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Category: College

Missouri gets blown out at Kentucky 87-66

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LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Outside shooting helped get Kentucky going against Missouri before the Wildcats started hitting from inside the arc. On both fronts, baskets came consistently with many contributions.

Kevin Knox had 21 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 14 and Kentucky made 10 3-pointers and shot 55 percent to blow out the Tigers 87-66 on Saturday night.

The Wildcats (20-9, 9-7 Southeastern Conference) outscored the Tigers 16-6 over the final 4 1/2 minutes before halftime for a 44-32 lead. Several more spurts stretched the advantage to as many as 24 as they avenged a 69-60 loss three weeks ago, a game in which baskets were hard to come by.

This time, Kentucky seemingly couldn’t miss.

Knox succeeded more from inside the arc than behind it, but his one 3 helped the Wildcats’ strong start and symbolized his focus after a couple of rough days.

Mentioned Friday in a Yahoo! Sports story as having had a meal with an agent, the freshman forward started after an internal review determined there were no eligibility issues. He made 6 of 13 from the field and all eight free throws in a game that initially seemed destined to be decided from outside.

“With everything going on it has been a good week,” Knox said, “just been blocking everything out. I had two good days of practice before this game. Last time they gave us a good one at their place, so we just made sure that we focused on the game going on.

Quade Green and PJ Washington each added 12 points, while Jarred Vanderbilt had a career-high 15 rebounds and 11 points for his first career double-double. Hamidou Diallo made all three 3s for 11 points as six Wildcats scored in double figures. Kentucky was 10 of 16 from long range and shot above 50 percent for the first time since Jan. 13 at Vanderbilt.

Kassius Robertson had 26 points including six 3s, and Jordan Barnett had 11 points for Missouri (18-11, 8-8), which made 10 of 31 from long but shot 36 percent in losing its third in a row.

BIG PICTURE

Missouri: The Tigers started with promise offensively, especially from outside, before cooling off to finish 21 of 58 from the field. Failing to contain Kentucky as well from the perimeter hurt the most, and getting beat 36-31 on the glass was an issue of toughness for coach Cuonzo Martin.

“They set a tone that we could never match their toughness level,” he said.

Kentucky: The Wildcats followed up their impressive victory at Arkansas by doing many things right, especially with 27 defensive rebounds. Long-range shots got them going offensively and led to frequent chances at the foul line, where they made 21 of 28 free throws. They also shared the ball well with 17 assists, while their bench dominated 38-15.

More importantly for coach John Calipari, the Wildcats are coming together just in time for the postseason.

“Right before your eyes, we’re becoming a better basketball team,” he said. “It was only a month ago, three weeks ago, half the team, it was a fight to get them to play how we were trying to get them to play.”

PORTER UPDATE

Freshman forward Michael Porter Jr. did not play after returning to practice Friday following back surgery. Martin said the team is going to make sure he’s healthy enough to take contact before bringing him back and did not set a timetable for his return.

CHAMPS REMEMBERED

Members of Kentucky’s 1978 NCAA championship squad held their 40th anniversary reunion this week and were recognized in a halftime ceremony. The Wildcats beat Duke to claim the program’s fifth title and end a 20-year drought. Surviving members or their relatives, including MVP Jack “Goose” Givens, received replicas of the championship plaque that was displayed on a table. Former coach Joe B. Hall said, “it gets better and better every year.”

UP NEXT

Missouri visits Vanderbilt Tuesday in the season’s lone meeting between the schools.

Kentucky hosts Mississippi on Wednesday, seeking its ninth straight series win against the Rebels.

— Associated Press —

Missouri Western women come up short at Lindenwood

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ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The 2017-18 regular season ended Saturday with a 61-50 loss at Lindenwood (15-12, 8-11) for the Missouri Western women’s basketball team (11-17, 4-15).

Savannah Lentz tied the game at 44 with a three-pointer to open the fourth quarter, but the Griffons scored just six more points in the quarter while Lindenwood scored 17.

