Sports – Page 250 – North Platte Post Archive

Huskers’ Miles and Billikens’ Crews To Coach in Reese’s Division I College All-Star Game

Posted on March 26, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (March 26, 2015) – The University of Nebraska’s Tim Miles and Jim Crews of Saint Louis University have been named head coaches for the 2015 Reese’sDivision I College All-Star Game, which will be played on Reese’s Final Four Friday, April 3, at 4:30 p.m., at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Reese’s brand is the official candy partner of the NCAA®.

The Reese’s brand is also the title sponsor of the Reese’s Division III College All-Star Game played on Saturday, March 21, at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Va., in conjunction with the NCAA Division III championships. An all-star game played on Friday, March 27, at 7 p.m. at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., during the NCAA Division II Elite Eight®, will also have Reese’sbrand as its title sponsor.

Miles will coach the Reese’s East All-Stars while Crews will lead theReese’s West All-Stars. The game features 20 of the nation’s most outstanding college senior student-athletes selected by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).

Tim Miles, Head Coach, University of Nebraska (EAST)
Since his first experience as a head coach at Mayville (ND) State University in 1995, Tim Miles has earned a reputation as a program builder. He is the only active coach who has taken teams to the postseason in NCAA Division I, Division II and in the NAIA, and has won 330 games in his 20 seasons as a head coach. In 2013-14, just his second season at Nebraska, Miles guided the Huskers to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 16 seasons and captured a pair of prestigious coaching awards – Big Ten Coach of the Year and the Jim Phelan Award as National Coach of the Year.

Miles arrived at Nebraska after five successful seasons at Colorado State, where he increased the Rams’ win total every year, reaching the postseason in each of his last three seasons in Fort Collins. The Rams earned a berth in the NCAA tournament in 2012, one of four for the Mountain West Conference, and won 20 games for only the seventh time in Colorado State’s 108 seasons.

In six seasons at North Dakota State, he helped orchestrate the Bison’s successful transition to Division I, which included a win at Wisconsin, snapping a 27-game Badgers’ win streak against non-conference opponents.

Miles led Southwest Minnesota State for four seasons, taking a program that had one winning season in a decade to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight, winning 28 games. In his first head coaching stint at Mayville after six seasons as an assistant at Northern State, Miles’ teams won a pair of conference titles for a program that had won just four games in the two previous seasons.

Jim Crews, Head Coach, Saint Louis University (WEST)
In three seasons as the head coach at Saint Louis University, Jim Crews has guided the Billikens to unprecedented success. Following a season as an assistant to Rick Majerus, Crews was named interim head coach in 2012-13 when the Billikens set a program record with 28 wins, won the Atlantic-10 Conference regular season championship and earned a second straight NCAA berth. Crews was named UPS NABC Division I Coach of the Year, Sporting News National Coach of the Year, A-10 Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year.

After being named as the Billikens’ head coach on April 12, 2013, Crews led SLU to another A-10 regular season championship and a school-record third straight NCAA tournament with a 27-7 record. The season included a 19-game win streak as Crews was named A-10 Coach of the Year for the second straight season and was one of 10 finalists for the USBWA’s Henry Iba Coach of the Year Award.

Crews has been a part of 16 NCAA tournaments as a player, assistant coach and head coach. He played on Indiana’s undefeated 1976 championship team and was an assistant to Bob Knight on the Hoosiers’ 1981 national champions. He was the head coach at Evansville for 17 seasons, including four NCAA tournament berths, and was head coach at Army for seven seasons.

About the National Association of Basketball Coaches
Located in Kansas City, Missouri, the NABC was founded in 1927 by Forrest “Phog” Allen, the legendary basketball coach at the University of Kansas. Allen, a student of James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, organized coaches into this collective group to serve as Guardians of the Game. The NABC currently has nearly 5,000 members consisting primarily of university and college men’s basketball coaches. All members of the NABC are expected to uphold the core values of being a Guardian of the Game by bringing attention to the positive aspects of the sport of basketball and the role coaches play in the academic and athletic lives of today’s student-athletes. The four core values of being a Guardian of the Game are advocacy, leadership, service and education. Additional information about the NABC, its programs and membership, can be found at www.nabc.org.

Ex-Husker DE Randy Gregory to NFL Media: I Failed Drug Tests

Posted on March 26, 2015

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Defensive end Randy Gregory says he’s tested positive for marijuana at the NFL scouting combine last month and that he failed two drug tests at Nebraska last year.

Gregory disclosed his marijuana use in an interview with NFL Media on Wednesday.

Gregory went into February’s scouting combine projected to be among the top 10 picks in the draft. He declared for the draft after his junior season at Nebraska, where he recorded 17 1/2 sacks in two seasons.

He said he tested positive for marijuana at Nebraska in January 2014 and April 2014. Gregory said he hadn’t smoked marijuana since December and that he understands the failed drug tests could hurt his draft position.

