College – Page 726 – St. Joseph Post Archive

Mizzou races past A&M to snap 8-game skid vs. Aggies

Posted on January 16, 2012January 16, 2012

Michael Dixon committed a foul and a turnover in his first minutes for Missouri on Monday. Not the way a reserve wants to get things going.

Tigers coach Frank Haith pulled the junior guard aside and told him he was playing out of control.

“Just let the game come to him,” Haith said when asked what he told Dixon.

After missing a 3-pointer, Dixon made his next four shots from behind the arc in the first half and finished with 18 points overall to lead No. 5 Missouri to a 70-51 victory over Texas A&M, snapping an eight-game losing streak to the Aggies.

The Tigers (17-1, 4-1 Big 12) started the game by making only five of their first 14 shots from the field against the conference’s best scoring defense. But Dixon’s 3-pointer with 7:22 remaining in the first half started a 17-0 run that gave Missouri a 31-17 lead.

“I missed the first 3, but it kind of felt good,” Dixon said. “I had been shooting well in warmups so it was just a rhythm thing and my teammates were able to find me. I just happened to be hitting today.”

Elston Turner hit a free throw to end the Aggies’ 6:32 scoreless drought.

“Mike could probably start on any other team in the nation,” Missouri forward Ricardo Ratliffe said. “It’s like instant offense.”

Turner and Khris Middleton both had 13 points for Texas A&M (10-7, 1-4), which scored the first seven points of in the second half to get within 42-30. The Aggies got within 10 points three times, but could get no closer.

Marcus Denmon’s steal and ensuing three-point play with 8:40 left started a 10-1 run for Missouri, which led 64-44 with 3:57 left in the game.

“We’re not the most athletic team or the quickest team in the country,” first-year Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy said. “So we have to do a better job of being more physical. Their athleticism wore us down.”

Missouri’s last win over Texas A&M had been in the 2004 Big 12 tournament.

Missouri is ranked in the top five for the first time since 2003-04, and has won 62 of its last 65 home games, falling only to Kansas twice and Texas A&M. The Tigers’ have won each home game this season by an average of 27.6 points.

The Aggies came in allowing 57.5 points per game, holding opponents to 36.9 percent shooting. Missouri couldn’t do much better, shooting 40 percent, but the Tigers held Texas A&M to 35 percent, its second-lowest shooting percentage of the season.

Haith credited the defense for building a lead at the end of the first half.

“We were pressuring them, they shot the ball quickly, we got some stops,” Haith said. “We scored in transition. But our defense was consistent during that stretch. And I thought that was key to getting some separation.”

Denmon added 16 points and nine rebounds for Missouri, which leads the Big 12 in scoring offense (83.9) and field goal percentage (51.2).

Middleton is leading the Aggies in scoring since he returned nine games ago after surgery to repair a partially torn meniscus in his right knee. He has yet to return to full strength and cannot practice every day, Kennedy said.

Ray Turner added 11 points and nine rebounds for Texas A&M, which has lost six of eight.

“We are just trying to hang in there,” Turner said. “Everyone is trying to get used to a new thing, everything that is coming to us. New coaching staff — it’s just something that we just have to get through. We’ve just got to keep our heads up.”

Ratliffe wasn’t called for his first foul until the second half for the second consecutive game, helping Missouri avoid having to go deeper than its seven-man rotation. The Tigers outrebounded Texas A&M 38-26 and were 27 of 31 from the free throw line.

“In order for us to have the kind of year, the kind of team we want to have,” Haith said, “we have to do that every single night. And that’s all about loose rebounds. Defensive rebounding has got to be a key to our success.”

Kennedy served as an assistant under Haith while both were at Miami in 2005-06. Haith defeated his mentor and former head coach, Rick Barnes, in a 84-73 victory on Friday over Texas.

“We’re great friends,” Haith said. “I know one thing about him — he’ll get that team playing the way he wants them to play. He’s got a great job, and I think he’ll do well there.”

— Associated Press —

Jayhawks roll past No. 3 Baylor

Posted on January 16, 2012

Thomas Robinson had 27 points and 14 rebounds, Tyshawn Taylor matched a career-high with 28 points and No. 7 Kansas rolled to a 92-74 victory over No. 3 Baylor on Monday night, ending the Bears’ perfect start.

Travis Releford and Elijah Johnson added 11 points each for the Jayhawks (15-3, 5-0 Big 12), who won their 16th straight game at Allen Fieldhouse and 10th in a row at home over the Bears. Kansas is 17-2 against them all-time.

A trendy pick to end the Jayhawks’ seven-year stranglehold on the conference, Baylor (17-1, 4-1) had been riding the longest winning streak in school history to its best start ever.

