We have a brand new updated website! Click here to check it out!

Author: Dave Riggert

Missouri Western’s Jordan named D2Football.com First-Team All-American

Posted on

MWSUA few days after being recognized as an All-American by the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, Missouri Western junior Michael Jordan finds himself on another All-American football team.

The cornerback from St. Louis has been named a first team All-American by D2football.com. It’s the third All-American honor for Jordan, who wrapped up his junior year with an MIAA-high four interceptions and 16 passes defended.

Jordan was also a first team American Football Coaches Association All-American and third team Associated Press Litte All-American.

He was also a first team All-MIAA pick for the second straight year, and was a second team choice on both the Don Hansen FB Gazette All-Super Region Three and Daktronics All-Super Region Three teams.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Kuligowski to remain as Mizzou’s defensive line coach

Posted on

riggertMizzouThe University of Missouri announced on Monday that assistant football coach Craig Kuligowski has withdrawn his name for consideration for a co-defensive coordinator coaching position at Illinois, and he will remain the defensive line coach at Mizzou.

“As a coach, you’re always looking to advance yourself professionally in hopes of someday having a chance to become a head coach,” Kuligowski said.  “It was important for me and my family to consider this opportunity, and I’m grateful to have gone through the experience, but after evaluating everything, what is best for us is to stay here at Mizzou.  We’ve built something special here at Mizzou, and I’m excited to continue to be part of it.”

Kuligowski came to Missouri with Gary Pinkel from Toledo back in 1996 and has been on Pinkel’s coaching staff for the last 23 years.

KU’s Alexander named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week

Posted on

riggertKUKansas freshman Cliff Alexander has been named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Newcomer of the Week in a vote by a media panel which covers the league, the conference announced Monday.

Alexander led Kansas to two victories over top-25 foes as the Jayhawks defeated No. 18 Oklahoma (85-78) and won at No. 17 Texas (75-62). The Chicago forward averaged 14.0 points and 11.0 rebounds while shooting 55.6 percent (10-of-18) from the field. Alexander had his second double-double of the year versus OU, finishing with 13 points and a career-best 13 boards. He had a team-high 15 points at UT, while grabbing nine rebounds.  It marks the first time in 2014-15 that Alexander has scored in double digits in consecutive contests.

This is the third time this season a Jayhawk has been named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week. Freshman Kelly Oubre, Jr., has been named twice on Dec. 22 and last week on Jan. 19. KU has had two or more student-athletes named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week each of the last three seasons and six of the last seven years.

Kansas (16-3, 5-1 Big 12) begins three games in six days at TCU (14-5, 1-5) on Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 8 p.m. (Central) on ESPNU.

— KU Sports Information —

Griffons allow 27-2 second half run and lose to Missouri Southern

Posted on

MWSUST. JOSEPH, Mo. – A run by Missouri Southern to begin the second half left the Griffon Men in a hole they couldn’t dig out of on the way to a 77-65 loss to Missouri Southern.

Leading 41-35 coming into the second half, MWSU was outscored 27-2 over the first six and a half minutes of the second half. Missouri Southern opened the half on a 17-0 run to build an 11-point lead. The Griffons would never get closer than that through the remainder of the half.

Missouri Southern shot 44 percent from the field for the game while the Griffons ended the game shooting 41 percent. MWSU shot just 23 percent from three-point range and 70 percent at the free throw line. Missouri Western won the rebounding battle, 36-35 but were hurt by 13 turnovers and 10 missed three-point tries.

Cortrez Colbert finished with 18 points and four rebounds while Currie Byrd scored 10 with four boards. Kevin Thomas finished with nine points and nine rebounds.

The loss dropped MWSU to 8-9 on the season and 4-6 in MIAA play. They hit the road next week with a trip to Lincoln on Thursday and Lindenwood on Saturday.

— MWSU Sports Information —

No. 9 Ravens win ninth straight as they take down No. 21 Evangel

Posted on

BCThe ninth-ranked Benedictine men’s basketball team erased a two-point halftime deficit to No. 21 Evangel University on Saturday afternoon to hand the Crusaders their first loss of the Heart season.

Benedictine (18-3, 7-2 Heart) hit 50 percent from the floor in the second half while holding Evangel (13-7, 8-1 Heart) to just one 3-pointer as they earned the comeback win, 88-80.

