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

Category: Sports

Missouri’s Parker named SEC Freshman of the Week

Posted on

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou freshman TE Daniel Parker, Jr. (Blue Springs, Mo.) is the SEC Freshman of the Week, announced Monday by the league office. Parker has earned the weekly distinction for the first time in his career and Monday marks the third time that a Mizzou freshman has taken home this award this season. WR Jalen Knox had the other two after his performances at Purdue and against Memphis.

A converted defensive end turned tight end, Parker’s team-first attitude has been welcomed and admired by Mizzou’s coaching staff and fans, and his work ethic paid dividends last Saturday against Vanderbilt. With Mizzou’s TE group depleted by injuries and much of Mizzou’s offense being dependent upon the TE position, Parker stepped up and made a huge impact in Mizzou’s 33-28 win over Vanderbilt, helping the Tigers gain bowl eligibility for the second straight season.

He earned the first start of his career and hauled in three catches for 42 yards and a big 20-yard TD strike, the first of his career, to help Mizzou pull within one score during its comeback from down 11 points. His first catch came on a second-and-six and went for a first down. His second catch was the 20-yard TD to cut Vanderbilt’s lead to 28-26 in the third quarter. His final catch came on a third-and-three on Mizzou’s eventual game-winning drive in the fourth quarter, taking a Drew Lock pass for 15 yards and first down.

In addition to what he did in the passing game, his contributions were equally noticeable in the ground game as his blocking helped pave the way for 253 yards on the ground. Mizzou’s offense was perfectly balanced Saturday, going for 253 yards through the air and 253 on the ground, marking just the ninth time in program history that Mizzou had at least 250 rushing yards and 250 passing yards in a league game. Parker’s contributions were a huge part of that.

Parker and the Tigers return to the road for the final time in 2018 as they head to Tennessee for a 2:30 p.m. (CT) game at Neyland Stadium this Saturday.

— Mizzou Athletics —

Ticket information for Northwest’s playoff game at Grand Valley State

Posted on

Northwest Missouri State will meet Grand Valley State at Noon (CT) on Sat., Nov. 17, at Lubbers Stadium in Allendale, Michigan.

Tickets are available to purchase for Saturday’s NCAA Division II playoff game at Grand Valley State. To obtain tickets in the visiting team block for $18 call the Grand Valley State ticket office at (616) 331-3200.

The game will be broadcast on the Bearcat Radio Network and a video stream will be available on ESPN3.

The winner of Saturday’s game will play the winner of Harding at Ferris State on Sat., Nov. 24.

— Northwest Athletics —

Kansas sweeps weekly Big 12 basketball honors

Posted on

IRVING, Texas – The Kansas duo of Dedric Lawson and Quentin Grimes swept the first Big 12 weekly honors of the 2018-19 season, the conference office announced Monday. Lawson is the Big 12 Player of the Week, while Grimes is the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week in a vote by a media panel which covers the conference.

In No. 1 Kansas’ 92-87 win against No. 10 Michigan State in the State Farm Champions Classic, Nov. 6, Lawson recorded a double-double with 20 points and 14 rebounds. The 6-foot-9, Memphis, Tennessee, forward also led KU with six assists in the win. The double-double was Lawson’s 37th career as he had 36 in two years while at Memphis before transferring to Kansas following the 2016-17 season. Lawson became just the fifth Jayhawk since the 1988-89 season to record a double-double in his KU debut and the first since current sophomore Marcus Garrett had 10 points and 10 rebounds versus Tennessee State last year. The Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, Lawson is on most every preseason national player of the year watch lists for 2018-19.

In his collegiate debut, Grimes led all scorers with 21 points in the win versus Michigan State, which was played at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Woodlands, Texas, guard was 7-for-14 from the field, including 6-for-10 from 3-point range and had four assists. The 6-foot-5 Grimes’ six 3-pointers were the most in a KU debut as the 3-point shot was instituted for the 1986-87 season. Grimes is the Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year and has been listed on the Naismith Trophy and Wooden Award preseason watch lists for 2018-19.

