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Tigers struggle in first road game, lose at Utah 77-59

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah didn’t earn any style points during Thursday’s win over Missouri, despite leading by 20 for most of the second half.

David Collette scored 17 and Utah beat Missouri 77-59 in a choppy ballgame in which neither team played particularly well on the offensive end.

The Utes (3-0) got their best win of the season after victories over a pair of SWAC teams to begin the campaign.

“We both had the same thing going on,” Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said. “We had an awful lot of great looks (early). It wasn’t pretty. We were missing open looks. They were missing open looks.

“What really broke the game open was we started making some shots and they continued to struggle a little bit.”

Utah led from start to finish, including 35-19 at halftime after a horrendous offensive performance by the Tigers (2-1). The home team played strong defensively, mixing in some zone, taking away the paint and contesting everything. Missouri started the game 2 for 17 and didn’t hit its first 3-pointer until 2:06 remained in the half. Mizzou shot just 20.0 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes and was 1 for 13 from behind the arc.

The 59 points were a season low.

“It was really weird,” said Utah forward Tyler Rawson, who finished with 12 points. “We were able to keep our defensive intensity and even though shots weren’t going in, coach was pleased with how we were keeping our defensive intensity.

“Sometimes when shots aren’t falling, it affects our other end of the floor. We did a good job sticking to our defense.”

A pair of back-to-back triples from Justin Bibbins and Gabe Bealer gave the Utes a 23-point lead early in the second half and the Tigers never got closer than 18 afterward, and that was on the final basket. Freshman Donnie Tillman added 11 points and 10 rebounds.

“There’s no excuse,” Missouri guard Kassius Robertson said. “We were in the game even though we weren’t shooting the ball. It wasn’t about shooting the ball.

“We needed that. We got kicked in our mouth and we needed it. We didn’t respond well at all. Tonight’s defense was absolutely horrible.”

Mizzou was without star freshman Michael Porter, Jr., who suffered a leg injury in the first game of the season. The preseason All-American was one of the top recruits coming out of high school and is expected to be a high NBA draft pick in June.

Robertson led Missouri with 12 points.

“That’s one of the biggest things we talked about,” Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin said about their 1 for 15 start. “When we’re on offense, move the ball and don’t settle for threes. Because in this place, it seems as if you’re open, all of a sudden you don’t have your legs under you and you miss three straight and then it spirals from there.”

BIG PICTURE

Missouri: The Tigers are just three games into the Martin era and in the infancy of becoming the type of program the new coach wants. They played well defensively, but it was overshadowed by the horrific offensive performance in the first half.

Utah: Things weren’t necessarily pretty for the Utes, but a win over an SEC program is a nice early victory for a team replacing four of their top six scorers from last season. Utah is still finding its identity, but remains undefeated while doing so.

MISSED OUT

Twenty-two scouts were originally scheduled to be in the building, in large part, to watch Porter. At least four dropped out and some members of the media did the same. Porter did not travel and has missed the last two games after being injured two minutes into the season opener.

SLOPPY

The Tigers’ 10 first-half turnovers didn’t help the cause as they were already struggling to put the ball in the basket. Mizzou finished with 14 turnovers compared to Utah’s six.

UP NEXT

Missouri: Hosts Emporia State on Monday.

Utah: Travels to play Ole Miss in the MGM Resorts Main Event tournament in Las Vegas on Monday.

— Associated Press —

Nebraska get hammered at St. John’s 79-56

NEW YORK (AP) — Shamorie Ponds scored 22 points, Justin Simon had 13 points and 12 rebounds, and St. John’s pulled away early from Nebraska for a 79-56 victory on Thursday night.

Bashir Ahmed scored 15 points and Marcus LoVett added 13 with three assists for St. John’s (3-0), which outrebounded Nebraska 50-39 and outscored them 44-16 in the paint. Ponds had seven rebounds and five assists, and scored 20-plus for the second straight game. Simon added four steals in recording his second straight double-double.

“This was our biggest test to date on this early season, and it was definitely going to pose some huge challenge — particularly on things that we haven’t done well in game situations, which are rebounding and defensive play,” St. John’s coach Chris Mullin said. “We did a good job on both, but I think the most important thing is that tonight was really the first time that I saw our defensive alertness, quickness, and athleticism really showed.”

