Sports – Page 100 – St. Joseph Post Archive

Griffon volleyball ends its season with loss at No. 3 Nebraska-Kearney

Posted on November 6, 2018November 7, 2018

KEARNEY, Neb. – The Missouri Western volleyball season ended Tuesday night in the first round of the MIAA Championships with a three-set loss to No. 1 seed Nebraska-Kearney.

It was the No. 8-seeded Griffons third loss of the season to the Lopers who entered the weekend ranked No. 3 in the nation. Missouri Western and Nebraska-Kearney met five times in less than a year with three postseason match-ups. The Lopers won both MIAA Championships matches against the Griffons with Missouri Western ending the Lopers’ season last year in the NCAA Division II Central Region Championship quarterfinals.

NOTABLES

Missouri Western limited Nebraska-Kearney to a .201 team hitting percentage, holding the Lopers under .150 in the second and third sets, but hit just .038 itself
The Griffons were held to single-digit kills as a team in both the first and second sets before totaling 12 as a unit in the third set
The Griffons came close to extending the match in a back-and-forth third set that featured four lead changes and six ties. Missouri Western never led by more than two and the Lopers never led the set by more than four
Nebraska-Kearney ended the match with 57 points on 49 kills and ace and seven blocks. The Griffons had 36.5 points on 28 kills, two aces and 6.5 blocks
The 15-17 overall record for the Griffons was the first sub-.500 season for the Griffons since going 14-17 in 2011, two years before Marian Carbin took over as head coach

LEADERS

Rachel Losch tied for team-highs in kills (8) and blocks (3). In her final match as a Griffon, Losch hit .333
Stephanie Doak also had eight kills
Shellby Taylor and Ali Tauchen had three total blocks each. Tauchen added six kills and 14 digs
Lauren Murphy had a team-high 17 assists
Audrey Keim led the team with 15 digs in her final match as a Griffon

— MWSU Athletics —

Missouri wins season opener over Central Arkansas 68-55

Posted on November 6, 2018

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Mark Smith scored 19 points on 5-for-8 shooting from 3 and Missouri triumphed over Central Arkansas 68-55 in its season opener Tuesday night.

Smith — a University of Illinois transfer — kicked off his sophomore campaign with a bang, providing the main source of offense for the Tigers in his team debut.

After trailing 5-3 to start, Smith led the Tigers on a 15-0 run to open up a commanding lead, drilling a trio of 3-pointers to fuel the stretch.

Missouri’s defense took care of the rest, limiting the Bears to 33 percent shooting.

Despite Smith’s strong performance, Missouri’s offense was held to just 32.4 percent shooting in the first half. The Tigers improved in the second half, shooting 55.6 percent.

The offense missed the versatility of sophomore forward Jontay Porter. The Tigers lost Porter to a torn ACL and MCL in a scrimmage with Southern Illinois in October.

Missouri’s lack of scoring at times opened up windows for the Bears to climb back into the game. Central Arkansas trimmed Missouri’s lead to four with 4:57 to go in the first half and seven with 10:51 in the second. The Tigers pulled away with an 11-1 run midway through the second half.

BIG PICTURE

Central Arkansas: The Bears missed the presence of last year’s top two scorers, Jordan Howard and Mathieu Kamba. Howard scored 25.1 points per game and Kamba averaged 13.8.

Missouri: This team is bound to endure some growing pains with the loss of Porter and the addition of a flurry of new faces. Missouri’s offense progressed as the game went on and the defense played a solid 40 minutes.

UP NEXT

Central Arkansas plays its first home game Thursday against Hendrix College.

Missouri hits the road for a matchup against Iowa State.

— Associated Press —

Northwest volleyball loses to Central Missouri in MIAA tournament first round

Posted on November 6, 2018November 7, 2018

MARYVILLE, Missouri – The No. 11-ranked Central Missouri Jennies scored a 3-1 decision over the Northwest Missouri State Bearcat volleyball squad in the quarterfinals of the MIAA Tournament. UCM won by set scores of 25-15, 25-17, 24-26, 25-17.

When the final results were tallied, the Jennies posted their second win over the Bearcats this season.

UCM (25-6 overall) used a huge performance from Kylie Hohlen, who posted 16 kills and 33 digs. Hohlen gave the Jennies an early surge with seven kills in the first set.

Northwest (22-8 overall) saw senior Maddy Bruder notch 20 kills to lead the Bearcats. Bruder belted seven kills in 17 attacks in the second set without an error.

Senior Olivia Nowakowski secured 32 digs on the defensive side of the net. Nowakowski was credited with 12 digs in the third and 10 digs in the fourth.

The Jennies enjoyed a .244 hitting percentage with 61 kills and 17 errors in the match, while the Bearcats hit .109 with 55 kills and 33 errors.