Perry Jones III scored 18 points, Quincy Miller had 17 and Quincy Acy added 14, but the long and lean Bears were dominated in the paint and had no answer for the combination of Robinson and Taylor, one of the best inside-outside tandems in the nation.

— Associated Press —

Northwest Cheerleading Wins 2nd National Title In Three Years (VIDEO)

Posted on January 16, 2012January 16, 2012

For the second time in three years Northwest Missouri State cheerleading was named the 2012 Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA) National Champion. The community greeted the cheerleading squad back to the Maryville campus Monday afternoon, after they won the competition on Saturday.

Head Coach Jason Sack and his squad earned their second UCA National Championship since he took over the program in 2006. Northwest claimed its first championship in 2010.

Northwest competed against other NCAA Division II schools to take home the title over defending National Champion West Georgia which was followed by third place Columbus State.

Here’s a video of the competition.

KU’s Taylor named co-Big 12 Player of the Week

Posted on January 16, 2012January 16, 2012

Kansas senior Tyshawn Taylor has been named Phillips 66 co-Big 12 Player of the Week, along with Baylor sophomore Perry Jones III, for games of Jan. 9-15 in voting by a panel of media covering the conference. Taylor captures his first player award after winning rookie honors four times during the 2008-09 season.

Taylor opened the week with 15 points and five assists as Kansas recorded an 81-46 win at Texas Tech. The Hoboken, N.J., guard followed that performance with a career-high 28 points, including 22 in the second half, as the Jayhawks’ came back from a 12-point deficit to record an 82-73 victory over Iowa State on Jan. 14. Taylor finished the week with 21.5 points and 5.5 assists per game, to go along with two rebounds and four steals for the week.

Taylor leads Kansas in assists with 88 on the year, while ranking second with 15.5 points per game. He is shooting 42.3 percent from three-point range.

Taylor is the third different Jayhawk to win Big 12 Player of the Week honors in 2011-12. Junior All-American candidate Thomas Robinson has earned the accolade three times this season, while junior Travis Releford once.

— KU Sports Information —

Griffons struggle at Central; lose sixth straight

Posted on January 14, 2012January 14, 2012

The Griffon men offensive struggles continued in Warrensburg falling 64-48 against the Central Missouri Mules on Saturday afternoon. The Griffons scored a season low 48 points dropping their sixth straight MIAA game and falling to 6-9 overall and 1-8 in MIAA play.

The first nine minutes of the first half looked good for the Griffons as they took a seven point (14-7) lead after a Reed Mells lay-up. Western went cold the next eight minutes of play missing seven straight shots getting down by 12 at 27-15 after two good free throws by Boo Hunter with 5:23 to play.

The two teams play the rest of the half even as Western went into the locker room down 35-23. Western outscored the Mules 14 to 10 in the paint but got outscored 22 to 8 off the bench. Western made just 33.3-percent (9-27) of their field goals with Lavonte Douglas leading the way with five points. Seven Griffons scored in the first half.

The Mules made 11-of-27 field goals with Widgett Washington leading all scorers with nine points off the bench. The Mules had 12 more rebounds than the Griffons scoring 11 second chance points.

Western battled in the second half but never got closer than nine points. Deionta Mitchell hit a three at the 10:34 mark of the second half cutting the Mule lead to nine at 47-38. The Mules extended their lead to as many as 18 the rest of the way picking up the 16 point victory. UCM improves to 10-4 overall and 6-3 in MIAA play.

Douglas was the only Griffon in double digits scoring 14 points while snaring five rebounds. He connected on 6-of-11 field goal attempts.

The Mules were led by Hunter with 14 points connecting on 8-of-10 free throw attempts. Washington scored 13 off the bench while the Mules outrebounded the Griffons 42 to 27 in the game.

Western will wrap up the first half of MIAA play on Tuesday, January 17 when they travel to Bolivar, Mo. to take on the Southwest Baptist Bearcats. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 pm.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Bearcats use big second half to blow out Southwest Baptist

Posted on January 14, 2012January 14, 2012

Jake Reinders had a career high 28 points and 12 rebounds for No. 24 Northwest Missouri State as they knocked off Southwest Baptist 78-55 in MIAA men’s basketball action Saturday afternoon at Bearcat Arena.

Northwest got its first double-double of the season from Reinders and holds onto first place in the league at 7-2 while moving to 13-2 overall. SBU saw its four-game winning streak snapped and fell to 10-8 overall and 3-6 in conference play.