The difference between the Ravens and the Crusaders over the first 20 minutes of play proved to be from beyond the arc.

Benedictine converted on seven 3-pointers at 53.8 percent while Evangel converted on nine 3-pointers at 60 percent.

The Ravens led by seven points early before the Crusaders found their stroke from beyond the arc.

Evangel erased their deficit by converting on four of the first first-half 3-pointers to erase the Ravens lead and move in front, 14-12, with 14:21 left in the first half.

The lead changed hands four more times before the Crusaders took a 43-41 lead into the half.

Jake Schannuth knocked in a 3-pointer to start the Ravens offense off in the second half to erase the halftime defict and push Benedictine back in front.

After two lead changes and three ties, Benedictine was able to convert on some key 3-point opportunities while limiting Evangel’s 3-point looks.

Benedictine pushed ahead by nine points with 6:49 remaining only to have Evangel pull even with 3:16 left at 76-76.

John Harris Jr. answered with an old-fashion 3-point play to push Benedictine back in front seconds later.

From there, the Crusaders were forced to foul and the Ravens converted 8 of 12 from the charity stripe to seal the win.

Defensively, Benedictine held Evangel to just 1 of 9 from beyond the 3-point arc in the second half while converting on 5 of 12.

Schannuth led four Ravens in double figures with 19 points. He went 5 of 7 from beyond the arc and 6 of 8 from the floor. Harris Jr. added 18 as he went 10 of 13 at the charity stripe while Jonathan Anaekwe chipped in 16. Rafail Tsourakis anchored the Ravens bench, which outscored the Crusaders 24-13, with 11 points.

Benedictine opens up the second half of Heart play with a trip to Peru, Neb., on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. game against Peru State College. The Bobcats took the first meeting of the season with the Ravens, 69-64, back on Dec. 4 to open up the Heart season.

— BC Sports Information —

Missouri Western women even record with home win over Southern

Posted on

MWSUThe Missouri Western women’s basketball team picked up their second straight home win with a 61-56 victory over Missouri Southern Saturday afternoon. The win moved the team to 8-8 overall and 3-7 in the MIAA, while dropping Missouri Southern to 12-5 and 6-4.

LaQuinta Jefferson led the way for Missouri Western with 17 points on 5-11 shooting from the field. Chelsea Dewey added 11 for the Griffons and Tiara Hall had 10 points. Jefferson added five rebounds with Miliakere Koyamainavure and Alex Saxen each adding seven rebounds.

MWSU shot 44 percent from the field, 10 percent from three-point range and 62 percent at the free throw line. They held Missouri Southern to 33 percent from the field and six percent from long range.

FIRST HALF
The Griffons jumped out to a 12-4 lead that quickly faded as Missouri Southern tied the game at 18 with 5:50 left in the half. Two straight layups by the Griffons put them back up by five but Missouri Southern scored the last five points of the game to send the temas to halftime knotted at 26. Missouri Western missed all six of their three-point attempts in the first half and shot 35 percent from the field.

SECOND HALF
Missouri Southern jumped out to a four-point lead that the Griffons couldn’t erase until a Chelseas Dewey layup with 16:02 to go gave the Griffons a one-point lead. The two teams traded leads over the next eight minutes with MWSU finally capturing a five-point lead with 7:56 to go on a Dewey three-pointer. Missouri Southern never got closer than a 56-56 tie with 2:01 left. Missouri Western led the rest of the way.

The Griffons hit the road next week, playing at Lincoln on Thursday and Lindenwood on Saturday.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Benedictine women stay in first place with win over Evangel

Posted on

BCThe Benedictine Women’s Basketball team closed out the first half of Heart of America Athletic Conference play on Saturday as they hosted Evangel University.

Benedictine (15-6, 8-1 Heart) outscored Evangel (4-13, 3-6 Heart) 10-6 over the final 2:41 to earn a 76-71 win.

The lead changed hands 14 times through the course of play on Saturday.

Benedictine built as much as a nine-point lead early in the first half only to have that erased as Evangel pulled even at 32-all at halftime.

The Ravens lead throughout the entire first half playing through two ties. They converted on 12 field goals while Evangel converted on 13.

Evangel started the second half hot on offense, building a five-point lead before Benedictine’s Chayla Rutledge regained the lead for the Ravens at 42-41 with 15:50 remaining.

The five-point advantage would prove to be Evangel’s largest lead of the game as the game continued to go back and forth.

