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Category: College

K-State comes up short at home against No. 17 West Virginia

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Coach Weber courtesy photo
Coach Weber courtesy photo

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — West Virginia coach Bob Huggins and Kansas State counterpart Bruce Weber had vastly differing opinions of the No. 17 Mountaineers’ rough-and-tumble, 65-59 victory Tuesday night.

“I thought it was beautiful,” Huggins said. “I’ve never had an ugly win, ever.”

If ever there was one, though, this might have been it: The Wildcats turned the ball over 25 times, the Mountaineers 20, and the teams combined for 54 fouls in a herky-jerky affair.

All of which led Weber to declare the game, “Awful.”

“It’s just bad basketball, but they’re what, 17-3? I’d be happy too,” Weber said with a shake of his head. “It’s just their style. They make you play basketball.”

Tarik Phillip matched a career-best with 12 points for the Mountaineers (5-2 Big 12). Juwan Staten added 11 points, their leading scorer limited all night by foul problems.

The Wildcats played most of the way without Nino Williams, who had been averaging 21 points his last two games. The senior forward appeared to be dealing with a left knee injury, spending time on a stationary bike and then wrapping it in ice during the second half.

“He tweaked his knee,” Weber said. “Hopefully it’s not going to be a season-ending thing.”

Marcus Foster led the Wildcats (12-9, 5-3) with 15 points, but also committed six turnovers. Wesley Iwundu added 12 points, yet missed a crucial free throw in the closing minutes.

In fact, the foul line proved to be nearly as good defensively as the Mountaineers. Kansas State was just 20 of 35 from the stripe, including a 2-for-7 effort from Jevon Thomas.

“I’ve never been in a game like that,” Foster said. “It was like a fight.”

Considering the teams are two of the scrappiest in the Big 12, it was hardly a surprise that the game was played at a slogging pace that prevented either from gaining any momentum.

The teams combined for 27 turnovers in the first half alone, Kansas State getting whistled for a 5-second call on four occasions. They also combined for 25 fouls and shot 26 free throws.

Those are rugged numbers for a game, let alone a half — err, unless you’re Huggins.

“That’s what we do,” West Virginia guard Jevon Carter said. “We pick teams up full court, try to turn them over, make them uncomfortable. That’s just what we do.”

West Virginia led 49-41 midway through the second half, finally putting together a couple of solid offensive possessions. Phillip was the surprising catalyst, following up a three-point play with another bucket with 8:31 remaining to keep Kansas State at bay.

As the Mountaineers got into foul trouble — Jonathan Holton and Jaysean Paige had each picked up their fourth by that point — the Wildcats tried to make one last run.

Foster’s first free throw with 2:04 left made it 55-50, but the All-Big 12 guard missed the second of them. Another missed opportunity by Kansas State in a night full of them.

The Mountaineers were still leading 63-57 after Foster’s 3-pointer with 24 seconds left, but Staten made the first of two free throws at the other end to put the game away.

“When you play K-State, they’re probably the most similar team of anybody in the conference to us as far as getting all the grinding baskets and 50-50 balls,” Mountaineers forward Devin Williams said. “We knew what to expect coming into today.”

GOING DEEP

The Mountaineers used 12 players in the game, far more than a normal team. Part of it was foul trouble, but part of it was keeping fresh bodies on the floor to keep up their frenetic pace. “It wears on you,” Huggins said, “just wears on you. That’s the idea.”

MORE TURNOVERS

The Wildcats may have had 25 turnovers, but the Mountaineers weren’t a whole lot better. They committed 20 of them, and Kansas State actually had a 12-11 edge in points off turnovers.

TIP-INS

West Virginia: Won at Bramlage Coliseum for the first time in three tries under Bob Huggins, who coached the Wildcats in 2006-07. … The Mountaineers are 10-1 away from Morgantown.

Kansas State: Coach Bruce Weber was called for a technical foul for yelling at the officials late in the first half. … The Wildcats had won six straight against ranked teams at home.

UP NEXT

West Virginia returns home to face Texas Tech on Saturday.

Kansas State visits ninth-ranked Kansas on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

MWSU’s baseball opener at Arkansas Tech moved up to Friday

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riggertMissouriWesternThe Missouri Western baseball team was schedule to begin its 2015 season on Sunday, but the weather has forced their series at No. 17 Arkansas Tech to be moved up a couple days.

