Sports – Page 542 – St. Joseph Post Archive

Nebraska survives second half lull to defeat Delaware State

Posted on November 19, 2015November 19, 2015

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Shavon Shields scored 21 points, Andrew White III added 20 and Nebraska beat Delaware State 75-60 after the Cornhuskers blew most of a 25-point lead during a second-half lull Thursday night.

The Huskers (2-1) bounced back from their 87-63 loss at No. 11 Villanova on Tuesday, holding off their opponent from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

DeAndre Haywood and Todd Hughes led the Hornets (0-3) with 11 points apiece.

The Huskers led by 63-38 with 11:54 to play and then got sloppy. Nebraska committed five turnovers and missed six straight shots, and Haywood scored 9 points as the Hornets went on a 19-0 run to get within 63-59.

Shields made a short jumper to end a nearly seven-minute scoring drought for Nebraska, and after Haywood missed two free throws, White sank a 3-pointer to put the Huskers up 68-59 with 4 minutes left.

The Hornets, picked ninth in the 13-team MEAC, hung with the Huskers for long stretches even though they were without starters Devin Morgan, their leading scorer through the first two games, and Kavon Waller. They were serving a one-game suspension for disciplinary reasons.

Nebraska made 2 of its first 6 3-pointers against the Hornets’ 2/3 zone, then hit 5 of the next 6 while starting to pull away in the first half. Jake Hammond’s tip-in at the buzzer put the Huskers up 46-32 at the break and came during a 20-8 run over the halves.

Nebraska converted Delaware State’s 17 turnovers into 24 points and held a 34-27 rebounding advantage.

—

TIP-INS

Delaware State: The Hornets are 0-28 all-time against Big Ten opponents. … This was the first of several long road trips. The Hornets will log more than 26,000 round-trip miles while visiting 12 states this season, with their longest coming next week when they play three games in California.

Nebraska: Freshman Glynn Watson Jr., who scored 12 points in 25 minutes against Villanova, had ups and downs in his first seven minutes. He made a 3-pointer and a couple free throws while scoring seven points but also committed three fouls and went to the bench. He played eight more minutes but didn’t score…. The Huskers are 4-0 all-time against the Hornets. This was the teams’ first meeting since 2003.

UP NEXT

Delaware State hosts Lamar on Saturday.

Nebraska hosts Southeastern Louisiana on Sunday.

— Associated Press —

Missouri State struggles in Puerto Rico against No. 22 Butler

Posted on November 19, 2015November 19, 2015

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Butler coach Chris Holtmann already knew his team could run and score at a pace most teams will struggle to match this season. He’s eager to see how the No. 22 Bulldogs respond when the offense doesn’t come so easily.

Kelan Martin scored 18 points and No. 22 Butler put on another offensive show to beat Missouri State 93-59 on Thursday in the first round of the Puerto Rico Tipoff.

Andrew Chrabascz also had 18 points, and the Bulldogs (2-0) flirted with cracking the 100-point mark for the second time to open the season. Butler scored a program-record 144 points last weekend in the opener against The Citadel, then rolled again by getting out in transition at full speed and sharing the ball against the Bears (0-2).

“It’s a really small sample size,” Holtmann said. “I would caution into reading too much into two games. I think we’ll know more at the end of this week.”

Maybe, but this much is inarguable: Butler has started the season in a full-speed sprint on offense.

Butler shot 60 percent and made 8 of 17 3-pointers, yet committed just eight turnovers in a clean offensive performance. The Bulldogs also had 23 assists on 33 baskets.

“Today we got out in transition and just started going,” point guard Tyler Lewis said. “And we have great playmakers on this team who can know to make the right play at a fast speed.”

The Bulldogs certainly got off to a fast start in San Juan and led by 24 points by halftime. They didn’t need a big day from preseason all-Big East picks Kellen Dunham and Roosevelt Jones, instead finishing with plenty of balance behind Martin and Chrabascz.

“They’re an offensive machine at this point,” Missouri State coach Paul Lusk said. “You’re not going to beat many people when you let them shoot 60 percent.”

Dequon Miller scored 15 points to lead the Bears, who fell to 6-35 against ranked opponents. They shot just 34 percent, including a 2-for-15 showing behind the arc, and couldn’t keep up once Butler got rolling.

—

TIP-INS

Butler: Dunham finished with 11 points on 4-for-4 shooting, and Jones had six points and 10 rebounds. … Butler had a 40-32 rebounding advantage. … Ten players scored for the Bulldogs.

