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Category: College

Jayhawks’ Lawson named to Robertson Trophy mid-season list

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ST. LOUIS – Kansas redshirt junior Dedric Lawson has been named one of 20 student-athletes to the midseason Oscar Robertson Trophy list the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) announced Friday.

Lawson, the 2018-19 Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, is looking to become the second Kansas player to win the Oscar Robertson Trophy as Frank Mason III was the 2017 recipient.

Entering the Dec. 22 game at Arizona State, Lawson has a Big 12-leading seven double-doubles for the season, including one in each of his last three games for the No. 1 Jayhawks. The Memphis forward has scored 20 or more points in six of his last seven games. Lawson leads the Big 12 in rebounding at 11.1 boards per game and is second in scoring with a 19.7 points-per-game average. Lawson is the only player in the league averaging a double-double. A two-time Big 12 Player of the Week (11/12, 11/26) and two-time league newcomer of the week (12/3, 12/17), Lawson is tied for second on the KU team with 24 assists.

Balloting for the USBWA’s All-America Team, All-District Teams and the association’s individual awards will take place in March. The Oscar Robertson Trophy will be presented at a news conference on Friday, April 5, at the Final Four in Minneapolis.

2018-19 Midseason Oscar Robertson Trophy List
Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Virginia Tech
R.J. Barrett, Duke
Bol Bol, Oregon
Ignas Brazdeikis, Michigan
Jordan Caroline, Nevada
Brandon Clarke, Gonzaga
Jarrett Culver, Texas Tech
Mike Daum, South Dakota State
Carson Edwards, Purdue
Rui Hachimura, Gonzaga
Ethan Happ, Wisconsin
Markus Howard, Marquette
De’Andre Hunter, Virginia
Dedric Lawson, Kansas
Caleb Martin, Nevada
C.J. Massinburg, Buffalo
Luke Maye, North Carolina
Shamorie Ponds, St. John’s
Grant Williams, Tennessee
Zion Williamson, Duke

No. 1 Kansas (10-0) will play at No. 18/19 Arizona State (8-2) on Saturday, Dec. 22, at 8 p.m.

— KU Athletics —

MWSU’s Roenfeldt earns weekly MIAA women’s basketball honor

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Missouri Western women’s basketball junior guard Katrina Roenfeldt was named MIAA Women’s Basketball Co-Athlete of the Week following a career night in the MWSU Fieldhouse.

The Dodge City, Kansas native scored a career-high 29 points in Missouri Western’s win over Newman. Roenfeldt shot 50 percent from the field and was 11-for-12 from the free throw line. She also went 4-of-9 from three point range and added eight rebounds.

Roenfeldt leads the team and ranks sixth in the MIAA, averaging 15.7 points per game after missing most of last season with an injury. She also leads the team and ranks second in the MIAA with 29 made three-point field goals. She’s also second on the team, averaging 5.3 rebounds per game and her four blocked shots are tied for the second most on the team. Roenfeldt is tied for second on the team, averaging 1.7 assists per game.

— MWSU Athletics —

Carroll, Hightower lead Griffons to 89-81 win over Rockhurst

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ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western men’s basketball team (6-6) defeated Rockhurst (6-4) 89-81 on Wednesday night to improve to .500. This season marks the first time since 2015 that the Griffons have had a .500 or better winning percentage through at least 10 games.

NOTABLES

  • The Griffons used a 16-5 run to close out the first half. The Hawks were held to just one made field goal over the last seven minutes.
  • Missouri Western held a 40-35 lead going into halftime.
  • Tyrell Carroll paced the Griffons in the first half with 10 points and five assists.
  • The Hawks used a three pointer to take their first lead of the second half at 12:06.
  • Sam Siganos set up Lavon Hightower for the one-handed dunk to stretch the Griffon lead back to seven points with 7:21 to play.
  • The Griffons went 15 for 18 from the free-throw line over the final five minutes to seal the non-conference victory.
  • Missouri Western’s 42 percent three-point percentage is its best of the season.
  • The Griffons also shot 48 percent from the field in the win, their second-best mark of the season.
  • The Griffons shot 83 percent from the free-throw line with 25 made attempts.