Consistency from Reinders all season long has propelled Northwest to the top of the MIAA standings and sets-up the Bearcats second battle on the season for league supremacy Wednesday at No. 23 Missouri Southern. Reinders pulled in 10 of his career high 12 rebounds on the defensive end of the floor, limiting SBU’s second chance points.

After five lead changes and seven ties, Bryston Williams drove to the hole and completed an and-one putting Northwest up 43-41 with 13:27 left in the game. The Bearcats would never look back from that point.

With 12:42 left in the second half Bryston Williams knocked the ball from SBU’s Preston Guiot and dished to Alex Sullivan for his second three-pointer of the day extending Northwest’s lead to 50-44. From there Northwest would go on a 9-2 run extending its lead to double digits.

Sullivan scored a season high 10 points off the bench for Northwest in the win as they also outscored SBU 19-6 in bench points.

Northwest forced 20 SBU turnovers earning 27 points off the purple Bearcats’ miscues as SBU only scored eight times off Northwest’s 17 turnovers.

DeShaun Cooper returned from an injury suffered in Wednesday’s loss at Central Missouri to score 15 points including 7-of-8 from the free throw line.

Robson Memnon led SBU with 17 points and five rebounds.

Northwest begins a three-game road swing Wednesday at No. 23 Missouri Southern in a battle for the top spot in the MIAA. Game time from Joplin is slated for 7:30 p.m.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

Missouri holds off Texas behind big game from Pressey

Posted on January 14, 2012January 14, 2012

Missouri needed someone to step up, and Phil Pressey was not shy.

The sophomore point guard had 18 points, including seven straight to get the ninth-ranked Tigers out of trouble in the second half of an 84-73 victory over Texas on Saturday.

Pressey had 10 assists, and perhaps his most impressive stat was zero turnovers.

“He orchestrated the whole game,” Texas coach Rick Barnes said. “Look what he did for the other guys. That’s what he does. He makes the game really easy for those other guys.”

Ricardo Ratliffe made his first eight shots and had 21 points and Marcus Denmon had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Tigers (16-1, 3-1 Big 12). Ratliffe, who takes all his shots close to the basket, entered the game leading the nation in shooting at 76.8 percent.

“I just make sure I try to finish the play whenever they look for me,” Ratliffe said. “I get down on myself sometimes and my teammates pick me up because I think they don’t expect me to miss anymore, either.”

J’Covan Brown scored 34 points, including the 1,000th of his career, for Texas (12-5, 2-2). The point total is a record for an opponent at the Mizzou Arena, which opened in 2004, topping Julian Wright’s 33 points for Kansas in 2007.

Brown was 6 for 7 on 3-pointers and made all eight free throws.

“I was just going, just playing. I wasn’t worried about carrying my team,” Brown said. “Coach was calling my number and I was just making big shots.”

Myck Kabongo had 12 points and 10 assists and Jonathan Holmes had 10 points and seven rebounds for the Longhorns. But Clint Chapman had six points in 16 minutes while saddled with foul trouble and Sheldon McClellan, Texas’ second-leading scorer with an 11.8-point average, was held to six points on 2-for-8 shooting.

“It was just silly turnovers, and not capitalizing off our turnovers,” Kabongo said. “We’ve just got to be smarter than what we were today.”

Pressey reached double figures in assists for the fourth time this season and the first in conference play. It helped Missouri go to 10-0 at home, and this was the closest call.

“I tell you what, he had a terrific game,” Missouri coach Frank Haith said. “What he meant to us offensively, what he did out there was tremendous. He had the ball all the time.”

Down by 16 points in the first half, Texas shaved the deficit to five midway through the second half with an 11-3 run — Missouri’s lone points coming on a three-point play by Pressey.

Pressey ended the threat with a 3-pointer, two free throws and a steal and uncontested dunk in a span of 50 seconds to make it 69-57 with 8:31 to play. After McClellan scored from the baseline for Texas, Pressey fed Steve Moore for an inside basket.

Brown missed part of Pressey’s torrid stretch while getting a bloody lip attended to.

Denmon was the only Missouri player who didn’t score in double figures in the last game, a victory at Iowa State on Wednesday, with six points on 1-for-5 shooting. He had 14 points at halftime on Saturday.

“Even though the last game I wasn’t scoring, you can do other things to help your team win,” Denmon said. “That’s what’s most important.”

Missouri was 8 for 11 from 3-point range in the first half, four of the 3s from Denmon, while taking a 43-30 lead. The Tigers were strong inside, too, with Ratliffe hitting all five shots from point-blank range.

Texas held its previous two opponents to 51 and 49 points, but Missouri blew past that total early in the second half. Missouri was just 2 for 10 on 3-pointers in the second half.

