College – Page 441 – St. Joseph Post Archive

Former Tiger Phil Pitts joins Mizzou football staff as defensive analyst

Posted on January 21, 2015

Former University of Missouri defensive lineman Phil Pitts has joined the Mizzou Football staff as a defensive analyst, as announced today by Head Coach Gary Pinkel.

Pitts, who played in 40 games as a Tiger for Pinkel from 2001-04, comes on board after a stellar high school coaching career at Helias Catholic High School in his hometown of Jefferson City, Mo. Pitts has been head coach at Helias for the past four seasons, and compiled a 40-15 record while winning district championships each year and finishing as Missouri Class 4 state runner up in two of those years (2012 and 2013). Prior to that, Pitts was an assistant coach on the Helias staff for six seasons (2005-10).

“We’re excited to have Phil join our coaching staff,” said Pinkel. “Here’s a guy who came through our program during our building phase, and he demonstrated great leadership in some difficult times, and clearly had a passion for the game of football. He’s done great things at a first-class program like Helias, and we are looking forward to Phil adding his skills to our team,” Pinkel said.

“My time at Helias has truly been amazing and the people I have met, coached, and worked with will forever have a special place in my heart,” said Pitts. “Coaching college football has always been a dream of mine and I am so excited to join Coach Pinkel and his staff at Missouri. Mizzou has always been home to me and I couldn’t be happier to be a Tiger. I have the utmost respect for the entire program and I can’t wait to get started!” he said.

As a defensive analyst for the Tigers, Pitts will focus on assisting new defensive coordinator Barry Odom with a day-to-day evaluation of the Tiger defense, which includes self-scouting, as well as various other duties related to the operation of the football program.

Pitts was credited with 36 tackles from his defensive tackle position in 40 career games for Mizzou. He had an interception return for a touchdown of 49 yards in 2004 at Faurot Field against Arkansas State. He earned his degree in general studies from Mizzou in 2005 and later completed his teacher certification program from MU in 2006. Pitts and his wife, Lindsey, have two daughters, Kayla (3 years old) and Avery (1).

— MU Sports Information —

Missouri State loses big at home to No. 14 Wichita State, 76-53

Posted on January 21, 2015January 21, 2015

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Wichita State’s three-guard tandem was too much for Missouri State to handle.

Ron Baker made five 3-pointers and finished with 15 points to lead the 14th-ranked Shockers to a 76-53 victory Wednesday night.

Tekele Cotton and Fred VanVleet also scored 15 apiece for the Shockers (17-2, 7-0 Missouri Valley Conference), who have won 25 consecutive conference games dating to last year. VanVleet added seven assists against the Bears.

“They’re really good,” Missouri State coach Paul Lusk said. “They have the ability to make a deep, deep run. When you have three guards in college basketball that are so versatile … you’re going to have a chance in every game.”

Darius Carter scored 14 for Wichita State, which shot 11 of 21 on 3-pointers and outrebounded Missouri State 40-24.

Baker was 5 of 7 from behind the arc. Cotton held the Bears’ best shooter, Austin Ruder, to six points on 3-of-9 shooting.

“Tekele is a strong, athletic kid and he’s in great shape,” Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said. “He was trying to be in Ruder’s hip pocket all night long.”

Chris Kendrix and Dorrian Williams each had 10 points for Missouri State (8-11, 2-5), which has lost five straight.

Carter, who had a career-high 25 points in a win over Southern Illinois last week, scored the first eight points of the second half for Wichita State. Baker made consecutive 3s to fuel a 20-8 run as Wichita State built a 67-47 lead before Marshall subbed out his starters.

The teams traded the lead 10 times within the first 10 minutes until Wichita State used an 8-0 run to gain separation. The Shockers’ lead grew to 34-24 on a 3-pointer by Cotton, but Missouri State finished the half on a 9-2 surge and trailed 39-33 at halftime despite shooting 52 percent from the field (13 of 25).

Cotton scored nine of the Shockers’ final 11 points of the half.

Missouri State opened the game by making six of its first nine shots.