Marvin Clark II put the Red Storm up for good at 6-5 and it was 37-24 at halftime behind Ponds’ 14 points. Nebraska closed to 40-32 on Glynn Watson Jr.’s 3 pointer early in the second half, but St. John steadily pulled away to a 13-point lead on 3-pointers by LoVett, Ahmed and Clark.

James Palmer Jr. scored 13 points and Isaac Copeland grabbed seven rebounds for the Cornhuskers (2-1).

“The only good thing about basketball tonight is that we get the chance to strap it on again in three days,” Nebraska coach Tim Miles said. “We didn’t rise to the occasion tonight and that’s disappointing, but it’s early in the year we have a lot of improvement ahead of us and I look forward to getting to it as soon as we can.”

BIG PICTURE

Nebraska: The Cornhuskers were unable to slow down the Red Strom backcourt after closing to within eight in the opening minute of the second half. … The Huskers shot just 28 percent from the floor, including 6 of 26 from 3-point range, and committed 16 turnovers.

St. John’s: The Red Storm had their most dominant effort of the season against their first high-major opponent at Carnesecca Arena. St. John’s opened with wins against New Orleans and Central Connecticut State.

“We knew coming into this game it was going to be a big one for our whole team and we wanted to come out with a lot of energy and I feel like we started and finished the game like that,” LoVett said.

UP NEXT

Nebraska hosts North Dakota on Sunday.

St. John’s closes out a four-game homestand on Monday night against Division II Molloy.

— Associated Press —

No. 23 Missouri women rally to beat Wright State with late free throws

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Sophie Cunningham scored 19 points, including a pair of free throws with 1.4 seconds left, to cap No. 23 Missouri’s fourth-quarter rally and 82-80 victory over Wright State on Thursday night.

Missouri (2-1) used a 14-5 run to cut a nine-point deficit and tied the game 75-75 with 3:50 left. It was tied at 78, and again at 80 when Wright State’s Symone Simmons made a layup with 28 seconds left. But Simmons sent Cunningham to the line before Nia Sumpter’s desperation 3-point shot ended it.

Jordan Frericks had 26 points to lead Missouri. Cierra Porter added 13 points and 15 rebounds for her 15th career double-double.

Chelsea Welch scored a career-high 36 points for Wright State (2-1).

Frericks scored eight points and Porter added five in the fourth quarter for Missouri, which outscored Wright State 23-15 in the final period.

— Associated Press —

MWSU’s Max Oeser named academic all-district

ST. JOSEPH – Griffon football center Max Oeser was named first team CoSIDA Academic All-District for the second year in a row.

The senior from Springfield, Missouri earned second team All-MIAA honors this season after starting 33 consecutive games at center for the Griffons over the last three seasons. Oeser was a two-time All-MIAA honoree, also earning second team honors in 2016. A four-time member of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll, Oeser received an MIAA Scholar-Athlete award in 2016 and is eligible for the distinction again this year. Oeser, a history major, is now eligible for CoSIDA Academic All-America.

CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors Association) began the distinguished Academic All-America program in 1952, and since then, has honored thousands of deserving student-athletes from numerous sports across all divisions with these elite Academic All-America scholar-athlete honors.

Currently, CoSIDA sponsors Academic All-America programs for men’s soccer, women’s soccer, football, volleyball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball, softball and men’s and women’s track and field/cross country. Many other sports are eligible through the At-Large program.

To be nominated, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) at his/her current institution. Nominated athletes must have participated in at least 50 percent of the team’s games at the position listed on the nomination form (where applicable). No student-athlete is eligible until he/she has completed one full calendar year at his/her current institution and has reached sophomore athletic eligibility.

— MWSU Athletics —

Mizzou/Kansas State to play two game football series in 2022 & 2023

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Former conference rivals Missouri and Kansas State, who first played on the gridiron in 1909, announced Thursday dates for a future home-and-home football series during the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

“Mizzou-K-State renews a great natural rivalry between two schools that are less than 250 miles apart,” said Mizzou Director of Athletics Jim Sterk. “We are excited about the opportunity to resume this long-time series and believe this will be a great series for our fans.”