UCM quieted a raucous white-out crowd in Bearcat Arena by taking a two-set lead over the home squad. Northwest refused to give in and took an 18-12 lead in the third set. However, UCM battled back to knot the set at 18-18. The Jennies scored a miraculous kick-save for a kill to even the set at 21-21. UCM would take a 24-22 lead and have two match points only to see the Bearcats even it up at 24-24 on a kill by Hallie Sidney and an attack error by UCM’s Aubree Bell. The Bearcats siezed the opportunity and Sidney put down another ball for a kill to give Northwest a set point. The Bearcats closed out the third set when Bell’s attack went awry, 26-24.

The Jennies used a decisive 7-1 run after the fourth set was even at 11-11. Northwest would get no closer than four points the rest of the way and UCM posted a 25-17 win in the fourth.

UCM advances to the semifinals to take on No. 1-seeded Nebraska-Kearney on Friday at 7 p.m. in Kearney, Neb. No. 2-seeded Washburn will take on No. 3-seeded Central Oklahoma at 4 p.m.

— Northwest Athletics —

No. 1 Kansas holds off No. 10 Michigan State 92-87 in opener

Posted on November 6, 2018

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Quentin Grimes scored 21 points in his college debut and Dedric Lawson added 20 points and 14 rebounds to lead No. 1 Kansas past No. 10 Michigan State 92-87 in the season-opening Champions Classic on Tuesday.

The Jayhawks won their third straight in one of college basketball’s premier events.

Michigan State was led by Joshua Langford with 18 points and Kenny Goins with 17 points and 11 rebounds. The Spartans are now 4-21 all-time against No. 1 teams.

The game pitted two power-conference preseason favorites against each other, and the finish was every bit as intriguing as expected.

After Kansas was in control for most of the game, the Spartans frantically trimmed a 10-point deficit to 90-87 with 34 seconds left. They had a chance to make it a two-point game when Devon Dotson missed the second of two free throws with 15 seconds left.

But Cassius Winston missed a layup for Michigan State, Kansas grabbed the rebound and Grimes sealed it by making 1 of 2 free throws.

It sure didn’t look like it would be so close after Kansas withstood Michigan State’s early 3-point flurry.

The Jayhawks went on a 13-3 run midway through the first half to turn an 18-16 lead into a 30-17 advantage, extended the lead to 44-27 and never let the Spartans get closer than seven until the final minutes.

BIG PICTURE

Kansas: The Jayhawks demonstrated why they earned the top ranking. They dominated the post, used 3-pointers to pull away and eventually found a way to close out the feisty Spartans.

Michigan State: The Spartans’ late surge showed they are capable of going toe to toe against the nation’s top teams. But this one got away from them because of poor free-throw shooting and sloppy overall play — things that need to be cleaned up quickly.

STAT PACK

Kansas: Lawson also had six assists. … Udoka Azubuike finished with 17 points. Dotson, another freshman, had 16. … Kansas improved to 15-1 under Bill Self in season openers. … The Jayhawks hadn’t played a ranked team on opening night since beating No. 8 Utah 79-68 in November 1995. … Kansas was 10 of 23 on 3-pointers.

Michigan State: Winston had 13 points and 11 assists. Matt McQuaid added 12 points. … The Spartans were outrebounded 42-40 and 11-5 on the offensive end. … Michigan State also committed 18 turnovers and was 23 of 35 from the free-throw line while going 12 of 23 on 3-pointers. … At 3-5 in the classic, Michigan State is the only team under .500.

UP NEXT

Kansas has a five-day break before opening its home schedule against Vermont on Monday.

Michigan State’s traditionally daunting non-conference continues Sunday when defending Atlantic Sun regular-season champion Florida Gulf Coast visits East Lansing on Sunday.

— Associated Press —

Cunningham scores 31 as 16th-ranked Mizzou women top Western Illinois

Posted on November 6, 2018November 7, 2018

MACOMB, Ill. (AP) — Sophie Cunningham scored 31 points and No. 16 Missouri opened the season Tuesday night with an 89-64 win over Western Illinois.

Lauren Aldridge and Amber Smith added 14 points apiece for the Tigers, who scored the first four points of the game and never trailed.

Annabel Graettinger and Olivia Kaufmann had 18 points apiece for the Leathernecks.

Missouri, which had a 52-32 rebounding advantage, held Western Illinois to 29 percent shooting (17 for 59). The Tigers went 33 for 71 (46.5 percent).

Missouri is the first Power Five team to play at Western Illinois since 1997.

— Associated Press —

Nebraska hammers Mississippi Valley State 106-37

Posted on November 6, 2018

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Glynn Watson, Jr. scored 19 points to lead Nebraska, which led by as many as 72, over cold-shooting Mississippi Valley State 106-37 Tuesday.

