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Category: Sports

Missouri Western women struggle in 79-64 loss to UCO

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MWSUCentral Oklahoma built a second half lead that was too much for the Missouri Western women’s basketball team to overcome on the way to a 79-64 loss to the Bronchos Saturday afternoon in the fieldhouse.

The loss dropped MWSU to 6-3 on the season and 1-2 in MIAA play.

The Bronchos made just one more field goal than the Griffons in their 15-point win. The difference was at the free throw line where Central Oklahoma took 30 foul shots to just 11 for the Griffons. UCO went 26-30 from the line with the Griffons finishing 8-11. UCO also outrebounded the Griffons, 38-28 and held MWSU to 39 percent from the field.

Chelsea Dewey led the Griffons with 20 points followed by Sarafina Handy’s 19. Mariah Jordan pulled down four rebounds, the most of any Griffon. Dewey also claimed five of the Griffons 12 total steals.

Missouri Western now gets a breather, not playing again until Jan. 3 when they travel to Washburn.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Tigers lose to Illinois on three-pointer at the buzzer

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riggertMizzouST. LOUIS (AP) — Illinois left the game in Rayvonte Rice’s hands. He didn’t need much of an opening.

Rice held the ball for the last shot and hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer over two defenders for the last of his 19 points, giving the Fighting Illini a 62-59 victory over Missouri in the annual Braggin’ Rights game on Saturday.

“Ray obviously in the second half was an absolute monster on both ends of the court,” coach John Groce said. “I felt like he had that look in his eyes. We drew up a lot of things for him.”

Illinois (9-3) had a tougher time than expected against Missouri (5-6), which is rebuilding under new coach Kim Anderson. Rice also had seven rebounds and three assists, Ahmad Starks added 13 points and Malcolm Hil had 10.

“At first, I didn’t understand how big of a rivalry it was,” Rice said. “Fans can’t wait to go all year.”

Wesley Clark’s jumper from the key tied it with 17.8 seconds remaining but Missouri never got the ball back. Rice dribbled for several seconds before stepping up the key and drilling a fade-away shot over defenders Keith Shamburger and Johnathan Williams III. He watched the shot fall before getting mobbed by teammates.

“It was crazy because it was a tough shot from my angle,” teammate Malcolm Hill said. “I thought there was little chance for it to go in. When the buzzer sounds, I was like `That’s game!”

Missouri has tended to fade late but this time refused to fold after falling behind 42-36 when Starks scored on a drive with 12:46 left.

“In the past it’s turned negative. We’ve seen it. A little bit of a run and all of a sudden we’re down 10 or 12,” Anderson said. “I don’t want to be a program where we’re happy to lose, that’s not what this is.

“But I did watch some guys grow up and show what the can do.”

Williams had 15 points and eight rebounds for Missouri. Clark added 11 points, five rebounds and three assists and also tied it at 55 with 4:40 to go. He regained his starting spot because Namon Wright has been ill.

Wright had three points in 11 minutes.

Illinois was unranked for the pre-Christmas rivalry game for the second straight season after losing three of five, although two of the setbacks were to No. 15 Miami and No. 7 Villanova.

It was just the eighth time in 34 games in the series with neither team ranked.

Jakeenan Gant scored off an inbounds play with 3:34 left to give Missouri its last lead at 57-55. The Tigers didn’t score again until Clark tied it in the final seconds.

Illinois missed its first seven 3-point attempts but made two of its last three late in the half, with Starks connecting with 4.7 seconds left for a 32-30 lead.

—

TIP-INS

Illinois: The Fighting Illini prevailed despite going just 4 for 18 from 3-point range. Ahmad Starks topped double figures for the first time in nine games, though he was just 1 for 7 on 3-pointers. He entered averaging 7.3 points.

Missouri: Shamburger scored all five of his points in the final 1:36 of the first half, including two free throws after a technical foul. He’s 29 for 32 at the line.

UP NEXT

Illinois: Hosts Kennesaw State next Saturday.

Missouri: Faces Oklahoma State in Kansas City Dec. 30.

IN THE HOUSE

Usually the crowd is evenly split, half clad in orange and the other half in yellow. This year it was closer to 60-40 Illinois. There were a lot more empty seats than usual and 20,079 tickets was about 2,000 shy of capacity. … Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog and Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon were among the luminaries in the crowd.

— Associated Press —

CSU-Pueblo wins Division II football National Title in Kansas City

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CSPThunderWolfKANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Colorado State-Pueblo didn’t have a football program seven years ago.

Now, there is none better in Division II.

Chris Bonner threw for 191 yards and a touchdown, Cameron McDondle ran for 113 yards and the ThunderWolves relied on some stingy defense to knock off previously unbeaten Minnesota State 13-0 on Saturday for their first national championship.