A 3-pointer from Jordan Kramer with 37 seconds extended Benedictine’s lead to five points and then Jackie Ziesel converted 4 of 4 from the charity stripe inside the final 23 seconds to seal the win for the Ravens.

Rutledge led the Ravens with 21 points while Ziesel chipped in 16 while going 6 for 6 from the free throw line. Kramer and Jayde Reid each scored nine points to round out the Ravens top scorers.

Benedictine begins the second half of their Heart schedule on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. as they travel to Peru, Neb., to take on Peru State College. Benedictine opened the Heart season with a 66-49 win at home over Peru State.

— BC Sports Information —

Missed free throws cost Mizzou in 61-60 loss to Arkansas

Posted on

riggertMizzouCOLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — After his team edged Missouri 61-60 on Saturday, Arkansas coach Mike Anderson described the win as “fortunate.”

The Razorbacks could only watch as Missouri sophomore guard Wes Clark shot two free throws with 3.3 seconds remaining, down by a single point. Both attempts bounced off the rim and missed, leaving Arkansas elated and Missouri stunned.

Arkansas’ Rashad Madden grabbed the rebound, but wasn’t fouled as the Tigers stood in shock.

“I’m sure if Wes shot those free throws nine other times, he would make them,” Anderson said. “But this afternoon, it shined on the Razorbacks.”

Alandise Harris scored 14 points while Bobby Portis added 12 and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Arkansas (15-4, 4-2), which moved to 2-1 on the road in Southeastern Conference play this season and 12-36 away from Bud Walton Arena in four years under Anderson.

Montaque Gill-Caesar scored 16 points to lead Missouri (7-12, 1-5), which lost its fifth consecutive game and eighth in its last 10. Johnathan Williams III added 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while Keith Shamburger chipped in 10 points.

“Wes Clark didn’t lose the game,” first-year Tigers coach Kim Anderson said adamantly. “Without him, that situation probably wouldn’t have occurred. No one feels worse than Wes Clark about missing two free throws.”

Arkansas built a 21-16 edge early before watching Missouri use a 12-2 run that propelled the Tigers to a 34-30 halftime lead. The Razorbacks’ full-court press didn’t faze Missouri, which committed three turnovers and grabbed a 23-13 rebounding advantage in the opening 20 minutes.

Arkansas found a rhythm out of the locker room, though, scoring 11 of the first 14 points of the half and reminding the Tigers of their 62-50 loss at Texas A&M on Wednesday in which they were outscored 38-19 in the second half.

The Tigers fought back again, tying the game at 41 before the teams largely traded baskets for the rest of the game. A 3-pointer by Gill-Caesar gave Missouri a 60-59 lead with 1:53 remaining followed by a 2-pointer by Madden 29 seconds later.

Neither team would score again.

Clark finished with eight points, including four on two jumpers in the final five minutes to twice cut Missouri’s deficit to two points. He made 2 of 4 free throw attempts and has converted 30 of 42 this season; the Tigers finished 7 of 11 as a team from the line.

“It was a team effort,” Gill-Caesar said. “It wasn’t his fault. After the game, that’s exactly what we told him. We win together; we lose together. Today it just didn’t go our way, but it’s nobody’s fault.”

A smattering of boos followed Anderson onto the court pregame, though not as many as in past seasons. The fourth-year Arkansas coach compiled a 111-57 record at Missouri from 2006-11 before abruptly heading southwest.

One of the loudest cheers of the day from a season-best 11,022 in attendance came during halftime when officials presented football coach Gary Pinkel with the Battle Line Rivalry trophy stemming from his team’s 21-14 win against the Razorbacks on Nov. 28 to capture the SEC East title.

TIP-INS

Arkansas: The Razorbacks made 23 of 63 shots (36.5 percent) and tied the Tigers on the boards at 39, grabbing a 16-13 edge on the offensive glass.

Missouri: The Tigers only committed eight turnovers (but forced just three) and finished 23 of 58 (39.7 percent) from the field.

SEASON-LOW FOR RAZORBACKS

Arkansas had been the only SEC team to score at least 65 points in each of its games this season before Saturday. Missouri held Arkansas to 22.5 points below its SEC-best average of 83.5 per game.

CLOSE GAMES

Arkansas won its second consecutive squeaker after defeating Alabama 93-91 in overtime less than 40 hours before tip-off Saturday. The Razorbacks had lost their two previous games to drop out of the rankings.