The MIAA will release the MIAA Championship bracket later Saturday, but Missouri Western is expected to make the field as the No. 12 seed. The Griffons are the No. 12 seed in the MIAA Tournament as they’ll travel to Nebraska Kearney on Monday for the opening round of the tournament. The Griffons earned the final spot by way of tie-break over Northwest Missouri. Missouri Western’s win over likely No. 4 seed Central Oklahoma back on Nov. 30 gave the Griffons the edge over the Bearcats who forced the tie with a win at Lincoln on Saturday.

NOTABLES
– Lentz went 4-of-7 from three-point range, scoring 14 points

– Melia Richardson led Missouri Western with 17 points

– For the 10th time in the last 11 games, MWSU held its opponent under 64 points

– Missouri Western went 10-of-11 at the free throw line

– The Griffons committed 19 turnovers and shot 38 percent from the field

– Missouri Western finished the regular season 1-11 on the road

— MWSU Athletics —

KU beats Texas Tech to set NCAA record with 14th straight regular-season league title

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LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Devonte’ Graham barged through a door with a big smile, wearing a hat tilted slightly forward over his eyes that read “14 straight.”

Kansas finally has its NCAA record.

Graham scored 26 points and the eighth-ranked Jayhawks wrapped up their 14th consecutive regular-season conference championship, clinching at least a tie for the Big 12 title with a 74-72 victory against sixth-ranked Texas Tech on Saturday.

“It’s just being a part of history and me and my boy are part of it,” Graham said as he turned toward fellow senior Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, who scored 21.

Graham hit a tiebreaking jumper with 1:30 remaining to help Kansas (23-6, 12-4) to its fourth straight win and a two-game lead over the Red Raiders, who have lost three in a row for the first time this season. The Jayhawks never trailed.

All 14 of the titles have come under coach Bill Self, who finished second in his first season at KU. Four of the previous 13 championships were shared. UCLA won 13 straight Pac-10 titles from 1967 to 1979.

“We picked the best time to be our best the last couple of weeks,” Self said. “To play with little depth and to play so small and to not be a physical team at all, to see how these guys hung in there and competed, I’m amazed.”

The current skid for the Red Raiders (22-7, 10-6) started when leading scorer Keenan Evans injured a toe in the first half of a loss to Baylor that pulled Kansas even in the Big 12 race. The senior guard scored six points in his third straight game in single digits since the injury.

Zhaire Smith scored 20 points and fellow freshman Jarrett Culver had 18 for Texas Tech, which dropped its second straight game since reaching the highest ranking in school history. The Red Raiders surpassed last week’s No. 7 ranking that matched the 1995-96 team.

“You’ve got to credit the opponent,” coach Chris Beard said. “It’s why their players, a lot of them, go to the NBA. It’s why they win our conference almost every year, or every year, not almost. We were part of the fight. And we intend to be part of the fight as we build the program.”

The Jayhawks scored the first eight points and led by eight with less than five minutes remaining after Graham hit a long 3 with the shot clock about to expire. But just like the rest of the season in the rugged Big 12, it wasn’t easy.

Smith had a putback dunk to pull Texas Tech even at 68-68 before Graham hit the go-ahead jumper and got an off-balance shot to fall while the Red Raiders committed turnovers on consecutive possessions.

After a throw-in to run off the final two seconds, the Jayhawks stormed the court to the cheers of scattered fans in blue in what had been a raucous arena. Texas Tech students camped overnight for a national TV event the morning of the game.

“I feel like this year was the year that everybody thought we were going to lose it,” Graham said. “As a team, we’ve just been battling, staying positive with each other, going through the grind. And now we made history.”

BIG PICTURE

Kansas: Mykhailiuk and Graham formed a pretty good first half-second half tag team. The Ukrainian guard had a team-leading 15 points and three assists before halftime, and Graham had 18 points in the second half.