Paul Browning had five catches for 84 yards and the game’s lone touchdown for Pueblo (14-1), and Greg O’Donnell bounced back from an early miss to connect on his next two field goals.

“To be able to come through and end it like this, it’s beautiful,” Browning said. “Thank you to Pueblo for allowing us to have a football program. To do this, it’s just a mind-blowing experience.”

The victory capped a remarkable rebuilding job by ThunderWolves coach John Wristen, who played quarterback for the school when it was known as Southern Colorado in the early 1980s.

The program was disbanded along with several others in cost-cutting moves in 1985, and Wristen was brought on board in 2007 to revive it. Pueblo won four games the following year and simply kept improving, going unbeaten in the regular season the three previous seasons.

Each of those years ended in playoff disappointment, though. But after losing its only game to Fort Lewis earlier this season, Pueblo made sure to finish things off this time.

“Our defense was outstanding. Our offense made the plays they needed to,” Wristen said. “I was convinced if we understood the process, played as hard as you can and play for each other — and not being perfect, but fixing your mistakes — we had a chance to be here.”

Ricky Lloyd and Nick Pieruccini shared quarterback duties for the Mavericks (14-1), though neither of them was particularly effective. Running back Connor Thomas, who had more than 1,300 yards rushing this season, was held to just 25 yards on 10 carries.

The result was the first shutout in the Division II title game since 1997.

“That was one of the best defenses we’ve seen,” Lloyd said. “We just couldn’t get on a roll. We couldn’t get any drives sustained and when you can’t get drives sustained, it’s tough to score.”

The Division II title game moved this year from its longtime home in Florence, Alabama to Sporting Park, the $200 million soccer-specific home of MLS club Sporting Kansas City — which looked just fine dressed as a football stadium for the first time.

As expected, two of the nation’s best defenses took center stage early. Neither team crossed midfield until late in the first quarter, and the game was still scoreless midway through the second.

Both teams squandered chances, though. O’Donnell missed right on a 44-yard field-goal attempt, and Minnesota State’s Alden Haffar had his 27-yard attempt blocked.

O’Donnell finally broke the deadlock with a 27-yard field goal late in the half.

Minnesota State, which blew out Concord 47-13 in the semifinals, proceeded to go three-and-out for the second time in the half. Pueblo took advantage of good field position and briskly marched 69 yards, taking a 10-0 lead on Bonner’s 18-yard fade pass to Browning.

“Just saw a good mathcup out there with Paul. Any time I see that, I’ve been doing it all year, I’m going at him,” Bonner said. “Just a well-executed play.”

O’Donnell added a 24-yard field goal early in the second half to extend the ThunderWolves’ lead, and the same defense that shined in 10-7 semifinal win over West Georgia came through again.

For Minnesota State, it was a bitter ending to a remarkable season.

Todd Hoffner returned as coach after a two-year hiatus caused by some messy legal trouble, and the Mavericks put together a perfect regular season. They then advanced to the Division II finals for the first time, beating perennial powerhouse Pittsburg State in overtime along the way.

On Saturday, they finally ran into the first team they couldn’t beat.

“We didn’t come into the game satisfied. We came in to compete. We came in to win,” Hoffner said. “You get 60 minutes. You get one chance to compete, and if you don’t get it done, you have a result like you had today.”

— Associated Press —

Northwest women fall at home to Fort Hays State

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Northwest2013riggertBy David Boyce

MARYVILLE, Mo. – When Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team avoided turnovers, the offense flowed well.

Unfortunately, the Bearcats had too many turnovers to keep pace with Fort Hays State Saturday afternoon at Bearcat Arena. Northwest lost 71-52.

Too often, the Bearcats telegraphed their passes, which allowed Fort Hays players to get their hands in the passing lane and steal the ball. Other times, the Bearcats were simply careless.

Northwest committed 12 turnovers in the first half and that contributed to an eight-point halftime deficit.

The Bearcats needed to clean up the miscues in the second half to make a run at the Tigers. It didn’t happen. Northwest committed an additional 17 turnovers in the second half.

Northwest quickly fell behind 40-28 early in the second half and faced a double-digit deficit most of the final 20 minutes.

Every time the Bearcats appeared to gain some momentum, a turnover halted all potential scoring runs. Northwest shot the ball well in the second half, making 10-of-22 from the field for 46 percent.

The turnovers, though, allowed Fort Hays to take 10 shots more than the Bearcats.

One bright spot for Northwest was freshman forward Tanya Meyer. She came off the bench and scored 10 points.

Despite going into halftime down 36-28, Northwest put together one of its best half of basketball in MIAA play.

In the opening 12 minutes, the Bearcats matched Fort Hays on the offensive end. There were eight lead changes during that span. Shelby Mustain scored on the inside and Taylor Shull hit a few jumpers.

