We have a brand new updated website! Click here to check it out!

Category: Sports

Mizzou loses Texas Bowl to Longhorns 33-16

Posted on

HOUSTON (AP) — Freshman running back Daniel Young had 64 yards receiving with a touchdown and added 48 yards on the ground to help Texas beat Missouri 33-16 in the Texas Bowl on Wednesday night.

The Longhorns (7-6), in a bowl for the first time since 2014, bounced back from a loss to Texas Tech in their regular-season finale to finish with their first winning record since going 8-5 in Mack Brown’s final season in 2013.

Shane Buechele and Sam Ehlinger split time at quarterback for Texas, and both players threw a touchdown pass. The defense helped out, too, with Anthony Wheeler scoring a TD on a fumble return in the first half and Davante Davis grabbing an interception with about three minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Armanti Foreman dashed 18 yards for a touchdown on the ensuing drive to extend the lead to 33-16 and put the game out of reach.

Drew Lock passed for 269 yards and a touchdown, but also threw an interception and lost a fumble in the loss, which snapped a six-game winning streak for the Tigers. Lock led the nation during the regular season with a Southeastern Conference-record 43 touchdown passes and he had thrown three or more in eight straight games.

Buechele connected with Young on a 22-yard touchdown pass to put Texas up 7-0 early in the first quarter. Ehlinger found John Burt for a 7-yard score later in the first to push the lead to 14-0.

The Tigers (7-6) got within 14-7 when Ish Witter ran 4 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. But Witter fumbled later in the period and Wheeler scooped it up and rumbled 38 yards for a touchdown to leave Texas up 21-7 at halftime.

Lock threw a 79-yard touchdown pass to Johnathon Johnson on the first play of the second half, but the 2-point conversion failed, leaving the Tigers down 21-13.

They cut the margin to 21-16 with a 28-yard field goal by Tucker McCann with about three minutes left in the third quarter, but weren’t able to move the ball much after that.

The Longhorns went up 23-16 when a bad snap sailed over Lock’s head and rolled out of the back of the end zone for a safety near the end of the third quarter.

Texas used a 41-yard field goal early in the fourth to make it 26-16 with about 12 minutes left.

Ehlinger was 11 of 15 for 112 yards, and Buechele finished 6 of 14 for 55 yards.

THE TAKEAWAY

Texas: Coach Tom Herman’s first season with the Longhorns was somewhat of a disappointment, but his team’s performance against Missouri should give fans hope that the program is back on the right track.

Missouri: Texas found a way to stymie Missouri’s potent offense after the Tigers scored 45 or more points in each of their previous six games, a school record.

UP NEXT

Texas: Herman appears to have two improving quarterbacks in Buechele and Ehlinger, but to develop more consistency next season the coach might need to pick one as his starter and stick with him.

Missouri: Lock will have to decide if he’ll declare for the NFL draft or return for his senior season. With offensive coordinator Josh Heupel leaving to coach Central Florida, Lock’s decision could hinge on his feelings about the new offensive coordinator.

— Associated Press —

K-State uses big second half to defeat UCLA in Cactus Bowl

Posted on

PHOENIX (AP) — Alex Delton ran for 158 yards and accounted for four touchdowns, leading Kansas State to a 35-17 Cactus Bowl victory over UCLA on Tuesday night in what could be the final game of coach Bill Snyder’s career.

Delton replaced Skylar Thompson late in the first quarter and scored on runs of 68 yards, 3 yards and 1 yard. Alex Barnes added 117 yards and a touchdown for the Wildcats, who rushed for 345 yards.

Kansas State (8-5) struggled in the first half against UCLA’s potent offense, but shut down the Bruins in the second to give Snyder his 210th — and possibly final — win with the Wildcats.

UCLA (6-7) played without top NFL prospect Josh Rosen, who’s recovering from a concussion, and built a 10-point halftime lead without its star quarterback.

The Bruins’ offensive success didn’t carry over into the second half and their defense had a hard time containing Delton, saddling interim coach Jedd Fisch with a loss in his last game before Chip Kelly takes over the program.

Snyder turned around one of the nation’s worst programs after taking over in the Little Apple in 1989. He returned from a three-year retirement in 2008 and led the Wildcats to eight straight bowl appearances.

Snyder has not decided whether he will return for a 27th season or retire again to spend time with his family.

The 78-year-old coach made a quarterback change in the first quarter of the Cactus Bowl, replacing Thompson after an interception. Delton had an immediate impact with his legs, bursting through a hole in the middle, making a tackler miss and racing 68 yards for a touchdown.

Snyder took a gamble in the third quarter, opting to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 1. Delton came through again, bulling his way through a massive pile — with some help from his teammates — for a hard-earned score.

