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Category: College

No. 1 Northwest pulls away to defeat Metro State 69-58

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By David Boyce – Northwest Athletics

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Two hours before tipoff for Northwest Missouri State’s home-opener at Bearcat Arena, men’s basketball coach Ben McCollum stood in the tunnel and remarked how Metro State’s pressing zone defense will pose some problems for his squad.

McCollum’s words weren’t coach speak. He knows he has a good squad. After all, the Bearcats, the defending national champions with three returning starters, won their first two games.

But McCollum realized it was going to take a while for his squad to figure out the Roadrunners’ defense that at times was as tricky as solving a Rubik’s Cube. For millennials, the Rubik’s Cube was a toy that became hugely popular in the early 1980’s.

As it turns out, seniors Justin Pitts and Chris-Ebou Ndow and sophomore Ryan Welty all know about the Rubik’s Cube, which probably shouldn’t be surprising in the Google world we live in. However, two of the players admitted they don’t know how to solve it.

Oh, back to the home-opener Friday evening. Northwest solved the defensive puzzle applied by Metro State and overcame an eight-point halftime deficit to win 69-58.

“You have to compete to win,” McCollum said. “We didn’t have a great week of practice. We weren’t locked in. You could see that tonight when we got beat on some back cuts. It was just a lot of little things we didn’t do. We did get a lot tougher in the second half, defensively in particular, getting rebounds and finishing plays.”

Behind their salty defense, the Bearcats improved their efficiency on offense in the second half to put the Roadrunners away. The second-half comeback started immediately with two free throws by Welty.

After Metro State scored, Pitts answered with a basket. He finished with 20 points and became the first player in the program’s history to score 2,000 points.

“It mean’s a lot,” Pitts said. “I never thought I could do something like this coming out of high school. I have been surrounded by such great teammates and coaches that give me the confidence. I am sure I will enjoy it a lot more after the season.”

As nice as that accolade was for Pitts, he knows that the success of Northwest is built on team play.

“It helps us a lot,” Pitts said of team play. “Coach gets on us a lot in practice that we have to be together the whole game or we will end up losing. They (Roadrunners) came out hard and played us tough every minute.”

Team play and a couple of three-point daggers by Welty turned the momentum in Northwest’s favor. Welty’s second trey closed the gap to 43-41 with 16:28 left.

“He is a big-time three-maker,” Pitts said. “He always hits them at the right time.”

Two minutes later, Northwest took the lead for good at 46-45 on a three-pointer by freshman Ryan Hawkins.

Metro State managed to stay close over the next six minutes. Northwest started to build separation on a three-point play by Pitts that made it 55-51 with 8 minutes left. Ndow followed with two free throws.

“We started to be more aggressive,” said Ndow, who finished with 19 points. “Obviously, against a press team, you kind of get on your heels a little bit. We have a lot of new guys who are not used to it.

“Coming out in the second half and attacking the press meant we were going to get a lot of open shots. We knocked them down in the second half.”

With 3 minutes left, Ndow hit a three-pointer that gave Northwest a 62-53 lead. And the game was safely in the Bearcats’ hands when Pitts hit a three-pointer with 2:25 remaining that made it 65-55.

“We started slowing it down; we actually started getting a lot of stops and that helped our offense,” said Welty, who finished with 12 points. “This was big. “It is always good to overcome adversity. It was a good win for us.”

The combination of hot shooting from Cameron Williams and a full court, trapping zone defense by Metro State sent Northwest into halftime behind 39-31.

The Bearcats started well, getting three-pointers from senior Ndow and junior Joey Witthus for an early 6-2 lead.

A three-point play by senior Brett Dougherty kept Northwest ahead. The lead blossomed to 13-7. From that point on, Northwest struggled to find an offensive rhythm. Three-pointers rimmed out for the Bearcats. Other times, Northwest turned the ball over.

Metro State took advantaged and scored the next eight points for a 15-13 lead. It looked like momentum was going to switch back to Northwest’s side when Welty dunked to tie the game at 19-19 with 8:30 left in the first half.

Northwest, though, never took off. Later in the first half, Williams drilled a couple of three-pointers. His second one extended the Roadrunners lead to 35-26. Williams scored 15 points in the first half, going six for 10 from the field. He finished with a game-high 21 points.

Ndow provided consistent offense for Northwest, making four of seven shots from the field for 12 points.

The big difference in the first half was Metro State going six for nine from beyond the arc while Northwest was four for 13 and had seven turnovers. The Bearcats turned the ball over only three times in the second half.

“In the second half, we just knew we had to play Bearcat basketball,” Ndow said.