All the momentum was in favor of the Bearcats when Mustain scored to give Northwest a 16-15. Northwest failed to increase its lead on several occasions because of a few unforced turnovers.

Fort Hays regained the lead at 17-16, and then Northwest hit one of its cold spells that has hampered the Bearcats so far this season. The Tigers took advantage and extended their lead to 33-22.

Instead of letting the deficit get out of hand, the Bearcats battled back. Shull and Ariel Easton made back-to-back driving layups late in the first half that helped Northwest close to 33-28.

— Northwest Athletics —

Oubre leads No. 10 Kansas to easy win over Lafayette

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riggertKULAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Brannen Greene’s tardiness turned into an opportunity for Kelly Oubre Jr., and the freshman made the most of a surprise start for No. 10 Kansas.

Oubre had 23 points and 10 rebounds, leading the Jayhawks to a 96-69 victory over Lafayette on Saturday.

“Today was a confidence booster, something to get me started,” Oubre said. “I’m just going to keep doing the things I’ve been doing, be patient and enjoy the process.”

Greene was expected to start, but coach Bill Self yanked the sophomore forward from the lineup because he was late to a weightlifting session.

“He wasn’t going to start today,” Self said of Oubre. “That was a gift from Brannen Greene.”

Oubre was 9 for 15 from the field in his second start of the season. He also was in the starting lineup on Nov. 18 against No. 1 Kentucky and had six points in just 13 minutes in the Jayhawks’ 72-40 loss.

Wayne Selden Jr. finished with 12 points, all in the second half for Kansas (9-1). Freshman Svi Mykhailiuk and junior Jamari Traylor each had 11 points, and freshman Cliff Alexander had 10.

“Everybody had a great week leading up to it,” junior Hunter Mickelson said. “We’re on break, everybody’s finishing up finals. I think putting all that together with everyone else having a great week, just kinda fitting in with getting everything right. We just had one of those weeks.”

Seth Hinrichs led Lafayette (7-3) with 15 points and seven rebounds.

“They’re the 10th-(ranked) team in the country,” Hinrichs said. “We competed for 30 minutes and I think we can be proud of that. We had a few turnovers and they went on a run.”

Kansas played without freshman Devonte’ Graham because of a toe injury, and junior Perry Ellis was limited to seven minutes in the first half.

“I don’t think Ellis felt well today,” Self said. “Something was up.”

Kansas used a 19-4 run to open a 26-11 lead with 8:43 remaining. Mykhailiuk made consecutive 3-pointer to increase the Jayhawks’ advantage to 45-28 at the break.

The Leopards rallied in the second half, closing to 59-52 on Monty Boykins’ 3-pointer. But Kansas pulled away again.

“We worked so hard to get back in the game and all of a sudden they would go right back up and quickly,” coach Fran O’Hanlon said. “I do think there was a point where they were battling against a good team. It was going to be hard to get back in that game.”

Kansas responded with a 15-4 run. Mason had two jumpers in the surge.

“When they made their run and we weren’t playing very well, the only reason why the game wasn’t closer because of Frank,” Self said.

TIP-INS

Kansas: The Jayhawks shot 50 percent (38 for 76) from the field and outrebounded the Leopards 44-26.

Lafayette: The Leopards are 0-3 against Big 12 opponents since O’Hanlon took over in 1995.

UP NEXT

Kansas visits Temple on Monday.

Lafayette hosts the New Jersey Institute of Technology on Dec. 28.

STAT LINES

Six different Jayhawks scored in double figures.

QUOTABLE

“I learned a lesson. I’m not gonna tell you guys who I’m starting.” — Bill Self

— Associated Press —

Kansas State defeats Texas A&M at Sprint Center

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riggertKStateKANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Texas A&M owned the stat sheet, but Kansas State owned the scoreboard.

The Aggies (7-3) had more rebounds, assists, points in the paint, and points off turnovers, and had half as many turnovers as the Wildcats (7-4), but the only stat that mattered was the final score, which showed Kansas State as a 71-64 winner in the Wildcat Classic at the Sprint Center on Saturday night.

“We won every stat,” Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy said following the game, “but we didn’t make enough tough plays when we needed to.”

Kansas State was in a de facto home game a little more than 100 miles from their Manhattan, Kansas campus, and the Wildcats used the partisan crowd to their advantage.

“Playing here is a special opportunity for our kids,” Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said. “I kept telling them that we had to take advantage of that. To have that crowd (14,884) was great, but we told them that they had to feed the crowd.”

Never was the crowd more a factor than when Wesley Iwundu grabbed a rebound on the defensive end and went end-to-end for a thunderous dunk. On the next play, he raced to get a pass that was too far in front of him and threw it over his head to teammate Nino Williams for an easy layup.