“We needed to bounce back with a 2-0 week,” Harris said. “We’ll just do it game by game, week by week. And then we’ll be where we’re supposed to be at the end.”

UP NEXT

Arkansas returns home to face Tennessee on Tuesday.

Missouri hosts No. 1 Kentucky on Thursday.

— Associated Press —

No. 11 Jayhawks get road win at No. 17 Texas

Posted on

riggertKUAUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Kansas found a solution for Texas’ size and muscle: pinpoint passing and nearly flawless handling of the basketball.

Ruthlessly efficient on offense and willing to match Texas’ physical effort under the basket, the No. 11 Jayhawks snagged a key 75-62 Big 12 road win Saturday.

Freshman Cliff Alexander had 15 points and nine rebounds, and three other Jayhawks scored in double figures. Kansas (16-3, 5-1) had just three turnovers — none in the second half — tying a school record set back in 1966.

“This is a huge road win for us. It was big,” said Brannen Greene, who scored 14 points and made four of Kansas’ six 3-pointers.

Kansas coach Bill Self compared Texas’ size to top-ranked Kentucky, a team that blew out the Jayhawks by 32 back in November.

“Against Kentucky, we shied away from it. Today we didn’t,” Self said.

Isaiah Taylor scored 23 for Texas in his best game since returning from a long layoff with a broken wrist. But Texas (14-5, 3-3) showed little offensive flair beyond Taylor’s scoring. Taylor had just one assist as Texas’ big frontcourt all but disappeared for long stretches.

Cam Ridley, a 6-foot-9, 285-pound center who averaged nearly 15 points the previous two games, took just one shot in the second half, and had just four overall. Freshman Myles Turner, who is 6-11 and came in as Texas’ leading scorer, scored eight on 4-of-11 shooting, but the Big 12’s best free throw shooter didn’t get to the line.

“We’re one of the biggest teams in the country and we don’t take advantage of it,” senior forward Jonathan Holmes said. “I don’t understand it.”

The loss is a tough blow for Texas’ conference title hopes, which could all but end if the Longhorns lose at No. 9 Iowa State on Monday night.

Texas did what it could to energize its best home crowd of the season. The Longhorns’ mascot “Hook’Em” dropped about five stories down to the middle of the court and thousands of balloons were released from the rafters just before tipoff.

The Longhorns fed off the energy for a quick 11-2 lead but a Kansas program that has won 10 consecutive Big 12 titles isn’t one to be rattled by a little showmanship.

The Jayhawks slowly broke down Texas’ zone defense with 3-pointers before picking it apart from the inside. Perry Ellis scored eight points and Alexander had consecutive dunks to help the Jayhawks to a 32-30 halftime lead.

The teams traded the lead seven times in the opening minutes of the second half before Holmes’ 3-pointer put Texas up 42-38. The Jayhawks responded with an 8-0 run behind consecutive 3-pointers from Wayne Selden Jr., and Greene.

Greene’s last 3-pointer pushed the Kansas lead to six with just under seven minutes to play and the Jayhawks steadily pulled away.

TIP-INS

Kansas: The Jayhawks not only silenced the Texas frontcourt offensively, they also handled themselves well on the boards. The Jayhawks outrebounded Texas 37-36 and grabbed 24 offensive boards.

Texas: Home hasn’t been friendly for the Longhorns over the last month. The Longhorns have lost three of their last five at the Erwin Center.

BLOCK PROBLEMS

Texas is lauded for its shot-blocking and the Longhorns had nine more against Kansas, five by Turner. But coach Rick Barnes sees a flaw in all those swats.

“We’re one of the best shot-blocking teams in the country. That also tells you our perimeter guys are getting beaten a lot. Our guard play has got to be better,” Barnes said.

DUNK CITY

Alexander had no trouble establishing his territory among Texas’ big men under the basket. Five of his six baskets came on dunks. He didn’t sound impressed by Texas’ Turner, who came into the season hyped as one of the top recruits in the country.

“He’s kind of thin,” Alexander said. “I played against Turner all the time in high school. I played against Ridley too … It was nothing to it.”

UP NEXT

Kansas visits TCU on Wednesday.

Texas visits Iowa State on Monday.

— Associated Press —

Copyright Eagle Radio | FCC Public Files | EEO Public File