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Author: Dave Riggert

Mizzou falls at Vandy for school-record 13th straight loss

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riggertMizzouNASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Kevin Stallings reminded his Vanderbilt Commodores before tipoff how much they need to both start and finish games better.

They listened very well.

Damian Jones scored 16 points and led five Commodores in double figures as Vanderbilt routed struggling Missouri 76-53 Saturday afternoon.

The Commodores (15-12, 5-9 Southeastern Conference) now have won two of their last three and improved to 4-2 in February. They scored the first seven points of the game and never trailed. The Commodores hit a season-high 10 3-pointers in posting their biggest margin of victory in a SEC win since winning 73-31 at Mississippi State on Feb. 23, 2013.

“I just liked how we were methodical and pretty workmanlike in what we tried to do,” Stallings said.

Wade Baldwin IV scored 13 points for Vanderbilt. Matthew Fisher-Davis, Riley LaChance and Luke Kornet each added 11.

Missouri (7-20, 1-13) lost its 13th straight for the longest skid in school history. Montaque Gill-Caesar led the Tigers with 11 points while Johnathan Williams II, their leading scorer averaging 12.6 points per game, was held to six points.

“Nobody’s more disappointed than me,” first-year coach Kim Anderson said. “But nobody’s more excited than me to go practice and try to work with these guys. You know it’s hard, it’s hard when you lose 13 in a row.”

Missouri started shooting poorly, missing six of its first seven shots. Vanderbilt had no such issues and quickly opened up a 14-4 lead and pushed that to as much as 24-10 on a jumper by Fisher-Davis with 8:56 left in the half. The Tigers strung together six straight points to trim that lead under double digits. Gill-Caesar hit a 3-pointer, then Keanu Post scored on a layup with eight seconds left to pull Missouri within 35-29.

But Josh Henderson beat the buzzer, tipping in a missed shot by Shelton Mitchell giving Vanderbilt a 37-29 halftime lead.

“We keep getting punched in the mouth first, and it’s affecting us,” Tigers guard Keith Shamburger said. “We got to start off better as a group simple as it gets. We got to start off hungry. Seven-20, and we’re playing like we’re 13-1 in conference. So we got to turn that around and just play harder.”

Jones opened the second half scoring six points within the first four minutes for Vanderbilt, and the rout was on as the Commodores pushed their lead to as much as 27 with 2:42 left on a 3-pointer by Baldwin. That was the Commodores’ 10th 3-pointer as they hit 41.7 percent for the game.

TIP-INS

Missouri: The Tigers now have topped the 12-game skids in each of the 1965-66 and 1966-67 seasons. … The Tigers came in ranked sixth in the SEC making an average of 6.3 3-pointers per game. They hit only 3 of 11 (27.3 percent). … Missouri was outrebounded 27-9 in the second half.

Vanderbilt: The Commodores dominated the boards 46-26. LaChance grabbed a career-best nine rebounds, while James Siakam had 13. … The Commodores got back Mitchell who missed the past four games because of concussion symptoms. He has started 11 games this season, but he entered the game at 12:18 of the first half. Mitchell had only two points but handed out four assists. … Vanderbilt had hit nine 3-pointers in five different games this season.

DOUBLING DAMIAN: The Tigers double-teamed Jones in the first half and held the preseason first-team All-SEC center to just two points and two rebounds. Jones had four of his blocks in the first 20 minutes. But Stallings said they noticed in the opening seconds of the second half that Missouri was not double-teaming him anymore when Jones missed a jump hook. That’s when Vanderbilt went to Jones over and over again as he scored 14 points and grabbed five in the half.

“When he plays like that, we’re pretty tough to beat,” LaChance said.

UP NEXT:

Missouri: Host Florida on Tuesday night.

Vanderbilt: Visit Tennessee on Thursday night.

— Associated Press —

Western baseball sweeps DH against No. 4 Emporia; Verduzco earns 300th MIAA win

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riggertMissouriWesternEMPORIA, Kan. – In a milestone day for coach Buzz Verduzco, the Missouri Western baseball team swept a doubleheader against No. 4 Emporia State, to take the series, 3-1.

Verduzco claimed his 300th MIAA victory in game one. Missouri Western leaves Emporia with a 6-5 record after handing the preseason MIAA favorite their first three losses of the season.