LEADERS

  • Carroll set a new career high with 23 points. Carroll’s seven assists also ties a career high.
  • Hightower set a career high with 13 rebounds. Hightower also scored 18 points and played all 40 minutes.
  • Siganos scored 12 points on 4-5 shooting from three.

UP NEXT

  • Missouri Western will host Illinois Springfield (7-3) in its final non-conference game of the season on Dec. 30.
  • The Prairie Stars have won five-straight games after their 76-65 win over Lindenwood-Belleville on Wednesday.

— MWSU Athletics —

Missouri Western women defeat Newman 68-58

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ST. JOSEPH – Missouri Western Women’s Basketball (5-5) earned a non-conference 68-58 win against Newman (7-5) on Wednesday. The win puts the Griffons at .500 heading into the holiday break.

NOTABLES

  • The Griffons outscored Newman 20-9 in the second quarter to take the lead into halftime
  • Missouri Western and Newman combined to shoot 23 percent from the field in the period
  • Katrina Roenfeldt’s three pointer at the buzzer sent the Griffons into the locker room with an eight point lead at the halftime break
  • Brittany Atkins’ jumper with 9:42 left gave the Griffons their largest lead of the game at 17 points
  • Newman used a 10-2 run to cut the lead to single digits with six minutes to play
  • KeShara Scott converted the and-one on the following possession, stretching the lead back to 12 with five minutes remaining
  • The Jets continued to chip away at the Griffon lead, trailing by just three points with one minute to play
  • The Griffons used solid free-throw shooting to seal the victory, making seven of their eight free throws in the final minute
  • Missouri Western shot 82 percent from the free-throw line in the game, its best mark of the season
  • The game was the first for Brittany Atkins since Jan. 15, 2018

LEADERS

  • Katrina Roenfeldt scored a career-high 29 points in the win, including 11 made free throws
  • Jessica Davies led the team with nine rebounds to go with her 11 points
  • KeShara Scott filled the stat sheet with eight points, eight boards, three steals, and three assists

UP NEXT

  • Missouri Western will host Adams State (1-7) in the final non-conference game of the season on Dec. 30.
  • The Grizzlies lost to Rockhurst 54-49 on Wednesday.

— MWSU Athletics —

Northwest women overcome slow start to defeat Quincy

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The Northwest Missouri State University women’s basketball team fell behind 15-2 to start the game and ended the first quarter trailing Quincy University, 19-9.

They were able to come back strong in the second quarter and won the quarter 21-5 to take a 30-24 lead at halftime on a buzzer beater layup by Jaelyn Haggard. The Bearcats controlled the second half and coasted to a nine-point victory, 64-55.

Northwest was led in scoring by Mallory McConkey, who had a career high 19. Next was Kylie Coleman with 14 points in just her second game back from injury. Haggard was also in double figures with 11 points. Kaylani Maiava had six rebounds which led the Bearcats. Northwest went 11-26 on three pointers and 13-17 from the free throw line.

Maddie Spagnola had 19 points to lead Quincy, followed by Michaela Gronewold with 14. Gronewold also led the Hawks in rebounds with 7. The Hawks shot 43.9 percent from the field but were plagued by turnovers, finishing with 22 for the game.

Northwest moves to 4-7 on the year and will play next at Northeastern State on Thursday, Jan. 3.

— Northwest Athletics —

K-State uses big second-half run to beat Southern Miss 55-51

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MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Kamau Stokes knew all along he’d play against Southern Miss on Wednesday night, even when Kansas State coach Bruce Weber listed his senior guard as merely the probable starter because of an ankle injury.

The Wildcats certainly needed him.

Stokes hit four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points, all but two of them coming in the second half, as the Wildcats used a big run out of the locker to edge the Golden Eagles 55-51 on Wednesday night in their first game without Dean Wade.