Eddie Rhodman Jr., one of Gregory’s handlers, said on Thursday that Gregory would not comment further.

Covington Scores 25 Points, 76ers beat Nuggets 99-85

Posted on March 25, 2015

DENVER (AP) — Rookie Robert Covington tied a career high with 25 points and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Denver Nuggets 99-85 on Wednesday night.

Nerlens Noel had 14 points and 15 rebounds for the 76ers, who swept the season series from the Nuggets.

Ty Lawson scored 19 points and Wilson Chandler had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Nuggets.

Covington, who also tied a career high with six 3-pointers, scored 15 points in a 6:16 span of the third quarter to give Philadelphia a 66-62 lead.

Denver responded with a 14-6 run to end the third. Lawson hit a pair of 3-pointers, the second of which gave the Nuggets a 74-72 lead with 30 seconds left in the third quarter. Denver led by four midway through the fourth when Ish Smith drove in for a layup and Noel’s rebound and layup tied it at 79.

Philadelphia took control from there.

Derek Roy gets Tiebreaking Goal as Oilers beat Avalanche

Posted on March 25, 2015

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Derek Roy scored the tiebreaking goal midway through the third period and the Edmonton Oilers recovered after giving up a three-goal lead and held on to beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 on Wednesday night.

Martin Marincin, Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall all scored in the first 9:36 of the game for the Oilers, who have won two of their last three games. Ben Scrivens stopped 31 shots.

Jarome Iginla and Alex Tanguay scored in the second period, and Ryan O’Reilly tied it early in the third for the Avalanche, who have lost three in a row and are 10 points out of playoff spot with just nine games remaining.

Semyon Varlamov allowed three goals on the first seven shots he faced before getting pulled in favor of Reto Berra, who finished with 26 saves.

Yordano Ventura to Start Royals’ Opener against White Sox

Posted on March 25, 2015

SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — Yordano Ventura has been picked to pitch on opening day for the AL champion Kansas City Royals against the Chicago White Sox.

The 23-year-old right-hander went 14-10 with a 3.20 ERA as a rookie last season and tossed seven scoreless innings to beat San Francisco in Game 6 of the World Series.

The announcement was made by Royals manager Ned Yost on Wednesday.

James Shields, the team’s No. 1 starter last year, signed with San Diego in the offseason.

Yost says left-hander Danny Duffy and right-hander Edinson Volquez will follow the hard-throwing Ventura in the rotation during the season-opening series against the White Sox at Kauffman Stadium.

Duffy was 9-12 with a 2.53 ERA last season. Kansas City signed Volquez to a two-year contract in December after he went 13-7 with a 3.04 ERA last season for Pittsburgh.

Yost says lefty Jason Vargas and right-hander Jeremy Guthrie will round out the rotation in that order.

Husker Winning Streak Snapped at 11 Games

Posted on March 25, 2015

Lincoln – The Nebraska baseball team (18-7, 3-0 Big Ten) saw its 11-game winning streak come to an end on Wednesday afternoon at Hawks Field when it dropped its first home game of the season, a 4-3 defeat to the Cal State Fullerton Titans (12-12, 0-0 Big West). The Huskers hit in the bottom of the ninth at home for the first time all year and had the tying run on base, but Yutan, Neb., native Tyler Peitzmeier closed out the game for the Titans with his eighth save of the season.

The Huskers outhit the Titans, 9-8, on the afternoon and lost their second game of the year when outing their opponent. NU’s pitching staff racked up 10 strikeouts on the day, but also issued a season-high tying six walks, including three from freshman starter Zack Engelken. The Titans notched five strikeouts, including four from Peitzmeier, and only issued one free pass.

After not allowing a first inning run over their first 11 home games of the year, the Huskers found themselves in a 2-0 deficit after the Titans scored a pair of runs on a two-RBI single by Scott Hurst in the first inning with two outs and the bases loaded.

The Huskers got Engelken off the hook in the second when they tied the game with a pair of runs on two hits and a two-out error by CSF second-baseman Josh Vargas. The Huskers gave back a costly unearned run in the fourth when No. 9 hitter Timmy Richards reached on a fielding error by Jake Placzek and David Olmedo-Barrera followed with a two-run home run over the right-field wall that put the Titans ahead 4-2.

Nebraska was in position to answer in the bottom of the fourth when they had runners on second and third with one out following back-to-back singles by Elijah Dilday and Taylor Fish, but Fullerton starter Miles Chambers got a pop out from Placzek and a fly out from Ryan Boldt to end the threat.

The Huskers put themselves in the same position in the fifth after Blake Headley singled with one out and Ben Miller followed with his third double of the series. Freshman Scott Schreiber stepped in an produced a RBI groundout that cut Fullerton’s lead to 4-3. Nebraska mustered just two base runners over the final four innings and was never able to get the tying run in scoring position.

