Dave Riggert – Page 995 – St. Joseph Post Archive

No. 1 Kansas State gets upset at Baylor

Posted on November 18, 2012November 18, 2012

Collin Klein and second-ranked Kansas State can still get to a BCS game. Getting to the BCS championship game is all but lost.

”Anger, frustration, obviously disappointment,” Wildcats tight end Travis Tannahill said as he described his feelings after a 52-24 loss at Baylor on Saturday night. ”Confused. We just don’t know what went wrong. We had a good week of practice. We felt prepared, everything we’ve done the last 10 games.”

Except win.

”It’s a hard one,” Klein said.

Glasco Martin ran for three touchdowns, Lache Seastrunk had 185 yards rushing with an 80-yard score and the Bears again upset the BCS picture with a late-season victory.

A week after the Wildcats (10-1, 7-1 Big 12) took over the No. 1 spot in the BCS standings following defending national champion Alabama’s loss, it now looks like it’s going to somebody else’s turn at the top.

Maybe Notre Dame, which could get its championship shot after Kansas State and No. 1 Oregon both lost. And the Crimson Tide suddenly is back in the title picture, along with a couple of other SEC teams.

Also, K-State quarterback Klein may be a Heisman Trophy front-runner no more after throwing three interceptions and getting sacked twice while being pressured and harassed all night. He threw for 286 yards and two touchdowns, but had only 39 yards on 17 carries with a score.

On first-and-goal from the 6 in the fourth quarter, Klein had four straight carries and couldn’t score – twice trying from the 1.

”I don’t know if I would call it getting smacked in the mouth, but they took it to us,” coach Bill Snyder said. ”I really thought we prepared well, but as we found out, we didn’t. I don’t think we handled the situation as well as we should have been able to.”

Nick Florence, Baylor’s successor to Heisman winner Robert Griffin III, completed 20 of 32 passes for 238 yards, and ran nine times for 47 yards. Both of his passing touchdowns came in the first half when the Bears (5-5, 2-5) jumped out to a 28-7 lead.

”All week we believed we were going to beat them and if we did we weren’t going to be surprised when it happened,” Florence said.

It was on the same weekend last November, on another Saturday night in Waco, when Griffin and Baylor upset then fifth-ranked Oklahoma after two teams ahead of the Sooners had already lost that day.

Kansas State has plenty of time for this loss to simmer. The Wildcats have Thanksgiving week off before playing their regular season finale Dec. 1 at home against No. 18 Texas.

If the Wildcats beat Texas, they will be guaranteed at least a share of the Big 12 title and get the league’s automatic BCS spot.

That may be the only solace after such a crushing loss against Baylor, which still needs to win another game to be bowl eligible.

The Bears hadn’t beaten an opponent ranked so high since a 13-7 win over No. 2 Tennessee in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day 1957. They tied No. 1 Texas during the 1941 season.

Students and fans dressed in gold swarmed the field to celebrate when Saturday night’s game ended.

Klein, who finished 27 of 50 passing, had thrown only three interceptions the first 10 games.

After Martin’s 2-yard TD put Baylor up 28-7 with 2:54 left in the first half, Kansas State scored 10 consecutive points before the break – and then got the ball to start the second half, only to have Klein throw his second interception.

Martin finished with 113 yards rushing.

There was a classic 13-yard run by Klein to start the second half, then two deep incompletions before he was picked off by Sam Holl, who returned it to the Kansas State 38. Four plays later, after a Florence 13-yard keeper, Martin scored on a 4-yard run to make it 35-17.

”We gained a little bit of momentum and we just couldn’t sustain anything consistently over time,” Klein said. ”We definitely knew we were going to have to play well to win. They just played better than we did.”

The Wildcats then got a 50-yard kickoff return from Tramaine Thompson, but Klein had three consecutive incompletions leading to a punt that pinned Baylor at its 1.

Florence threw an interception, Randall Evans grabbing the ball at the 1 but immediately getting dragged down by intended receiver Terrance Williams. Klein plunged in from a yard out on the next play, but that would be the last score for the Wildcats.

On the first play after Klein was picked off by Joe Williams in the end zone late in the third quarter, Seastrunk took a handoff and raced 80 yards for the score.

Chris Harper had 11 catches for 123 yards for the Wildcats.

Baylor scored less than 2 minutes into the game on Florence’s 38-yard TD to Tevin Reese after completing passes to different receivers on each of the first four plays.

The Bears then tried a short kickoff that K-State recovered. To make it worse, a 15-yard penalty for interfering with the returner set the Wildcats up at the Baylor 38 and led to Klein’s 8-yard TD run.