Much like Stokes, the preseason Big 12 player of the year went down with an injury in last weekend’s win over Georgia State. But unlike Stokes, the talented forward is expected to miss up to eight weeks with a tendon injury in his right foot.

“When there’s a man down,” Stokes said, “you have to take ownership, and especially being a senior, one of the leaders on the team, somebody had to step up.”

Barry Brown added 15 points for the Wildcats (8-2), who trailed 31-19 at the break before their 24-2 charge midway through the second half allowed them to seize control.

Southern Miss (7-4) closed within 53-51 when Dominic Magee grabbed an offensive rebound, got fouled and made both foul shots with 10.4 seconds to go. The Golden Eagles quickly fouled Brown, but he knocked down two more free throws to restore the Wildcats’ four-point cushion.

Tyree Griffin’s off-balance 3 missed badly and time ran out on Southern Miss.

“We came out with energy in the first half and we were making shots. They just locked us up on defense in the second half,” the Golden Eagles’ Cortez Edwards said.

Edwards finished with 18 points to lead the Golden Eagles, who had not played a Big 12 foe since losing to Kansas State in the 2012 NCAA Tournament. Griffin scored 11.

For a while it appeared as if Wade’s absence — he was on crutches and camped out on the Kansas State bench — had galvanized the Wildcats the same way it did during last year’s NCAA Tournament, when a different foot injury sidelined him for their Elite Eight run.

Then came the next 15 minutes of the half.

After scoring the game’s first seven points, the Wildcats missed nine straight 3s and were 8 of 26 from the field in the first half. They had just as many turnovers as made field goals and were pounded on the glass despite having a rare size advantage across the board.

Their 19 first-half points were the fewest they’d scored in a half this season.

“Dean does so many things,” Weber said. “It changes the game, no doubt, but we’ve got to find a way to get more offense. Be a little more efficient taking care of the basketball.”

Kansas State fared no better out of the locker room, coming up empty six straight possessions with four turnovers, before Stokes finally jumpstarted its big rally.

The senior guard scored 10 straight points, including two 3s that snapped a 0-for-11 start for the team, and the rest of the Wildcats eventually got into the act.

By the time Brown’s bucket closed a 24-2 run, the Wildcats had assumed a 43-37 lead.

Stokes added another 3 a few minutes later, extending the Wildcats’ lead to 49-44, and Xavier Sneed joined Brown in putting the game away from the foul line.

“Somebody said, `What did you say at halftime?’ Those first four minutes weren’t very good either,” Weber said of the second half. “We manned up. We kept them off the line. That part of it was good. We even got a little bit in transition, which was positive. You get some of those easy hoops, it makes a difference.

“You just want to win,” Weber said. “You want to find a way to win.”

BIG PICTURE

Southern Miss showed for a long stretch that it can hang with a Big 12 foe, dominating Kansas State on both ends of the court. But coach Doc Sadler couldn’t stop the Wildcats’ momentum even with his timeouts, and the Golden Eagles allowed the game to get away.

Kansas State survived another sluggish performance, just as they did against Georgia State last weekend. But the Wildcats will need to play more than 15 good minutes to beat Vanderbilt on Saturday night at the Sprint Center.

UP NEXT

Southern Miss continues a six-game trip Friday night at South Dakota.

Kansas State plays Vanderbilt on Saturday night in Kansas City, Missouri.

— Associated Press —

No. 2 Bearcats rout Texas A&M-International 85-46

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MARYVILLE, Missouri – The No. 2-ranked Northwest Missouri State University men’s basketball team did not miss a beat after taking 10 days off between games to focus on finals.

Northwest (11-0 overall) scored an 85-46 win over Texas A&M-International (3-9 overall) on Tuesday night at Bearcat Arena.

Northwest drained a season-high 16 three-pointers while limiting the Dustdevils to only four made three-pointers.