Texas Tech: The Red Raiders are trying to get as much out of Evans as possible, subbing him frequently to rest the injured toe. But his impact clearly isn’t the same, and whether the toe improves is likely to determine how far Tech goes in the NCAA tournament.

TOP-10 WINS

Kansas is 3-0 against top-10 teams this season and has won eight straight true road games against top-10 opponents. The last loss was to No. 4 Missouri on Feb. 2, 2012.

SMITH IN, GRAY OUT

Texas Tech senior Zach Smith entered in the first minute after missing 13 games with a broken foot. He replaced Justin Gray, who was flattened when he didn’t see a screen by 7-foot, 280-pound Udoka Azubuike. Gray stayed down for a couple of minutes before walking slowly to the bench. Gray didn’t return, and Smith finished with one point and four rebounds in 22 minutes.

UP NEXT

Kansas: Home against Texas on Monday before its regular-season finale at Oklahoma State next Saturday.

Texas Tech: At No. 21 West Virginia on Monday before finishing the regular season at home against TCU next Saturday. The Red Raiders and Mountaineers are tied for second in the Big 12.

— Associated Press —

Northwest women defeat Lincoln in season finale

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The Northwest Missouri State University women’s basketball team defeated Lincoln University, 76-65, on Saturday afternoon at Jason Gym in Jefferson City, Mo.

The Bearcats improve to 5-22 overall and 4-15 in MIAA play. The Blue Tigers finish the year at 4-23 overall and 1-18 in conference action.

Jaelyn Haggard led four Northwest players in double figures, scoring a career-high 30 points with six three pointers. She had four rebounds, three assists and went 8-for-9 from the charity stripe.

Key Northwest Statistics
– Northwest led 36-28 at halftime and outscored Lincoln, 29-19, in the fourth quarter.

– The Bearcats shot 21-for-49 (42.9 percent) from the field and connected on 46.2 percent (12-of-26) of their three-point attempts.

– Northwest also went a stellar 22-for-25 (88 percent) from the charity stripe and out rebounded Lincoln, 43-26.

– Lincoln was held to just 36.5 percent (22-for-63) shooting and hit just 6-of-17 (35.3 percent) three point attempts.

– Tanya Meyer recorded her ninth double-double of the season in her final game as a Bearcat. She scored 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting and grabbed 15 rebounds. She hit three three-pointers and was 4-for-4 from the free throw line.

– Mallory McAndrews hit a pair of three pointers and finished with 12 points. She was a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe.

– Kylie Coleman finished with 10 points, shooting 3-for-4 with a three pointer. She also was 3-for-4 from the free throw line and grabbed a rebound.

– Kaylani Maiava had eight rebounds and finished with three points.

– Mallory McConkey added four rebounds and three assists.

– Maria Dentlinger contributed three rebounds.

Key Northwest Sequence
– With 3:50 left in the fourth quarter, Linclon hit a pair of free throws to bring the game back to within three, 59-56. But the Bearcats would hold Lincoln to just nine points the remainder of the way. Northwest hit 14-of-16 free throw and got a three-pointer from McAndrews with 2:02 remaining to close out the victory on a 17-9 run. In fact, the Bearcats hit 11-consecutive free throws to close out the game.

Up Next
– Saturday’s game concludes the Bearcats’ 2017-18 season.

— Northwest Athletics —

MWSU’s Odir, Thompson earn top five finishes on day two of MIAA Track & Field championships

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PITTSBURG, Kan. – Day two of the MIAA Indoor Track and Field Championships produced two top-five finishes and two provisional marks for Missouri Western track and field athletes.

Julia Odir finished fourth in the women’s triple jump and earned an NCAA Division II provisional mark with a 38-8 ¾ jump. In the men’s triple jump, Phil Thompson finished fifth with a provisional mark of 49-1 ½.