“I told him that’s the craziest dunk I’ve ever seen, in a game or watching a game,” Williams said. “He just took off.”

Williams was key for the Wildcats. He led the team with 17 points, and Weber called his game “efficient.”

“Nino was very efficient, like he’s been,” Weber said. “He knows his role. He’s a junkyard dog.”

Along with Williams, Thomas Gipson added 14 points, and Marcus Foster and Iwundu had 10 each. Texas A&M was led by Kourtney Roberson and Danuel House with 13 points each. Jordan Green had 11 and Alex Caruso 10.

“We fought at a high level,” Kennedy said. “Kansas State threw a lot of punches at us early. We responded too late.

“We’ve got pretty good character. We didn’t fold, and that was the best thing.”

The Wildcats saw their seven-point halftime lead trimmed to five points before an 11-2 run allowed them to put the game on cruise control. A 6-0 run by Texas A&M with just over four minutes remaining cut the lead to 61-54. The Wildcats missed six straight free throws to see the lead reduced to four points a couple of times, but held off the Aggies down the stretch.

Kansas State went inside early and often. After an opening 3-point basket by Justin Edwards, the Wildcats’ next nine field goals were inside the paint. It wasn’t until 6:16 remained in the first half that the Wildcats scored again from beyond 5 feet. Foster’s 3-pointer gave the Wildcats a 31-20 lead, the largest of the half.

“That’s what they were giving us,” Weber said. “They stayed with Marcus because they weren’t going to let him beat them.”

Even the first six free throws during the opening run were generated by fouls on inside play. In all, 10 of Kansas State’s 14 first-half field goals were in the paint. The Wildcats shot a sizzling 82 percent from the field in the first half.

TIP-INS

Texas A&M: Saturday’s game was the fifth of the Aggies’ six nonconference contests against teams that played in the NCAA tournament last season. The Aggies are 2/3 in those games. … Texas A&M is 7-18 against Kansas State, with most of those games coming when the Aggies were part of the Big 12 Conference. It was the first matchup between the two schools since Texas A&M left the Big 12 following the 2011-12 season.

Kansas State: The Wildcats are now 107-76 all-time in Kansas City.

STAT LINES

Nino Williams, coming off Big 12 Conference Player of the Week honors, was one of four Wildcats in double figures. He’s looking forward to some time off over the Christmas break. “He’s got a case of `old man knees,” coach Bruce Weber said. “He’s got to continue to take care of those things. But he’s been in the system and he’s learned how to make big plays.”

UP NEXT

Texas A&M hosts Mercer on Dec. 30.

Kansas State hosts Texas Southern on Dec. 28.

— Associated Press —

Chiefs’ Bowe questionable for Steelers game

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ChiefsKANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs wide receiver Dwayne Bowe missed his third straight day of practice with the flu Friday and is questionable for Sunday’s pivotal game at Pittsburgh.

The Chiefs (8-6) would not be eliminated from the playoff race with a loss to the Steelers, but they would need a lot of help. Kansas City plays San Diego in the final week of the season.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Friday he thinks Bowe will be able to play. If he’s unable to go, Frankie Hammond Jr. and Jason Avant will likely be called upon to cover Bowe’s production.

Linebacker Tamba Hali also did not practice Friday, though Reid said that was mostly to rest his sore knee. Reid expects Hali to be available for the game.

Angels get second baseman Giavotella from Royals

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Johnny Giavotella- courtesy photo
Johnny Giavotella- courtesy photo

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Angels have acquired second baseman Johnny Giavotella from the Kansas City Royals for minor league pitcher Brian Broderick.

The clubs announced the deal Friday.

Giavotella was designated for assignment by the Royals on Thursday after spending most of last season at Triple-A Omaha. He has played parts of four big league seasons in Kansas City, batting .238 in 125 career games.

The Angels need a second baseman after trading Howie Kendrick to the Dodgers. They are still attempting to re-sign infielder Gordon Beckham.

Broderick was signed by the Angels earlier in the offseason. He pitched in the independent Atlantic League last season.

MWSU’s Jordan named to 3rd Team AP Little All-America team

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MWSUMissouri Western junior cornerback Mike Jordan has been named to his second All-America team as he is a member of the Associated Press Little All-America team.

Jordan is a third team choice on the AP team which is made up of the top players from NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA team.

He was also named a first team AFCA All-American and was named first team All-MIAA for the second consecutive season.

Jordan is on the Don Hansen All-Super Region Three second-team and the DAKTRONICS All-Super Region three team.

He led the MIAA with 16 passes defensed and was tied for the league lead with four interceptions.

Click here for the full release from the Associated Press.

— MWSU Sports Information —

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