Game 1: MWSU 5, Emporia State 1

Buzz Verduzco earned his 300th MIAA win as Griffon Baseball defeated No. 4 Emporia State for the second straight game, 5-1. For Verduzco, it improved his all-time MIAA record to 300-220, 439-332 overall.

The Griffons opened the game up in the third when Cosimo Cannella and David Glaude hit back-to-back solo home runs to put the team up 4-1. Emporia State jumped out to a 1-0 lead but the Griffons answered in the bottom of the first on Cannella’s sacrifice fly that scored Ryan Degner. MWSU tacked on another in the second on an RBI single from Orencio Fisher and added on more in the sixth on another single from Fisher.

Fisher finished 3-3 with two RBIs. Degner went 2-3 with two runs scored and Trevor LaHonta also went 2-3 with one run scored. A.J. Martinez picked up the win, going five and a third, allowing six hits, one run and striking out three.

Game 2: MWSU 5, Emporia State 3

Emporia State jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first that became a 2-2 tie after one for the Griffons. Ryan Degner led off the inning with a triple and scored after Fisher reached on an error. Fisher scored to tie it after another Hornet error allowed him to come home.

MWSU made it a 3-2 lead after four on an RBI single from Trevor LaHonta. The Griffons made Emporia State pay for another error in the fifth when David Glaude scored on a throwing error to put Missouri Western up 4-2. The Hornets added one in the eighth that was answered by the Griffons in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI single from Degner.

Banks Born picked up the win, pitching the first three and a third. Richard Peoples picked up the save, going the final inning and a third. LaHonta went 2-3 with two RBIs in the game.

— MWSU Sports Information —

MWSU softball drops final two games in Minnesota

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riggertMissouriWesternST. CLOUD, Minn. – The Missouri Western softball team wrapped up the final day of the Kelly Laas Memorial Invite with two losses on Saturday, dropping the team to 7-7 on the year.

Game 1: Wayne State 3, Missouri Western 2

A late inning rally was stopped short as Griffon Softball dropped a 3-2 decision to Wayne State (Neb.). Much like the first day of the invite, pitching ruled this game. Wayne State plated one in the first off Janie Smith with a sacrifice fly. MWSU found itself in a 2-0 hole after the fifth when Wayne State scored again. MWSU tied the game at two in the sixth on two RBI singles.

Shelbie Atwell drove Sydney Washington in and Kaylie Green’s single brought Atwell across the plate to tie the game in the top of the sixth. Wayne State would go back ahead in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single. The Griffons were retired in order in the top of the seventh on two straight strikeouts and a Morgan Rathmann fly out that ended the game.

Smith took the loss, going six innings and allowing six hits and three earned runs. She walked two and struck out three. Green and Sydney Washington each finished with two hits. Washington went 2-2 with a runs cored while Green was 2-3 with an RBI.

Game 2: St. Cloud State 10, Missouri Western 2

Missouri Western wrapped up the final day of the crossover invite with a loss to host school, St. Cloud State. St. Cloud State improved to 4-5 on the year, winning their second straight game. The loss dropped MWSU to 7-7 on the year. Statistics for this game have not yet been made available.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Ellis helps No. 8 Kansas hold off TCU

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riggertKULAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Perry Ellis had five long days to think about six quick seconds.

On Saturday, he was finally able to put his blown layup at West Virginia behind him.

The senior forward had 23 points on near-perfect shooting, and eighth-ranked Kansas bounced back from a frustrating loss to the Mountaineers with an 81-72 victory over TCU.

Devonte’ Graham added a career-high 20 points and Frank Mason III finished with 14 for the Jayhawks (22-5, 11-4), who maintained their one-game lead over Iowa State with four left in the Big 12 race. Kansas also extended its win streak in the Allen Fieldhouse to 22 games.

“I was anxious to play, get back on the court,” said Ellis, who had the ball in his hands with six ticks left Monday, but watched his lay-in bounce off the rim in the 62-61 defeat. “It was tough, man. I knew I had a chance to make it but I couldn’t.”

He almost couldn’t miss on Saturday, going 9 for 10 from the field.

“I know he probably felt like he let us down (Monday), but he didn’t. He played very well in the game,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “I hope that wasn’t his motivation to play well today.”

Trey Zeigler had 20 points to lead the Horned Frogs (16-11, 3-11), who still have never won in Lawrence. Kyan Anderson added 14 points and Amric Fields finished with 11.