Missouri State: Jarred Dixon scored 11 points in 23 minutes as the only player other than Miller to reach double figures. … Missouri State committed just 11 turnovers. … This is the Bears’ first trip to the Puerto Rico Tipoff.

TWO-GAME ROLL

Butler’s offense is shooting 62 percent through the first two games. The Bulldogs also have 50 assists against 19 turnovers, a ratio of 2.6-to-1 on the season.

LEWIS’ ARRIVAL

Lewis, a North Carolina State transfer, is seeing his first action with the Bulldogs after sitting out last season. He had nine points and 10 assists with no turnovers in 25 minutes after scoring 17 in the opener.

“He’s just a great floor general — knows when to pick up the pace, he knows when to slow it down, just always under control as you guys all see,” Chrabascz said. “It’s unbelievable to play with him on the court.”

EASY SCORES

While Butler’s offense had little trouble getting shots, Missouri State found itself struggling to convert. The Bears made just 8 of 26 shots (31 percent) in the first half and 17 of 30 free throws for the game.

“We are trying to manufacture baskets,” Lusk said, “and they’re coming down picking us apart, getting what they want.”

UP NEXT

Butler advanced to play Temple in the second round Friday.

Missouri State will play Minnesota in the consolation round Friday.

— Associated Press —

Bearcat women remain winless as they fall to Quincy

Posted on November 18, 2015November 18, 2015

Although it held Quincy to 34 percent shooting from the field, the Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team fell to the Lady Hawks Wednesday evening in Maryville, 58-44.

The loss moves the Bearcats to 0-3 this season, while the Lady Hawks improve to 3-0 overall.

Tember Schechinger led the Bearcats with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting, her second double-digit performance this season. The senior guard also grabbed four rebounds and made three steals.

Tanya Meyer led the team with eight boards while scoring eight points, all in the second half. Defensively, the Sioux City, Iowa native swatted two blocks and made one steal. Shelby Mustain came off the bench to score nine points for Northwest, seven of which came in the third quarter. After sinking 4-of-5 shots from the field Wednesday, the junior now leads the team in shooting percentage this season (11-for-18, 61.1 percent).

Following a Quincy layup off an offensive rebound, the Bearcats found themselves trailing by 15, 30-15, four minutes into the second half. Tember Schechinger hit a layup on a nice pass from Shelby Mustain and drilled a trey off a pass from Bailey Smith after a Lady Hawk missed a shot from close range, making the score 30-20. Quincy responded with a triple of its own, sparking a big Northwest run. Mustain dropped in layups on consecutive possessions, first with her right hand on an over-the-top pass from Macy Williams and then with the right on a dish from Maria Dentlinger. The junior sunk a free throw after being fouled on the second shot to narrow the deficit to 33-25. Another defensive stand allowed Williams to drain a 10-foot jumper, forcing a Lady Hawk timeout and completing a 7-0 Bearcat rally.

The Bearcats will return to action Saturday when they travel to Kansas City, Mo. for a meeting with Rockhurst. The tip is scheduled for 1 p.m.

— Northwest Athletics —

Mizzou women get road win at Wichita State 57-37

Posted on November 18, 2015November 18, 2015

WICHITA, Kan. – Mizzou Women’s Basketball (3-0) shot 51 percent (19-for-37) from the field and 84 percent (16-for-19) from the free throw line to earn a 57-37 win at Wichita State on Wednesday evening at Charles Koch Arena.

Sierra Michaelis (Mercer, Mo.) scored a game-high 13 points with four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Michaelis connected on three shots from beyond the 3-point arc. Jordan Frericks (Quincy, Ill.) added 12 points, six rebounds and two assists.

Mizzou limited the Shockers to 30 percent (14-for-46) shooting for the game and 27 percent (6-for-22) from 3-point range. The Tigers began the game on a 10-0 run over the first 7:07, forcing WSU to miss its initial 10 shots.

For the game, Mizzou outscored WSU 24-8 in the paint, 7-0 in second-chance points and 22-11 in bench scoring.

Cierra Porter (Columbia, Mo.) scored 11 points, grabbed four rebounds and made two blocks in 17 minutes of reserve action. Fellow freshman Sophie Cunningham (Columbia, Mo.) finished with 12 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

The Tigers return home for a 7 p.m. CT matchup vs. Wake Forest on Sunday evening at Mizzou Arena on SEC Network.

— Mizzou Athletics —

Missouri AD: Replacing Pinkel about finding the right fit

Posted on November 18, 2015November 18, 2015

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s athletic director wouldn’t tip his hand about who might replace retiring football coach Gary Pinkel, but said Houston’s Tom Herman, Memphis’ Justin Fuente and Tigers defensive coordinator Barry Odom are quality candidates.