The Griffons and Wonder Boys will begin their four-game series with a doubleheader on Friday at 1:00 PM, before finishing the series with a doubleheader on Saturday at Noon.

Missouri Western is coming off a 32-20, 24-14 finish in 2014 that saw the team finish fourth in the MIAA and advance to the championship series of the MIAA Postseason Tournament.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Nebraska struggles on the road at Michigan

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NebraskariggertANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — The injury bug couldn’t stop Michigan, so what chance did Nebraska have?

Zak Irvin had 14 points and 12 rebounds and the shorthanded Wolverines rode a strong second-half start to a 58-44 victory over the Cornhuskers on Tuesday.

Michigan, which lost leading scorer Caris Levert to season-ending foot surgery last week, played without guard Derrick Walton Jr. and forward Mark Donnal.

Walton, who averages 10.7 points and made a 3-pointer to force overtime in Saturday’s loss to Big Ten leader Wisconsin, was removed from the lineup shortly before the game because of a sore toe. Donnal was out with an illness.

Coach John Beilein still had enough on his bench.

“Guys just stepped up all over the place,” he said after giving scout-team center Max Bielfeldt a season-high 26 minutes.

The Wolverines (13-8, 6-3 Big Ten) led 23-18 at intermission and blew the game open after starting the second on a 13-2 run. Irvin closed the spurt with a 3-pointer and the Cornhuskers never got closer than eight points the rest of the night.

Aubrey Dawkins scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting and Bielfeldt added 12 points and nine boards for Michigan. The Wolverines shot 49 percent and were perfect (8 of 8) from the line.

Irvin said Michigan was itching to get back on the court after the tough loss to Wisconsin.

“We had a little bit of a chip on our shoulders because of the Wisconsin game and we took it out on Nebraska,” he said.

Shavon Shields had 14 points to lead Nebraska (12-8, 4-4), which fell to 0-5 against the Wolverines since joining the conference before the 2011-12 season. The Huskers were outrebounded 34-26.

The Cornhuskers shot an abysmal 31 percent (15 of 49) from the floor and seemed to miss no matter where they found open looks. They were even worse in the first half, when they made just seven of their 27 tries.

“I just thought they out-competed us and out-executed us,” Huskers coach Tim Miles said. “We just didn’t show enough heart.”

Beilein, who started three freshmen Tuesday night, said the latest injury and illness news has been frustrating.

“I have not been a pleasant guy to be around the last couple of days,” he said. “All you can do is work your way through it.”

—

TIP-INS

Nebraska: Guard Terran Petteway struggled from the field and finished with just seven points on 1 of 11 shooting. He entered the game averaging 19.6, second-best in the Big Ten. Petteway didn’t crack the score sheet until he made a 3-pointer five minutes into the second half.

Michigan: Guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman has seen his playing time increase since the Wolverines lost Levert and the freshman continued to earn his keep. He had nine points Tuesday, including a pair of layups during the decisive run.

“He’s just growing, little by little,” Beilein said. “He has the speed we need right now.”

UP NEXT

Nebraska visits Minnesota on Saturday.

The Wolverines travel to in-state rival Michigan State for a Sunday matinee.

— Associated Press —

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

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

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

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

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

— MWSU Sports Information —

Kuligowski to remain as Mizzou’s defensive line coach

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

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

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

KU’s Alexander named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week

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

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

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

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

— KU Sports Information —

Kansas State’s Williams earns Big 12 Honors

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riggertKStateK-State senior Nino Williams has earned Phillips 66 Co-Big 12 Player of the Week honors for the second time this season after posting back-to-back 20-point games in helping K-State to a split of two games last week.

Williams shared the weekly honor with Baylor’s Rico Gathers.

Williams averaged 21.0 points on 69.2 percent shooting ( 18-of-26 ) with 7.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals in 31.5 minutes per game in helping he Wildcats to a split of games with Iowa State and Oklahoma State.

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

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

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

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

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

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

— MWSU Sports Information —

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

— BC Sports Information —

Missouri Western women even record with home win over Southern

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

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

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

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

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

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

— MWSU Sports Information —

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