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Category: Sports

Missouri baseball drops series finale to Northeastern

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FORT MYERS, Fla. – Mizzou Baseball dropped the final contest of its season-opening, eight-game road trip, 4-2, to Northeastern Sunday afternoon (Feb. 25) at City of Palms Park. Mizzou closes its road trip with a 5-3 mark to open the 2018 campaign while Northeastern improves to 4-3.

Mizzou senior RHP Andy Toelken (Green Cove Springs, Fla.) took the loss after allowing four runs on six hits over the first 4.1 innings. He was out-dueled by Northeastern’s Sean Mellen. Mizzou hit into a pair of rally-killing double plays in the sixth and seventh innings as it attempted to come back and then saw a ninth-inning rally fall short with the tying run at the plate.

TURNING POINT
Clinging to a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth inning, Northeastern DH Ryan Solomon hit a two-run homer off Mizzou starter Andy Toelken to extend the lead to 4-1. The Tigers went quietly in a quick 1-2-3 bottom of the fourth and Northeastern seized momentum from there.

Mizzou put two men on in the sixth inning after back-to-back singles from Brett Bond (St. Louis, Mo.) and Zach Hanna (Shawnee Mission, Kan.), threatening to chip into the 4-1 lead. Unfortunately, DH Isiah Cullum (Bushnell, Fla.) hit into a 5-3 double play to squelch the threat. Mizzou again hit into a double play in the seventh and its rally fell short in the ninth.

TOP TIGERS
– Junior RHP Brian Sharp was sensational in relief Sunday, throwing 4.2 shutout innings, allowing just three hits and no walks while striking out six. On the week, he pitched 9.2 shutout innings and struck out 14 without a walk, surrounding just seven hits. He also hit .563 at the plate and drove in 10 runs, including his 5-for-5 performance with a school-record nine RBI in the nightcap of Saturday’s doubleheader.

– Sharp also singled in his only AB in the ninth.

NOTES
– The all-time series between Mizzou and Northeastern is now tied at 2-2

– Mizzou is now 11-5 in games played at City of Palms Park

– Mizzou is now 23-13 in games played away from home under second-year head coach Steve Bieser

– Mizzou is now 15-6 in games played in Florida during the first two weeks of the season over the last two-plus seasons.

– Mizzou falls to 0-2 on Sundays this season

– SS Chris Cornelius batted in the leadoff spot for the first time in his career Sunday.

UP NEXT
Mizzou heads home for a 10-game homestand, beginning Tuesday with the first of a two-game set vs. Alabama A&M.

— Mizzou Athletics —

MWSU Track & Field ends with seven top-ten finishes on final day of MIAA Championships

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PITTSBURG, Kan. – The Missouri Western track and field teams ended the MIAA Indoor Championships Sunday with seven top-10 finishes and two provisional marks.

Hanna Williams again hit a provisional and broke her own school record while finishing fourth in the 400m with a 55.83. In the women’s long jump, Mallory Vawter finished fifth with a school record and provisional jump of 18-9 (5.71m). Phil Thompson finished eighth in the men’s long jump with a 22-6 ¼ (6.86m). Kaitlyn Shoemaker finished seventh and broke the school record in the 3,000m with a 10:20.92. Graham Buresh brought home an eighth place finish in the men’s 400m with a 49.81. Both the men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams finished in the top-10. The men (Jalen Pauley, Chris Stanley, Nate Jelinek, Graham Buresh) finished eighth with a 3:19.56. The women’s team of Morgan Doyle, Alison Nutt, Madison Roumph and Hanna Williams finished ninth with a 3:57.48.

The women’s team finished in a tie for 11th with 18 points. The men’s team finished 12th with seven team points.

On the weekend, Griffons broke 11 school records and had nine top-eight finishes.

— MWSU Athletics —

Griffons lose at Lindenwood, still get final spot in MIAA Tournament

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ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The Missouri Western men’s basketball team lost their regular season finale at Lindenwood Saturday 88-70. The Griffons end the regular season 6-20 and 4-15 in the MIAA.