The Bearcats blitzed the Dustdevils in the first half with a 13-0 run that gave Northwest a 26-9 lead with 10:54 remaining before halftime. Northwest built a 19-point lead at the half after shooting 68.2 percent from the field and 61.5 percent from three-point range.

A 10-0 spurt in the second half turned a 21-point margin into a 31-point lead for the Bearcats at 61-30 with 12:03 to play.

The Bearcats largest lead of the game was 39 points – the final margin, 85-46.

Northwest’s next action will be Sun., Dec. 30 against Simpson College. Northwest will offer $5 general admission tickets for the 2 p.m. tip in Bearcat Arena.

NOTES: Northwest had five players in double-figures led by the trio of Diego Bernard (14), Ryan Welty (14) and Ryan Hawkins (14) … Northwest has won 15 straight games in the month of December … the Bearcats won the battle of the boards for the 11th straight time this season, 27-24 … Northwest dished out a season-high 25 assists … the Dustdevils were coached by former Bearcat player and assistant coach Joel Taylor.

— Northwest Athletics —

Tilmon’s big night helps Missouri beat Xavier 71-56

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COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Jeremiah Tilmon scored a career-high 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Missouri to a 71-56 victory over Xavier on Tuesday night.

Foul trouble has been a recurring theme for Tilmon, a 6-foot-10 sophomore forward, but he avoided silly fouls while playing solid defense against the Musketeers. Mark Smith and Jordan Geist added 13 points each for the Tigers (7-3) and combined for 13 rebounds.

Quentin Goodin scored 21 points for Xavier (7-5), which shot 39 percent from the field.

Tilmon’s big night started early. Xavier initially didn’t double-team him in the post and he overpowered defenders Tyrique Jones and Zach Hankins inside. He also showed open-court skills when he stole the ball from guard Paul Scruggs and drove the length of the court for a layup in the first half.

Missouri led 41-27 at halftime and extended the advantage to as many as 29 points in the second half.

BIG PICTURE

Missouri: An 11-day layoff appeared to do wonders for the Tigers, who turned in their most complete performance of the season. They shot 45 percent from the field and controlled the game after building a double-digit lead midway through the first half.

Xavier: In coach Travis Steele’s first season, the Musketeers’ mastery of Missouri evaporated. Xavier had beaten the Tigers four straight times — including three times in the previous four years — before Tuesday night’s loss.

UP NEXT

Missouri: The Tigers head to St. Louis for a neutral-site game against Illinois on Saturday at the Enterprise Center. Missouri will try to break a five-year losing streak in the annual Braggin’ Rights rivalry game.

Xavier: The Musketeers return to Cincinnati for a home game Friday against Detroit Mercy.

— Associated Press —

No. 1 Kansas cruises past South Dakota 89-53

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LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Dedric Lawson had 16 points and 14 rebounds, Charlie Moore made six 3-pointers en route to 18 points, and top-ranked Kansas pulled away in the second half for an 89-53 victory over plucky but overmatched South Dakota on Tuesday night.

Freshman forward David McCormack added a career-best 12 points off the bench for the Jayhawks (10-0), helping to soak up minutes while Udoka Azubuike is sidelined with a sprained ankle.

Kansas has won 40 consecutive games in Allen Fieldhouse as the nation’s No. 1 team.

Stanley Umude scored a game-high 28 points to lead the Coyotes (6-6), who have never defeated a ranked team in seven tries. Tyler Peterson added 15 points, and leading scorer Trey Burch-Manning was held to two points on 1-for-5 shooting before fouling out.

Neither team was particularly good in the first half.

The Jayhawks struggled to stop South Dakota’s relentless backdoor cuts, and eventually Kansas coach Bill Self was so fed up with their defensive execution he started to burn timeouts.

Not that the Coyotes did much with all those easy looks. They committed 12 first-half turnovers, allowing the Jayhawks to slowly pull out to a 37-27 advantage at the break.

Most of the work was done without Lawson, who was forced to the bench with two fouls.