The 67-point victory margin was Nebraska’s largest at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The 106 points were the most the Huskers have scored at the five-year-old arena and the 37 points the fewest scored by a Nebraska opponent there.

Nebraska held the outmanned Delta Devils to just one field goal in the game’s first 10 minutes, using a 21-3 run to take a 24-5 lead on Thorir Thorbjarnarson’s fast break layup with 11:01 left in the first half. The Huskers shot 63 percent in the game’s first 9 minutes.

Mississippi Valley State made only three field goals in the first half, shooting just nine percent over the long, athletic Huskers. The Delta Devils reached double digits in scoring at the 5:07 mark on a layup by Dante Scott, their last basket of the period. MVSU’s 13 points tied a Pinnacle Bank Arena record for the fewest points scored in a half.

The MVSU cold shooting continued in the second half, missing their first four shots as Nebraska went 8-0 and took a 63-13 on Palmer’s dunk with 17:39 left. The Delta Devils hit just 13 of 68 shots in the game, 19 percent, a Pinnacle Bank Arena opponent record low.

Also scoring in double figures for Nebraska were Nana Akenten with 18 points, James Palmer, Jr with 17 points and Isaac Copeland with 10 points. Jordan Evans led Mississippi Valley State with 12 points. Scott had 10 for the Delta Devils.

BIG PICTURE

Nebraska won its 18th straight season opener and 28th straight home season opener. The Huskers last season-opening loss came at Oral Roberts in 1990.

The margin of victory was the second largest in Nebraska history. The largest was 74 in a game against Crete in 1907.

Mississippi Valley State returns three starters from last year’s 4-28 team, aiming to build around the 3-point shooting of seniors Scott and Evans.

UP NEXT

Nebraska hosts Southeastern Louisiana Sunday in the second game of the Lincoln regional round of the Hall of Fame Classic.

Mississippi Valley State will face Texas Tech in Lubbock Friday in the second of five consecutive road games to open the season.

— Associated Press —

Mustangs to host 2019 MINK League All-Star Game

Posted on November 5, 2018November 6, 2018

ST. JOSEPH, MO. — The St. Joseph Mustangs Front Office spent this past weekend in Kansas City, Missouri with General Managers from around the league at the MINK League Winter Meetings.

The meetings came to a conclusion on Sunday with a few new changes planned for the 2019 season.

The biggest takeaways from this past weekend include the Mustangs plan to play their first Sunday evening home game since 2012 on June 23rd. Phil Welch will also be the site of the 2019 MINK League All-Star Game, the third All-Star game to take place in St. Joseph.

At the meetings, Mustangs General Manager Ky Turner was named to the MINK League Board as Vice President.

“We’re excited for the upcoming season,” Turner said. “We’ve got a great schedule lined up and are excited to continue to improve the guest experience here in St. Joseph.”

The full 2019 schedule will be released in the coming months.

— Mustangs Press Release —

KU’s Dedric Lawson named to NABC Preseason Player of the Year watch list

Posted on November 5, 2018

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Kansas junior Dedric Lawson has been named to the 20-member 2019 NABC Division I Player of the Year Preseason Watch List, the National Association of Basketball Coaches announced Monday.

Named to the six-member Associated Press Preseason All-America team, the Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and Preseason All-Big 12 First Team last month, Lawson sat out last season after transferring from Memphis. The Memphis, Tennessee, forward averaged 19.2 points and 9.9 rebounds, amassing 19 double-doubles his sophomore year for the Tigers in 2016-17, earning All-American Athletic Conference First Team honors. As a freshman, Lawson averaged 15.8 points and 9.3 rebounds with 17 double-doubles for Memphis.

The 2019 NABC Division I Player of the Year award will be announced on Sunday, April 7, at the NABC Guardians of the Game Awards Show in Minneapolis, Minnesota – site of the 2019 NCAA Final Four. Historically, Kansas’ Frank Mason III was named the NABC Player of the Year following the 2016-17 season.

No. 1 Kansas opens the 2018-19 season when it plays No. 10 Michigan State in the State Farm Champions Classic, Tuesday, Nov. 6, at 6 p.m. (Central) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

2019 NABC Division I Player of the Year Presented by ShotTracker
Preseason Watch List
RJ Barrett, Duke (Fr.-F)
Tyus Battle, Syracuse (Jr.-G)
Mike Daum, South Dakota State (Sr.-F)
Carsen Edwards, Purdue (Jr.-G)
Kyle Guy, Virginia (Jr.-G)
Rui Hachimura, Gonzaga (Jr.-F)
Ethan Happ, Wisconsin (Sr.-F)
De’Andre Hunter, Virginia (So.-G)
Romeo Langford, Indiana (Fr.-G)
DEDRIC LAWSON, KANSAS (Jr.-F)
Caleb Martin, Nevada (Sr.-F)
Luke Maye, North Carolina (Sr.-F)
Eric Paschall, Villanova (Sr.-F)
Shamorie Ponds, St. John’s (Jr.-G)
Reid Travis, Kentucky (Grad.-F)
Dean Wade, Kansas State (Sr.-F)
P.J. Washington, Kentucky (Fr.-F)
Tremont Waters, LSU (So.-G)
Grant Williams, Tennessee (Jr.-F)
Zion Williamson, Duke (Fr.-F)