Cole Clearman went a perfect 4-for-4 from the three-point line in his final regular season game at Missouri Western. Clearman and Lavon Hightower connected on seven of MWSU’s 10 three-pointers. Lindenwood shot 63.5 percent from the field and 64.7 percent from the three-point arc. The Lions forced the Griffons into 14 turnovers.

Despite the loss, Missouri Western gets into the MIAA Tournament as the No. 12 seed. The Griffons will travel to Warrensburg, Missouri to play at Central Missouri at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday. MWSU finished in a three-way tie for the final spot but won the tiebreaker because of wins in the regular season over Emporia State and Northeastern State.

NOTABLES
– Missouri Western outscored Lindenwood 28-18 off the bench, it is the second consecutive game MWSU’s bench has outscored its opponent

– The Griffons shot 83.3 percent from the free-throw line, the highest in the last four games
MWSU won the rebounding margin 24-20

– The Lion’s Brad Newman scored a game-high 31 points, the second most allowed by Missouri Western this season.

— MWSU Athletics —

Bearcats get by Lincoln to claim outright MIAA title

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The Northwest Missouri State University men’s basketball team defeated Lincoln, 73-55, on Saturday afternoon at Jason Gym in Jefferson City, Mo.

With the win, the Bearcats claimed the outright MIAA regular season title.

The victory was also head coach Ben McCollum’s 200th win, all coming at Northwest.

The Bearcats finished the regular season with a 24-3 overall mark and a 16-3 MIAA record. The Blue Tigers fall to 15-13 overall and 9-10 in conference action.

Joey Witthus tied his season-high with 22 points, knocking down four three pointers. He had five rebounds, five assists and was 4-for-4 at the free throw line.

Key Northwest Statistics
– Northwest shot 51.9 percent (28-of-54) from the field and were 13-for-25 (52 percent) from beyond the arc.

– Witthus’ four free throws were the only trips to the charity stripe for the Bearcats during the game.

– Northwest out rebounded the Blue Tigers, 28-26, and never trailed in the game.

– Xavier Kurth hit a career-high four three pointers, finishing with 14 points. He grabbed seven rebounds and added two assists.

– Justin Pitts scored 13 points, dishing out seven assists and grabbing two rebounds.

– Brett Dougherty had 10 points, three rebounds and an assist, going 5-for-10 from the field.

– Ryan Welty and Ryan Hawkins each had scored six points. Welty had five rebounds and Hawkins added four.

Key Northwest Sequence
– The Bearcats had maintained a double-digit lead for most of the game. Late in the second half with around five minutes to play, Northwest stretched the lead into the 20s for the first time. Kurth nailed a three pointer to make it 62-47 with 5:32 to play off a pass from Witthus. After a missed three by the Blue Tigers, Pitts hit a three from just in front of the Bearcat bench to make it 65-47. Another Lincoln missed three gave possession back to Northwest and this time it was Kurth again hitting a long range bomb off an assist from Pitts to make it a 21-point lead, 68-47.

Up Next
– Northwest will now face the winner of the No. 8 vs. No. 9 seed at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo., on Friday, March 2, at 6 p.m.

— Northwest Athletics —

Missouri gets blown out at Kentucky 87-66

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LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Outside shooting helped get Kentucky going against Missouri before the Wildcats started hitting from inside the arc. On both fronts, baskets came consistently with many contributions.

Kevin Knox had 21 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 14 and Kentucky made 10 3-pointers and shot 55 percent to blow out the Tigers 87-66 on Saturday night.

The Wildcats (20-9, 9-7 Southeastern Conference) outscored the Tigers 16-6 over the final 4 1/2 minutes before halftime for a 44-32 lead. Several more spurts stretched the advantage to as many as 24 as they avenged a 69-60 loss three weeks ago, a game in which baskets were hard to come by.

This time, Kentucky seemingly couldn’t miss.