Texas had foul trouble in the first half, with Chapman limited to two points in 4 minutes and reserve Alexis Wangmene scoreless with four rebounds in 11 minutes.

Haith, in his first season at Missouri, beat Barnes, his mentor. Haith was an assistant at Texas from 2001-04, including a Final Four team and two others that made the final 16, and is 1-1 against Barnes including an NCAA tournament loss while at Miami in 2008.

Barnes said criticism of Haith’s so-so record at Miami was unwarranted because it was so difficult to win at that school.

“I love Frank,” Barnes said. “Missouri did good getting him and they’d better do everything they can to keep him.”

— Associated Press —

Western women fall short against UCM in Curry’s first game back

Posted on January 14, 2012January 14, 2012

Missouri Western outscored the Jennies 45-40 in the second half but it wouldn’t be enough as they fell for the first time in 2012 by a score of 72-67 against Central Missouri in Warrensburg, Mo. Jessica Koch dumped in 29 points while setting a career high with 14 made free throws as Western falls to 5-9 overall and 3-6 in MIAA play.

Despite being out of basketball for almost five years, Ashleigh Curry made an immediate impact for the Griffons. Western got off to a slow start getting down 10-0 before Curry made her first appearance. Curry hit her first shot of the game getting Western on the board with a long range bomb with 14:29 to play.

Curry’s basket sparked an 18-4 run by Western giving them an 18-14 lead after a Curry lay-up with 7:36 to play. Western hit just one field goal and scored four points, all by Charlonda Bozeman, the remaining seven and a half minutes of play going into halftime down 32-22.

Western shot just 25.8-percent (8-31) from the field while the Jennies made 42.9-percent (12-28) of their field goal attempts. Curry had seven points while Koch pitched in five. The Jennies were led by Alyssa Rhodes with 10 points making 3-of-5 field goal attempts.

The Jennies jumped on the Griffons early in the second half opening up a 16 point lead after a three from Renae Shippy with 16:29 to play in the game. Curry and Koch took over the rest of the half scoring 42 of the Griffons 45 second half points. Koch’s layup with 10:57 got the lead to fewer than 10 for the first time since the first half. Western never trailed by double digits again.

Western tied the game at 65 after two Curry free throws with 1:37 to play the Jennies outscored the Griffons 7-2 down the stretch picking up the victory. The Jennies improve to 11-4 overall and 5-4 in MIAA action.

Curry finished with 25 points in her first game back connecting on 10-of-20 field goals while snaring a team high seven rebounds. Alicia Bell snared six rebounds while Koch dished out five assists and had two steals. The Griffons shot 48.1-percent (13-27) from the field in the second half but made just 5-of-23 long range shots in the game. The Griffons connected on 20-of-23 free throw attempts including 18-of-20 in the second frame.

The Jennies shot 44.1-percent (26-59) in the game and outrebounded Western 41-to-35 in the game. Nicole Caddell had 19 points including 13 in the second half. She also had a game high eight rebounds.

Western wraps-up the first half of MIAA play on Tuesday, January 17 when they travel to Bolivar, Mo. to take on the Southwest Baptist Bearcats. Game time is set for 5:30 pm.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Northwest women pull away from SBU as Henry scores 30

Posted on January 14, 2012January 14, 2012

Abby Henry scored a season-high 30 points and went 17-of-20 from the free throw line as Northwest defeated the Southwest Baptist Bearcats (5-9, 1-8 MIAA) 79-68 Saturday afternoon in Bearcat Arena. Henry also added four assists in the win.

After a back-and-forth first half that featured five ties and six lead changes Northwest (4-12, 2-7 MIAA) found themselves up by one at the half, 36-35.

Northwest never trailed in the second half and was finally able to break-away from the “purple” Bearcats at the 9:19 mark off of three-point shot by Ashley Thayer that put Northwest up 54-46.

Northwest would hold their largest lead of the game at the 3:30 mark when Henry hit a jumper to put Northwest up 72-52.

Henry would go 7-of-8 from the free throw line in the final minute of the game to seal the victory for the Bearcats.

Northwest shot 45.6 percent from the field and 84.6 percent from the charity stripe while Southwest Baptist shot just over 44 percent from the field, but only 60.0 percent from the free throw line.

The Bearcats forced 23 turnovers while only committing twelve, and outscored Southwest Baptist 31-13 off of turnovers.

The Northwest bench also outscored SBU off the bench 38-25 with Ashley Thayer and Emily Hauder chipping in 12 points each off the bench for Northwest.

The Bearcat defense was able to hold Southwest Baptist’s leading scorer Brittney Dukes to nine points while Jacqui Zelenka led them offensively scoring 15.