“I thought their team did a good job the whole first half,” Marshall said. “Paul had his guys playing hard … and harder than us, at times.”

Missouri State was held to 20 points in the second half and shot just 28 percent from the field (7 of 25), as the Shockers clamped down defensively.

“I thought their half-court defense was probably better than last year, and they had a pretty high bar to start with,” Ruder said. “They’re probably more aggressive on the defensive end this year.”

Wichita State has held 14 of its first 19 opponents to 60 points or fewer.

“We were just pushing them out on the court and making their first entry tough,” Baker said. “Anytime they start their offense farther away from the basket is good for us.”

—

TIP-INS

Wichita State: The Shockers’ 44-9 road record since 2010-2011 is the best in the nation. Nine teams have 40 or more road wins in the past five years.

Missouri State: The Bears have lost nine consecutive games to Wichita State. Their last win over the Shockers was on Feb. 1, 2011, a victory that gave Missouri State the Missouri Valley regular-season title.

COURTSIDE

Coaches from both teams wore sneakers as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer initiative. … Baker chipped a tooth within the first 5 minutes while diving for a rebound. He tossed the chipped piece off the court and stayed in the game.

UP NEXT

Wichita State hosts Drake on Sunday.

Missouri State visits Bradley on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

Nebraska hires Keith Williams as wide receivers coach

Posted on January 21, 2015January 21, 2015

Keith Williams has been hired as an assistant coach at the University of Nebraska, completing Coach Mike Riley’s first full-time coaching staff with the Cornhuskers.

Williams will coach the Nebraska wide receivers and joins the Husker program from Tulane University, where he has spent the previous three seasons.

“Keith Williams is a tremendous addition to our Nebraska staff, and brings a great background in coaching wide receivers,” Riley said. “With Keith’s addition, I’m excited about the completion of our full-time staff. It is a mix of quality individuals who bring great skills as teachers, coaches, mentors and recruiters.”

Williams, who had eight former receivers in the National Football League in 2014, is eager to join Riley’s staff at Nebraska.

“I am really excited to join Coach Riley’s staff and thankful for the opportunity he has given me at Nebraska,” Williams said. “I have had a great respect for Coach Riley’s career from afar, and I’m ecstatic to be here at Nebraska and be a part of this program. This is one of those places that if you pay any attention to college football, you know about Nebraska. I have seen that ‘N’ my whole life.”

In his role on the Tulane staff, Williams coached the Green Wave wide receivers the past three seasons, and was also the out-of-state recruiting coordinator in 2014. This past season, the top target in the Green Wave passing game was true freshman Teddy Veal, who led Tulane with 40 receptions in his first season under Williams’ direction.

Williams was instrumental in the success of Tulane wideout Ryan Grant who completed his career in 2013. Grant finished his career with 196 receptions for 2,769 yards. Grant topped 75 receptions in each of his final two seasons, and produced a pair of 1,000-yard receiving campaigns. Grant spent the 2014 season with the Washington Redskins.

In 2013, Williams’ receivers combined for nearly 1,900 receiving yards and 18 receiving touchdowns, helping the Green Wave to a 7-6 record and trip to the New Orleans Bowl.

Before his time at Tulane, Williams served as the receivers coach at Fresno State for three seasons. While with the Bulldogs, Williams coached three All-Western Athletic Conference receivers and helped Fresno State to two bowl appearances.

Williams also has NFL experience, spending the 2008 season with the San Diego Chargers in a minority internship coaching position. He was also an assistant coach at San Jose City College, San Jose State and Solano (Calif.) College.

— NU Sports Information —

K-State’s upset bid comes up short at No. 9 Iowa State

Posted on January 20, 2015

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Monte Morris hit a floater with 37 seconds left and No. 9 Iowa State held off Kansas State 77-71 on Tuesday night, moving into a tie for first place in the Big 12.

Jameel McKay had 15 points off the bench for the Cyclones (14-3, 4-1), who joined No. 11 Kansas atop the league. Iowa State beat Kansas in Ames 86-81 on Saturday.