A holding call wiped out a 95-yard return by Antwan Goodley on the ensuing kickoff, but the Bears regrouped to go 75 yards in 11 plays for Florence’s 12-yard TD run that made it 14-7.

Early in the second quarter, Klein was picked off by Williams on a deep throw.

K-State had a fumble recovery nullified by an offside call. The Wildcats jumped again on a third-and-9, and Florence took off running for a 10-yard gain, plus an additional 15 yards when Dante Barnett was flagged for unnecessary roughness for lowering his shoulder and a hard hit on the Baylor quarterback, who threw an interception two plays later.

About the only stretch that Klein really looked like himself was that closing 2 minutes of the first half.

On the first play after Martin’s score, Klein threw a 36-yard pass to Harper and 5 yards to Tyler Lockett. After a pass interference penalty against Baylor in the end zone put the ball at the 7, Klein threw a TD to Harper,

Baylor then went three-and-out, with Barnett preventing a first down with his open-field tackle of Reese on third down.

The Wildcats then had a 10-play drive in 51 seconds, capped by Anthony Cantele’s 23-yard field goal on the last play of the half, right after Thompson’s 22-yard reception.

— Associated Press —

NWMSU women suffer first loss as they fall to Jewell

Posted on November 18, 2012November 18, 2012

The important lesson Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team can learn from its 59-55 loss to William Jewell is the value of each possession.

Turnovers led to Northwest’s first loss of the season Saturday evening at Bearcat Arena.

Despite miscues in the second half, Northwest managed to build its biggest lead at 54-45 with less than 7 minutes left.

Northwest appeared to be in control, but the Bearcats kept giving the ball away without putting up a shot.

William Jewell finally took advantage, scoring the next nine points and tied the game at 54-54 with 1:20 left.

A minute later, Northwest finally scored again on a free throw by Monique Stevens that gave the Bearcats a slim 55-54 lead with 21 seconds left.

The dagger came 14 seconds later when Jessie Wheeler made her third three-pointer of the game. It gave William Jewell only its third lead of the game and the first since midway in the second half.

Northwest called timeout and then turned the ball over on the in-bound play, which sealed the victory for Jewell.

The Bearcats, though, still had a few bright moments. Meridee Scott played well offensively, making six of nine shots for 14 points. Ashleigh Nelson also had a solid game off the bench. She scored 12 points and had several nifty passes.

Northwest just could not overcome the 25 turnovers.

The first half was almost identical to the second half.

Northwest led all but two possessions in the first half, but needed a three-pointer by Ashley Thayer in the closing seconds to take a 23-21 lead into halftime.

After building an early 10-3 lead on the strength of Scott’s outside shooting, Northwest struggled much of the first half against William Jewell’s full-court press.

Slowly, Jewell inched closer and in the final minute, took a 21-20 lead on two free throws by Holly Switzer.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

KU gets blown out by Iowa State for 20th straight Big 12 loss

Posted on November 18, 2012November 18, 2012

Sam Richardson, who had not even attempted a pass all year, threw for 250 yards and four touchdowns Saturday night, sparking Iowa State past Kansas 51-23 and handing the Jayhawks their 20th consecutive Big 12 loss.

Richardson led the Cyclones (6-5 overall, 3-5 Big 12) to touchdowns on four straight possessions in the second quarter while taking a 38-17 lead. The redshirt freshman, virtually overlooked all year in the Cyclones’ jumbled quarterback picture, had previously seen only mop-up duty in one game.

While going 23 for 27, Richardson spread his completions around to 12 different receivers. Six different Cyclones scored touchdowns.

For Kansas (1-10, 0-8), the final home game of the year sent a bedraggled class of seniors out on the same sort of sour note which has characterized their entire collegiate careers.

The fourth- and fifth-year seniors came aboard just as the Mark Mangino-coached Jayhawks were winning two straight bowl games for the first time in school history. The long-struggling program seemed headed for the heights. But after starting the 2009 season 5-0, the Jayhawks lost their next seven and now, counting this lopsided loss to Iowa State, have dropped a stunning 36 of 42 games under three head coaches.

Kansas will need to win at West Virginia in its season finale on Dec. 1 to avoid its worst season since the 1988 Jayhawks finished 1-10.

It’s also a bitter entry into the Big 12 for Kansas coach Charlie Weis, who announced at midweek that he would pay the $3 charge for anyone who wanted to buy a student ticket and come to the game. Officials said it would be several days to know how many took him up on his offer. But it appeared only a few hundred did.