“Our margin of error is pretty slim, in this league especially,” Horned Frogs coach Trent Johnson said. “I can’t fault our effort. I can’t fault our execution, because they put it on you to be really good.”

Kansas led just 35-29 at halftime, and Anderson converted a four-point play immediately out of the break that allowed the Horned Frogs to close within a possession. But a few minutes later, Ellis knocked down a basket in the paint to restore a 43-35 lead, and then scored two more baskets to cap a 10-2 spurt and give the Jayhawks a 47-37 advantage.

By that point, TCU’s foul problems had really started to mount.

Karviar Shepherd went to the bench with four fouls with 17:15 to play, and Chris Washburn followed him to coach Trent Johnson’s side with his fourth foul with 9:30 remaining.

Kansas spent the final 11 minutes in the double bonus.

“We knew we were going to take a punch or two,” Zeigler said.

The Horned Frogs were still within 59-50 after the under-8 timeout, but Ellis followed a basket by Mason with the game’s two biggest highlights: He speared a lob from Mason and slammed it while getting fouled, then picked a pass near midcourt and added another dunk.

The duo kept of Ellis and Graham eventually put the game out of reach, the freshman guard feeding one of the Jayhawks’ only upper classman for an easy lay-in and a 70-62 lead with 3:11 to go. Then, Graham added a scooping layup a minute later to extend the lead.

The Jayhawks put the game away from the foul line in the final minute.

“They played really well in the second half, and we knew they were going to go on runs. We were going to take some punches,” Zeigler said. “We just tried to play through their runs.”

MANAGER’S SPECIAL

Self rewarded manager Chris Huey for his help on the scout team by letting him suit up Saturday. With about 30 seconds left, Self told Huey to check in to a huge roar from the student section. Groans followed when he missed an open layup.

SOLID GUARDING

As Johnson was leaving his post-game news conference, he noticed two police officers standing by the door, ready to walk him back to the TCU locker room. “Why they got two officers escorting me?” Johnson asked. “This isn’t West Virginia. I’m good.”

TIP-INS:

TCU: The loss snapped the Horned Frogs’ two-game win streak. … TCU fell to 9-2 when scoring more than 70 points. … Shepherd finished with six points and six rebounds. … Anderson also had seven assists with only one turnover.

Kansas: The Jayhawks got 37 points from their bench. … Coach Bill Self improved to 13-4 against TCU, including 7-1 with the Jayhawks. … Graham’s previous career high of 14 points came in the season opener against UC-Santa Barbara. … Kansas shot 58 percent from the floor.

UP NEXT:

TCU travels to Texas Tech on Wednesday night.

Kansas heads down Interstate 70 to Kansas State on Monday night.

— Associated Press —

Kansas State gets hammered at No. 20 Baylor 69-42

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riggertKStateWACO, Texas (AP) — With yet another 20-win season under Scott Drew secured, Baylor forward Rico Gathers is thinking more about the two times the Bears have been a win away from the Final Four under their coach.

“I’m glad that we won 20 games, but we’re on a mission to win the rest of our games for the rest of the regular season and stuff,” Gathers said after his Big 12-leading 14th double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds in a 69-42 win over Kansas State on Saturday.

“We stay hungry all the time. We know we’ve got tests coming up. We’re locked and ready to go.”

Taurean Price had 14 points, five assists and five steals to lead the Bears (20-7, 8-6 Big 12), who have seven of the school’s 10 seasons with at least 20 wins since Drew arrived in 2003. They’ve all been in the past eight years.

“It’s hard to sustain because you just have so much influx in our sport and our sport alone,” Drew said. “So to be consistent, again, Baylor nation, players we’ve had, the fact that they’ve stayed with the program, haven’t transferred, is why we’ve been successful.”

Thomas Gipson scored 11 points to lead the Wildcats (13-15, 6-9), who set a season low for points and dropped two games under .500 for the first time since the end of the 2003 season.

Kansas State, which was swept on a two-game trip to Texas that started with a loss to lowly TCU, got within 39-31 with six quick points after falling behind by 14 at halftime and made it 39-33 on a steal and dunk by Marcus Foster with 14 minutes to go.

But the Wildcats had just three field goals the rest of the way, shot 39 percent and were 1 of 16 from 3-point range while the Bears made eight of 16 from beyond the arc. Baylor built its 39-25 halftime lead thanks to 7-of-14 shooting from long range.