Kansas State turned it over at mid-court after Morris put the Cyclones ahead 73-69. That miscue allowed Iowa State to seal the game at the line.

Nino Williams had a season-high 22 points for Kansas State (11-8, 4-2), whose winning streak was snapped at four games.

Kansas State made a surprising early run through the Big 12 by playing great defense. The Wildcats held their last four opponents to just 57 points on 38.3 percent shooting per game.

K-State had yet to see an offense as potent as Iowa State, the Big 12’s leader at 80.3 points per game entering play.

But the Wildcats pushed the Cyclones for over 39 minutes with some offense of their own.

Williams turned a steal into a layup to help K-State jump ahead 54-49, as the Wildcats hit 6 of their first 10 shots to open the second half.

Iowa State finally retook the lead, 71-69, with 2:48 left on a pair of Naz Long free throws following a crucial block by Abdel Nader. McKay then grabbed a loose ball and wisely called timeout with 1:09 left and the Cyclones still up by two.

Georges Niang had 14 points and Morris and Nader each had 11 for Iowa State.

Kansas State was 15 of 16 from the free throw line, and Marcus Foster scored 16 points. But the Wildcats went four minutes without scoring down the stretch, and they allowed their most points since Purdue scored 79 on them on Nov. 24.

TIP-INS

Iowa State: The Cyclones are 4-1 in the Big 12 for the first time since 1999-2000. They won the Big 12 regular season title that season. Iowa State has also won 17 straight at home.

Kansas State: Williams scored 10 points in the opening 7:08. The Wildcats finished the first half on a 9-3 run to close to within 39-38.

UP NEXT

Iowa State visits Texas Tech on Saturday.

Kansas State hosts Oklahoma State on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

Former Northwest Missouri State RB James Franklin dies

Posted on January 20, 2015

Former Northwest Missouri State running back James Franklin has died according to the Olathe Police Department.

A spokesman for the department said officers found Franklin, 23, dead after responding to a call Monday morning at The Edge apartment complex at 12200 S. Strang Line Rd. in Olathe. He also says that Franklin’s death “looks to be a suicide.”

Franklin stared at Olathe North high school and led them to undefeated season and the Kansas Class 6A state championship in 2009, when the Eagles defeated Wichita Heights.

He ran for 2,803 yards and 31 touchdowns as a senior and broke Darren Sproles’ single-season rushing record, earning the Simone Award as the Kansas City area’s top player.

Franklin signed with the University of Nebraska-Omaha out of high school and rushed for 766 yards and 10 touchdown in 11 games as a freshman.

The Mavericks then dismantled their football program and Franklin transferred to Northwest Missouri State.

He led the Bearcats with 1,247 yards and 25 touchdowns as a sophomore and also led Northwest as a junior with 733 yards and 12 touchdowns, but was ruled academically ineligible before his senior season in 2013.

Husker hang on to defeat Minnesota

Posted on January 20, 2015January 20, 2015

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The first thing Tim Miles told reporters after his Nebraska team held off Minnesota surely resonated with fans at Pinnacle Bank Arena and folks watching at home.

“Man, I’m glad that clock ran out,” the coach said following a 52-49 victory Tuesday night.

So were connoisseurs of fine basketball. Except for a heart-pounding final 25 seconds that seemed to last an eternity to Miles, this one was hard on the eyes. There were 33 field goals and 31 turnovers, and the teams combined to miss nearly half their free throws.

“Ugly, but it’s a win,” the Huskers’ Terran Petteway said. “A win is a win. Some pretty good things, some bad things in this game. We’ll take it. We’ve got to. Now is the time we have to make our run.”

Shavon Shields scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half and Nebraska survived an eight-minute field-goal drought to end the game. The Cornhuskers (11-7, 3-3 Big Ten) made 11 of their last 12 free throws after starting 3 for 9 from the line and hung on as Minnesota missed what would have been three straight game-tying 3-pointers before the final buzzer.

Minnesota (12-8, 1-6) has lost six of its last seven games. Five of the Gophers’ six conference losses have been by five points or less.