Mack Rhoades said Wednesday that the decision will come down to finding the right fit.

“I’m not into the hottest names out there,” Rhoades said. “(Herman and Fuente) are certainly two of them, but that doesn’t mean that they’ll automatically come here, be a great fit and win games here. I’m more about winning games, winning championships and finding the coach that can really do that over the long haul.”

Rhoades hired Herman last December at No. 13 Houston, which is 10-0. Memphis was 10-3 last year, won its first bowl game since 2005, and is 8-2 this year. Odom is in his first year as defensive coordinator at Missouri and spent three seasons in the same position at Memphis.

Odom also was on Pinkel’s staff in a variety of roles from 2003-11.

Pinkel will coach his final home game Saturday when Missouri (5-5, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) plays Tennessee (6-4, 3-3). The 63-year-old has been diagnosed with lymphoma and says he wants to get away from the grind of football.

The team is trying to focus on the next games, needing to get to six wins to be bowl eligible.

“I’m worried about these next two games,” wide receiver J’Mon Moore said. “Whatever happens, happens, and we’ll move forward from there.”

Offensive coordinator Josh Henson said he told the players that, “As a staff, we’re going to coach our tail off until the very end.”

Rhoades said he has discussed the future with players.

“The message was, ‘It’s going to be all right.” He plans to sit down individually with each member of the coaching staff, too.

“Certainly, we’re empathetic to what they’re going through,” Rhoades added. “This isn’t an easy time for them.”

Pinkel abruptly announced Friday that he will retire at the end of this season, ending a tenure in which he revived a program that had largely languished for more than a decade.

It was a stunning turn during a most unusual week in Columbia, Missouri, that started with Pinkel’s players on strike because of racial tensions on campus. Pinkel stood by his players and kept his team unified through a couple of difficult days, but his decision to step down had nothing to do with the team’s boycott.

Pinkel is the winningest coach in school history with a 117-71 record over 15 seasons. After winning two straight SEC East titles, Missouri is out of contention this season.

— Associated Press —

Northwest Missouri State softball signs five to 2017 recruiting class

Posted on November 18, 2015November 18, 2015

Maryville, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State softball head coach Ryan Anderson has announced five additions to the 2017 Bearcat softball squad. Karli Allen (Arnold, Mo.), Cailin Edwards (Iberia, Mo.), Skylar Huls (Beatrice, Neb.), Kailey Siemonsma (Fort Calhoun, Neb.) and Kaitlyn Weis (Omaha, Neb.) all signed National Letters of Intent to play at Northwest.

“One thing that stands out about this group is the experience they will bring with them,” coach Anderson said. “Their athleticism and determination will be tremendous additions to our team. As a whole, they bring in a very diverse set of skills. We see them stepping in right away and filling the gaps left by outgoing seniors. These five players will be great additions to the Bearcat family and we can’t wait to get them on campus.”

Karli Allen totaled 107 career hits at Fox High School. Allen drove in 39 RBI and clubbed eight home runs during her senior season, earning her All-Conference, All-District and All-Region honors. In total, Allen was named first team All-Conference three times and first team All-Region twice. She was listed on the B honor roll three times and is a member of the A+ program. During her senior season, her team advanced to the state tournament, finishing third.

Cailin Edwards was a four-time All-District performer at Iberia High School, where her team was the first female team to make it past sectionals. Edwards collected a career .563 average at the plate and stole 38 bases. She was named first team All-Region three times, was on the All-State second team after her junior year and also received the KRCG Athlete of the week award. In the classroom, Cailin was listed on the A/B honor roll and named on the All-State academic softball team three times.

A pitcher/utility player, Skylar Huls recorded the most wins in state history as a four year varsity starter for Beatrice High School. Huls was named All-State honorable mention three times and first team All-State after her junior year. In addition, she was first team All-Conference all four years. She led Beatrice to three state tournament appearances, including a third place finish in 2014. A Renaissance Award winner, Skylar was listed on the honor roll four times, while being named academic All-Conference three times.

Kailey Siemonsma left her mark at Blair High School, setting single season school records in batting average (.529), on base percentage, and RBI (49). As a pitcher, Kailey earned 61 career wins. Siemonsma climbed her way from honorable mention All-State as a freshman, to second team as a sophomore and finally first team All-State as a junior. A member of the National Honor Society, Kailey was named academic All-State all four seasons and first team academic All-Conference as a junior and senior.