Richardson replaced starter Steele Jantz on Iowa State’s third possession and immediately engineered a 10-play, 89-yard drive connecting, with Josh Lenz for 30 yards and setting up Jeff Woody’s 11-yard touchdown run for a 10-7 lead. Lenz also had a 14-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter.

Tony Pierson rushed for 89 yards for Kansas, including a 55-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, and caught a 37-yard scoring pass from Dayne Crist in the fourth. But after his 55-yard score, Iowa State answered immediately with Richardson’s 11-yard scoring pass to Albert Gary.

Durrell Givens recovered James Sims’ fumble on the Jayhawks’ next possession, and five plays later Richardson connected with a wide-open Aaron Horne on a 30-yard scoring play, making it 24-14.

The lead went to 31-14 a few minutes later when Richardson, following Woody’s 43-yard run, dived over from the 1.

A 20-yard pass to Ernst Brun, capping a six-play, 57-yard drive, completed the second-quarter blitz and put Iowa State on top 38-14.

Edwin Arceo kicked three field goals for the Cyclones, including a 51-yarder in the third quarter.

— Associated Press —

Griffon men drop Hillyard Classic opener to William Jewell

Posted on November 16, 2012

William Jewell used 10 3-pointers to down Missouri Western 76-60 at MWSU Fieldhouse Friday night in the first night of the Hillyard Classic.

The Cardinals came out on fire, going 15-for-27 from the field and knocking down 6 3s at a 50 percent rate. The Griffons fell behind early but came back to tie the game at 21.

William Jewell took a 40-30 lead into halftime, as the Griffons were led with nine points from Cedric Clinkscales and another seven from Dzenan Mrkaljevic.

After the break, the Griffons stopped the Cardinals from hitting the majority of 3-pointers shot, and made it a 6-point game halfway through the second half.

With a 57-50 lead, the Cardinals returned with a nice 3-point game, knocking down two more 3s to gain another double-digit lead, 63-50. They stretched their lead to 72-54 with just more than 3 minutes to play to all but end the night for MWSU.

William Jewell finished 10-for-22 from behind-the-arc, while Missouri Western went 2-for-17.

The Griffons received a nice, double-double effort from Clinkscales, who finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds. He also added two blocks. This was MWSU’s third loss in the Hilllyard Classic since 2005 and first to William Jewell since 1991.

Up Next: The Griffons play in night-two of the Hillyard Classic against Rockhurst University. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at MWSU Fieldhouse.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Bearcat men pull away in second half to defeat Rockhurst

Posted on November 16, 2012

Junior Dillon Starzl poured in 20 points to lead Northwest Missouri State to a 55-38 victory over Rockhurst Friday night in non-conference men’s basketball action at the 21st Annual Hillyard Tipoff Classic.

Starzl hit a jumper at the 3:37 mark of the first half to pull the Bearcats even at 19-19 in a back-and-forth first half. The junior would extend the Bearcat lead after hitting a pair of free throws as Northwest took a 21-19 lead in the break.

Northwest (2-0) continued to find success inside as they outscored the Hawks 26-14 in the paint. The Bearcat defense was again in full force as they pressed the Hawks into 16 turnovers and held them to just 14-of-47 shooting on the night.

Alex Sullivan continued his hot start draining back-to-back three-pointers to open the second half and sparking Northwest to an early 10 point lead. Sullivan finished with eight points in the win.

The Bearcats would pull away when DeAngelo Hailey hit his third trey of the night with 7:51 left in the game, putting Northwest up 46-32. Northwest would score 10 of the game’s final 15 points to close out the win. Hailey finished the night with nine points.

Northwest finished the night 5-of-9 from behind the three-point line with all five coming in the second half.

The Bearcats close out the Hillyard Classic Saturday night as they take on William Jewell at 5:30 p.m. Last year Northwest took a 49-37 win against the Cardinals at the Classic.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

Missouri Western women rally past Illinois-Springfield to stay unbeaten

Posted on November 16, 2012

The Griffons fell behind in the first half but maintained their confidence throughout Friday night’s game to pull out the 57-54 victory against Illinois-Springfield. The win put the Griffons at 3-0 for the first time since 2004.

The Griffons shot just 30 percent in the first half, going 9-for-30 from the floor. They took a 4-3 lead in the first two minutes, but trailed the rest of the half, going into the break behind 28-22.

Sharniece Lewis nailed a 3-pointer at the 17:18 mark in the second half to begin the Griffons’ comeback after the score was 30-27. JaQuitta Dever put in a layup followed by Brittany Griswold’s layup to give Missouri Western its first lead since early in the first half.

The Griffons snatched a 10-point lead with 4:57 to play off of a layup by Alicia Bell to take a 53-43 lead, but Illinois-Springfield came back to make things interesting.

