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Mizzou get hammered at Georgia 68-44

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riggertMizzouATHENS, Ga. (AP) — J.J. Frazier isn’t ready to assume a lopsided win over Missouri means Georgia is headed to the NCAA tournament.

Nemanja Djurisic scored 14 points and Georgia strengthened its NCAA tournament hopes with a runaway 68-44 win over Missouri on Saturday.

Georgia (19-9, 10-6 Southeastern Conference) has won three straight games, including road wins against Alabama and Mississippi, since back-to-back disappointing home losses to Auburn and South Carolina.

“We can’t celebrate too much about this win,” said Frazier, who had 10 points, five assists and three steals. “We gave away two games at home. We made it tough on ourselves. Our back was against the wall, but we’re fighting out of it.”

The Bulldogs, 5-3 on the road in conference games, needed to avoid a third straight home loss to one of the league’s worst teams. Georgia began the day with a No. 29 ranking in the NCAA RPI and plays host to No. 1 Kentucky on Tuesday night.

Missouri (8-21, 2-14) couldn’t manage a second straight win after ending a 13-game losing streak by beating Florida 64-52 on Tuesday night. The Tigers, last in the SEC, trailed by double figures most of the game.

The Wildcats made only 14 of 49 shots from the field (28.6 percent). Missouri had worse shooting in only one other game this season, an 86-37 loss at Kentucky in which it made only 27.1 percent of its shots (16 of 59).

Missouri coach Kim Anderson said his players couldn’t match Georgia’s intensity.

“To their credit, (Georgia) came out today ready to play and it’s frustrating,” Anderson said. “In the first half especially, our front line really struggled to score. You can’t do that.”

Anderson said the Bulldogs “got every loose ball and every rebound that flew off.”

A 3-pointer by Djurisic gave Georgia an 18-8 lead. The Bulldogs led 30-18 following a 3 by Kenny Paul Geno, and they kept the lead in double figures the remainder of the game.

“We definitely made an emphasis that we wanted to come out and compete from the tip,” said forward Marcus Thornton.

Georgia led 41-23 at halftime and stretched the lead to 28 points at 55-27 on two straight baskets by Cameron Forte — a follow-up layup and a jam.

Following Forte’s jam, the Bulldogs kept the lead over 20 points despite going more than six minutes without scoring.

Forte had 10 points for Georgia. Thornton finished with eight points and seven rebounds.

TIP-INS

Missouri: A 3-pointer by Namon Wright gave the Tigers their only lead at 3-2. Wright, a freshman who had 28 points in the win over Florida, had 10 points. … Johnathan Williams also had 10 points despite making only 3 of 13 shots. … The Tigers were outrebounded 47-30.

Georgia: It was the largest margin of victory in a SEC game under coach Mark Fox. … The 1990 SEC championship team was recognized at halftime. Former coach Hugh Durham, who was welcomed with a long “Huuuugh!” from fans — returned with his players, including Litterial Green, Rod Cole and Neville Austin. Another star of the team, Alec Kessler, died in 2007 and was recently inducted posthumously into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.

KENTUCKY IS COMING

Fox said undefeated Kentucky is “one of the great teams of all time” with a front line that is bigger than most NBA teams. Asked how he will prepare for the Wildcats, who beat the Bulldogs 69-58 on Feb. 3, Fox joked he may ask for help from Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer.

“I’ll call Bud over there and see if we can scrimmage the Hawks tomorrow,” Fox said.

HEALING

Georgia sophomore guard Juwan Parker played for the first time since missing 11 straight games with an Achilles injury. Parker, who started in 14 of 15 games before the injury, had one point and one assist in a brief late-game appearance.

UP NEXT

Missouri: Hosts Auburn on Tuesday night.

Georgia: Hosts No. 1 Kentucky on Tuesday night.

— Associated Press —

Northwest women blow 14-point halftime lead and lose to UCM

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NWMSUBy David Boyce

MARYVILLE, Mo. – For a half, Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team played exceptional and took a 14-point lead into halftime. Unfortunately, the Bearcats failed to sustain that level of play.

Despite fighting hard to regain the momentum, Northwest never could, falling to Central Missouri 74-64 Saturday afternoon at Bearcat Arena.