Kaitlyn Weis played for the 2013 Class B state champion Skutt Catholic Skyhawks. Career accolades include first team All-Conference her senior year, second team All-Class B and All-Omaha honors.

— Northwest Athletics —

Tiger women’s basketball signs Kirkwood guard Jordan Roundtree

Posted on November 18, 2015

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Women’s Basketball signed Jordan Roundtree to a National Letter of Intent, it was announced Wednesday. Roundtree is a 5-foot-9 guard from Kirkwood (Mo.) High School in suburban St. Louis.

“Jordan is an incredible athlete,” head coach Robin Pingeton said. “I don’t think she has even come close to reaching her potential. She also can score in a variety of ways and can create havoc on the defensive end.”

Roundtree is ranked a three-star prospect by ProspectsNation.com and is the No. 148 recruit nationally in the Blue Star Report Top 300 rankings for the class of 2016.

Following her junior season at Kirkwood, Roundtree was named first-team All-Suburban XII South Conference after averaging over 14 points per game. She helped led her team to a sectional title and an appearance in the state quarterfinals.

As a sophomore at Parkway West High School in Ballwin, Missouri, Roundtree averaged 16.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists.

Roundtree has received St. Louis Post-Dispatch and FOX 2/Arby’s Athlete of the Week recognition in each of the last two seasons.

Her father, Bill, played on the Mizzou Men’s Basketball team from 1982-86. Her mother, Teana, also graduated from Mizzou.

— Mizzou Athletics —

Missouri Western loses five set heartbreaker at Washburn in opening round of MIAA Tournament

Posted on November 18, 2015

TOPEKA, Kan. – The Missouri Western volleyball team had its season come to an end with a five set loss in the first round of the MIAA tournament at No. 15 Washburn.

The fifth seeded Griffons jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Washburn in a back-and-forth first set. Missouri Western trailed 20-17 in the first and rallied back to take a 24-23 lead, the first of five set points before the Griffons would eventually claim the set, 30-28. Washburn controlled the second set, winning 25-18. The third set played out much like the first with a little less drama and Missouri Western winning 28-26. Washburn would go on to dominate the fourth set, winning 25-15. In the fifth, Washburn jumped out to an early lead, going up 6-1 before claiming the set 15-10.

Washburn had 87 kills to Missouri Western’s 61 and out-hit the Griffons .303 to .193. Rachel Friedrichs led the Griffons with a career-high 16 kills and hit .429 on the night. Shellby Taylor also had a career-high with 15 kills and Blair Russell finished with 13. Lindsey Partridge finished her final match with six total blocks and six kills on a .333 attack percentage. Kayla Ruff led the team with 29 digs and Jordan Chohon added a career-high 24 digs.

Missouri Western finished the season 21-10, the first back-to-back 20-win seasons for the team since 1997-98 and had six players named to the All-MIAA team.

— MWSU Athletics —

Mizzou comes up short at Xavier 78-66

Posted on November 18, 2015November 18, 2015

CINCINNATI (AP) — With Missouri clamping down on Xavier’s other forward, senior James Farr got an opening to have his best game.

Farr matched his career high with 15 points as part of his double-double, and Xavier pulled away in the second half to a 78-66 victory over Missouri on Tuesday night, the Tigers’ 16th consecutive loss on the road.

Farr also tied his career high with 14 rebounds as Xavier (2-0) dominated the boards.

“A night like this doesn’t get me hyped up,” Farr said. “I expect this out of myself. Tonight was my night.”

Trevon Bluiett scored 18 points as Xavier had five players in double figures. The Musketeers surged ahead by 15 points in the second half and were never threatened.

“I wanted to come out with a lot of energy,” Bluiett said. “I just going going early and my teammates knew it and they wanted me to fire up the ball.”

The Tigers (2-1) were hoping that their freshman-infused lineup could end that long road losing streak and pull one out in a tough place to win. Xavier is 201-30 at the Cintas Center. The Tigers were playing their third game in five days, coming off wins at home over Wofford and Maryland-Eastern Shore.

The Tigers came up with a plan to neutralize Xavier forward Jalen Reynolds, who went 0 for 2 and had only two rebounds in 15 minutes. They couldn’t handle Farr and Bluiett.

“We eliminated Jalen from scoring a lot of points, but the bad news is James Farr had a big night,” coach Kim Anderson said. “We had worked on some things to try to slow Jalen down. They worked. But obviously James came in and had a great game.”

Cullen VanLeer led the Tigers with 13 points, going 3 of 7 from beyond the arc.