Missouri heads to Manhattan September 10, 2022, for its first meeting with the Wildcats at Bill Snyder Family Stadium since 2011, when Kansas State registered a 24-17 victory.

K-State will make the return trip to Columbia on September 16, 2023.

As former members of the Missouri Valley, Big Six, Big Seven, Big Eight and Big 12 Conferences, Missouri and Kansas State have met 97 times on the gridiron with Missouri holding a 60-32-5 series advantage. Mizzou has won five of the last six meetings between the teams, including a 38-28 victory at Columbia in 2010.

Mizzou’s 2022 non-conference schedule still needs two games, in addition to its previously scheduled September 17 game at Middle Tennessee State. In 2023, the Tigers now have three-of-four non-league match-ups set with Middle Tennessee State visiting Columbia on September 9, followed by Kansas State a week later and a September 23 game at Memphis.

— Mizzou Athletics —

Griffons blow late lead and fall in overtime to Jewell 80-74

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western men’s basketball team lost their second overtime game of the season Wednesday night as they fell at home to William Jewell 80-74.

The Griffon drop to 1-2 this season, while the Cardinals improve to 3-0.

LATE DROUGHT HAUNTS
Missouri Western looked posed for a closeout run with 2:55 left in regulation. Cole Clearman knocked down a pair of free throws and TJ Evans hit a three-pointer on the next possession for a 5-0 Griffon run and MWUS led 71-67. However, Evans’ three would be the last MWSU points until 1:08 left in overtime. In that stretch, William Jewell went on a 9-0 run.

FREE THROW DIFFERENCE
The Cardinals had a slight edge on free-throw percentage as they shot just 1.3 percent better than the Griffons. The difference between the two teams was William Jewell got to the free-throw line 32 times compared to Missouri Western’s 14 attempts.

EASY EVANS
TJ Evans led the way for Missouri Western with 22 points, 12 of those from behind the three-point arc. Evans was 63.6 percent from the field, 57.1 percent from the three-point line and 80 percent at the free-throw line.

UP NEXT
The Griffons return to the Fieldhouse on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 2 p.m. to host Quincy University.

— MWSU Athletics —

Missouri Western women rally to defeat William Jewell 67-63

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western women’s basketball rallied from a 13-point second half deficit to defeat William Jewell 67-63 Wednesday night inside the MWSU Fieldhouse.

The Griffons improve to 3-0 on the season while Jewell drops to 0-1.

FIRST LEAD COMES LATE
Brittany Atkins sunk a three pointer with 1:52 remaining that put the Griffons up for the first time in the game, 60-59. Atkins’ dagger was the second-straight Griffon three in what became an 8-0 run for the Griffons. Missouri Western outscored the Cardinals 13-5 over the final 3:39 after trailing by as many as 13 points in the game.

ATKINS STAYS EFFICIENT
Atkins scored a game-high 25 points and she did it in 29 minutes. Through her first three games, the junior has scored 49 points in 62 minutes. Wednesday night, Atkins shot 46 percent (7-15) from the field and was 9-of-10 from the free throw line. As a team, Missouri Western shot better than 43 percent from the field, but allowed William Jewell to shoot 52 percent.

TURNOVER MACHINE
Through the first three games of the season, Missouri Western has forced 82 opponent turnovers – 24 Wednesday night – while giving the basketball away just 40 times. Missouri Western has 47 steals after 13 against William Jewell. Griffon opponents have just 14 steals all season.

UP NEXT
The Griffons travel to Springfield, Missouri to take on No. 7-ranked Drury on the road. Drury is 2-1 after a 93-82 loss to Southwest Baptist on Tuesday night.

— MWSU Athletics —

Northwest women make 19 three-pointers in win over Peru State

The Northwest Missouri State University women’s basketball team defeated Peru State, 84-69, on Wednesday evening at Bearcat Arena in Maryville, Mo.

– Northwest set a school record with 19 made three pointers in the victory, moving to 1-2 on the season. The previous record was 16 set back on Feb. 4, 2009, against Nebraska-Omaha.

– The game counted as an exhibition contest for Peru State, who remains 2-3 overall.