— Northwest Athletics —

Mykhailiuk helps No. 4 Kansas rout South Dakota State

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LAWRENCE, Kan. — It was late in the first half Friday night that Kansas began walking the ball up court, the searing temperature inside Allen Fieldhouse and the Jayhawks’ shortened bench having left them spent.

The slower pace didn’t slow down Svi Mykhailiuk.

The senior sharpshooter poured in a career-high 27 points, Lagerald Vick finished with 22 and the fourth-ranked Jayhawks routed Summit League favorite South Dakota State 98-64 in their first game since topping seventh-ranked Kentucky in the Champions Classic earlier this week.

“We were kind of tired,” admitted Mykhailiuk, who even dealt with cramps at one point — a function of the heat and 30 minutes on the court. “We just walked the court whenever we got a rebound.”

That shouldn’t be a surprise.

The Jayhawks were once again without heralded freshman Billy Preston, who remains sidelined while the school looks into the “financial picture” of his car. That meant a seven-man rotation with walk-on forward Clay Young pressed into service guarding the Jackrabbits’ star, Mike Daum.

None of which mattered a whole lot Friday night.

Udoka Azubuike added 17 points and Malik Newman had 13 for the Jayhawks (3-0), who shot 60 percent from the field and didn’t commit a turnover until midway through the second half.

By that point, the Jackrabbits (3-1) were staring at a 30-point deficit.

Daum led South Dakota State with 21 points and 11 rebounds, most of that coming with the game out of hand. Tevin King contributed 12 points and David Jenkins Jr. scored 10 off the bench.

“We knew we were coming into hostile territory and we knew we had to be the ones to hit them right away,” Daum said, “and we didn’t do that.”

Young was one of the bright spots in the first half for Kansas, keeping the ball moving on offense and handling the 6-foot-9 Daum inside. The Jackrabbits’ leading scorer at more than 21 points per game scored eight on 2-for-8 shooting in the first half, when Young spent a good chunk of time covering him.

“I definitely didn’t expect to go in 4 minutes into the first half of an actual game, so that’s definitely different,” Young said. “It feels good to go out there and play some meaningful minutes.”

Nobody could cover Mykhailiuk, though.

The senior from the Ukraine hit his first three shots — the Jayhawks made eight of their first nine — while getting into an easy rhythm. Even on the seemingly rare occasion that his jumper didn’t splash the net, it often rattled around the rim and dropped through to a thunderous ovation.

“He’s been on an uptick basically ever since I think our first or second exhibition game,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “He played good against Kentucky also. He was aggressive and made some nice plays.”

Several of his baskets came on feeds from Devonte Graham, who didn’t hit a field goal until deep in the second half. He finished with eight points but also had 11 assists and five boards.

“More than anything, they came out and were the more aggressive team,” Jackrabbits coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “They were the more stubborn team. They set the tone early and they put it on us.”

SELF IS SECOND

Self improved to 419-88 at Kansas, breaking a tie with Roy Williams for the second-most wins at the school. Phog Allen has the record with 590 victories. “I knew we had the same number after last game and I swear I hadn’t thought about it one time until you just mentioned it,” Self said.

PRESTON SITS

Preston went through early warmups but remained on the bench after an on-campus incident over the weekend raised questions about his vehicle. Self has declined to discuss the situation other than to say “we’re definitely going to hold him out until we get to the bottom of this.” Self did say he thinks the school’s compliance office will resolve the issue soon.

BIG PICTURE

South Dakota State can recover from its thumping in paradise with a trip to the Cayman Islands Classic up next. But their next trip to the Sunflower State figures to be just as tough: They visit No. 6 Wichita State on Dec. 5.

Kansas cruised despite a shortened lineup again, and help is only a month away. Arizona State transfer Sam Cunliffe becomes eligible for a trip to Nebraska on Dec. 16, and there is a chance five-star prospect Silvio De Sousa from Florida’s IMG Academy enrolls at the semester break.

UP NEXT

South Dakota State plays Wyoming on Monday in George Town, Cayman Islands.

Kansas continues a four-game home stand against Texas Southern on Tuesday night.

— Associated Press —

Kansas State blows out UC Irvine 71-49

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MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Kansas State held opponents to 45 and 51 points on the season so far, and on Friday night, the Wildcats provided the folks at Bramlage Coliseum with more of the same type of basketball at the expense of a young UC Irvine team.

Kamau Stokes had 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting and Kansas State started quickly on its way to a 71-49 victory over UC Irvine on Friday night.