Historically, Kansas has won the more Big 12 weekly honors than any other school with 120 in the 22-year history of the conference. Lawson is the Kansas’ Big 12 Player of the Week for the 72nd time, while Grimes is KU’s Big 12 Newcomer/Rookie of the Week for the 48th time. Iowa State and Texas are tied for second on the combined most named for Big 12 weekly honors at 95.

No. 2 Kansas (1-0) will host Vermont (1-0) in a campus round game of the NIT Season Tip Off, Monday, Nov. 12, at 8 p.m.

— KU Athletics —

Mizzou’s Cunningham named to Naismith Trophy watch list

Posted on

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Women’s Basketball senior guard Sophie Cunningham (Columbia, Mo.) was named to the watch list for the Citizen Naismith Trophy, announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club Monday. The Tiger senior was one of 50 players on the watch list for the Women’s Player of the Year award.

The watch list will be narrowed down to 30 players for a midseason team on Feb. 11, 2019, and then to 10 national semifinalists on March 4, 2019. Finally, four finalists will be named on March 22, 2019, with the winner being announced on April 6, 2019.

Cunningham has now been named to the watch list for three national awards for the 2018-19 season, as she was also named to the Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Award (Oct. 24) and the Wooden Award (Nov. 7) watch lists. Cunningham was also tabbed Preseason All-SEC first team by the league’s coaches (Oct. 30) and media members (Oct. 16).

Cunningham scored 31 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out three assists in Mizzou’s season-opening road victory over Western Illinois on Nov. 6. The performance was Cunningham’s eighth career 30+ point game, and her second straight after scoring 35 points in Mizzou’s NCAA Tournament game against Florida Gulf Coast last season. All-time, Mizzou is 6-2 in games where Cunningham scores 30 or more points.

Last season, Cunningham earned AP All-America Honorable Mention and All-SEC First Team honors for the second consecutive season after averaging 18.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. She was the only player in the nation to shoot better than 54 percent from the field (54.2 percent, 186-for-343), 45 percent from three (45.7 percent, 69-for-151) and 83 percent from the free throw line (83.6 percent, 133-for-159).

Mizzou will be in action twice at Mizzou Arena this week, first hosting Missouri State on Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. CT, then Green Bay on Friday, Nov. 16 at 6 p.m. CT.

— Mizzou Athletics —

Missouri State’s Cook earns MVC Newcomer of the Week

Posted on

ST. LOUIS – Missouri State junior Keandre Cook (G, Baltimore, Md.) has been named Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week, the league office announced Monday.

Cook, who helped lead the Bears to a 3-0 start to the 2018-19 men’s basketball season, averaged 17.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game in three starts during his first week as a Division I player. He posted a pair of 20-point games and also notched his first career double-double in becoming MSU’s first MVC Newcomer of the Week honoree since J.T. Miller on Jan. 1, 2018.

He also converted 18-of-33 (.545) shots from the field for the week to go with 52 points, 25 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals, while making 11-of-15 (.733) free throws. His point total is the most by a first-year MSU player over his first three games since Shelton Colwell (58) in 2002-03.

Cook notched 20 points and 10 rebounds in the Bears’ win over Robert Morris on Nov. 9, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range and a 6-for-10 shooting performance overall. He followed that with 20 points and 8 rebounds against Stetson on Nov. 11 behind a 7-of-14 shooting effort.

Coach Dana Ford’s Bears will have the week off before resuming play on Monday, Nov. 19 against Nebraska at the Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Classic, powered by ShotTracker, at Kemper Arena in Kansas City.

— MSU Athletics —

Nebraska’s Ozigbo, Martinez earn Big Ten weekly football honors

Posted on

Nebraska running back Devine Ozigbo was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and quarterback Adrian Martinez was honored as the Big Ten Freshman of the Week, the conference announced on Monday.

The weekly award is the first of Ozigbo’s career, while he became the first Husker to be named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week since Tommy Armstrong Jr. in 2016. Martinez was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the second straight week and for the third time this season. Martinez is the eighth player in Big Ten history to take home three freshman-of-the-week awards, and he is the first quarterback to be named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week three times since Ohio State’s J.T. Barrett in 2014.