– Freshman Jaelyn Haggard hit seven three-pointers and finished tied for the game high with 23 points. She added a pair of rebounds and an assist.

Key Northwest Statistics
– The Bearcats, who never trailed in the game, held a 48-30 lead at halftime.

– Northwest shot 50 percent from the field (32-64) for the game and hit 19-of-40 three pointers (47.5 percent). The 40 three-point attempts were also a school record.

– The Bearcats held a 33-29 rebound advantage and forced 14 Bobcat turnovers.

– Northwest grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and scored 12 second-chance points.

– Mallory McAndrews went a perfect 6-for-6 from beyond the arc, finishing with 18 points, three assists and one rebound.

– Arbrie Benson scored 14 points with nine assists and six rebounds. She had one steal and hit a pair of three pointers.

– Zoie Hayward finished with 12 points and six rebounds. She added two assists, one blocked shot and one steal.

– Tanya Meyer hit three three-pointers and finished with nine points and two rebounds. Meyer only played the first half of Wednesday’s game.

– All 12 players for Northwest recorded at least one rebound in the game.

Up Next
– Northwest hosts Maryville University on Monday, Nov. 20, at 6 p.m. in Bearcat Arena.

— Northwest Athletics —

Three MWSU soccer players earn All-Region honors

ADA, Okla. – Three members of the Griffon soccer team were named to the Division II Conference Commissioner’s Association All-Central Region team, as voted on by communications directors in the region.

Cassidy Menke (F), Madeline Cowell (MF) and Bridget Blessie (D) were all named second team All-Region. Menke led the MIAA and shattered her own MWSU single-season record, with 15 goals this season. Cowell finished second on the team with seven assists and fourth with four goals. Blessie scored six goals, third most on the team, from her outside back position, leading the team with five game-winning goals. All three were also named first team All-MIAA and Menke was recently named CoSIDA Academic All-District.

The trio was part of a 2017 Griffon soccer team that advanced to the NCAA Division II Central Region quarterfinals. Missouri Western went 17-5, winning six more games than any previous Griffon team and nearly doubling the program record for goals in a season. The Griffons finished second in the MIAA regular season standings and runner-up in the MIAA postseason championships.

— MWSU Athletics —

Kansas signs five-star guard Quentin Grimes

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Five-star guard Quentin Grimes has signed a National Letter of Intent to play men’s basketball at Kansas, KU head coach Bill Self announced Wednesday.

A native of The Woodlands, Texas, Grimes (6-foot-5, 195 pounds) is ranked No. 11 by Rivals.com, No. 13 by ESPN100 and No. 16 by 247Sports.

Grimes averaged 28.1 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game his junior year at College Park High School in 2016-17. His sophomore year he averaged 16.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists per contest.

“We feel Quentin Grimes is as good as guard as there is in high school basketball,” Self said. “He’s got great size. He’s got point guard vision. He can really handle the ball. He reminds me of a guy that I coached at Illinois, Deron Williams, but probably a better scorer than Deron at this stage.”

Grimes played his AAU basketball for Basketball University in Houston for coach Rhossi Carron.

“We think Quentin will be an impact guy for us and be one of the premier guards in the country early in his career,” Self said. “Jerrance (Howard) was the point man with him and we’ve seen him play a lot, not only through his AAU program but also with his high school team. He’s one of the more complete players that we will have recruited in our time here. I anticipate the transition from high school to college pretty seamless for him.”

Grimes becomes the fourth signee for Kansas in the 2018 early signing period. He joins forward Silvio De Sousa, guard Devon Dotson and forward/center David McCormack.

“We are very excited about this class,” Self said. “The four we’ve signed are high IQ basketball guys that understand how to play with other good players.”

2017-18 Kansas Men’s Basketball Signees
Silvio De Sousa – F, 6-9, 245, Luanda, Angola (IMG Academy [Fla.])
Devon Dotson – G, 6-2, 175, Charlotte, N.C. (Providence Day School)
Quentin Grimes – G, 6-5, 195, The Woodlands, Texas (College Park High School)
David McCormack – F/C, 6-10, 285, Norfolk, Va. (Oak Hill Academy)

— KU Athletics —

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