Dave Riggert – Page 676 – St. Joseph Post Archive

Missouri defeats Lipscomb to snap three-game losing streak

Posted on January 4, 2015January 4, 2015

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri needed a spark Saturday against Lipscomb.

Looking lethargic early, the Tigers found one in Keanau Post. The former junior college All-American scored seven points and grabbed 10 rebounds to help Missouri defeat the Bisons 72-60 on Saturday.

“I didn’t play him the last two games because I didn’t think he had been playing well enough,” coach Kim Anderson said. “And he never said a word. He never changed his expression.”

Post entered the game averaging a team-low two points in his second season with Missouri (6-7) after transferring from Southwestern Illinois College. The 6-foot-11 senior said he needs to approach every game like he did Saturday’s.

“I think being out and then coming back, you’ve got to slow things down for yourself,” he said. “You can’t really rush yourself. I think I did a good job of that today, just taking it step by step.”

Johnathan Williams III led Missouri in scoring with 16 points and had 10 rebounds, and Keith Shamburger added 15 points.

Freshman Nathan Moran tied a career high with 17 points while Josh Williams added 11 points and seven rebounds for Lipscomb (5-9). The Bisons fell to 0-4 against major-conference opponents this season after losses at Vanderbilt, Colorado and Texas.

Missouri needed to fall behind before showing any sense of urgency, trading baskets with the Bisons early before watching them score 13 consecutive points for a 30-19 lead with six minutes left in the first half.

“Yeah, I thought we were going to pull it out,” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said.

The Tigers responded with 14 of the final 19 points in the half, though, shaving their deficit to 35-33 at the break. Lipscomb stretched its lead to 48-38 five minutes into the second half before Missouri used a 16-1 run to retake the lead.

The Tigers finally established some breathing room, ending the game on a 13-2 run after leading 59-58 with 5:23 remaining.

“We’ve played some teams really well and hadn’t gotten over the hump,” Anderson said. “So today I was happy that we were able to finally get back and get a lead in the game.”

Spurred on by former Tigers Laurence Bowers and Kim English in attendance, Missouri shot 47.1 percent (24 of 51) from the field en route to its first win since defeating Elon 78-73 on Dec. 11.

Lipscomb, on the other hand, shot 19 of 59 (32.2 percent) overall and scored just two points in the final 5:23. The team played most of the game without senior Malcolm Smith, who scored seven points in the first seven minutes before walking with trainers to the locker room.

Alexander said Smith both injured his elbow and incurred a gash to his tongue that made breathing difficult.

“Malcolm’s probably the toughest kid we’ve got,” Alexander said. “So if anybody could have played, he would have.”

Martin Smith, Malcolm’s twin brother, also sat out after injuring his foot against Austin Peay on Dec. 21. Both players lead the team in games played with 97.

TIP-INS

Lipscomb: Josh Williams, a sophomore, now leads the team with 14.4 points per game, 75 rebounds and 19 steals this season.

Missouri: Junior guard and Baylor transfer Deuce Bello missed his second consecutive game while suspended for “academic reasons,” coach Kim Anderson said after Tuesday’s loss to Oklahoma State. . Johnathan Williams III has led the Tigers in scoring for seven consecutive games, averaging 17.1 points during that stretch.

CAREER HIGH FOR ISABELL

With Montaque Gill-Caesar nursing a sore back and Bello suspended, Missouri freshman Tramaine Isabell scored 14 points. The 6-foot guard from Seattle averages 4.9 points per game.

UP NEXT

Lipscomb hosts Division III opponent Rhodes College on Monday before opening Atlantic Sun play at home against Northern Kentucky on Jan. 10.

Missouri opens Southeastern Conference play on Thursday at home against LSU.

— Associated Press —

Northwest women get clobbered by Bronchos

Posted on January 4, 2015January 4, 2015

EDMOND, Okla. – In the last few minutes of the first half, Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball coach Michael Smith kept saying, “we have more turnovers than points.”

It was a true statement until the final seconds of the first half when freshman Alexa Schaaf swished a three-pointer. It was the 15th point of the half. The Bearcats had 14 turnovers in the first 20 minutes of play.

Northwest never recovered from the 19-point halftime deficit and lost 68-38 to Central Oklahoma Saturday afternoon at Hamilton Field House.