The Jayhawks’ dominant point forward joined Moore in helping the Jayhawks pull away in the second half. Lawson scored in the paint, Moore hit a 3-pointer and Lawson added a pair of foul shots to turn a 49-40 lead into a 56-40 lead with about 12 minutes to go.

The undersized Coyotes answered with a run of their own, but Moore and Lawson provided one more answer. Moore curled in his fifth 3-pointer, this time from the wing, and then took a run-out to the rim before dropping a pass to Lawson for an easy layup and a 66-47 lead.

The advantage only grew from there as Moore, a transfer from California who once scored 38 in a game as a freshman, and the massive McCormack continued to put together breakout games.

BIG PICTURE

South Dakota hung around long enough to keep Kansas on the edge, but the Jayhawks’ superior athleticism was evident. They were quicker in transition, better on the boards and were able to pull away when the Coyotes went cold from beyond the arc.

Kansas finally got an easy win after surviving nail-biters against everyone from New Mexico State and Stanford to Villanova and Tennessee. It was the first time all season that the Jayhawks put away a game in time to empty the bench in the final minutes.

UP NEXT

South Dakota hosts Southern Miss on Friday night.

Kansas visits No. 18 Arizona State on Saturday night.

— Associated Press —

Les Miles keeps Bowen, Hull on KU football coaching staff

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LAWRENCE, Kan. -Les Miles’s first coaching staff as head coach at The University of Kansas is nearly complete, and will include two familiar faces in Clint Bowen and Tony Hull. Bowen will coach the KU safeties, while Hull will continue to lead the running backs.

“I can’t say enough great things about Clint and Tony,” said Miles. “The work they have done since I have been here to help us in regards to the players already in our program and in recruiting has been extremely beneficial. They are talented coaches and recruiters, but what sets them apart is their ability to establish strong relationships with their student-athletes. Their familiarity with the program is a great asset to us as we move forward in building something special together here at KU.”

Bowen recently completed his 23rd year in the Kansas program, including 20 seasons as a coach. He has coached cornerbacks, safeties and linebackers during his time at his alma mater. In 2018, Bowen worked with the KU cornerbacks, guiding true freshman Corione Harris to Freshman All-America honors by 247Sports.com.

In his most recent stint coaching safeties at Kansas in 2016, Bowen coached a pair of hard-hitting safeties, led by veteran Fish Smithson with 93 tackles and then-freshman Mike Lee with 77 stops. Smithson earned All-Big 12 First Team honors on his way to signing a free agent contract with the Washington Redskins. Lee found his name on Athlon Sports’ Freshman All-America Team, while he also picked up All-Big 12 honorable mention honors.

In 2015, Bowen guided Smithson to an FBS-leading 87 solo tackles. Smithson came within three tackles of tying Bowen’s top-three mark in KU history for tackles in a season by a defensive back and became the first DB to lead the team in tackles since one of KU’s all-time great players, Darrell Stuckey in 2009. Smithson’s 111 tackles were the most by a DB since 1998.

Hull, who just completed his third season in Lawrence, has seen success in his role coaching the Jayhawks running backs. In 2018 he guided Pooka Williams Jr., to All-America Second Team honors from both the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and Phil Steele Magazine.

Under Hull’s guidance, Williams took home Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year honors and was also named to the All-Big 12 First Team as both a running back and as a returner. He was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and was a first-team honoree as an all-purpose player by the Associated Press, while taking home second-team honors at running back.

Williams rushed for a total of 1,125 yards on 161 carries, good for 102.3 yards per game, 7.0 yards per carry and seven rushing touchdowns. He added 289 yards and two scores on 33 receptions and 246 yards on 11 kick returns to lead the Big 12 and rank sixth in the FBS in all-purpose yards at 150.9 per game. Williams also threw for a touchdown-a nine-yard pass against Oklahoma.

Hull also mentored running back Khalil Herbert as he exploded for a 291-yard rushing game against West Virginia in 2017–the third-best single-game rushing performance in KU history and third-best in the NCAA that season.

— KU Athletics —

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