Knox succeeded more from inside the arc than behind it, but his one 3 helped the Wildcats’ strong start and symbolized his focus after a couple of rough days.

Mentioned Friday in a Yahoo! Sports story as having had a meal with an agent, the freshman forward started after an internal review determined there were no eligibility issues. He made 6 of 13 from the field and all eight free throws in a game that initially seemed destined to be decided from outside.

“With everything going on it has been a good week,” Knox said, “just been blocking everything out. I had two good days of practice before this game. Last time they gave us a good one at their place, so we just made sure that we focused on the game going on.

Quade Green and PJ Washington each added 12 points, while Jarred Vanderbilt had a career-high 15 rebounds and 11 points for his first career double-double. Hamidou Diallo made all three 3s for 11 points as six Wildcats scored in double figures. Kentucky was 10 of 16 from long range and shot above 50 percent for the first time since Jan. 13 at Vanderbilt.

Kassius Robertson had 26 points including six 3s, and Jordan Barnett had 11 points for Missouri (18-11, 8-8), which made 10 of 31 from long but shot 36 percent in losing its third in a row.

BIG PICTURE

Missouri: The Tigers started with promise offensively, especially from outside, before cooling off to finish 21 of 58 from the field. Failing to contain Kentucky as well from the perimeter hurt the most, and getting beat 36-31 on the glass was an issue of toughness for coach Cuonzo Martin.

“They set a tone that we could never match their toughness level,” he said.

Kentucky: The Wildcats followed up their impressive victory at Arkansas by doing many things right, especially with 27 defensive rebounds. Long-range shots got them going offensively and led to frequent chances at the foul line, where they made 21 of 28 free throws. They also shared the ball well with 17 assists, while their bench dominated 38-15.

More importantly for coach John Calipari, the Wildcats are coming together just in time for the postseason.

“Right before your eyes, we’re becoming a better basketball team,” he said. “It was only a month ago, three weeks ago, half the team, it was a fight to get them to play how we were trying to get them to play.”

PORTER UPDATE

Freshman forward Michael Porter Jr. did not play after returning to practice Friday following back surgery. Martin said the team is going to make sure he’s healthy enough to take contact before bringing him back and did not set a timetable for his return.

CHAMPS REMEMBERED

Members of Kentucky’s 1978 NCAA championship squad held their 40th anniversary reunion this week and were recognized in a halftime ceremony. The Wildcats beat Duke to claim the program’s fifth title and end a 20-year drought. Surviving members or their relatives, including MVP Jack “Goose” Givens, received replicas of the championship plaque that was displayed on a table. Former coach Joe B. Hall said, “it gets better and better every year.”

UP NEXT

Missouri visits Vanderbilt Tuesday in the season’s lone meeting between the schools.

Kentucky hosts Mississippi on Wednesday, seeking its ninth straight series win against the Rebels.

— Associated Press —

Missouri Western women come up short at Lindenwood

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ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The 2017-18 regular season ended Saturday with a 61-50 loss at Lindenwood (15-12, 8-11) for the Missouri Western women’s basketball team (11-17, 4-15).

Savannah Lentz tied the game at 44 with a three-pointer to open the fourth quarter, but the Griffons scored just six more points in the quarter while Lindenwood scored 17.

The MIAA will release the MIAA Championship bracket later Saturday, but Missouri Western is expected to make the field as the No. 12 seed. The Griffons are the No. 12 seed in the MIAA Tournament as they’ll travel to Nebraska Kearney on Monday for the opening round of the tournament. The Griffons earned the final spot by way of tie-break over Northwest Missouri. Missouri Western’s win over likely No. 4 seed Central Oklahoma back on Nov. 30 gave the Griffons the edge over the Bearcats who forced the tie with a win at Lincoln on Saturday.