The Griffons had a 57-51 lead when Alex Saxen grabbed her second steal of the game, but Illinois Springfield’s Carly Goede brought the team back with a 3-pointer to mark the score 57-54 with 42 seconds to play.

MWSU played solid defense in the waning seconds, and the Prairie Stars couldn’t shoot the ball in the final 10 seconds as MWSU won the game 57-54.

Heather Howard had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Lanicia Lawrence had a solid performance, scoring eight points with five rebounds and four assists.

Up Next: The Griffons go to St. Louis to play Maryville University at 6 p.m., Saturday, November 17.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Oriakhi leads Mizzou to big win over Nicholls State

Posted on November 16, 2012

Alex Oriakhi showed off his offensive prowess on Friday night.

The 6-foot-9, 255-pound forward had 17 points and 10 rebounds in No. 14 Missouri’s 74-54 win over Nicholls State.

Oriakhi’s effort was his second double-double of the season, matching his total of last season at Connecticut.

”Usually, guys, they think they’re better than what they are, he’s one of those guys that’s the other way,” coach Frank Haith said.

Oriakhi did most of his damage at the free throw line after getting fouled several times during second-chance opportunities thanks to seven offensive rebounds, going 9 of 10. He also became the first Missouri player to pull down 10 or more rebounds in his first three games since Malcolm Thomas in 1983-84.

Oriakhi continued his struggles from the field, shooting 4 of 10. He says he’s rushing when he gets excited for close-range shots, but also thankful for Haith telling him he’ll continue to receive the ball.

”I think Coach Haith and this coaching staff are just doing a great job of giving me confidence,” Oriakhi said. ”The most important thing, he’s let me play through my mistakes. That’s something I wasn’t able to do last year.”

The Tigers (3-0) ended their tendency to start slowly – at least for one game – after senior forward Laurence Bowers promised to fix the team’s problems after Missouri shot 23 percent in the first half Tuesday night against Alcorn State.

Missouri used a 7-0 run within the first four minutes and wouldn’t relinquish the lead after that.

Despite the quicker start, Haith said his team wasn’t going ”to hit a home run in the first five minutes of the game” against Nicholls State (0-2).

”I thought we did come out with a better focus tonight in terms of our energy,” Haith said.

Fred Hunter scored 22 points and T.J. Carpenter added 14 for Nicholls State, which has dropped both its games this season to Southeastern Conference teams. The Colonels lost to Vanderbilt on Saturday in their opener.

The Colonels return four starters from last season’s 10-20 team, but Hunter didn’t play as he recovered from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He scored 21 points and had 10 rebounds against Vanderbilt.

”I’m better than before the injury because I learned a lot sitting out,” Hunter said. ”You can always get better.”

Missouri jumped out to its largest lead of the game at 54-32 on Phil Pressey’s 3-pointer with 13:46 remaining. The Tigers used an 11-1 run over a 3 1/2-minute stretch near the end of the first half that made the score 25-14, but a 9-2 Colonels run followed to narrow the gap.

Missouri led 32-25 at the break.

”For us, I feel like we competed, we kept them on their toes, we made them nervous maybe for the first half,” Nicholls State coach J.P. Piper said.

Nicholls State took advantage of eight Missouri turnovers in the first half, scoring nine points off the miscues. But the Colonels turned it over 10 times in the second, and Missouri converted the mistakes into 17 points.

Earnest Ross added 16 points and Keion Bell added a season-high 13 for the Tigers, who travel to the Bahamas to face Stanford on Thanksgiving in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.

Haith said his team needs to focus on taking charges and blocking out, but was more optimistic than after Tuesday’s game when he said the team wouldn’t be as good as it would be in January.

”We’re really close to really getting to the level I think we need to be at,” Haith said. ”So I’m excited about where this team is headed.”

— Associated Press —

Northwest women roll to easy win against Southwest Minnesota

Posted on November 16, 2012

The Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team opened up the Winstead-Reeves Classic with a 93-46 victory over Southwest Minnesota State Friday night.

The Bearcats opened the game with a 7-0 run and never relinquished the lead.

Ashleigh Nelson led all scorers at the half with 18 points. Nelson was 6 for 8 from behind the arc and was held scoreless in the second period.

Northwest shot 52.6 percent from the floor as they went into halftime with a 53-21 lead.

The Bearcats didn’t let up in the second half as they added 40 points and held Southwest Minnesota State to only 25 points of their own.

In all, the Bearcats had five players in double figures in points.

Annie Mathews and Maggie Marnin both finished the game with double doubles. Mathews had 10 points and 11 rebounds as Marnin posted 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Northwest shot 50 percent as a team from the field. The Bearcats took advantage of free throws hitting 14-of-17 against the Mustangs.