The Bearcats started well. Two baskets by junior Tember Schechinger and another by sophomore Shelby Mustain gave Northwest an early 6-4 lead.

The field goal that gave Northwest the two-point lead caused Central Oklahoma coach Guy Hardaker to call timeout with 17:24 left in the first half.

Momentum changed from that point on. Turnovers by Northwest prevented the Bearcats from putting up a shot in three straight possessions. The Bronchos took advantage, spurting to a 9-6 lead.

After junior Morgan Walker hit 15-foot jumper that closed the gap to 9-8, the Bearcats went ice cold. Central Oklahoma got hot.

The Bronchos went on a 22-2 run for a 31-10 lead. Despite a couple of baskets by Northwest in the final minute of the first half, the Bearcats went into halftime down 34-15.

Northwest went 7-for-26 from the field for 27 percent in the first half. The four points that Schechinger scored 3 minutes into the game was the most by a Northwest player.

The Bearcat executed much better on offense to start the second half, scoring 10 points in the first 5 minutes. Junior Taylor Shull had five points and Schaaf drained her second three-pointer of the game.

Unfortunately, Northwest was unable to close ground. The Bearcats trailed 46-25 with 14 minutes left.

The good news for the Bearcats was all 11 players scored at least two points. The bad news was the leading scorer only had six points, which came on the two three-pointers Schaaf made.

— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —

Benedictine women defeat Sterling in first game at Tabor Classic

Posted on January 2, 2015

HILLSBORO, Kan. – The Benedictine women’s basketball team returned to action on Friday afternoon with the first of two games at the Tabor College Holiday Classic as they took on Sterling College.

Benedictine (9-5) earned a six-point win and led Sterling (5-9) over the final 22 minutes of the game to earn a 68-62 win.

The Warriors used a 8-2 run to open up the game against the Ravens before Benedictine started to connect offensively.

By the midpoint of the first half, the Ravens had erased their deficit and pulled ahead, 13-12, off a 3-pointer from Jordan Closter.

The lead changed hands two more times while the two team played through one tie before Benedictine took a 28-23 lead into the halftime break.

In the second half, the Ravens connected on 53 percent from the floor while knocking in 4 of 9 from beyond the arc to lead the remainder of the game.

After pushing their lead to as much as eight points, the Ravens converted four straight free throws over the final 40 seconds to earn the win.

Benedictine went perfect from the charity stripe on the day, finishing with a 6-for-6 effort.

Jackie Ziesel led the Ravens with 17 points while Chayla Rutledge added 12 points.

The Ravens finished with a 24-15 advantage off the bench, anchored by Closter’s eight points.

Benedictine wraps up their trip to Hillsboro with a 5 p.m. match up against Tabor on Saturday.

— BC Sports Information —

Kansas State’s rally falls short against UCLA in Alamo Bowl

Posted on January 2, 2015

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Even with a 31-6 halftime lead, UCLA coach Jim Mora knew the Bruins had a lot of work to do to finish off Kansas State in the Alamo Bowl.

“We’re playing the 11th-ranked team in the country, and it’s not going to be easy,” Mora said. “You know they’re going to fight back. If they don’t fight back, they don’t deserve to be No. 11.”

The No. 14 Bruins held on, beating the Wildcats 40-35 on Friday night.

Kansas State coach Bill Snyder bristled at the thought that TV broadcasters might say the same thing about his Wildcats that they did about Florida State in the Rose Bowl.

“We had a TV announcer indicate in another ballgame that a football team had quit, and that’s the last thing in the world anybody wants to hear on national TV, I assure you,” Snyder said. “I reminded our youngsters of it, that we weren’t about to let somebody say that about us. And they didn’t.”

Kansas State (9-4) scored 22 of the first 25 points in the second half, cutting it to 34-28 on quarterback Jake Waters’ 1-yard run with 4:54 left.

Paul Perkins countered for UCLA (10-3) with a 67-yard run with 2:20 to go.

“That hole was huge. Anybody could have run through it,” said Perkins, who ran for 194 yards on 20 carries. “And on the kick, I just wanted to secure the ball and get us out of here with the win.”

The Wildcats weren’t finished.

Waters threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Lockett with 1:21 left, but Perkins recovered the onside kick for UCLA and the Bruins ran out the clock.

“Our players didn’t give in,” Snyder said. “Fought back. It wasn’t enough.”