NOTABLES
– Lentz went 4-of-7 from three-point range, scoring 14 points

– Melia Richardson led Missouri Western with 17 points

– For the 10th time in the last 11 games, MWSU held its opponent under 64 points

– Missouri Western went 10-of-11 at the free throw line

– The Griffons committed 19 turnovers and shot 38 percent from the field

– Missouri Western finished the regular season 1-11 on the road

— MWSU Athletics —

KU beats Texas Tech to set NCAA record with 14th straight regular-season league title

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LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Devonte’ Graham barged through a door with a big smile, wearing a hat tilted slightly forward over his eyes that read “14 straight.”

Kansas finally has its NCAA record.

Graham scored 26 points and the eighth-ranked Jayhawks wrapped up their 14th consecutive regular-season conference championship, clinching at least a tie for the Big 12 title with a 74-72 victory against sixth-ranked Texas Tech on Saturday.

“It’s just being a part of history and me and my boy are part of it,” Graham said as he turned toward fellow senior Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, who scored 21.

Graham hit a tiebreaking jumper with 1:30 remaining to help Kansas (23-6, 12-4) to its fourth straight win and a two-game lead over the Red Raiders, who have lost three in a row for the first time this season. The Jayhawks never trailed.

All 14 of the titles have come under coach Bill Self, who finished second in his first season at KU. Four of the previous 13 championships were shared. UCLA won 13 straight Pac-10 titles from 1967 to 1979.

“We picked the best time to be our best the last couple of weeks,” Self said. “To play with little depth and to play so small and to not be a physical team at all, to see how these guys hung in there and competed, I’m amazed.”

The current skid for the Red Raiders (22-7, 10-6) started when leading scorer Keenan Evans injured a toe in the first half of a loss to Baylor that pulled Kansas even in the Big 12 race. The senior guard scored six points in his third straight game in single digits since the injury.

Zhaire Smith scored 20 points and fellow freshman Jarrett Culver had 18 for Texas Tech, which dropped its second straight game since reaching the highest ranking in school history. The Red Raiders surpassed last week’s No. 7 ranking that matched the 1995-96 team.

“You’ve got to credit the opponent,” coach Chris Beard said. “It’s why their players, a lot of them, go to the NBA. It’s why they win our conference almost every year, or every year, not almost. We were part of the fight. And we intend to be part of the fight as we build the program.”

The Jayhawks scored the first eight points and led by eight with less than five minutes remaining after Graham hit a long 3 with the shot clock about to expire. But just like the rest of the season in the rugged Big 12, it wasn’t easy.

Smith had a putback dunk to pull Texas Tech even at 68-68 before Graham hit the go-ahead jumper and got an off-balance shot to fall while the Red Raiders committed turnovers on consecutive possessions.

After a throw-in to run off the final two seconds, the Jayhawks stormed the court to the cheers of scattered fans in blue in what had been a raucous arena. Texas Tech students camped overnight for a national TV event the morning of the game.

“I feel like this year was the year that everybody thought we were going to lose it,” Graham said. “As a team, we’ve just been battling, staying positive with each other, going through the grind. And now we made history.”

BIG PICTURE

Kansas: Mykhailiuk and Graham formed a pretty good first half-second half tag team. The Ukrainian guard had a team-leading 15 points and three assists before halftime, and Graham had 18 points in the second half.

Texas Tech: The Red Raiders are trying to get as much out of Evans as possible, subbing him frequently to rest the injured toe. But his impact clearly isn’t the same, and whether the toe improves is likely to determine how far Tech goes in the NCAA tournament.

TOP-10 WINS

Kansas is 3-0 against top-10 teams this season and has won eight straight true road games against top-10 opponents. The last loss was to No. 4 Missouri on Feb. 2, 2012.

SMITH IN, GRAY OUT

Texas Tech senior Zach Smith entered in the first minute after missing 13 games with a broken foot. He replaced Justin Gray, who was flattened when he didn’t see a screen by 7-foot, 280-pound Udoka Azubuike. Gray stayed down for a couple of minutes before walking slowly to the bench. Gray didn’t return, and Smith finished with one point and four rebounds in 22 minutes.