Kansas State recovered Bolu Olorunfunmi’s fumble at the Bruins 24-yard line on the next play from scrimmage, and Delton hit Dominique Heath for an 8-yard touchdown to give the Wildcats the lead.

UCLA turned it over on downs — after a successful fake punt — and Kansas State turned its fourth-down try into a touchdown, with Alex Barnes putting the Wildcats up 28-17 with a 41-yard run.

Kansas State gave UCLA no hope of a comeback with a drive that lasted more than eight minutes and ended with Delton’s final TD run.

Rosen, expected to leave for the NFL after his junior year, was in uniform at Chase Field and warmed up before the game, but Devon Modster trotted out to the huddle for UCLA.

The Bruins still had their big-play game going even without Rosen, building a 17-7 halftime lead on two long TD passes by Modster.

UCLA’s offensive roll ended with halftime. The Bruins had 100 total yards and three first downs in the second half.

THE TAKEAWAY

If this was the final game of Snyder’s career, the Wildcats sent him out on a high note with a dominant second-half performance.

UCLA’s defense, a sore spot all season, had no answer for Delton, and its offense could have used Rosen in the second half.

UP NEXT

Kansas State: The Wildcats should be in good shape on offense next season whether Snyder returns or not. Kansas State has no seniors on its two-deep roster on offense, though there are five on defense.

UCLA: Kelly will likely have to replace Rosen when he takes over, but will have plenty of firepower returning. He’s also one of the nation’s top recruiters, so the Bruins should be well-stocked with talent.

— Associated Press —

Chiefs beat Miami 29-13 to win back-to-back AFC West titles

Posted on

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Alex Smith threw for 304 yards and a touchdown, Kareem Hunt ran for 91 yards and a score and the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Miami Dolphins 29-13 on Sunday to clinch back-to-back AFC West titles for the first time in franchise history.

Tyreek Hill had six catches for 109 yards, and Harrison Butker converted five field goals, as the Chiefs (9-6) dashed what faint postseason hope the Dolphins (6-9) still harbored.

Jay Cutler threw for 286 yards and a touchdown, but a chunk of that came on a 65-yard toss to Jakeem Grant late in the first half. Otherwise, Miami struggled against a Chiefs defense that has been stingy and opportunistic the past two weeks.

That’s coincided with the return of Marcus Peters from his disciplinary suspension.

The Chiefs’ star cornerback had two interceptions and forced a fumble against the Chargers last week, a win that pushed them to the brink of the playoffs. He recovered a fumble and forced another on Sunday, giving Peters a hand in five turnovers the past two weeks.

Both turnovers led to points, but they weren’t the Dolphins’ only costly miscues.

They also were nailed for defensive holding four times, all of which came on three scoring drives for Kansas City. And the Dolphins inability to get off the field on third down, after holding opponents to 8 for 39 the past two games, was similarly deflating.

Still, the Dolphins had the ball trailing 17-13 late in the first half, the outcome and their longshot playoff hopes were still in the balance. But they soon went three-and-out and the Chiefs added a field goal to make it 20-13 at the break, then another to start the second half.

Even when the Dolphins made a crucial stop on fourth down to get the ball back later in the third quarter, they squandered the opportunity. Peters stripped Kenny Stills to give the Chiefs the ball, and Butker hit his fourth chip-shot field goal for a 26-13 lead with 12:19 to go.

That gave a sparse crowd that turned out on Christmas Eve, braving slick roads from an overnight snowfall frigid wind chills at kickoff, plenty of time to celebrate a division title.

Turn their thoughts toward a home playoff game in the new year, too.

STATS AND STREAKS

Chiefs TE Travis Kelce had four catches for 47 yards and a score , and has a catch in 63 straight games. … Chiefs coach Andy Reid improved to 5-1 against Miami. … Dolphins WR Jarvis Landry had five catches for 51 yards, giving him a league-best 103 catches this season. … The Dolphins had won seven of their last 10 against Kansas City. Their last loss at Arrowhead Stadium was in 2002.

INJURY NOTES

Dolphins DT Vincent Taylor hurt his knee on the opening kickoff, while CB Alterraun Verner went down with a hamstring injury later in the half. Miami DE Andre Branch played despite a knee injury.

UP NEXT

Dolphins conclude their season against the Bills next Sunday.

Chiefs head to Denver on Sunday to finish their regular season.

— Associated Press —

Mizzou’s rally comes up short as they lose fifth straight to Illinois

Posted on

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Trent Frazier scored a career-high 22 points and Leron Black added 20 to lead Illinois to a 70-64 win over Missouri on Saturday night.