It’s been a week of big comebacks at bowl games. Michigan State trailed Baylor by 20 in the fourth quarter at the Cotton Bowl and won 42-41. Earlier Friday, Houston scored 29 points in the fourth quarter to beat Pittsburgh 35-34 in the Armed Forces Bowl.

Waters was 31 of 48 for 338 yards, but was sacked seven times — twice by Butkus Award winner Eric Kendricks — and threw two interceptions and lost a fumble.

Lockett had 13 catches for 164 yards for Kansas State.

Hundley ran for 96 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries and passed for 136 yards. Mora has said Hundley is forgoing his senior season to enter the NFL draft.

UCLA raced to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter, with Hundley scoring on runs of 10 and 28 yards. The Bruins outgained Kansas State 218-4 and had a 9-1 edge in first downs in the quarter.

In the second quarter, Perkins had a 32-yard touchdown run and Hundley threw a 7-yard scoring pass to Devin Lucien. The Bruins sacked Waters five times in the half.

“By my count we left 28 points on the field in the first half,” Snyder said. “That’s our fault.”

— Associated Press —

Chiefs’ Houston named to AP NFL All-Pro team

Posted on January 2, 2015January 2, 2015

Kansas City Chiefs outside linebacker Justin Houston was named to the Associated Press NFL All-Pro team Friday.

Houston led the NFL with 22 sacks, finishing just a half-sack off the NFL record of 22.5 set by Michael Strahan of the New York Giants.

Houston was selected by 47 of the 50 voters. He was the leading vote-getter at outside linebacker and only one player at any position, New England tight end Rob Gronkowski, was a unanimous selection.

Mizzou runs past Gophers to win Citrus Bowl

Posted on January 2, 2015

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — When Missouri played its best this season, the Tigers stopped the run or ran well themselves. Minnesota found out what happens when the Tigers are successful at both.

Marcus Murphy ran for 159 yards, Russell Hansbrough added 114 yards and a touchdown and No. 16 Missouri beat Minnesota (No. 25 CFP) 33-17 on Thursday in the Citrus Bowl.

“We took advantage of some critical turnovers. It’s 23 (wins) — the best back-to-back seasons in Missouri history,” Tigers coach Gary Pinkel said. “You’re always judged when you have the most adversity and how you respond. And we did.”

City High School Basketball Scores – Wednesday, Dec. 31

Posted on December 31, 2014

BOYS

NEOSHO HOLIDAY CLASSIC – CHAMPIONSHIP
Lafayette 59, Parkview 34

GIRLS

NEOSHO HOLIDAY CLASSIC – 5TH PLACE GAME
Lafayette 53, Seneca 44

Bearcats close non-conference schedule with big win over Avila

Posted on December 31, 2014December 31, 2014

MARYVILLE, Mo. – A year ago, Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team went into the Christmas break with a victory. When it returned to action 14 days later, the Bearcats lost at home to Central Oklahoma.

Perhaps, a tune-up after Christmas break before heading into the meat of conference schedule would have helped Northwest last season.

Time will tell if a different approach worked.

The Bearcats had their tune-up in the final few hours of 2014 when they took on Avila early Wednesday evening at Bearcat Arena.

Northwest showed rust on offense in the opening minutes, but found its rhythm midway through the first half, building a 14-point lead.

Despite a spirited effort from Avila, the Bearcats easily won 85-67. It was the perfect vehicle to carry Northwest, 9-2 overall and 2-1 in the MIAA, into the new year and a two-game Oklahoma road trip that begins Saturday at Central Oklahoma.

“I think this game will help us,” said junior Conner Cooker, who finished with a game-high 21 points. “They are good, tough team. They press the whole game. They are relentless. This was a good game for us.”

Northwest opened with a three-pointer from Zach Pitts. Sophomore Anthony Woods followed with a drive into the paint for a bucket for a 5-0 lead.

The Bearcats, though, started missing a few open three-pointers even though their lead slowly grew to 11-2.

A couple minutes later, Northwest found its stroke. On three straight offensive possessions, teammates found Crooker in the corner and he drilled three straight three-pointers, pushing Northwest’s lead to 20-7.

“They help me a lot,” Crooker said of his teammates. “They draw the double. I’m sitting there. They know where to find me. Matt Wallace is especially good at it. I think he got me the assist on all of them.”