In other finals action, Saturday, Kaitlyn Shoemaker recovered from a fall in the 5,000m to finish seventh with an 18:26.96. In the women’s weight throw final, Kallin Sheppard set a new Missouri Western best throw of 45-3 ½.

Hanna Williams and Graham Buresh both qualified for Sunday’s finals in the 400m. Buresh broke the school record in the prelims with a 49.28.

OTHER NOTABLES
– Chris Stanley broke the school 600yd record (1:13.98)

– Nate Jelinek recorded a personal-best 1:14.11 in the 600yd

– Morgan Doyle had a personal best 1:29.48 in the 600yd

– Megan Gillen had a personal season-best 2:23.75 in the 800m

– Kylie Lineberry recorded a pr in the 60m with an 8.29

The championships wrap up on Sunday in Pittsburg, Kansas. Along with Williams and Buresh in the men’s and women’s 400m finals, the Griffons will send entries into the men’s and women’s shot put finals and men’s and women’s long jump finals.

— MWSU Athletics —

Kansas State falls on the road at Oklahoma

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NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Trae Young’s entertaining act wasn’t translating into wins for Oklahoma, and desperation had set in.

Finally, a more collective effort helped the Sooners snap their six-game losing skid. Young scored 28 points, his teammates chipped in, and Oklahoma topped Kansas State 86-77 on Saturday.

Young, the freshman point guard who leads the nation in scoring, was coming off a season-low 11 points in a loss to Kansas earlier in the week. He bounced back with a smart floor game — he made 7 of 10 shots from the field, including 6 of 9 3-pointers, and added seven assists.

Christian James scored 15 points and Brady Manek and Jamuni McNeace each added 10 for the Sooners (17-11, 7-9 Big 12), who shot 53 percent from the field.

“I talked to them and told them that I felt like our season was on the line,” James said. “We needed this. We came out and competed, and that showed tonight.”

Oklahoma hadn’t won since Jan. 30 and had dropped two straight at home.

“When you haven’t won in a while, it’s tough to stay plugged in and keep the right frame of mind,” Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said. “Happy for the guys. Proud of the way they made shots and got some stops and did the things they needed to do to get one in the right column.”

Kansas State handled Young in the first meeting and forced him into 12 turnovers as the Wildcats rolled past the Sooners 87-69 on Jan. 16. In the rematch, Young had five turnovers, though two came well after the Sooners had the game in hand. Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said Young’s efficiency was the difference.

“Normally, he’s got 21 shots or whatever it is,” Weber said. “He still turned it over a few times, but he made shots and then made plays for them.”

Barry Brown scored 28 points and Dean Wade added 15 points and 11 rebounds for Kansas State (20-9, 9-7). The Wildcats made just 4 of 21 3-pointers.

Young matched his 11-point total from the Kansas game in the first eight minutes against Kansas State. He hit a 3-pointer late in the first half to close out an 18-point first half and give the Sooners a 43-35 lead at the break.

James scored in close and was fouled, and he made the free throw to put the Sooners up 52-38 with 15:45 remaining. Young hit a deep 3-pointer to put the Sooners up 55-40, and it looked like Oklahoma might cruise.

Kansas State worked its way back into the game and cut its deficit to 63-56. A 3-pointer and a short floater by Manek helped put the Sooners up 10. Another three by Young made it 71-59 with just under six minutes left, and the Sooners remained in control from there.

Kruger said he could sense a different approach from the start.

“General focus and the sense of urgency,” he said. “The awareness that we are running out of games and you got to line up and play better. I thought we played with that focus and that awareness throughout the game.”

BIG PICTURE

Oklahoma: The Sooners desperately needed this one to strengthen its NCAA Tournament resume. Though the Sooners have numerous quality wins, the losing streak was enough to raise questions.

Kansas State: The Wildcats were getting votes for the Top 25, but probably won’t get there with this loss. Overall, a road loss to a solid team likely won’t hurt the Wildcats’ NCAA hopes.