The Wildcats (3-0) used a balanced attack to jump to an 11-0 lead while the Anteaters (2-2) could not get anything to fall with a 0-for-6 start from the field.

Xavier Sneed added 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting, including two 3-point baskets, for the Wildcats.

“We came out with a lot of energy and a lot of fight,” Sneed said. “I think we went on a 10-0 run to start it off. We preached that the first five minutes we will come out and punch those guys in the mouth. That is what we did.”

UC Irvine briefly got the deficit within single digits at 39-30 early in the second half but could not overcome its turnovers and poor shooting. Following the game, head coach Russell Turner was pleased with his team’s fight at resolve in their first true road test of the season.

“They fight hard, play well together and are very committed — and that showed tonight. We didn’t play very well but we fought hard and I think that we’ve got a great chance of continually getting better because we are a young team. We’re also a team that needs to perform in these opportunities. What we hope is to make the NCAA Tournament and play a team like Kansas State and be better in that environment than we were tonight.”

Brad Greene had nine points to lead the Anteaters.

“Brad’s one of our many sophomores,” Turner said. “Brad has had an incredible offseason where he shed 50 pounds. I think that there’s talent on this team in many places, just like Brad, that are going to have good nights against different opponents.”

BIG PICTURE

For the second straight ballgame, the Wildcats held an opponent to under 30 percent shooting. On the offensive end, Kansas State was inconsistent and careless with the basketball at times. The interior was another concern for Kansas State as they were outrebounded 39-37.

UP NEXT

UC Irvine: The Anteaters travel to Tempe, Ariz., to play Arizona State on Sunday.

Kansas State: The Wildcats will host Northern Arizona on Monday.

— Associated Press —

Tigers struggle in first road game, lose at Utah 77-59

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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah didn’t earn any style points during Thursday’s win over Missouri, despite leading by 20 for most of the second half.

David Collette scored 17 and Utah beat Missouri 77-59 in a choppy ballgame in which neither team played particularly well on the offensive end.

The Utes (3-0) got their best win of the season after victories over a pair of SWAC teams to begin the campaign.

“We both had the same thing going on,” Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said. “We had an awful lot of great looks (early). It wasn’t pretty. We were missing open looks. They were missing open looks.

“What really broke the game open was we started making some shots and they continued to struggle a little bit.”

Utah led from start to finish, including 35-19 at halftime after a horrendous offensive performance by the Tigers (2-1). The home team played strong defensively, mixing in some zone, taking away the paint and contesting everything. Missouri started the game 2 for 17 and didn’t hit its first 3-pointer until 2:06 remained in the half. Mizzou shot just 20.0 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes and was 1 for 13 from behind the arc.

The 59 points were a season low.

“It was really weird,” said Utah forward Tyler Rawson, who finished with 12 points. “We were able to keep our defensive intensity and even though shots weren’t going in, coach was pleased with how we were keeping our defensive intensity.

“Sometimes when shots aren’t falling, it affects our other end of the floor. We did a good job sticking to our defense.”

A pair of back-to-back triples from Justin Bibbins and Gabe Bealer gave the Utes a 23-point lead early in the second half and the Tigers never got closer than 18 afterward, and that was on the final basket. Freshman Donnie Tillman added 11 points and 10 rebounds.

“There’s no excuse,” Missouri guard Kassius Robertson said. “We were in the game even though we weren’t shooting the ball. It wasn’t about shooting the ball.

“We needed that. We got kicked in our mouth and we needed it. We didn’t respond well at all. Tonight’s defense was absolutely horrible.”

Mizzou was without star freshman Michael Porter, Jr., who suffered a leg injury in the first game of the season. The preseason All-American was one of the top recruits coming out of high school and is expected to be a high NBA draft pick in June.

Robertson led Missouri with 12 points.

“That’s one of the biggest things we talked about,” Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin said about their 1 for 15 start. “When we’re on offense, move the ball and don’t settle for threes. Because in this place, it seems as if you’re open, all of a sudden you don’t have your legs under you and you miss three straight and then it spirals from there.”

BIG PICTURE

Missouri: The Tigers are just three games into the Martin era and in the infancy of becoming the type of program the new coach wants. They played well defensively, but it was overshadowed by the horrific offensive performance in the first half.

Utah: Things weren’t necessarily pretty for the Utes, but a win over an SEC program is a nice early victory for a team replacing four of their top six scorers from last season. Utah is still finding its identity, but remains undefeated while doing so.

MISSED OUT

Twenty-two scouts were originally scheduled to be in the building, in large part, to watch Porter. At least four dropped out and some members of the media did the same. Porter did not travel and has missed the last two games after being injured two minutes into the season opener.