UP NEXT

Kansas: Home against Texas on Monday before its regular-season finale at Oklahoma State next Saturday.

Texas Tech: At No. 21 West Virginia on Monday before finishing the regular season at home against TCU next Saturday. The Red Raiders and Mountaineers are tied for second in the Big 12.

— Associated Press —

Northwest women defeat Lincoln in season finale

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The Northwest Missouri State University women’s basketball team defeated Lincoln University, 76-65, on Saturday afternoon at Jason Gym in Jefferson City, Mo.

The Bearcats improve to 5-22 overall and 4-15 in MIAA play. The Blue Tigers finish the year at 4-23 overall and 1-18 in conference action.

Jaelyn Haggard led four Northwest players in double figures, scoring a career-high 30 points with six three pointers. She had four rebounds, three assists and went 8-for-9 from the charity stripe.

Key Northwest Statistics
– Northwest led 36-28 at halftime and outscored Lincoln, 29-19, in the fourth quarter.

– The Bearcats shot 21-for-49 (42.9 percent) from the field and connected on 46.2 percent (12-of-26) of their three-point attempts.

– Northwest also went a stellar 22-for-25 (88 percent) from the charity stripe and out rebounded Lincoln, 43-26.

– Lincoln was held to just 36.5 percent (22-for-63) shooting and hit just 6-of-17 (35.3 percent) three point attempts.

– Tanya Meyer recorded her ninth double-double of the season in her final game as a Bearcat. She scored 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting and grabbed 15 rebounds. She hit three three-pointers and was 4-for-4 from the free throw line.

– Mallory McAndrews hit a pair of three pointers and finished with 12 points. She was a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe.

– Kylie Coleman finished with 10 points, shooting 3-for-4 with a three pointer. She also was 3-for-4 from the free throw line and grabbed a rebound.

– Kaylani Maiava had eight rebounds and finished with three points.

– Mallory McConkey added four rebounds and three assists.

– Maria Dentlinger contributed three rebounds.

Key Northwest Sequence
– With 3:50 left in the fourth quarter, Linclon hit a pair of free throws to bring the game back to within three, 59-56. But the Bearcats would hold Lincoln to just nine points the remainder of the way. Northwest hit 14-of-16 free throw and got a three-pointer from McAndrews with 2:02 remaining to close out the victory on a 17-9 run. In fact, the Bearcats hit 11-consecutive free throws to close out the game.

Up Next
– Saturday’s game concludes the Bearcats’ 2017-18 season.

— Northwest Athletics —

MWSU’s Odir, Thompson earn top five finishes on day two of MIAA Track & Field championships

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PITTSBURG, Kan. – Day two of the MIAA Indoor Track and Field Championships produced two top-five finishes and two provisional marks for Missouri Western track and field athletes.

Julia Odir finished fourth in the women’s triple jump and earned an NCAA Division II provisional mark with a 38-8 ¾ jump. In the men’s triple jump, Phil Thompson finished fifth with a provisional mark of 49-1 ½.

In other finals action, Saturday, Kaitlyn Shoemaker recovered from a fall in the 5,000m to finish seventh with an 18:26.96. In the women’s weight throw final, Kallin Sheppard set a new Missouri Western best throw of 45-3 ½.

Hanna Williams and Graham Buresh both qualified for Sunday’s finals in the 400m. Buresh broke the school record in the prelims with a 49.28.

OTHER NOTABLES
– Chris Stanley broke the school 600yd record (1:13.98)

– Nate Jelinek recorded a personal-best 1:14.11 in the 600yd

– Morgan Doyle had a personal best 1:29.48 in the 600yd

– Megan Gillen had a personal season-best 2:23.75 in the 800m

– Kylie Lineberry recorded a pr in the 60m with an 8.29

The championships wrap up on Sunday in Pittsburg, Kansas. Along with Williams and Buresh in the men’s and women’s 400m finals, the Griffons will send entries into the men’s and women’s shot put finals and men’s and women’s long jump finals.

— MWSU Athletics —

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