Once Crooker gained Avila’s respect for his outside jumper, he decided to drive inside the arc. He made a couple of one-handed shots, driving to the basket.

It took sophomore Zach Schneider about 15 minutes to find the range, but when he did, it was impressive. He nailed a three-pointer and was fouled on the shot. He made the free throw. His four-point play gave Northwest a 35-21 lead.

Avila did not wilt, which was good for the Bearcats. The Eagles fought back and closed to 38-30.

Avila’s mini run forced Northwest to make a play before the halftime buzzer sounded. The Bearcats worked the ball around. Senior Matt Wallace received the ball at the top of the key with 2 seconds left and hit a three-pointer, sending Northwest into halftime with a 41-30 lead.

Northwest wound up shooting 58 percent from the field in the first half and made nearly half its three-pointers, going seven for 15 from behind the arc.

Interestingly, the first basket in the second half was identical to the one that opened the game. Pitts made a three-pointer, starting another nice run for Northwest. The Bearcats lead grew to 61-41 7 minutes into the second half.

“It was good practice for us to work on what we need to work on, breaking the press and being able to handle the pressure,” Crooker said.

The competition gets a lot tougher the rest of the way. The Bearcats will face a Central Oklahoma team Saturday afternoon that is 11-2 overall and 4-0 and in first place in the MIAA. On Monday, Northwest plays at Northeastern Oklahoma, which is struggling a little at 3-8 and 1-3.

“I think we are ready,” Crooker said. “We have a pretty good record so far. We are going to build on that. We are going to fine tune everything and try to get better and execute a little better.”

— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —

K-State scores 12 first half points, falls at home to Georgia

Posted on December 31, 2014December 31, 2014

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — After watching Kansas State break its arena record for fewest points in a half, Georgia coach Mark Fox felt his team was in for a second-half dogfight.

The Bulldogs surrendered a 15-point lead, but a key 3-pointer from Nemanja Djurisic sparked a game-ending 7-0 run to give them a win in their final road game in non-conference play Wednesday.

Charles Mann had 17 points and Marcus Thornton had 11 points as Georgia knocked off Kansas State 50-46.

“We talked mostly at the half about that,” Bulldogs coach Mark Fox said. “(We said), `Get ready because they’re going to test your manhood. We’re going to have to stand up and answer it.’ Fortunately, the last three minutes we did it.”

Mann led the Bulldogs in scoring for a second consecutive game and fourth time this season.

With the loss, Kansas State has dropped back-to-back non-conference home games for the first time since 1987. Thomas Gipson led Kansas State with 19 points, including a 7-of-10 performance from the free-throw line.

After falling behind by as many as 15 points, Kansas State built a 46-43 lead with 2:50 left.

However, Djurisic’s 3-pointer thwarted its momentum, giving Georgia a 47-46 lead with 1:05 left.

The Bulldogs made three of their four final free throws to clinch the road victory.

Gipson, who was coming off the bench for the first time this season, ignited Kansas State’s late 15-4 scoring run with seven points. The offensive push cut Georgia’s lead to 39-35 with 7:33 left.

Kansas State dug itself out of an offensive hole, overcoming a 21.7 percent shooting performance in the first half.

A turnover-laden first 20 minutes came back to bite the Wildcats, however, as control of the game’s opening half fell in the hands of Mann and company.

A technical on Fox propelled the Bulldogs on a 12-2 scoring run over the final 10 minutes of the first half.

Despite shooting 28.6 percent from the field (6 of 21), Georgia took a 20-12 lead into the locker room. It benefited from 16 Kansas State turnovers in the first half and scored 16 points off of the miscues.

The turnover-heavy game included a stretch of seven Wildcat turnovers in the game’s opening seven minutes. The miscues forced Kansas State coach Bruce Weber to mix and match his lineups.

“You can’t turn it over like that,” Weber said. “You’ve got to play hard and do the things it takes otherwise we’ve got to play other people.”

Kansas State’s 12 first-half points were the second fewest in school history, falling behind an 11-point first half against Oklahoma State on Jan. 6, 1992.

COMING `HOME’

Bramlage Coliseum wasn’t foreign to Fox as he grew up in Garden City, Kansas and spent six seasons courtside in Manhattan from 1994-2000.