Ozigbo was recognized after he averaged 14.7 yards per carry in the Huskers’ 54-35 win over Illinois on Saturday. Ozigbo had 162 yards rushing on only 11 carries – his fourth Big Ten game with more than 150 rushing yards – and he scored a career-high three touchdowns. Ozigbo had touchdown runs of 60 and 66 yards for the two longest rushes of his career. He is just 42 yards shy of rushing for 1,000 yards this season. The Sachse, Texas, native leads the Big Ten and ranks eighth nationally with 12 rushing touchdowns this season, and he also ranks fifth nationally in yards per carry (7.5) and is 21st in rushing yards (958).

Martinez directed a Husker offense that totaled more than 600 yards of offense against the Illini while scoring 54 points, the most points Nebraska has ever scored in a Big Ten Conference game. The Fresno, Calif., native accounted for 345 yards of total offense against Illinois, as he tied the school record with his sixth 300-yard total offense game this season. Martinez completed 24-of-34 passes for 290 yards and a career-high-tying three touchdowns. He also ran for 55 yards and one touchdown, tying his career high with four total touchdowns. Martinez, who moved into the top 10 on Nebraska’s season passing yards and total offense lists on Saturday, ranks second nationally among FBS freshmen in total offensive yards per game (305.2) and is third among all freshmen in passing yards per game (245.8). Among all FBS players, Martinez ranks 14th nationally in total offense, 17th in completion percentage (66.9) and 21st in points responsible for per game (15.1).

— NU Athletics —

Northwest Missouri State earns 23rd NCAA Division II playoff appearance

Posted on

The Northwest Missouri State Bearcat football team will be the No. 6 seed in the NCAA Super Region Three of the Division II playoffs. Northwest will take on No. 3 seed Grand Valley State on Sat., Nov. 17, in Allendale, Michigan.

Northwest earned its 15th straight bid and 23rd overall appearance in the Division II playoffs. Grand Valley State is making its 19th appearance in the Division II playoffs. Northwest and Grand Valley State have combined to make 16 national championship game appearances and the two programs have won 10 national titles. Northwest owns six national championships (1998, 1999, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2016), while Grand Valley State has won four national titles (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006).

The Bearcats and Lakers are the two all-time winningest Division II playoff programs. The Bearcats are 47-16 all-time in the playoffs, while the Lakers are 35-14. North Alabama has also won 35 Division II playoff games.

Northwest and Grand Valley have met five times in the Division II playoffs with the Bearcats owning a 3-2 advantage. Grand Valley State defeated Northwest in the national title games in 2005 (21-17) and 2006 (17-14). Since then, Northwest has won the final three matchups. In 2007, Northwest scored a 34-16 win over Grand Valley in the semifinals in Maryville, Missouri. Northwest won the 2009 national title with a triumph over Grand Valley (30-23). The Bearcats scored a 27-13 victory over the Lakers in the 2013 national semifinals in Bearcat Stadium.

Northwest is 9-2 on the season and shared the MIAA regular season title with Fort Hays State. Grand Valley State is 10-1 overall and went 7-1 in the GLIAC to place second in the league.

— Northwest Athletics —

Chiefs defeat Cardinals 26-14 for fourth consecutive win

Posted on

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes will always have some special TV footage of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrating his record-setting touchdown pass in a win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

That’s because Tyreek Hill was the one recording it.

Mahomes threw for 249 yards at was too with two TD strikes to Hill, but it was the second one that sent the Chiefs’ first-year starter past Hall of Famer Len Dawson for the single-season TD record. It was the 31st for Mahomes — with six games yet to play — and it helped lift Kansas City to a 26-14 victory over the Cardinals and another game closer to the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

Hill celebrated the score by leaping into the stands, then commandeering the CBS camera — earning him an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty from the officials and a sharp rebuke from coach Andy Reid.