It was the final game for seniors Ariel Easton, Maggie Marnin and Alexandra Blaurock. The seniors and the rest of the Bearcats went down fighting.

When the second half started, it definitely looked like the Bearcats were going to win and advance to the MIAA Tournament. But the double-digit lead rapidly evaporated. The Jennies started the second half on a 9-0 run, slicing their deficit to 36-33.

“I felt we came out in the second half and played not to lose,” Northwest coach Michael Smith said. “We were very timid. You could see it in their faces.”

Northwest hung on to its slender lead over the next 4 minutes until Central took its first lead of game at 45-44 on two free throws by 6-foot-3 forward Revonnia Howard.

Howard really hurt the Bearcats the rest of the game. Northwest, though, managed to recapture one last lead at 48-47 on a three-point play by Easton.

Over the next 4 minutes, there were four ties, the last coming on a three-pointer by Easton to make it 57-57 with 4:07 left.

The dagger that ended Northwest season came 2 minutes later. The Bearcats trailed 62-59. They were playing great defense on Central’s possession. The shot clock was winding down when Shelby Winkelmann drained a three-pointer with 2:19 left.

The Bearcats never recovered, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort, especially from Easton. She finished with a game-high 30 points.

“Win or lose, I was going to come out here today and leave it all on the court, not only for myself, but for the fans, my family and Northwest,” Easton said. “They showed so much love to me. I felt like this was my night to show them all the reasons that I am here.

“Having my family here, it was more of an opportunity to show them what Northwest is all about.”

Northwest ended its season with a strong, positive effort. If the Bearcats can take the first half into next year, the 2015-16 season should be a lot of fun.

“It was electric in Bearcat Arena,” Smith said of the first half. “We knew it was going to be a tremendous atmosphere. I knew going in our kids were going to play as hard as they could.”

Northwest came out fired up against the hottest team in the MIAA and stunned the Jennies by going into halftime ahead 36-22.

Fueled on the emotion of senior day, the Bearcats exploded to a 6-0 lead. Each senior made a play that contributed to the early points. Easton scored the first four points. Alexandria Blaurock pulled down a rebound and Maggie Marnin scored the sixth point.

Central showed why it has won six straight by tying the game at 10-10. The Bearcats were faced with a challenge. The initial emotion was gone and now it was all about basketball.

Northwest turned in its best half of basketball. Easton scored the next five points, giving the Bearcats a 15-10 lead.

Defensively, the Bearcats frustrated Central throughout the first 20 minutes and that allowed Northwest to take control of the game.

Leading 23-16, Northwest scored the next 10 points. Freshman Tanya Meyer came off the bench and scored six straight points during the run. Sophomore Shelby Mustain had a basket and Easton capped the run with a bucket.

All nine players that reached the court for the Bearcats contributed. When the first half buzzer sounded, Northwest walked off the court with a sparkling 47 percent shooting from the field. Northwest held the Jennies to 24 percent from the field.
Easton scored 15 in the first half.

“I would give anything to have her here another year or two because of the strides she has made as a player,” Smith said. “The thing I am most proud of is the strides she made as a young woman.

“She never visited. She showed up on campus and took a chance on me and I took a chance on her. I feel like she is one of my daughters. I don’t say that often.”

— Northwest Sports Information —

Ellis’ double-double helps No. 8 Kansas drop Texas

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riggertKULAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Rick Barnes was asked what made Kansas forward Perry Ellis so difficult to contain, and the Texas coach twice pointed out the way his senior instincts have developed.

Nobody had the heart to tell Barnes that he’ll still be dealing with Ellis next season.

The junior poured in 28 points while ripping down 13 rebounds in a brilliant performance on Saturday, leading the eighth-ranked Jayhawks to a 69-64 victory over the Longhorns.

“He’s been around, played some games,” Barnes said. “You have to be impressed.”

Ellis has gone over 20 points each of his last three games, moving the Jayhawks (23-6, 12-4) within striking distance of an 11th straight Big 12 title. They are a game clear of second-place Oklahoma with only games left against West Virginia and the Sooners.

“We rode Perry as hard as we’ve ever ridden him and he played great,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “He’s playing as well as anybody in the country right now.”