“Coach (Jack) Hartman, (Tex) Winter and (Tom) Asbury taught me so much when I was here,” Fox said. “It was very emotional coming back. It was more emotional than any game I’ve coached outside of the game after my dad died last year.”

TYING RECORDS

The combined 96 points tied a Bramlage Coliseum record for the fewest in a game. The previous record was set on Dec. 29, 2012 when Kansas State knocked off UMKC 52-44.

TIP-IN

The game was only the second to take place between the two programs. Kansas State won the only other matchup 82-79 in overtime during the NCAA West Regional First Round on March 12, 1987.

UP NEXT

K-State opens Big 12 play at Oklahoma State on Saturday

Georgia plays Norfolk State on Saturday

— Associated Press —

Nebraska drops Big Ten opener against Indiana

Posted on December 31, 2014December 31, 2014

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — In February, Indiana came into Pinnacle Bank Arena, built a 16-point first-half lead, but lost to Nebraska 60-55. Wednesday, the Hoosiers blew another 16-point first-half lead, but rebuilt the margin to 13 and held off the Cornhuskers 70-65.

“That’s a great sign of maturity for us,” said Indiana coach Tom Crean. “It takes a while for that maturity process to kick, especially when they’re away from your bench, on the other end of the floor. We closed the game well. Obviously, they made a comeback at the end.”

Nick Zeisloft hit a pair of free throws with 33 seconds left and Collin Hartman added one 21 seconds later to stem Nebraska’s comeback and seal the win for Indiana.

The three free throws were the only points scored by Indiana (11-3, 1-0 Big Ten) in the final 4:50 of the run-filled game.

Nebraska (8-5, 0-1) came out of halftime strong, hitting five of its first seven shots, outscoring Indiana 14-2 and taking a 46-42 lead on Walter Pitchford’s shot-clock-beating 27-foot 3-pointer with 15:28 left.

Indiana expected that Nebraska comeback, said Robert Johnson, who led the Hoosiers with 14 points.

“We talked about that, preparing for that run,” he said. “We talked about different things, like momentum swings and things like that. It just all comes back to getting stops. Once they go on the run, you’ve got to keep your composure, get something good offensively and try to string together two or three stops to get back into the game and get the lead back.”

The Hoosiers did more than that, taking a 49-48 lead on James Blackmon Jr.’s free throws with 13:30 left, extending the margin to 56-49 on Troy Williams’ putback with 8:55 left. Hanner Mosquera-Perea’s inside jumper with 4:50 left capped a 25-8 Indiana run, putting the Hoosiers up 67-54.

The Huskers countered with a final 10-0 run, holding Indiana scoreless for more than four minutes and cutting the Hoosier lead to 67-64 on David Rivers’ free throws with 1:05 left.

“I thought our guys were pretty good the second half,” said Nebraska coach Tim Miles. “The first half, I thought they were just too uptight. I felt like we gave them a good run. It’s hard not to think you beat yourself when you miss all those early shots.”

Indiana came into Wednesday averaging 86 points a game and, in the first half, it appeared the Hoosiers would match that mark.

Indiana used a 15-1 run to take a 17-8 lead on Emmitt Holt’s jumper with 12:57 left in the first half. Indiana led by as many as 16 before Nebraska put together a 10-2 run capped by a Terran Petteway 3-pointer with eight seconds left to trail 40-32 at the half.

“In the first half, we tried to play at their pace and that is why they got their lead on us. In the second half, we looked like us, but we have to put together a full game,” Petteway said.

Crean and Miles got into a verbal confrontation at mid-court after a hard foul by Nebraska’s Tai Webster on Mosquera-Perea with 9:43 left in the game. Neither coach would talk about the confrontation in post-game interviews.

TIP-INS

Indiana: The Hoosiers, who were 7 of 24 from 3-point range, had made at least seven 3-pointers in their previous 14 games this season. … Last year, the Hoosiers made seven or more 3-pointers just 8 times in 32 games.

Nebraska: The Huskers played without Leslee Smith and Moses Abraham, their two experienced big men who they hoped would return for Big Ten conference play. … Abraham, who has a broken hand, and Smith, recovering from a torn ACL, are now expected to return in about two weeks.

UP NEXT

Indiana visits Michigan State Monday.

Nebraska visits Iowa Monday.

— Associated Press —