SLOPPY

The Tigers’ 10 first-half turnovers didn’t help the cause as they were already struggling to put the ball in the basket. Mizzou finished with 14 turnovers compared to Utah’s six.

UP NEXT

Missouri: Hosts Emporia State on Monday.

Utah: Travels to play Ole Miss in the MGM Resorts Main Event tournament in Las Vegas on Monday.

— Associated Press —

Nebraska get hammered at St. John’s 79-56

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NEW YORK (AP) — Shamorie Ponds scored 22 points, Justin Simon had 13 points and 12 rebounds, and St. John’s pulled away early from Nebraska for a 79-56 victory on Thursday night.

Bashir Ahmed scored 15 points and Marcus LoVett added 13 with three assists for St. John’s (3-0), which outrebounded Nebraska 50-39 and outscored them 44-16 in the paint. Ponds had seven rebounds and five assists, and scored 20-plus for the second straight game. Simon added four steals in recording his second straight double-double.

“This was our biggest test to date on this early season, and it was definitely going to pose some huge challenge — particularly on things that we haven’t done well in game situations, which are rebounding and defensive play,” St. John’s coach Chris Mullin said. “We did a good job on both, but I think the most important thing is that tonight was really the first time that I saw our defensive alertness, quickness, and athleticism really showed.”

Marvin Clark II put the Red Storm up for good at 6-5 and it was 37-24 at halftime behind Ponds’ 14 points. Nebraska closed to 40-32 on Glynn Watson Jr.’s 3 pointer early in the second half, but St. John steadily pulled away to a 13-point lead on 3-pointers by LoVett, Ahmed and Clark.

James Palmer Jr. scored 13 points and Isaac Copeland grabbed seven rebounds for the Cornhuskers (2-1).

“The only good thing about basketball tonight is that we get the chance to strap it on again in three days,” Nebraska coach Tim Miles said. “We didn’t rise to the occasion tonight and that’s disappointing, but it’s early in the year we have a lot of improvement ahead of us and I look forward to getting to it as soon as we can.”

BIG PICTURE

Nebraska: The Cornhuskers were unable to slow down the Red Strom backcourt after closing to within eight in the opening minute of the second half. … The Huskers shot just 28 percent from the floor, including 6 of 26 from 3-point range, and committed 16 turnovers.

St. John’s: The Red Storm had their most dominant effort of the season against their first high-major opponent at Carnesecca Arena. St. John’s opened with wins against New Orleans and Central Connecticut State.

“We knew coming into this game it was going to be a big one for our whole team and we wanted to come out with a lot of energy and I feel like we started and finished the game like that,” LoVett said.

UP NEXT

Nebraska hosts North Dakota on Sunday.

St. John’s closes out a four-game homestand on Monday night against Division II Molloy.

— Associated Press —

No. 23 Missouri women rally to beat Wright State with late free throws

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COLUMBIA, Mo. — Sophie Cunningham scored 19 points, including a pair of free throws with 1.4 seconds left, to cap No. 23 Missouri’s fourth-quarter rally and 82-80 victory over Wright State on Thursday night.

Missouri (2-1) used a 14-5 run to cut a nine-point deficit and tied the game 75-75 with 3:50 left. It was tied at 78, and again at 80 when Wright State’s Symone Simmons made a layup with 28 seconds left. But Simmons sent Cunningham to the line before Nia Sumpter’s desperation 3-point shot ended it.

Jordan Frericks had 26 points to lead Missouri. Cierra Porter added 13 points and 15 rebounds for her 15th career double-double.

Chelsea Welch scored a career-high 36 points for Wright State (2-1).

Frericks scored eight points and Porter added five in the fourth quarter for Missouri, which outscored Wright State 23-15 in the final period.

— Associated Press —

MWSU’s Max Oeser named academic all-district

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ST. JOSEPH – Griffon football center Max Oeser was named first team CoSIDA Academic All-District for the second year in a row.

The senior from Springfield, Missouri earned second team All-MIAA honors this season after starting 33 consecutive games at center for the Griffons over the last three seasons. Oeser was a two-time All-MIAA honoree, also earning second team honors in 2016. A four-time member of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll, Oeser received an MIAA Scholar-Athlete award in 2016 and is eligible for the distinction again this year. Oeser, a history major, is now eligible for CoSIDA Academic All-America.

CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors Association) began the distinguished Academic All-America program in 1952, and since then, has honored thousands of deserving student-athletes from numerous sports across all divisions with these elite Academic All-America scholar-athlete honors.