“We’ve lost our fair share of close ones,” Gophers coach Richard Pitino said. “That’s the best we’ve executed. I thought we got open looks. The reality of the situation is when you miss 10 free throws on the road like that in a one- or two-possession games, you’re not going to win.”

Petteway added 11 points for the Huskers in a slog that had 43 fouls called, 25 in the second half.

Andre Hollins had 21 points for the Gophers, who shot a season-low 30.8 percent from the field and made only 9 of 19 free throws. Joey King added 11 points.

Shields’ jumper with 8:01 left was the final field goal for the Huskers, who shot 40.5 percent.

Hollins’ layup and Carlos Morris’ 3-pointer from the corner pulled the Gophers’ within 50-49, but Benny Parker was fouled and made the free throws to make it a three-point game with 25 seconds left.

Hollins, Morris and DeAndre Mathieu each were off with their 3-point tries at the end.

“The initial one Hollins got off I thought was a decent look, and that one worried me. It looked like it had a good line,” Miles said. “The ones after that didn’t have the arc or the line. But when you’re in a scramble situation, and you’re switching on defense and there are long rebounds and they’re desperate… It felt like we were running around there for 18 seconds.”

Minnesota had an eight-minute field-goal drought and shot just 28.6 percent in the second half yet still had a chance to the end.

Pitino praised Nebraska’s defensive effort, which kept the Gophers from getting good looks inside.

“We’re not going to get any sympathy,” Pitino said. “Miles is a good friend of mine. That’s the way it works. We’ll break through. We’ve still got a ways to go here.”

—

TIP-INS

Minnesota: The Gophers came into the game averaging a Big Ten-leading 11.1 steals and finished with nine. … The Gophers have lost three straight to Nebraska.

Nebraska: Terran Petteway reached 1,000 points in his career with an early 3-point basket. The game also marked Petteway’s 50th consecutive start, most on the team besides Shields’ 68 in a row. … The struggling Tai Webster made his best play of the year when he juked Joey King on his way to the hoop for a layup that gave Nebraska a 15-7 lead.

UP NEXT

Minnesota hosts Illinois on Saturday.

Nebraska hosts Michigan State on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

No. 11 Jayhawks blow big first-half lead, holds off No. 19 Oklahoma

Posted on January 19, 2015

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kelly Oubre Jr. began the season on the bench. Cliff Alexander is still there at the start games. Both highly touted Kansas freshmen have gone through their share of growing pains.

They seemed to grow up quite a bit Monday night.

Oubre poured in 19 points, converting two driving layups down the stretch, and Alexander had 13 points and 13 rebounds to help the No. 11 Jayhawks hold off No. 19 Oklahoma, 85-78.

“They played a big part in tonight’s win,” said Perry Ellis, who added 16 points for Kansas.

The Jayhawks (15-3, 4-1 Big 12) led by 20 during a hot start, then watched their entire lead evaporate early in the second half. Oklahoma (12-6, 3-3) went on a 21-3 run out of the locker room to make it a game, only to come up short for the 14th straight time at Allen Fieldhouse.

“We played maybe as well as we can play in the first half,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “In the second half, we weren’t as good — we missed some shots — but they were great.”

Buddy Hield had 26 points to lead the Sooners, who still haven’t won in Lawrence since Billy Tubbs was their coach. Isaiah Cousins added 18 points, Ryan Spangler had 13 points and 10 boards, and Jordan Woodward finished with 10 points.

“I’m proud of the guys for fighting back,” Hield said. “We should have done a better job of executing in the first half, but Kansas did a great job of making shots.”

Indeed, a rather tense finish was surprising given the lopsided start.

Kansas hit its first eight 3-pointers, one shy of the school record, and a couple almost defied logic. Brannen Greene missed a long jumper but got the ball back a foot beyond the arc and promptly knocked down the 3. Moments later, Frank Mason’s 3-point try hit off the back iron, shot about six feet straight into the air and dropped right through the net.