STAT LINES

Oklahoma shot 62 percent in the second half to maintain control of the game. The Sooners made 16 of 26 field goals and 4 of 10 3-pointers after the break.

QUOTABLE

Weber, on why Young shouldn’t be Big 12 Player of the Year: “To me, the Big 12 player of the year should be from the people who win the league. That’s just me. You know winning is what dictates who should be the Big 12 player of the year. But that is my opinion. Everyone has different opinions.”

UP NEXT

Kansas State plays at TCU on Tuesday.

Oklahoma plays at Baylor on Tuesday.

— Associated Press —

Hightower, Mitter lead Griffons past Lincoln 82-73

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Western men’s basketball team knocked off Lincoln Thursday in Jefferson City 82-73. The Griffons improve to 6-19 and 4-14 in the MIAA and now control their own destiny to get the final spot in the MIAA Tournament. It’s the second straight road win for MWSU and they snapped Lincoln’s four-game win streak.

Lavon Hightower and Wes Mitter had career nights in the MWSU win. Hightower scored a career-best 30 points and Mitter came off the bench for a career-high 21 points. The Griffons went into halftime with a three-point lead and momentum when Mitter nailed a three-pointer with eight seconds left in the half.

Missouri Western carried the momentum to the second half as it built a 15 point lead seven minutes into the half. Lincoln made a run to cut the lead to one possession with 7:27 left in the game. But Hightower and Mitter answered with nine straight points for MWSU to push the lead back to double digits. The Griffons shot 60 percent from the field and 55.6 percent from the three-point arc in the second half.

Missouri Western kept its postseason hopes alive with the win. MWSU tied Emporia State and took a one game lead against Northeastern State for the final spot in the MIAA Tournament. The Griffons own tiebreakers over ESU and NSU if the three teams are tied at the end of the regular season.

NOTABLES
– Wes Mitter also had a career-high five three-pointers in the win

– Lavon Hightower scored 17 of his game-high 31 points in the first half, it is the third straight game that he has scored 24 points or more

– Hightower connected on 13 field goals, a new career-best

– Missouri Western outrebounded Lincoln 37-27 and 10-7 on the offensive glass

– MWSU was 52.5 percent from the field for the game, the fourth consecutive game with a field-goal percentage better than 44 percent

– The Griffons’ 82 points is the most this season and third game in a row with at least 80 points

UP NEXT
Missouri Western travels to Lindenwood on Saturday, Feb. 24 for the final game of the regular season. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m. from St. Charles, Missouri.

— MWSU Athletics —

Bearcats earn fifth straight MIAA title with win at Lindenwood

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The Northwest Missouri State University men’s basketball team defeated Lindenwood University, 67-60, on Thursday evening at Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo.

The Bearcats claimed at least a share of the MIAA regular season title with the win. It is the program’s fifth-straight regular season title, tying the mark set by Southwest Missouri State University from 1966-1970.

Northwest is now 23-3 overall and 15-3 in MIAA play. The Lions fall to 15-12 overall and 7-11 in conference action.

Joey Witthus led Northwest with 19 points, four rebounds, one assist and one steal.

Key Northwest Statistics
– Northwest shot 53.2 percent (25-of-47) from the field and hit 3-of-11 (27.3 percent) from beyond the arc.

– The Bearcats outrebounded the Lions, 26-23, and outscored Lindenwood, 44-32, in the paint.

– Northwest went 14-for-22 (63.6 percent) from the free throw line, going 10-for-16 in the second half.

– Justin Pitts scored 18 points with three assists, two rebounds and one steal.

– Xavier Kurth finished with 10 points and three rebounds in 39 minutes of play.

– Brett Dougherty shot 3-for-4 from the field and hit four free throws, finishing with 10 points, five rebounds and three assists.

– Tyler Dougherty scored six points with a rebound and an assist in seven minutes of action.