“You’ve got to make some 3s,” Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said. “When we’ve played against them, we’ve made 3s.”

Lester Medford scored 12 and Al Freeman had 11 on 5-of-6 shooting for the Bears, who won for the 18th time in 20 home games despite going almost 8 minutes without a field goal to start the second half before Gathers hit a layup on a feed from Kenny Chery.

With consecutive wins since a two-game skid that interrupted a hot streak, Baylor is looking solid for a fifth trip to the NCAA tournament under Drew, who has taken the Bears to the regional finals twice.

“It’s the Big 12,” Drew said. “You don’t get too high or low after any game. I think we all realize that.”

REBOUNDING RECOGNITION

Gathers was honored before the game for his Big 12-record 28 rebounds against Huston-Tillotson on Jan 21. The burly 6-foot-8 forward broke Baylor’s oldest individual game record, held by Jerry Mallett with 27 against North Texas on Feb. 1, 1955. Mallett presented Gathers with a commemorative ball.

TRYING TIMES

The Wildcats, who are 2-8 since beating Baylor at home on Jan. 17, had a rough February in Texas. The month started with a 64-47 loss at Texas Tech, the only team below TCU in the Big 12 standings. And now they go home to play No. 8 Kansas on Monday night for their third game in six days. “Maybe it’s a chance to regroup and get some things going in the right direction,” Weber said.

TIP-INS

Kansas State: The previous scoring low came in a 50-46 loss to Georgia on Dec. 31. … The Wildcats had nine of their 15 turnovers in the second half, including four when the deficit was still less than 10 in the second half.

Baylor: Royce O’Neale was Baylor’s other double-figure scorer with 10 points. … Besides sharing the scoring load like they usually do, the Bears had five players with at least four assists each. The total of 24 was four off their season high.

UP NEXT

Kansas State: Home against No. 8 Kansas on Monday.

Baylor: At No. 14 Iowa State on Wednesday.

— Associated Press —

Western hands No. 4 Emporia State first loss in doubleheader split

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riggertMissouriWesternEMPORIA, Kan. – Mitch Thorman’s walk-off single in game two handed No. 4 Emporia State their first loss of the season as the the Missouri Western baseball team split a doubleheader at Emporia Friday.

Game 1: #4 ESU 10, MWSU 6

Western couldn’t hang on to an early 4-0 lead in a 10-6 loss to No. 4 Emporia State.

The Griffons scored four in the first, getting home runs from Orencio Fisher and D’Andre Heggie. Emporia State tied it with four in the second, then added three each in the third and fourth innings to take a 10-4 lead.

David Glaude hit his third home run of the season and the team’s third of the game in the fifth. MWSU loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh, but managed just one run.

Josh Lansangan took the loss, going two and a third and giving up seven runs. Fisher, Glaude and Cosimo Cannella all had two hits.

Game 2: MWSU 4, #4 ESU 3

Missouri Western overcame an early 3-0 deficit to win game two in walk-off fashion. Mitch Thorman singled to right center and drove in David Glaude for the winning .

Emporia State led 3-0 after the sixth. The Griffons answered with one of their own in the sixth. They tacked on another in the seventh. D’Andre Heggie struck out looking with the bases loaded to end the seventh. He and Buzz Verduzco were ejected for arguing the call.

Richard Peoples picked up the win in relief. He went three and a third after replacing Grant Woods in the sixth. Glaude was the only Griffon with two hits, going 2-4.

The Griffons ended the day 4-5 and 1-1 in the MIAA. They’re scheduled to play two more Saturday.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Northwest baseball drops MIAA opener, game two suspended due to darkness

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Northwest2013riggertThe Northwest Missouri State University baseball team dropped its MIAA opener to Northeastern State, 4-1, on Thursday afternoon at Rousey Field in Tahlequah, Okla.

The Bearcats are now 2-6 overall and 0-1 in MIAA play. Northeastern State is 5-1 and 1-0 in conference action.

The second game of Thursday’s doubleheader was suspended due to darkness in the top of the eighth with Northwest leading 9-5.

Northwest scored one run on six hits with two errors, while Northeastern State scored four runs, one in the third, one in the fourth and two in the sixth, with five hits and no errors.

Brad Roberts went 4.0 innings for the Bearcats and took the loss. he allowed two runs on four hits with a pair of strikeouts.