“The celebration just came into my head,” Hill said. “For him to come in and do that, that’s amazing, man. People doubted him — `He wasn’t going to do this, he wasn’t going to do that.’ I’m proud of him.”

Hill had seven catches for 117 yards. Kareem Hunt pounded his way for 71 yards rushing. The defense came up with five sacks and two picks. And the Chiefs’ special teams were nearly perfect, helping to keep the Cardinals (2-7) winless in six meetings at Arrowhead Stadium.

“It was definitely a grind out there,” Hunt said, “and definitely a team that was trying to come up big in a big-time win to get their program back on track, but most importantly we got the win.”

Josh Rosen had 195 yards passing with a touchdown, but two interceptions and several brutal hits in the fourth quarter no doubt left a lasting impression. David Johnson ran for 98 yards with TDs on the ground and through the air, while Larry Fitzgerald had six catches for 50 yards and passed Terrell Owens for No. 2 on the NFL’s career receiving yardage list in the closing minutes.

Fitzgerald has 15,952 yards in 15-year career, trailing only Hall of Famer Jerry Rice.

“I’m pretty close to T.O. His friendship and my relationship with him is valuable to me. He means a great deal to me,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s frustrating that it comes in another loss.”

The Chiefs’ weekly air show got started on the game’s first play, when Hill ran right past Patrick Peterson to haul in a 38-yard reception. Two plays later, Hill ran past the rest of the Arizona defense and Mahomes found him streaking into the end zone for a 37-yard scoring catch.

Arizona answered with a time-consuming 75-yard touchdown drive of its own.

Both defenses fared better the rest of the half, with the Cardinals sacking Mahomes four times and the Chiefs’ rejuvenated defense getting enough pressure to keep Rosen uncomfortable.

The Chiefs finally reached the end zone again when Mahomes zipped a third-and-goal pass into double coverage to Hill, who cradled it for his quarterback’s record-setting score.

“Listen, he’s had a heck of a year,” Reid said of Mahomes, who was not available after the game because of a family emergency. “He’s played his heart out and I love the backside of that, how he goes about his business. He has a lot on his plate as far as responsibility goes to run the offense.”

As for Hill’s touchdown celebration?

“That was too much,” Reid said, hiding a smile. “I was not happy.”

The Cardinals stuck with Johnson in the second half, and they slowly grinded their way to another touchdown. He carried it six times and finished a 12-play, 61-yard drive with a TD plunge to get Arizona within 20-14 midway through the third quarter.

But after the Cardinals got the ball back early in the fourth, Rosen had a screen pass picked by Justin Houston at the line of scrimmage. And instead of marching for a go-ahead TD, the Cardinals watched Spencer Ware dive in for a touchdown to extend a lead the Chiefs would never relinquish.

“Thought the guys fought to the end,” Cardinals coach Steve Wilks said. “There are no moral victories in this game. All credit goes to Kansas City. Well-prepared, good football team.”

QUOTABLE

“I think we did a couple things really well. We’ve just got to duplicate it. Our opening drives were pretty long and sustainable, and kept our defense off the field. We had pretty well-timed possessions. A little good nugget here and there, but some bad things to clean up.” — Rosen.

COIN-TOSS LOSS

The Chiefs lost their first coin toss all season when the Cardinals successfully called tails. They deferred to the second half, forcing Kansas City to start on offense for the first time.

INJURIES

Cardinals: WR Chad Williams (ankle), LG Mike Iupati (back) and DL Robert Nkemdichi (calf) were inactive. … RG Justin Pugh left early in the second half with a knee injury.

Chiefs: WR Sammy Watkins (foot), SS Eric Berry (heel), LB Frank Zombo (hamstring) and OL Mitch Morse (concussion) were inactive. … Houston (hamstring) was active for the first time since Oct. 7.

UP NEXT

Arizona returns home to face the Raiders next Sunday.

Kansas City faces the Rams next Monday night in Mexico City.

— Associated Press —

Cook, Dixon lead Missouri State past Stetson 83-70

Posted on

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Keandre Cook scored 20 points, Jarred Dixon added 18 and Missouri State defeated Stetson 83-70 on Sunday.