Trying to bolster its NCAA resume, Texas (17-12, 6-10) had its chances down the stretch.

Isaiah Taylor missed the front end of a one-and-one with the Longhorns trailing 66-64 and 48.3 seconds left. Then, the talented sophomore guard missed a spinning, off-balanced floater as he appeared to get fouled that would have tied the game with 6.1 seconds remaining.

Kelly Oubre Jr. made two last foul shots to put the game away, finishing with 15 points.

Taylor wound up with 17 for the Longhorns, though it’ll be the final couple of minutes that he will remember most vividly. Demarcus Holland added 15 points and Kendal Yancy 11.

“Seems like you’re fighting as hard as we are, everything is going against you,” said Barnes, whose team has lost four straight. “We can take a lot of plays and say this, that or whatever, you look at the numbers, you have a pretty even game.”

There was a festive atmosphere inside Allen Fieldhouse as snow blanketed the ground outside. Kansas was celebrating the 60th anniversary of its fabled home, showing special video montages of grainy black-and-white film of its construction as cheerleaders dressed in 1950s-era outfits.

The joie de vive hardly waned when the ball was thrown up.

Two teams have faced each other regularly for Big 12 tournament titles traded blows like a couple of wary and respectful boxers in the middle of the ring.

Ellis threw most of the haymakers for the Jayhawks, scoring on an array of jumpers and scooping layups. Then there was the biggest highlight of the half, his alley-oop dunk off a pass from Wayne Selden Jr. that brought the sellout crowd to its feet.

Holland kept punch back for Texas, hitting all three of his first-half field goals. His final one, a 3-pointer at the buzzer, rattled through to make it 34-31 at the break.

The Longhorns kept the pressure up early in the second half, building a 48-42 lead — its biggest of the game — when Taylor got a leaner to go with just over 11 minutes remaining.

That’s when the Jayhawks started their comeback.

Ellis did most of the work, bookending a couple field goals around a pair of free throws. But it was a three-point play by Oubre that finally gave Kansas the lead back, and Frank Mason III’s 3-pointer — the Jayhawks’ first of the game — created some brief separation.

Holland’s 3-pointer with just over 2 minutes remaining get Texas within 62-61, and Yancey got another 3 to go moments later to make it 66-64 and set up a frantic finish.

“All the coaches were saying was, ‘Attack, attack, attack,'” Ellis said. “That’s what we did.”

ALEXANDER HELD OUT

The Jayhawks played without part-time starter Cliff Alexander after the NCAA raised questions about his eligibility. The freshman forward spent the game in sweats. “Hopefully it’ll be resolved and in a timely manner,” Self said, stressing that the issue had nothing to do with Kansas.

BEWARE THE PHOG

Texas still has won just once in 13 games at Allen Fieldhouse. It happened on Jan. 22, 2011, when the Longhorns ended the Jayhawks’ 69-game home winning streak.

TIP-INS

Texas: The Longhorns had a 27-7 edge in bench points. … Taylor also had eight assists. … Myles Turner had 10 points, eight boards and five blocks.

Kansas: The Jayhawks only committed six turnovers and were 26 of 32 from the foul line. … Kansas is 14-0 at home, 9-6 in all other games.

UP NEXT

Texas plays its fifth consecutive ranked opponent Monday night against No. 19 Baylor.

Kansas plays its home finale Tuesday night against No. 20 West Virginia.

— Associated Press —

Kansas State rallies to upset No. 12 Iowa State

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riggertKStateMANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Wesley Iwundu knew how little room for error Kansas State left itself. Within a blink of an eye, he gave the Wildcats’ once meager postseason hopes new life.

An errant pass from Georges Niang ended up in the hands of Iwundu and a two-handed dunk helped paint a better picture to an up-and-down season at Kansas State (15-15, 8-9 Big 12).

Iwundu capped a 22-9 scoring run with the dunk, giving the Wildcats a 70-69 win over No. 12 Iowa State on Saturday and back-to-back Top 25 wins.

“Just a lot of emotions running through my mind,” Iwundu said of the play. “I was protecting the route and I saw him cut and I tried to make a play.”