Nick Gotta was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks and a stolen base, while Paul Johnson was 1-for-4 with the team’s lone RBI and Austin Wulff was 1-for-2 with a hit by pitch and a stolen base.

Thursday’s suspended game will resume at 11 a.m. on Friday monring with Northwest leading 9-5 in the top of the eighth. A doubleheader will immediately follow the conclusion of the suspended game.

— Northwest Sports Information —

Nebraska’s upset bid comes up short at No. 16 Maryland

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NebraskariggertCOLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Maryland was locked in another close game when Melo Trimble let the ball fly from well beyond the 3-point circle as the shot clock was about to expire.

Swish.

The freshman guard did it again just over a minute later, and soon after, the 16th-ranked Terrapins were celebrating a gritty 69-65 victory over Nebraska on Thursday night.

Trimble scored 26 points on 7-for-9 shooting and made 10 of 11 free throws. He also led Maryland with six rebounds and five assists.

“Melo was terrific down the stretch,” Terrapins coach Mark Turgeon said. “The kid’s just a winner. I’ve been saying that since we got him. It sure is nice to have him, I’ll tell you that.”

Dez Wells and Jake Layman each scored 14 for the Terrapins (22-5, 10-4 Big Ten), who were tied with 5:38 left before Trimble took over.

After Wells made two free throws, Trimble beat the clock with a jumper from atop the key. He connected again from beyond the arc with 2:18 remaining for a 62-54 lead.

“That’s what I do when the clock is winding down, I want to take the 3 or get to the basket,” Trimble said. “Mostly, I want to take the 3. That’s what I did tonight.”

Said Turgeon: “The second one was really deep. I was like, `I just hope he has enough legs to get it there.”

Nebraska played excellent defense right up until the shot clock was about to expire. And then …

“Trimble made huge plays down the stretch,” Huskers coach Tim Miles said. “He really hurt us. Those are the two 3’s I remember that seemed like the daggers. They might have hit some free throws, too.”

Trimble scored 11 straight points for Maryland in the closing minutes, the last five at the foul line.

The Terrapins have won their last three games by a total of 11 points and are 8-0 in games decided by six points or fewer.

“We’ve been really good in close games,” Maryland guard Richaud Pack said. “I think it’s just an attitude, so far. We just expect to win and make great plays down the stretch. When we need to focus and make the right plays, we do it.”

Walter Pitchford scored 19 and Shavon Shields added 13 for Nebraska (13-13, 5-9). Terran Petteway, who came in averaging 18.7 points, was held to eight on 2-for-14 shooting but contributed nine assists.

The Huskers have lost four straight and six of seven, but they gave the Terrapins all they could handle in this one.

A 3-pointer by Pitchford got the Huskers to 65-62 with 29 seconds left, Nebraska gained possession on a steal. But Wells stole the ball and Trimble made two free throws on the other end to clinch it.

“I never thought we were going to lose,” Turgeon said.

Maryland improved to 16-1 at home, 7-0 in the Big Ten.

After Nebraska made the first two baskets of the second half to go up 38-34, Trimble hit a runner to spark a 10-0 run that put Maryland up by six.

Maryland led 50-48 when Petteway was called for his fourth foul with 8:05 left. Two straight field goals by Shields knotted the score at 52 with 6:59 to go, setting the stage for the exciting finish.

BIG TEN SHOWDOWN

Maryland has five days to prepare for a duel with first-place, fifth-ranked Wisconsin.

“We are going to treat it as a regular game,” Pack said. “But knowing the team we have and how we’ve been this year, we kind of get up for those games a little more than we do for other games.”

STREAKY

Nebraska has held its last 14 opponents to under 70 points on the road. That is the second longest streak in the nation, dating to last season.

TIP-INS

Nebraska: The Huskers are 0-7 on the road in Big Ten play. … Shavon scored in double figures for a ninth consecutive game, tying a career high. … Nebraska has lost five straight against ranked opponents. … The Huskers have held 37 straight opponents under 50 percent shooting from the field.

Maryland: The Terps will play home-and-home series next season with five foes: Michigan, Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin. … Maryland was held without an offensive rebound in the first half. … Trimble has totaled 84 points in his last four games after scoring a combined seven vs. Ohio State and Penn State.

UP NEXT

Nebraska hosts Iowa on Sunday.

Maryland hosts Wisconsin on Tuesday night.

— Associated Press —

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