The Huskers continue their 16-game homestand on Friday night at 6:35 p.m. when they welcome the Texas Longhorns to Hawks Field for the first game of a three-game series.Friday’s opener with be showed statewide on NET and will be streamed on BTN Plus.

Huskers Mix Big Dance with Graduation Success

Posted on March 25, 2015

Lincoln – Nebraska was one of only 19 schools in the 64-team field of the 2015 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament to post a 100 percent Graduation Success Rate, according to research done by the Institute of Diversity and Ethics in Sport.

It marked the seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament team the Huskers have produced under Coach Connie Yori that has carried a 100 percent Graduation Success Rate into postseason play.

In fact, Nebraska joins Notre Dame and Tennessee as the only schools in the nation to advance to the 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 NCAA tournaments that also had perfect 100 percent Graduation Success Rates in every season.

The Huskers are one of only eight teams in the nation to advance to each of the past four NCAA tournaments and post a perfect GSR, joining Dayton, Duke, Iowa State, Kentucky, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

In 2015, 19 NCAA Division I women’s basketball teams competed in the national tournament and posted a perfect GSR, including American, Dayton, DePaul, Duke, George Washington, Green Bay, Iowa State, Kentucky, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, Princeton, Quinnipiac, South Florida, Tennessee, Tulane, UConn and Washington.

In 2007, Nebraska advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time during Coach Connie Yori’s tenure and was one of just eight schools in the 64-team field with a perfect GSR. In 2008, NU was one of 11 schools with a perfect GSR. In 2010, the 64-team NCAA Tournament field that included Nebraska advancing to the Sweet 16, featured 19 teams with perfect Graduation Success Rates. The 2012 NCAA bracket included 22 teams with a 100 percent GSR.

The 2013 NCAA Tournament, in which Nebraska advanced to the Sweet 16, included 25 teams with perfect GSR scores. That number slipped to 21 teams in 2014.

In other academic news on Wednesday, Nebraska’s Rachel Theriot and Allie Havers were named to the academic All-Big Ten team.

6 Teams with 10 or More Losses Most Ever to Reach Sweet 16

Posted on March 25, 2015March 25, 2015

Six of the 16 teams in the NCAA Tournament’s regional semifinals this week have 10 or more losses.

That’s the most ever to advance that far in the tourney.

The fact North Carolina State, Xavier and UCLA have lost 13 games apiece elicits little more than a shrug from people in college basketball. They point to there being more opportunities to lose since regular seasons went from 28 to 31 games eight years ago.

Also, top programs are trying to schedule the best possible nonconference opponents to enhance their resumes for NCAA Tournament selection and seeding.

Plus, teams beat up each other playing 18 conference games in the strongest leagues.

Other Sweet 16 teams with double-digit losses are Michigan State and North Carolina, which have 11 each, and Oklahoma, which has 10.

NFL Changes 3 Compensatory Draft Picks

Posted on March 25, 2015

PHOENIX (AP) — The NFL changed three compensatory picks for this year’s draft on Wednesday.

Downgraded was Denver’s sixth-rounder (208th overall) to a seventh-round selection (250th overall).

Carolina, meanwhile, had a sixth-rounder (213th) moved up to the fifth round (174th).

Pittsburgh’s seventh-round selection (252) is now a sixth-rounder (212).

The draft is April 30-May 2 in Chicago.

Five Huskers Named Academic All-Big Ten Team

Posted on March 25, 2015

Lincoln – Five University of Nebraska men’s basketball players were honored Wednesday, as the Big Ten Conference announced its Winter Academic All-Big Ten teams.

Nick Fuller, Kye Kurkowski, Trevor Menke, Shavon Shields and Leslee Smith were among the 32 men’s basketball players from around the conference recognized this afternoon. Nebraska’s five selections led the Big Ten and marked the second straight year that Nebraska has been first or second in Academic All-Big Ten honorees.

It is the fourth consecutive season that both Kurkowski and Menke earned Academic All-Big Ten honors, while Shields, who also earned first-team CoSIDA Academic All-America honors this winter, is being recognized for the third straight season. Of the three Husker seniors being honored, both Menke and Kurkowski have received their undergraduate degrees, while Smith is on track to graduate in May.

To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection, student-athletes must be letterwinners who are in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher. Under Coach Tim Miles, Nebraska has had 12 Academic All-Big Ten selections over the past three seasons.

The conference office also awards Academic All-Big Ten distinction in the fall and spring seasons and will present the Distinguished Scholar Award at the end of the academic year. Student-athletes eligible for the Distinguished Scholar Award must be letterwinners in at least their second year in residence at their institution. Qualifying student-athletes must have earned a GPA of 3.7 or higher for the current academic year, excluding summer school. The Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award was established by conference Faculty Representatives as an addition to the conference’s Academic All-Big Ten program.