Kansas State tied the game at 66 apiece with a tip-in by Justin Edwards with 59.4 seconds left.

After Iwundu gave them a 68-66 lead, Monte Morris had a 3-point play to give the Cyclones a one-point advantage.

However, Iwundu’s attentiveness provided redemption for the sophomore after a missed free throw with a two-handed dunk.

The Wildcats held Iowa State (20-8, 10-6) to 38 percent shooting in the second half, which followed 8-of-15 shooting from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes.

“They pressure the heck out of you in this building, there is no doubt about that,” Hoiberg said. “They’ve won eight league games, they had a really good game and we expected them to come out and pressure us.”

Nigel Johnson led Kansas State with 17 points after scoring a career-high 20 points in an upset of No. 8 Kansas on Monday night. Edwards added a season-high 16 points.

Niang led Iowa State with 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting. He added a career-high five 3-pointers for the Cyclones, who came in averaging a Big-12 best 79.4 points.

The Cyclones took a 40-33 lead at halftime, but 3-of-12 shooting from behind the arc in the second half derailed their chance for a third-straight Big 12 road victory.

Niang led the Cyclones with 12 points in the first half, including four shots from 3-point range. It was the first time Kansas State allowed 10 or more 3-pointers this season.

The Wildcats overcame two Iowa State double-digit leads in the second half.

Despite a second straight home win over a ranked opponent, Kansas State fans did not rush the court Saturday — a stark contrast from Monday’s win over Kansas that featured a court storming that ultimately led to a public reprimand of the program by the Big 12.

HEARTBREAK HOTEL

The Kansas loss to Kansas State on Monday provided an opportunity for Iowa State to move into serious league championship consideration. But the Cyclones have had two straight losses.

“We’ve got to bounce back,” Hoiberg said. “That’s two tough ones, two very tough ones in a row. We’ll find out a lot about ourselves in how we bounce back tomorrow.”

JOHNSON AND JOHNSON

When asked about Nigel Johnson’s combined 18.5 point-average against No. 8 Kansas and No. 12 Iowa State, Bruce Weber attributed it to attention to detail.

“In our shoot-around today, he asked his first question in two years,” Weber said. “So he actually paid attention and asked us about how to guard something. He’s made some progress.”

TIP-IN

Kansas State: Thomas Gipson, who was one of three seniors recognized for the Wildcats’ final home game, is the 12th player in school history to score at least 1,000 points and grab 500 rebounds.

Iowa State: Bryce Dejean-Jones was held scoreless for the first time as a Cyclone. The UNLV transfer came in averaging 12.1 points, but has been held to single digits in three of the last four games.

UP NEXT

Iowa State: Hosts Oklahoma on Monday.

Kansas State: Plays at Texas next Saturday.

— Associated Press —

Missouri State falls on the road at Loyola (IL)

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riggertMissouriStateCHICAGO (AP) — Christian Thomas tied his season-high with 21 points and added a career-high 12 rebounds to lead Loyola of Chicago past Missouri State 65-51 on Saturday.

Earl Peterson finished with 12 points for the Ramblers (18-12, 8-10), who opens the Missouri Valley Conference tourney in St. Louis on Friday against Indiana State. The win also gives Loyola of Chicago its most wins ever as a MVC member and its most since winning 10 in the Horizon League in 2006-07.

The Ramblers led 44-43 with 9:27 to play, but ripped off 10 of the next 12 points to push their lead to nine. The Bears got no closer than seven the rest of the way.

Austin Ruder scored 14 points to lead Missouri State (11-19, 5-13). The Bears play Southern Illinois in the opening round game of the MVC tournament on Thursday.

— Associated Press —

Griffon tennis opens 2015 season with win over Maryville

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MWSUST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Missouri Western women’s tennis team played its first match of the 2015 season against Maryville Friday afternoon at the Genesis Health Club in St. Joseph and first year head coach Chris Canady and the Griffons defeated Maryville 5-3.

Missouri Western was able to get two victories in the doubles matches. Sarah Giraldo and Yasmine El Ghazi earned a 9-7 victory while Denise Chiao and Kayla Dysart tallied an 8-6 victory. Ceara Boldridge and Sofia Aguilera fell in a closely contested match 6-8.