Head Coach Mark Kellogg and his Bearcats picked up their third win of the 2012 season to move to 3-0.

Northwest takes on William Jewell in the final game of the Winstead-Reeves Classic Saturday with tip-off scheduled for 7:00 PM. William Jewell beat Missouri Valley in the Classic opener.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

Benedictine women take down Missouri Baptist

Posted on November 16, 2012

The Benedictine (Kan.) College women’s basketball team opened up the 2012 BC Classic on Friday night with a 71-59 win over Missouri Baptist University inside the Ralph Nolan Gymnasium.

Benedictine (6-1) converted on 60 percent from beyond the arc in the en route to their four straight home win. MBU (1-2) was limited to 35 percent from the floor in the second half.

Benedictine finished with four players in double figures, led by the 16 points of guard Kelsey Anselmi. Guard Justice Payne added 12 while guard Jackie Ziesel added 11 off the bench. Post Liz Stinson finished with 10 points.

MBU was led by the game high 21 points of Kristyne Smyth.

Benedictine host Friends University, a nationally-ranked NAIA Div. II program, at 3 p.m. Saturday back in the Ralph Nolan Gymnasium.

— BC Sports Information —

Kansas basketball signs two more to 2013-2014 recruiting class

Posted on November 16, 2012

Guards Wayne Selden and Frank Mason have signed National Letters of Intent (NLI) to play basketball at Kansas, KU head coach Bill Self announced Friday. The duo join three others in what many are considering one of the top recruiting classes in the early signing period. Guard Conner Frankamp, center Joel Embiid and forward Brannen Greene signed with Kansas earlier this week.

Selden signed his NLI Friday evening in a ceremony at the Shelburne Community Center in his hometown of Roxbury, Mass., a suburb of Boston.

“Wayne is one of the most powerful wings in high school basketball,” Self said. “He’s got a great frame. He’s explosive. He can play the two or three and maybe even play some emergency point. He’s big enough to post and defend the four if we decide to go small and he can make shots.”

Described as a dynamic, explosive and powerful athlete, the 6-foot-5, 225-pound Selden attends The Tilton School in Tilton, N.H. He reclassified from 2014 to 2013 earlier this year. Last year Selden averaged 16 points, five assists and three rebounds and helped lead Tilton to a 25-6 record and the NEPSAC Class AA title game. Selden has also had success on the club circuit where he plays for Boston Amateur Basketball Club. His club team won the highly-competitive Elite Youth Basketball League title in 2011.

“Norm (Roberts) deserves the credit for recruiting Wayne,” Self said of KU assistant coach Norm Roberts. “Wayne has a great family and he’s at a terrific school. I really believe he’s the total package as a future Jayhawk.”

Selden has a four-star rating and ranks No. 14 nationally by ESPN100 and No. 23 by Rivals.com. He verbally committed to playing for the Jayhawks after his visit during Late Night in the Phog in October and chose Kansas over Syracuse, Florida, UCLA and Missouri.

Mason is a 5-foot-11, 180-pound point guard from Petersburg, Va., where he plays at Massanutten Military Academy, in Woodstock, Va. Prior to Massanutten, Mason played at Petersburg High School where led the state in scoring in 2011 at 27.4 points per game and in 2012 at 27.1 points per contest. During his Petersburg career he scored 1,901 points and the Wave were a combined 78-4. Mason guided the Wave to two state tournament appearances.

“He’s a jet,” Self said. “Frank is a really, really quick guard. He’s a true point. He can get guys easy baskets. He can break people down, very similar to the way the fans saw Sherron (Collins) break people down off the bounce.”

Mason is three-star player ranked No. 134 by Rivals.com and is the No. 29 point guard in the 2013 class. Mason chose Kansas over Alabama, Maryland, South Carolina and Virginia Tech.

“Frank is one of the best kept secrets in high school basketball,” Self said. “I really believe even though his high school ranking is not much; he’s a guy that is as good as any guard out there.”

Kansas Men’s Basketball Fall 2012 Signees

Brannen Greene (F, 6-7, 200, Monroe, Ga./Tifton HS)

Joel Embiid (C, 7-0, 220, Camaroon/Gainesville, Fla./The Rock School)

Conner Frankamp (G, 6-0, 160, Wichita, Kan./Wichita North HS)

Frank Mason (G, 5-11, 180, Petersburg, Va./Massanutten Military Academy)

Wayne Selden (G, 6-5, 225, Roxbury, Mass./Tilton [N.H.] School)

— KU Sports Information —