Currently, CoSIDA sponsors Academic All-America programs for men’s soccer, women’s soccer, football, volleyball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball, softball and men’s and women’s track and field/cross country. Many other sports are eligible through the At-Large program.

To be nominated, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) at his/her current institution. Nominated athletes must have participated in at least 50 percent of the team’s games at the position listed on the nomination form (where applicable). No student-athlete is eligible until he/she has completed one full calendar year at his/her current institution and has reached sophomore athletic eligibility.

— MWSU Athletics —

Mizzou/Kansas State to play two game football series in 2022 & 2023

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COLUMBIA, Mo. – Former conference rivals Missouri and Kansas State, who first played on the gridiron in 1909, announced Thursday dates for a future home-and-home football series during the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

“Mizzou-K-State renews a great natural rivalry between two schools that are less than 250 miles apart,” said Mizzou Director of Athletics Jim Sterk. “We are excited about the opportunity to resume this long-time series and believe this will be a great series for our fans.”

Missouri heads to Manhattan September 10, 2022, for its first meeting with the Wildcats at Bill Snyder Family Stadium since 2011, when Kansas State registered a 24-17 victory.

K-State will make the return trip to Columbia on September 16, 2023.

As former members of the Missouri Valley, Big Six, Big Seven, Big Eight and Big 12 Conferences, Missouri and Kansas State have met 97 times on the gridiron with Missouri holding a 60-32-5 series advantage. Mizzou has won five of the last six meetings between the teams, including a 38-28 victory at Columbia in 2010.

Mizzou’s 2022 non-conference schedule still needs two games, in addition to its previously scheduled September 17 game at Middle Tennessee State. In 2023, the Tigers now have three-of-four non-league match-ups set with Middle Tennessee State visiting Columbia on September 9, followed by Kansas State a week later and a September 23 game at Memphis.

— Mizzou Athletics —

Griffons blow late lead and fall in overtime to Jewell 80-74

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ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western men’s basketball team lost their second overtime game of the season Wednesday night as they fell at home to William Jewell 80-74.

The Griffon drop to 1-2 this season, while the Cardinals improve to 3-0.

LATE DROUGHT HAUNTS
Missouri Western looked posed for a closeout run with 2:55 left in regulation. Cole Clearman knocked down a pair of free throws and TJ Evans hit a three-pointer on the next possession for a 5-0 Griffon run and MWUS led 71-67. However, Evans’ three would be the last MWSU points until 1:08 left in overtime. In that stretch, William Jewell went on a 9-0 run.

FREE THROW DIFFERENCE
The Cardinals had a slight edge on free-throw percentage as they shot just 1.3 percent better than the Griffons. The difference between the two teams was William Jewell got to the free-throw line 32 times compared to Missouri Western’s 14 attempts.

EASY EVANS
TJ Evans led the way for Missouri Western with 22 points, 12 of those from behind the three-point arc. Evans was 63.6 percent from the field, 57.1 percent from the three-point line and 80 percent at the free-throw line.

UP NEXT
The Griffons return to the Fieldhouse on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 2 p.m. to host Quincy University.

— MWSU Athletics —

Missouri Western women rally to defeat William Jewell 67-63

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ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western women’s basketball rallied from a 13-point second half deficit to defeat William Jewell 67-63 Wednesday night inside the MWSU Fieldhouse.

The Griffons improve to 3-0 on the season while Jewell drops to 0-1.

FIRST LEAD COMES LATE
Brittany Atkins sunk a three pointer with 1:52 remaining that put the Griffons up for the first time in the game, 60-59. Atkins’ dagger was the second-straight Griffon three in what became an 8-0 run for the Griffons. Missouri Western outscored the Cardinals 13-5 over the final 3:39 after trailing by as many as 13 points in the game.

ATKINS STAYS EFFICIENT
Atkins scored a game-high 25 points and she did it in 29 minutes. Through her first three games, the junior has scored 49 points in 62 minutes. Wednesday night, Atkins shot 46 percent (7-15) from the field and was 9-of-10 from the free throw line. As a team, Missouri Western shot better than 43 percent from the field, but allowed William Jewell to shoot 52 percent.

TURNOVER MACHINE
Through the first three games of the season, Missouri Western has forced 82 opponent turnovers – 24 Wednesday night – while giving the basketball away just 40 times. Missouri Western has 47 steals after 13 against William Jewell. Griffon opponents have just 14 steals all season.

UP NEXT
The Griffons travel to Springfield, Missouri to take on No. 7-ranked Drury on the road. Drury is 2-1 after a 93-82 loss to Southwest Baptist on Tuesday night.

— MWSU Athletics —

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