Sarah Giraldo, Kayla Dysart, and Ceara Boldridge all found success during singles play, battling at the No.1, No. 3, No. 6 singles slots respectively. Giraldo defeated Maryville’s Anderson 6-2, 6-3 and Dysart took down Kleppe 6-2, 6-4. Boldridge was able to dominate early and never looked back against Tietmann winning 6-0, 6-3.

The Griffons will be back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 4 against rival Northwest Missouri State starting at 12 p.m. The match is expected to be in the Genesis Health Club again.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Northwest tennis rallies to win spring season opener

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Northwest2013riggertThe Northwest Missouri State University women’s tennis team opened the 2015 season with a 5-3 win over Maryville University on Friday in St. Joseph, Mo.

Northwest fell behind 2-1 after the doubles competition but rebounded to win four of the six singles points to win the match.

Aniek Kolen was a double-winner for the Bearcats, capturing the No. 3 doubles point with Stephanie Mannix and the No. 4 singles point.

The win was head coach Mark Rosewell’s 977th career victory.

Match Scores
Singles competition
1. Quesada,Camila (NW) def. Puck Vlaskamp (MARYUNIV) 6-1, 6-4
2. Jarolim,Lorena Rivas (NW) def. Andrea Fandino (MARYUNIV) 7-5, 6-1
3. Jaquet,Margaux (NW) def. Rebekah Anderson (MARYUNIV) 7-6 (7-4), 6-2
4. Kolen,Aniek (NW) def. Kine Sando Kieppe (MARYUNIV) 6-4, 6-1
5. Mannix,Stephanie (NW) vs. Anne Lutz (MARYUNIV) 6-4, 1-0, unfinished
6. Peggy Vink (MARYUNIV) def. Hull,Marianne (NW) 6-7, 7-6, 10-4

Doubles competition
1. Puck Vlaskamp/Anne Lutz (MARYUNIV) def. Quesada,Camila/Jaquet,Margaux (NW) 8-6
2. Kine Sando Kieppe/Rebekah Anderson (MARYUNIV) def. Jarolim,Lorena Rivas/Dibbins,Rachel (NW) 8-3
3. Kolen,Aniek/Mannix,Stephanie (NW) def. Makenna Parker/Peggy Vink (MARYUNIV) 8-0

Up Next, the Bearcats head to Liberty, Mo., to take on the University of Illinois Springfield on Sunday, March 1. Both the men’s and women’s teams will play at 3 p.m.

— Northwest Sports Information —

K-State Schedules SEC Foe

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Kansas State FootballMANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) – Kansas State is becoming quite familiar with the SEC in football.

After wrapping up a home-and-home series with Auburn this past season, the Wildcats announced Friday that they have set up a series with Vanderbilt in addition to its previously scheduled home-and-home series with Mississippi State.

The Wildcats will head to Vanderbilt in 2017 with the Commodores returning the trip in 2020. The games bookend games against the Bulldogs in 2018 and 2019.

The moves should help beef up Kansas State’s non-conference schedule. The Wildcats are set to play South Dakota, Texas-San Antonio and Louisiana Tech next season, and Missouri State and Florida Atlantic the following season.

NASCAR car stolen from hotel before race

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Travis Kvapil posted this on Twitter
Travis Kvapil posted this on Twitter

KATE BRUMBACK, Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — Police say Travis Kvapil’s NASCAR Sprint Cup car has been stolen ahead of a race this weekend near Atlanta.

Police say a trailer with the racecar inside was hitched to a pickup truck parked outside a Morrow hotel, about 15 miles south of Atlanta.

Morrow police Detective Sgt. Larry Oglesby says surveillance video shows the truck and trailer being driven out of the parking lot around 5:30 a.m. Friday.

The car was inside the plain white trailer. Oglesby says the person who stole it likely didn’t realize the car was inside. He says thieves often assume it’s lawn equipment or something else they can easily sell.

Kvapil also posted a photo of what 's inside the trailer
Kvapil also posted a photo of what ‘s inside the trailer

Oglesby says he hopes the trailer will be abandoned once the thief realizes what’s inside.

A team spokesman reported late Friday morning the car has been withdrawn from this weekend’s race.

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