By the time Devonte’ Graham missed with 7:05 left to the break, the Jayhawks led 39-19, and still had a comfortable 51-32 lead when the teams headed to their locker rooms.

“We knew we wouldn’t shoot like that in the second half,” Greene said.

Oklahoma stormed back to the floor and went on a 21-3 run to open the half, taking advantage of a 1-for-12 start by the Jayhawks to close to 54-50 with 13:01 to go. Hield was the trigger for the run, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers along with dishing a couple assists.

“In the second half we turned it around a little bit, had a little bit more fight,” Sooners coach Lon Kruger said. “We had a little bit of a chance there.”

The Sooners kept clawing back, just as Utah did in rallying from a 21-point hole against Kansas earlier this season. And when Hield made the first of two foul shots with 10 minute to go, the visitors had a 59-58 lead — their first of the game.

Back and forth they went from there, two of the teams picked to battle for the Big 12 title, the intensity ratcheting up so high that Self slammed the electronic marquee at the scorer’s table so hard that he knocked out an entire bank of lights.

The Sooners were still leading 71-69 with 3:45 left when Greene knocked down his third 3 of the game. TaShawn Thomas turned the ball over at the other end, his fifth of the game, and Mason hit a 15-footer to give Kansas a bit of a cushion with 2 1/2 minutes left.

Cousins hit a 3 to keep the Sooners alive, but Alexander punctuated his breakout performance with a dunk and Oubre glided in for a layup to make it 79-74 with a minute to go.

This time, the Jayhawks managed to hold their lead to the finish.

“It was a great, great basketball game,” Self said, “and an unbelievable win.”

TRAINER’S TABLE

Kansas F Jamari Traylor is dealing with a hip flexor, Self said. The starter was held without a point or rebound in 10 minutes, though he did commit two fouls.

STAT WATCH

Oklahoma had the Big 12’s best 3-point field-goal percentage, but the Jayhawks were 10 of 19 from the arc. The Sooners also led the league in defensive rebounds but were out-boarded, 39-36.

TIP-INS

Oklahoma was facing its eighth Top 25 opponent, including five of its first six in Big 12 play. … Hield has scored at least 20 points in five of his first six league games.

Kansas improved to 64-8 under Self in games following a loss. … Mason finished with 10 points, his 15th straight game in double figures scoring.

UP NEXT

Oklahoma visits No. 21 Baylor on Saturday.

Kansas heads to No. 17 Texas on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

Griffons rally from 18-point deficit to win at Southwest Baptist

Posted on January 17, 2015

BOLIVAR, Mo. – Aaron Emmanuel’s layup with six seconds remaining was the exclamation point on an impressive second half comeback that gave the Missouri Western men’s basketball team a 65-64 win at Southwest Baptist. The bucket gave the Griffons their first lead of the game and wiped out a Southwest Baptist lead that had grown to as many as 18 points.

Emmanuel’s layup came on the heels of an unconventional Southwest Baptist turnover with 14 seconds remaining. Coming out of a timeout, Southwest Baptist was set to inbound the ball near the Griffon bench but the ball went off of Griffon head coach Brett Weiberg while he was in his coaching box, giving Missouri Western possession of the ball with 11 seconds left.

With 19:02 left in the game, SBU had built an 18-point lead. Over the next 10 minutes, the Griffons used a 25-9 run to pull within two. After some back and forth between the two that never saw the SBU lead stretch farther than seven over the final nine minutes, a Cole Clearman three with 1:11 left pulled the Griffons within one and setup Emmanuel’s layup.

Cortrez Colbert and Kevin Thomas each scored 11 for the Griffons with Dareon Jones adding 10. Defensively, the Griffons held SBU to just eight field goals in the second half on 20 attempts. The win improved Missouri Western to 8-8 overall and 4-5 in the MIAA. The win also gave the Griffons their first win in Bolivar since 2003, snapping a nine-game losing streak. They’ll have a week off before hosting Missouri Southern on Jan. 24.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Bearcats lose second straight as they fall at Central Missouri

Posted on January 17, 2015January 17, 2015

WARRENSBURG, Mo. - In a game that rapidly turned into a defensive battle in the second half, Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team lost one key component to combat that style of play.