— KU Athletics —

Mizzou’s Lock named SEC Offensive Player of the Week

Posted on November 5, 2018

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Football senior QB Drew Lock is the SEC Offensive Player of the Week, announced Monday (Nov. 5) by the league office. This marks the first time this season that Lock has earned SEC Offensive Player of the Week.

Lock led Mizzou to the program’s first road win over a ranked team since 2014, as he threw for 250 yards (the most against Florida this year) and three touchdowns (the most against Florida this year) in a convincing 38-17 win in the Swamp at No. 13 Florida.

He completed 24-of-32 passes with no turnovers against a defense that came into the game ranked eighth nationally in turnovers gained (18 total), and his QB rating of 171.56 came against a defense which came into the game ranked 23rd in pass efficiency defense (110.42 rating).

His 250 passing yards were the most against the Gators in 15 contests while his three TDs match the most by a single QB against Florida since Sept. 24, 2016, when Tennessee QB Josh Dobbs had four. In the 31 games since Dobbs threw for four TDs vs. the Gators’ lauded secondary, only five times has a QB thrown for three TDs in a game – Lock has done so twice in that span after throwing three in a 45-16 win over the Gators a year ago. The others to do so are Kentucky’s Stephen Johnson, Vanderbilt’s Kyle Shurmur and Georgia’s Jake Fromm.

Lock’s QB rating of 171.56 last Saturday was his best against an SEC team this season while his 75 percent completion percentage matched his best ever in an SEC game (he did so against Florida last year as well). Since 2009, Florida has allowed opposing QBs to complete 75 percent of their passes just three times in 124 games. Lock has two of those three games. The other was Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel during his Heisman season in 2012.

Mizzou’s 38 points and 471 yards of total offense marked season highs against the Florida defense, which came into the game ranked 20th in scoring defense, allowing just 19.0 points per game, and 28th in total defense (336.5 ypg).

Lock completed passes to 10 different receivers on the day, and he also converted a couple of critical third downs on scrambles to move the chains.

Lock’s big day moved him into third place on the SEC career touchdowns chart, with 90, and he passed Tim Tebow and Chris Leak of Florida (88 each) and Tennessee’s Peyton Manning (89) on the way. He also moved past Florida’s Danny Wuerffel into sixth place on the SEC passing yardage chart, with 11,089 yards.

Lock and the Tigers return home this Saturday (Nov. 10) to host Vanderbilt at 11 a.m. on ESPN 1550.

— Mizzou Athletics —

Two Jayhawks on Citizen Naismith Trophy men’s watch list

Posted on November 5, 2018

ATLANTA – Kansas junior Dedric Lawson and freshman Quentin Grimes have been named to the 50-member 2019 Citizen Naismith Trophy Men’s Player of the Year watch list, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Monday.

Named the Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year and preseason All-Big 12 Honorable Mention, Grimes is a five-star combo guard who made his rounds on the all-star game circuit following his senior year at College Park High School in The Woodlands, Texas. Ranked No. 8 in the national recruiting services, he averaged 29.5 points, 8.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists his senior season, earning the 2017-18 Texas Gatorade Player of the Year, Texas Mr. Basketball and the 6A Player of the Year honors. This past summer, Grimes was the Most Valuable Player and an All-Tournament selection at the 2018 FIBA Americas U18 Championships in leading USA to the gold medal, where he averaged 14.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists. The USA squad was coached by KU head coach Bill Self.

A list of the midseason 30 team will be released on Feb. 13, 2019, followed by the 10 national semifinalists and four finalists on March 4, 2019 and March 19, 2019 respectively. The 2019 Citizen Naismith Trophy will be awarded on at the Naismith Awards Brunch on April 7, 2019, during the Final Four in Minneapolis.

Historically, Kansas’ Frank Mason III won the Naismith Trophy following the 2016-17 season. Jayhawk Devonte’ Graham was a finalist last season.

To see the complete list of candidates for the 2019 Citizen Naismith Trophy Player of the Year, go here.

No. 1 Kansas opens the 2018-19 season when it plays No. 10 Michigan State in the State Farm Champions Classic, Tuesday, Nov. 6, at 6 p.m. (Central) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

— KU Athletics —