Up Next: Northwest continues MIAA action as the travel to Missouri Southern Wednesday, Jan. 18. Tip-off from Joplin is set for 5:30 p.m.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

Taylor’s career-high leads KU past Iowa State

Posted on January 14, 2012January 14, 2012

Tyshawn Taylor has been a lightning rod during his career at Kansas. He makes big shots and is beloved; he makes careless turnovers and is loathed.

He was feeling nothing but love on Saturday.

The senior guard scored 22 of his career-high 28 points after halftime, leading the No. 10 Jayhawks on a game-changing run that resulted in an 82-73 victory over Iowa State.

“Tyshawn is a little different. When you guys tell him he’s really good, that’s when I probably tell him he’s taking too many shots,” coach Bill Self said. “He is a scrutinized player, but he’s also the point guard at Kansas, and that goes with the territory.”

Too often Taylor hasn’t lived up to those who came before him, guys like Kirk Hinrich and Mario Chalmers, and that’s drawn the ire of one of the most passionate fan bases in college basketball.

They were squarely on his side against the Cyclones, though.

Taylor hit three 3-pointers and dished out six assists, leading the Jayhawks (14-3, 4-0 Big 12) on a 17-2 run midway through the second half. It was part of a larger 30-9 burst by the defending conference champions that carried them to their seventh consecutive victory.

“I felt the love, man. I felt the love. The Fieldhouse was going crazy, the bench was going crazy. It was a good feeling,” Taylor said. “I made some shots that counted.”

Jeff Withey added 13 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocked shots, and Thomas Robinson 11 points and 14 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season. Elijah Johnson also had 12 points.

The Jayhawks, who haven’t lost to Iowa State since February 2005, will carry plenty of momentum into a marquee showdown Monday night with undefeated and fourth-ranked Baylor, which romped to a 106-65 win over Oklahoma State earlier Saturday.

“It’s going to be a good game,” Taylor said with a smile.

Royce White had 18 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Cyclones (12-5, 2-2), who played ninth-ranked Missouri down to the wire earlier in the week and gave the Jayhawks similar fits.

At least, for most of the game.

Chris Allen added 17 points, Melvin Ejim had 12 and Scott Christopherson 10 for the Cyclones, who shot 9 of 28 (32 percent) from the 3-point line and just 16 of 25 (64 percent) from the foul line.

“It’s frustrating, but you look at the positives and say: If Missouri is No. 9 and Kansas is No. 10, then we might be 11, 12,” White said. “That’s the positive that we’re going to take from it.”

The Cyclones stuck to their scouting report at the start.

White hit his first 3-point attempt of the season, and Ejim added another 3 moments later as a team known for the long ball built a 17-7 lead over the first 5 minutes.

Kansas went on a run of its own to close within 18-16, but the Cyclones extended the lead back to 27-18. They took their largest lead of the half at 39-28 when Christopherson hit a 3-pointer and Allen a pair of free throws with 4:43 remaining, quieting the crowd inside Allen Fieldhouse.

The Jayhawks went on a late run to get within 43-40 at the break, but Iowa State scored the first nine points of the second half as Kansas missed four consecutive free throws.

“My halftime talk was good,” Self said drily. “We went in down three and came out down 12.”

That’s when Taylor and the Jayhawks went on their game-turning run.

Withey started it with a basket that got the crowd stirring, and Johnson added another basket to trim the lead to 52-45 with 14:43 left. Taylor got in the act with a basket of his own, the first of three consecutive field goals that he scored for the Jayhawks.

“He was amazing,” Robinson said. “He put the team on his back and he did what we expected. He played great during that stretch of us coming back. He hit some big shots for us.”

The Cyclones still led 59-53 with 11:50 remaining when Withey converted a three-point play, the start of the 17-2 run. Taylor added a 3-pointer to draw the Jayhawks even, and back-to-back baskets by Kevin Young and Withey gave them their first lead since it was 7-6 with 17:29 left in the first half.

By the time Withey scored off a feed from Johnson and Taylor knocked down another basket, the Kansas lead had swelled to 70-61 and Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg was begging for a timeout.

It managed to settle the Cyclones a bit. They closed within 72-70 with 6:35 remaining on consecutive baskets by Ejim, but Young and Taylor answered and Iowa State never threatened again.

“We talked a lot about that the last two days. If you come into this building and have that kind of drought, and you let it bother you and effect you, it’s hard to win,” said Hoiberg, who had some of his best — and worst — games as a player at Iowa State against the Jayhawks.

“I’ve been seeing those runs in here for years,” he said. “It’s a very tough place to play.”

— Associated Press —