– Ryan Hawkins grabbed six rebounds including a pair of key offensive rebounds, finishing the night with two points and two steals.

– Ryan Welty grabbed five rebounds and also added a steal.

Key Northwest Sequence
– Early in the first half, Northwest found itself down, 4-2, but quickly responded with a 12-3 run. Pitts got things started with a three pointer to give the Bearcats the lead, 5-4. After a missed Lindenwood three, Witthus knocked down a three pointer off a feed from Brett Dougherty. Northwest’s defense forced a missed Lion layup the next time down. Brett Dougherty missed a layup but made a heads-up play to collect his own rebound and converted an uncontested layup to make it a 10-4 lead. Lindenwood would temporarily halt the run with a three-pointer but Kurth would draw a foul the next time down and converted both free throw attempts. Lindenwood again was unsuccessful on a three point attempt and Pitts found Tyler Dougherty for a layup to make it a 14-7 Northwest lead.

– Down the stretch with the score tied, 52-52, Northwest outscored Lindenwood, 15-8, in the final seven minutes of the game. The Bearcats were 7-of-13 from the free throw line and were 4-of-6 from the field. The Lions were held to just 4-of-10 in that stretch, going 1-for-3 from long range. Northwest forced a pair of turnovers on the defensive end.

Up Next
– Northwest concludes the 2017-18 regular season at Lincoln University on Saturday, Feb. 24, in Jefferson City at 3:30 p.m.

— Northwest Athletics —

Frericks leads No. 11 Missouri women past Vanderbilt

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COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Jordan Frericks finished one assist shy of a triple-double, settling for her 28th career double-double on her Senior Night, and No. 11 Missouri defeated Vanderbilt 83-68 on Thursday night.

Frericks had 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting and 12 rebounds for the Tigers (23-5, 11-4 Southeastern Conference), who have won six straight. Amber Smith hit five 3-points and scored 19 points to lead Missouri.

Lauren Aldridge was 5 of 5 behind the arc for all of her 15 points, including Missouri’s first three baskets of the game. The Tigers used a 14-point run to open a 35-17 first-quarter lead, their biggest quarter of the season. Sophie Cunningham had nine of her 14 points in the run and Missouri went 7 of 10 from distance and 14 of 19 overall.

Vanderbilt (6-23, 2-13), which has lost six straight, was led by Cierra Walker with 17 points and Rachel Bell with 16.

— Associated Press —

Missouri Western women fall at Lincoln

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Western women’s basketball lost at Lincoln Thursday 73-62 as the Griffon fall to 11-16 and 4-14 in the MIAA.

After a big first quarter from the Blue Tigers, Missouri Western had to battle back in the second quarter. MWSU outscored LU 23-11 in the second quarter and went to halftime tied at 32. However, the Griffons couldn’t sustain the momentum into the second half. Lincoln outscored Missouri Western 41-30 over the final 20 minutes to secure its first MIAA win of the season. Savannah Lentz scored 12 of her team-high 19 points in the second half.

The Griffons did clinch a spot in the MIAA Tournament earlier in the evening when Northwest Missouri lost at Lindenwood 84-51. It is the fourth consecutive season that Missouri Western has qualified for the MIAA Tournament. Rob Edmisson has now taken MWSU to the postseason in five of his six seasons as head coach.

NOTABLES
– Savannah Lentz made four three-pointers against LU, it is the sixth time this season she has made at least four threes in a game

– Melia Richardson scored 18 points for the second time in three games

– Missouri Western made six three-point field goals, the most since Jan. 20

– Lincoln outrebounded the Griffons by 12, 32-20

– 73 points is the most allowed by MWSU since an overtime loss on Jan. 15 to Southwest Baptist and snaps a streak of nine games holding opponents to under 63 points

UP NEXT
Missouri Western heads to Lindenwood on Saturday, Feb. 24 for a 1:30 p.m. game. It will be the final game of the regular season for the Griffons.

— MWSU Athletics —

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