Freshman point guard Justin Pitts hurt his right ankle with about 17 minutes left in the game. The Bearcats lost a player who could break down a defense with his quickness and dribble and keep the defense honest with a three-pointer.

Northwest continued to battle and even took several leads throughout the remainder of the game, but couldn’t sustain it, falling 66-61 to Central Missouri Saturday afternoon at the Multipurpose Building.

“I still think we had a chance to win the game regardless,” Northwest coach Ben McCollum said. “If we just didn’t make so many mental errors, letting kids out of our ball screen coverage. We had a turnover that led to a layup.

“Just so many mistakes you can’t have on the road, especially without Justin. We didn’t have him, but that is no excuse to lose.”

The loss dropped the Bearcats to 13-4 overall and 6-3 in the MIAA. Central Missouri improved to 15-3 and 6-3.

The outcome makes it clear that it will be a dogfight for first place in MIAA. At the start of action Saturday, eight teams in the MIAA had two or three losses in conference.

A dogfight is the best way to describe Saturday’s game between Northwest and Central Missouri.

When Pitts left the game, Northwest trailed 41-38. Pitts, who finished with 16 points, re-entered the game, but the ankle injury was too painful for him to stay in.

“He was rolling,” McCollum said of Pitts. “They had no answer for him.”

Still, the Bearcats fought back and took a 44-43 lead on two free throws by Conner Crooker with 11:52 left.

The Bearcats clung to a slim lead for the next several minutes until Central Missouri went back in front 50-48. Northwest went right back in front 51-50 on a three-pointer by Zach Schneider.

Northwest’s last lead was 55-54 on two free throws by Grant Cozad. Central Missouri senior Rakeem Dickerson took over. A driving basket gave the Mules a 56-55 lead. TJ White followed with a basket and then Dickerson put the game away with a steal and a layup that gave Central Missouri a 60-55 lead.

The first half was close throughout. Central’s biggest lead came early at 9-4. Northwest’s biggest advantage came late at 33-28 and that allowed the Bearcats to take a slim 36-35 lead into halftime.

The play of Pitts and Crooker was important for the Bearcats. They combined to score 24 points.

Coming up big for Central Missouri was forward Brennen Hughes, who scored11 points in the first half on 5 of 6 shooting from the field.

— David Boyce, Northwest Athletics —

Missouri Western women continue road woes with loss at SBU

Posted on January 17, 2015January 17, 2015

BOLIVAR, Mo. – A Kyrsten Crawford three-point attempt bounced off the back of the rim, up and off the front of the rim as time expired in a 65-62 loss at Southwest Baptist for the Missouri Western women’s basketball team. It was the team’s fifth loss of seven points or less and dropped the team to 7-8 overall and 2-7 in the MIAA. MWSU has now lost 15 consecutive games.

Once again the Griffons had their chances, tying the game twice in the final 2:30 after trailing for the entire game. Two free throws from Alex Saxen with 16 seconds left brought MWSU with in one at 63-62 but two free throws on the other end from Megan Rosenbohm pushed the SBU lead to three with five seconds to go. Crawford’s open three looked too strong but hit the back of the rim as the buzzer sounded then bounced up and almost fell through with zeros on the clock.

Southwest Baptist took advantage of 84 percent free throw shooting to stay ahead of the Griffons. SBU was a perfect 10-10 in the first half, including six straight to open the game with a 6-0 lead. The Griffons were led by LaQuinta Jefferson’s 17 points, followed by 16 from Miliakere Koyamainavure, whose eight rebounds also led the team.

Missouri Western shot 43 percent to 37.5 for Southwest Baptist and won the rebound battle 35-27. Sixteen total turnovers, including 12 in the first half hurt the Griffons, along with going just 2-12 (16.7%) from three-point range.

The team is off until Saturday when the Griffons host Missouri Southern at the MWSU Fieldhouse.

— MWSU Sports Information —