Columbia, Mo.) was named the Sixth Woman of the Year, and Akira Levy (Baxter, Tenn.) was named to the All-SEC Freshman Team.

In addition, Cunningham was named to the All-SEC First Team by the Associated Press for the second straight season.

With her third All-SEC First Team honor, Cunningham is the first player in program history to earn All-Conference First Team honors in three consecutive seasons. The SEC’s active career scoring leader with 2,082 points, Cunningham is currently averaging 17.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. Her 72 three-pointers rank fifth in a single season in program history.

Cunningham currently ranks fourth in the SEC in scoring (17.3 ppg), third in three-point percentage (40.7), third in three-pointers per game (2.3) and third in free throw percentage (81.8). In conference play, she leads the SEC in three-point shooting 46.5 percent) and threes per game (2.9). Cunningham has reached 20 points in 13 games this season, including eight times during SEC play, and 30 points twice. Mizzou is 12-1 when she scores 20+, and 2-0 when she reaches 30 points.

The Tiger senior is one of three Mizzou players to score 2,000 career points. Among program records, Cunningham ranks first in free throws made (503), third in three-point percentage (40.5), third in scoring (2,082), third in three-pointers made (225), third in free throw percentage (83.4), fourth in points per game (16.8) and fourth in assists (378).

Porter becomes the second player in Mizzou history to be named SEC Sixth Woman of the Year, and the first since Morgan Eye earned the honor in 2013. After originally medically retiring due to nagging knee injuries in June, Porter returned to the court in late December, when she came off the bench in her first seven contests. She is currently averaging 7.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game while shooting a career-best 86.7 percent from the free throw line (39-for-45).

In her season debut against Arkansas State (Dec. 30), Porter became the 36th member of Mizzou’s 1,000-point club as she scored four points in 11 minutes. Porter has scored in double figures in five contests this season, all coming during the last nine games. Against Arkansas (Feb. 28), Porter tallied her eighth career 20-point game with a season-high 21 points while shooting a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line in the game, which matched her career-best performance from the charity stripe.

Porter’s stout 86.7 percent clip from the line currently ranks as the fourth-best mark in a single season in Mizzou history, while her career free throw percentage of 80.0 percent ranks fifth all-time. She also ranks ninth in career rebounds with 749 rebounds and 10th in career blocks with 109.

After starting the first four games of her career, Levy provided a spark off the bench with 4.8 points and 2.1 assists per game before her season was cut short due to a season-ending knee injury. She is the third Tiger to make the All-SEC Freshman team in the last four seasons, joining teammates Cunningham in 2016 and junior guard Amber Smith (Shreveport, La.) in 2017.

Among SEC freshman, Levy tallied the fourth-most assists with 58 and the seventh-most steals with 24. She scored in double figures in five games, and recorded three or more assists in 11 contests.

— Mizzou Athletics —

Griffon baseball moves home series to Northeastern State

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ST. JOSEPH – Due to weather and field conditions in St. Joseph, Missouri Western baseball’s scheduled weekend series with Northeastern State has been moved to Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

The weekend forecast in Tahlequah also resulted in the coaches altering dates and game times. Missouri Western will play as the home team at Northeastern State in a doubleheader on Thursday, March 7 that begins at 11 a.m. and a single game on Friday at 1 p.m.

It would have been the Griffons’ fourth home series of the season, instead its the fourth-straight home series the Griffons have had to cancel or move to another site due to weather. Missouri Western canceled a series with St. Cloud State; moved its MIAA opening series with Fort Hays State to Edmond, Oklahoma and canceled a two-game non-conference series with Southern Indiana. The Griffons’ next scheduled home contest is Wednesday, March 13 against Maryville.

Missouri Western is 7-6 overall and tied atop the MIAA standings with a 5-1 conference record after taking two out of three at No. 25 Missouri Southern last week.

— MWSU Athletics —

Three Bears earn Missouri Valley Conference basketball honors

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ST. LOUIS – Led by two players on the All-Missouri Valley Conference Team and three on the MVC All-Newcomer Team, Missouri State was well represented Tuesday with the release of the league’s first round of postseason men’s basketball awards.

Earning All-MVC honors are first-team selection Tulio Da Silva (Jr., Formiga, Brazil) and third-team selection Keandre Cook (Jr., Baltimore, Md.). Missouri State also had three selections on the MVC All-Newcomer Team with Da Silva and Cook joining fellow transfer Josh Webster (Sr., St. Louis, Mo.) on the five-member team.