The Illini (9-5) have won five straight games in the annual pre-Christmas showdown.

Kassius Robertson paced the Tigers (10-3) with 22 points. Jordan Barnett added 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Illinois leads the overall series 25-12 in games played in St. Louis.

Mark Smith added 11 points for Illinois, which won its first six games before losing five of its next seven, and Michael Finke scored 10.

Black scored 13 first-half points as the Illini took a 20-point lead into the break. Frazier hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final 53 seconds for a 42-22 cushion.

Illinois used runs of 9-0 and 10-0 to roll out to a 19-5 lead.

Missouri, which had a five-game winning streak snapped, missed 10 of its first 12 shots and committed 14 turnovers on its first 29 possessions over the initial 16-plus minutes.

The Tigers got to within 66-62 in the final minute.

But Frazier hit a pair of fouls shots with 25 seconds left to push the lead to six.

CHEER CHAMPS

Missouri won the traditional Statue of Liberty cheerleader battle during a first-half time out. Three male-female duos from each school compete to see which can hold its partner aloft for the longest time.

Sophomore Zoe Montgomery and junior Christian Gentile were the last pair standing for the Tigers.

“It was crazy just to win the whole thing,” Montgomery said.

THE THRILL IS BACK

A sellout crowd of 21,289 witnessed the 37th edition of the annual pre-Christmas rivalry game on Saturday. A series-low 12,409 fans saw last year’s contest.

SO CLOSE

Illinois has held a second-half lead in all five of its losses this season. The Illini have had the ball and been either tied or held a lead in the final minute in three of those setbacks.

BIG PICTURE

Illinois: The Illini grab some much-needed momentum heading into Big Ten Conference play. They dropped a 74-69 decision to New Mexico State on Dec. 16 and had lost five of their previous seven games heading into play on Saturday.

Missouri: The Tigers will look to get back on the winning track as they open Southeastern Conference play at the start of the New Year. They won five of their first six games.

UP NEXT

Illinois: Will host Grand Canyon on Saturday before opening Big Ten Conference play at Minnesota (Jan. 3) and at Michigan (Jan. 6)

Missouri: Begins Southeastern Conference play at South Carolina on Jan. 3

— Associated Press —

Silvio De Sousa cleared to play for Kansas

Posted on

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self confirmed Friday that power forward Silvio De Sousa has been cleared to come to KU and practice. De Sousa will join the team Dec. 26.

“Silvio has completed the required coursework that will enable him to graduate from IMG Academy and report to KU,” Self said. “He is eligible to practice immediately and will join our team December 26th. We are now working through the NCAA’s amateurism process and hope to have him certified as soon as possible for game competition.”

De Sousa, who will wear jersey No. 22 at Kansas, signed a National Letter of Intent to play at KU during the early signing period in November. He then pursued graduating from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, early to join the Jayhawks and play the spring semester.

De Sousa is ranked No. 18 nationally by Rivals.com, No. 28 by ESPN100 and No. 31 by the 247Sports.com national recruiting services. The 6-foot-9, 245-point Luanda, Angola, native has been living in Florida for nearly four years.

No. 13/14 Kansas (10-2) will play at Texas (7-3) on Friday, Dec. 29, at 8 p.m. in the 2017-18 Big 12 Conference opener. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

— KU Athletics —

Johnson, Scurry guide Missouri State past Loyola-Chicago 64-59

Posted on

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Alize Johnson hit five 3-pointers and scored 24 with 11 rebounds, Reggie Scurry came off the bench to score 18 with seven boards and Missouri State slipped past Loyola-Chicago 64-59 in a Missouri Valley Conference opener for both teams on Friday.

Ryan Kreklow chipped in with 10 points, five assists and five rebounds for the Bears (11-3), who ran their record to 25-3 in MVC home openers. Johnson notched his third straight double-double and eighth of the season and needs just three rebounds to reach 500 for his career. Missouri State won the battle of the boards 32-30 and have outrebounded its opponents in 13 of 14 games. The Bears, who have posted double-figure totals in offensive rebounds in 12 games this season, had nine against the Ramblers (10-3).

Cameron Krutwig had a season-high 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting for Illinois-Chicago. Marques Townes added 14 points and Aundre Jackson scored 10 for the Ramblers, who hit 23 of 52 shots (44 percent) to become just the second team this season to top 43 percent against Missouri State. The Ramblers have never won a MVC opener on the road.

Townes’ jumper gave the Ramblers a 48-47 lead midway through the second half, but Scurry and Johnson teamed up for a 7-2 run and the Bears never trailed again.