Three other players scored in double figures for the Bears (3-0), who were 23 of 38 from the foul line while the Hatters (1-1) made 10 of 13.

Abayomi Iyiola had 13 points and 11 rebounds for Stetson and Ricardo Lynch had 16 points off the bench, though he was just 1 of 10 from 3-point range.

Missouri State never trailed and four different players scored in an early 10-3 run as the Bears broke away from the only tie at 9-9. Cook had 15 points that helped Missouri State take a 43-32 lead at halftime.

A 10-0 run in the middle of the second half produced a 69-50 lead with 8:56 to play and the lead stayed in double figures.

Missouri State shot 48 percent while Stetson, which was 8 of 31 from 3-point range, finished at 35 percent.

— Associated Press —

Nebraska blows out Southeastern Louisiana 87-35

Posted on

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska overwhelmed Southeastern Louisiana Sunday, taking control of the game with a 22-0 first-half run and never letting the Lions make any kind of a comeback.  Nebraska won the game 87-35.

That pleased coach Tim Miles, as did a similar effort Tuesday when the Huskers downed Mississippi Valley State by 69.

“What I like about the team is they were able to play with the mentality and show the versatility to defend the right way,” Miles said. “I think we’ve been okay defensively. We were really good until we got to 78 points on offense. Then we just stopped. But I think we’ve shown that mindset and that consistency. Certainly you want to see that.”

Nebraska (2-0) held Southeastern Louisiana (1-2) scoreless for 8:41 in the first half run. The Lions missed 10-straight shots and turned the ball over nine times during that stretch, which began when Nebraska switched its defenses — playing zone as well as man-to-man and putting on a full-court press.

“I think it really helped us,’ Miles said of the defensive switching. ” We had 16-straight stops in the first half. The press and the zone were part of that. … I thought it really helped tonight, to keep Southeast Louisiana off balance. After the first 3 1/2, 4 minutes, we stopped them in man or zone or press. It was all good for us.”

The Huskers went up 10 on Glynn Watson, Jr.’s layup with 12:20 left in the half and led 26-7 before the Lions scored to end the drought. The Nebraska lead went to 20 on Amir Harris’ layup that made the score 34-14. The Huskers took a 31-point lead on Brady Heiman’s dunk at the 2:02 mark and led by 36 at the half.

Nebraska led by as many as 53 in the second half.

The Huskers forced 25 turnovers, turning them into 33 points. Nebraska hit 17 of 22 free throws. The Lions were just 2 of 4 from the line. Nebraska dominated the paint as well outscoring the Southeastern Louisiana 42-22.

“Nebraska is a really tough team,” said Southeastern Louisiana coach Jay Ladner. “We could play them 100 times and we’re not going to beat them. Going back to last year, I thought it was a crime they didn’t get into the NCAA Tournament. They brought most of that team back this year, so we knew we had a tall order.”

James Palmer, Jr. led Nebraska with 17 points. Also scoring in double figures for Nebraska were Watson with 16 points, Isaac Copeland, Jr., 11 and Heiman, Isaiah Roby and Thomas Allen each scored 10.

Marlain Veal led Southeastern Louisiana with 10 points.

BIG PICTURE

Southeastern Louisiana struggled to score for the second time against a Power-5 conference opponent. The Lions shot just 29 percent in the first half against LSU Tuesday before finishing at 41 percent. They shot 25 percent in the first half against Nebraska and finished at 28 percent.

Nebraska has reached the 50-point mark in three halves it’s played this season. The Huskers scored 55 and 51 points against Mississippi Valley State Tuesday and 52 in the first half Sunday.

UP NEXT

Southeastern Louisiana travels to Lubbock, Texas Tuesday to face Texas Tech.

Nebraska hosts Seton Hall Wednesday in the Gavitt Tipoff Games between the ACC and Big Ten conferences.

— Associated Press —

Copyright Eagle Radio | FCC Public Files | EEO Public File