Da Silva led the Bears this season with 14.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while converting 56.2 percent of his field goal attempts. He ranks among the league’s top 10 players in four statistical categories and is 40th nationally in field goal percentage. He led the Bears in scoring 10 games this season and in rebounding 18 times. He has also scored in double figures in 22 of 26 games at MSU.

Da Silva, a transfer from South Florida, is just the third Bear (Kyle Weems 2011 and 2012; and Alize Johnson 2017 and 2018) over the last 10 seasons to earn All-MVC first-team distinction. He and Loyola sophomore Cameron Krutwig are the only non-seniors on this year’s MVC first team. He is a two-time MVC Player of the Week (Jan. 14 and Feb. 18) and also won MVC Newcomer of the Week the same two weeks.

Cook is averaging 13.0 points and 4.2 rebounds per game and is second on the club with 48 3-pointers this season. He has also converted 39.2 percent of his 3-point attempts in Valley play. He has been MSU’s top scorer 11 times in 2018-19 with five 20-point efforts.

The transfer from Odessa (Texas) College has scored in double figures 23 times this year and earned MVC Player of the Week honors once (Jan. 28) and MVC Newcomer of the Week distinction twice (Nov. 12 and Jan. 28).

Webster leads the Missouri Valley Conference in assists per game (5.2) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.06). His assist-to-turnover ratio also ranks 12th nationally. The Texas Tech transfer is also averaging 7.6 points and 3.3 rebounds per game with 35 steals.

Webster has been MSU’s top assist man in 26 of 31 games this season while scoring in double figures 10 times.

Joining the three Missouri State players on the 2019 MVC All-Newcomer Team are UNI freshman A.J. Green and Drake senior Brady Ellingson.

Coach Dana Ford and the Bears begin the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Friday afternoon in St. Louis. The No. 4 seeded Bears take on fifth-seeded Bradley at 2:30 p.m. at Enterprise Center (formerly Scottrade Center) in St. Louis.

— MSU Athletics —

No. 18 K-State still in Big 12 lead after 64-52 win at TCU

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FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Barry Brown had 16 points to lead four Kansas State players in double figures and the 18th-ranked Wildcats beat TCU 64-52 on Monday night to maintain a share of the Big 12 lead with one game remaining in the regular season.

Kansas State (23-7, 13-4 Big 12) went ahead to stay with a tiebreaking 13-4 run to end the first half, then scored the first 10 points after halftime.

Kamau Stokes added 15 points for the Wildcats, who remained tied with No. 8 Texas Tech (25-5, 13-4) atop the Big 12 standings. The Red Raiders, who won by 15 at slumping TCU on Saturday, finished a 70-51 home win over Texas only minutes after the K-State game ended.

Kevin Samuel had 17 points and seven rebounds to lead TCU (18-12, 6-11), while RJ Nembhard scored 12 points.

After TCU’s Desmond Bane made a second-chance 3-pointer with 4:47 left in the first half to tie the game at 23, the Wildcats started their game-turning run.

Dean Wade, who scored all of his nine points before halftime, assisted on a 3-pointer by Stokes before the 6-foot-10 senior who was the preseason All-Big 12 player of the year had a steal. Wade and Brown then traded passes down the court before Wade slammed the ball home.

Stokes hit a 3 that beat the shot clock just before halftime for a 36-27 lead at the break.

K-State led by as many as 21 points before TCU reeled off 10 points in a row, a streak that finally ended when Mike McGuirl stopped underneath and passed out to Makol Mawien for a 13-foot jumper in the lane.

Xavier Sneed had 11 points and Mawien 10.

BIG PICTURE

Kansas St.: The Wildcats have a chance to win their second Big 12 title. They were co-champions in 2012-13, coach Bruce Weber’s first season, when they shared the title with Kansas — the 14-time defending champion that won the last five titles outright. K-State started 0-2 in the Big 12 when Wade was out with a foot injury, but is 13-2 in conference play since.

TCU: The Horned Frogs lost for the sixth time in seven games, a stretch that has taken them to the NCAA Tournament bubble. Before that, they seemed to be well on their way to their second consecutive NCAA Tournament after ending a two-decade drought last year.

SENIOR NIGHT

TCU seniors Alex Robinson and JD Miller were recognized before the game. Robinson, who is from Fort Worth but played his first college season for Texas A&M, is TCU’s career assist leader at 628. Miller has played in all 133 games since he got on campus, three short of Brandon Parrish’s school record of 136.

UP NEXT

Kansas State wraps up the regular season Saturday at home against Oklahoma, on senior day for starters Wade, Brown and Stokes.

TCU plays its regular-season finale Saturday at Texas, another NCAA Tournament bubble team.

— Associated Press —

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