— Associated Press —

Nebraska cruises to win over Delaware State

Posted on

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — James Palmer Jr. had 18 points and Nebraska opened up a 19-point lead midway through the first half and turned back a second half Delaware State surge to take an 85-68 win Friday.

Nebraska (9-5) ran off 14 straight to go up 20-6 on Thomas Allen’s layup with 12:56 left in the opening half, and stretched that to 28-9 over the next four minutes.

A 10-2 flurry by Delaware State (2-12) cut the Nebraska lead to 11 on Kavon Waller’s 3 pointer with 6:34 left in the half. But the Huskers scored eight straight to go back up 19. Nebraska, which hit 60 percent of its shots in the half, led 42-26 at intermission.

Delaware State trailed by 21 when it put together an 11-1 run to cut the Nebraska lead to 59-48 on Demola Onifade’s basket with 10:35 left in the game. Anton Gill’s 3-pointer two minutes later put Nebraska back up by 15 and Palmer’s layup with 6:17 left gave Nebraska a 71-50 lead.

“These Christmas times are just really difficult,” Nebraska coach Tim Miles said of his team’s up-and-down play. “We’ve been through it. We’ve got one more to go. We’ll be locked in and find enough guys to do it. Tonight, we did. We had just enough guys that were locked in. It’s hard.”

Delaware State coach Keith Walker said that, even with the Hornets comeback, the game was decided early.

“I thought we started out a little slow,” Walker said. “I don’t know if it was the atmosphere, because this is probably the largest crowd we’ve played against all year. I don’t know if that threw the young guys off a bit, but we started out a little slow. But once we figured out that we could play a little bit with them, I think they did a much better job the second half. Because of the deficit we built the first half, we weren’t able to overcome it.”

Gill and Thomas Allen each had 14 points for Nebraska, Isaac Copeland had 11 points.

Waller had 16 points to lead Delaware State. Simon Okolue and Artem Tavakalyan had 13 points each and Pinky Wiley had 12 points.

BIG PICTURE

Nebraska: The Huskers were averaging 75.5 points per game entering Friday’s contest, the highest scoring mark for a Nebraska team through 13 games since the 1995-96 season. Nebraska has scored more than 80 points in six of its 14 games.

Delaware State: The Hornets have been mired in a season-long shooting slump. Delaware State shot just 39.5 percent from the field through its first 13 games. The Hornets hit 37.8 percent of their shots in the first half Thursday, then made 51 percent of their shots in the second period.

AN EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENT

Tanner Borchardt, a walk-on junior from Gothenburg, Neb., got a scholarship Saturday in unusual fashion.

“Santa brought a present to the locker room,” Borchardt said. “I got a little Christmas cookie that said `Congrats.’ Then got a shower full of teammates for about a minute, a jumping huddle. What a blessing.”

FROM ICELAND WITH THREES

Thor Thorbjarnarson, Nebraska’s first scholarship player from Iceland, had a career high 6 points, playing in front of family members who made the trip from Reykjavik. “Eight family members came over Iceland,” Miles said. “To be able to get him in the game and have him make those two threes was pretty cool stuff. That second one was deep. I thought I was going to be in the way.”

UP NEXT

Nebraska hosts Stetson on Dec. 29, ending non-conference play. The Huskers will resume Big Ten play at Northwestern Jan. 2

Delaware State travels to Penn for its final non-conference game. The Hornets will open MEAC play Jan. 3 against NC Central.

— Associated Press —

Cunningham’s 27 leads No. 16 Mizzou women past Illini 72-55

Posted on

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Sophie Cunningham continued her torrid shooting, scoring 27 points to lead No. 16 Missouri to its 12th-straight win on Friday, 72-55 over Illinois.

Cunningham was 8 of 11 from the field with three 3-pointers and 8 of 8 from the foul line for her 25th career game with at least 25 points. In the last for games she is 32-of-47 shooting, including 16 of 26 behind the arc.

Cierra Porter added 11 points and Jordan Frericks 10 and both had seven rebounds as the Tigers (12-1) dominated the boards 40-25.

Brandi Beasley had 14 points and Alex Wittinger 13 for the Illini (9-5), who had won four straight.

Cierra Rice had a 3-point play and Jnaya Walker a layup as Illinois scored the last five points of the first quarter to lead 21-18. Cunningham had back-to-back 3-pointers and, a couple minutes later, added two layups in a 7-0 run that helped Missouri go up 37-29 at the half.

The Tigers closed the third quarter with a 12-2 run and led 63-44.

Missouri shot 51 percent for the game (25 of 49) while Illini was at 34 percent (21 of 62).

— Associated Press —

Copyright Eagle Radio | FCC Public Files | EEO Public File