“It wasn’t fatigue,” VanLeer said of the second-half fade. “We just made a couple mental mistakes that cost us points and we couldn’t come back. It was a lesson learned against a good team that will probably make the (NCAA) tournament.”

The Musketeers return three starters from the team that won at Missouri 74-58 last season. After a close, foul-filled first half, the Musketeers took charge and finished with a 40-28 edge in rebounds. They also went 24 of 29 on free throws.

Bluiett hit a pair of 3s, two free throws and a layup during a 16-7 spurt that opened the second half and built the lead to double digits for the first time.

Xavier pulled ahead 19-12 by hitting eight of its first 13 shots, most of them from the perimeter. The Musketeers then missed 13 consecutive shots and had three turnovers, going 7 minutes, 13 seconds without a field goal while the Tigers pulled ahead 25-22.

There were five lead changes in the closing minutes of the half, with Myles Davis’ driving layup helping Xavier hold a 37-36 lead at the break. Bluiett then led the surge that put the Musketeers in control the rest of the way.

—

TIP-INS

Missouri: The Tigers got to the line for only four free throws in the second half.

Xavier: J.P. Macura had 16 points. He tied his career high with 17 points in Xavier’s opening win over Miami (Ohio).

SLOW START

Missouri opened the second half by missing 10 of its first 14 shots and turning the ball over four times, giving Xavier a chance to pull away.

ZONED IN

Xavier played some 1-3-1 zone, a big switch from its customary man-to-man defense, and got the Tigers out of sync.

“The big key was the zone,” Anderson said. “Their zone really affected us. We were prepared, but really we only had a day to prepare. We became kind of individualistic, took some bad shots.”

UP NEXT

Missouri: The Tigers have six days off before facing Kansas State in the CBE Hall of Fame Classic.

Xavier: The Musketeers play their first road game at Michigan on Friday as part of The Gavitt Tipoff.

— Associated Press —

No. 4 Kansas blows 11-point second half lead, falls to 13th-ranked Michigan State

Posted on November 18, 2015November 18, 2015

CHICAGO (AP) — Denzel Valentine had 29 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists and the senior guard took over the game for No. 13 Michigan State in the second half as the Spartans beat No. 4 Kansas 79-73 at the Champions Classic on Tuesday night at United Center.

Kansas (1-1) had a 13-point lead twice in the first half, the last time at 28-15 with 6:16 to go. Michigan State (2-0) was within 41-35 at halftime but the Jayhawks again opened the lead to double figures at 61-50 with 9:42 to go on a long layup by Frank Mason III.

Valentine, who had career-highs in points and assists, then scored seven points in a 12-1 run to tie the game at 62 with 6:08 to play.

There were six lead changes the rest of the way and it was Valentine who put the Spartans ahead for good at 72-71 on a drive with 1:29 left.

Valentine’s understudy in the comeback was freshman guard Matt McQuaid, who scored six of his nine points on two 3s in the final 3:54 and then he came up with a huge blocked shot of Mason in the final minute.

Valentine had 13 points, eight rebounds and nine assists in the Spartans’ opener against Florida Atlantic.

Perry Ellis led the Jayhawks with 21 points, Mason added 14 and Wayne Selden Jr. had 12.

No. 2 Kentucky beat No. 5 Duke 74-63 in the first game of the double-header.

TIP-INS:

Kansas: The Jayhawks were outrebounded 45-25 but they had the advantage on the offensive glass 12-10. … Ellis was 9 for 18 from the field while the rest of the starters were 10 for 37.

Michigan State: Valentine’s 12 assists matched Kansas’ total for the game. … The Spartans struggled from 3-point range in the first half (3 of 10) but they rallied in the second half to make 6 of 11. … Michigan State had eight blocked shots to Kansas’ one. In their win over Florida Atlantic the Spartans had 12 blocks.

CHAMPIONS HISTORY: This was the second time Kansas and Michigan State met in the five years of the Champions Classic. The Spartans beat the Jayhawks 67-64 in 2012 in Atlanta.

It’s already set that Duke and Kansas will meet in next year’s Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden.

PLAYING THE BEST: Since 1997-98, when Michigan State started its run of 18 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, The Spartans have played 199 games against ranked opponents. That’s the most of any team that appeared in the Final Four since then and they are followed by North Carolina (182), Texas (173), Duke (173) and Kentucky (170).

UP NEXT:

Kansas: Meets Chaminade in the first round of Maui Invitational on Nov. 23.

Michigan State: Hosts Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Friday.

— Associated Press —