Scottsbluff, NE – Sports pundits are known to say that a season is a marathon and not a sprint, well last night pundits would be wrong.

The North Platte Knights travelled up to Scottsbluff for a showdown for the #1 spot in the Region IX south sub-district. The winner would take the top spot and earn an automatic bid to the Region IX tournament in Sheridan WY. The loser would then get the right to host McCook on Saturday the 1st to earn a spot in Sheridan.

The Palace at WNCC was packed headed into tip-off as the Cougars were also celebrating sophomore night, would be the last home game for 6 players from the team.

WNCC would jump out to an early lead in this one going up 6-0 before the Knights were able to get a bucket. Teams would go back and forth for a little as WNCC would slowly start to build a lead. Shots for the Knights were just not falling throughout the first half.

After about 5 minutes of play time the floodgates would open for WNCC. They would get out in transition and start hitting shots from all over the floor. The Knights didnt have an answer for the Cougar attack.

Between transition baskets and NBA length three pointers the Cougars found themselves up by double digits early in the half and would stay there throughout.

Only Tim Johnson would have any offense for the Knights going 10/10 from the FT line in the first half to lead the scoring for the Knights. He would be a big part of the momentum shift as the Knights, down by 20 with a minute left in the half would rattle off 4 quick points and get a couple big defensive stops.

The first half would end 50-34 in favor of WNCC. It should be noted that the Cougars shot an out worldly percentage from the field in the first half. They would go 19/31 (61.3%) from the field and go 9/20 (45%) from 3pt range. Those numbers are outstanding and not something one usually sees in a basketball game, at any level.

The Knights, however, would build on that momentum from the end of the half and would storm out of the gates going on a quick 9-3 run to open up the second half. That would prompt a quick time out from WNCC with the score sitting at 53-43, what was a blowout now would turn into a close game.

A combination of the Cougars coming back down to earth mixed with tough defense from the Knights would continue for much of the second half. At numerous times the Knights would get the lead down to 9 points before WNCC would go on a mini run of their own and push it back into double digits.

WNCC started to sweat as their shot was not falling while the Knights were gaining momentum. Another time out with 9:43 left on the clock by the Cougars that tried to stave off Knights momentum. At that point the score stood at 69-58.

Finally with about 7 minutes remaining the Knights would start their push. A group of Da’May Jones, Jakub Karwowski, Courtney Miller, Tim Johnson and Edgars Kaufmanis would be the magic lineup and push the lead below that 9 point barrier and further. Kaufmanis would get in a foul trouble and would be swapped out for Ilya Tyrtyshnik.

With 4:09 left in the game, Tyrtyshnik would hit a three point shot from the top of the key that would tie the game at 71-71. The Knights had done the improbable and clawed back from 20 points down to tie things up.

Another quick time out by WNCC would prove to be what they needed. The season previous the Cougars were eliminated in the 2nd round of the National Championship tournament and used that experience to close out a game at home. They would finish the game on an 11-5 run and take the victory 82-76.

Leading the way for the Knights was Tim Johnson with 23 points. Courtney Murrell would put in 16 and Karwowski would be in double digits with 10 points.

Karwowski would also snag 12 rebounds for the Knights.

WNCC carries the #1 seed and will get a first round bye. The Knights will host McCook in the first round on Saturday March 2nd. The time is still to be determined.

 

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska has hired California’s Tony Tuioti to replace Mike Dawson as defensive line coach.

Coach Scott Frost announced the addition of Tuioti on Tuesday. The 42-year-old was a Golden Bears assistant the past two years, coaching outside linebackers in 2017 and the defensive line in 2018. Tuioti spent 2016 at Michigan, where he oversaw recruiting as the director of player personnel. Tuioti also has coached at his alma mater of Hawaii and with the Cleveland Browns.

Tuioti, who played defensive line for the Rainbow Warriors from 1996-99, signed a two-year contract paying him $375,000 annually.

Dawson was on the Central Florida coaching staff that followed Frost to Nebraska after the 2017 season. Dawson resigned two weeks ago to join the New York Giants staff.

Postseason basketball is here and for fans of North Platte Community College, there is still a lot of things that are up in the air.

For the Women, the regular season is over and they know what their fate will be. They ended the regular season in second place:

 

	Division Record		Region 9 Record		Overall Record
Central Community College-Columbus	4-0		4-1		10-13
North Platte Community College	1-3		3-13		5-22
Southeast Community College	1-3		1-5		9-19

That means the Women will host the first round of the Region IX playoffs against Southeast Community College. That game will be played on Wednesday, Feb 27th. The Knights have gone 1-1 against the Southeast Storm this season. The first matchup the Knights lost 81-74 at home on Jan 28th. The Knights then beat Southeast in Beatrice on Feb 9th 77-62.

The winner of that game will then go on to the finals of the Region IX tournament to play Central Community College. That game will be played in Columbus on March 4th.

Should the Knights beat both Southeast and Central, they would then host the District F championship (which spends one year in Region IX and one year in Region XIII, this year Region IX will host) for the opportunity to then move on to the national championship.

The Women’s national championship will be March 19-23rd in Arkansas.

 

For the Men, one game remains in the regular season and it is a very important one. On February 26th the Knights will travel to Scottsbluff to play the Cougars for first place in the South sub-district of Region IX. Here are the standings headed into that game:

	Division Record		Region 9 Record		Overall Record
North Platte Community College	9-2		15-2		22-3
Western Nebraska Community College	9-2		14-3		22-7
Otero Junior College	6-5		6-5		20-8
Trinidad State Junior College	5-6		5-6		18-9
Lamar Community College	4-8		4-8		16-14
Northeastern Junior College	4-8		5-11		12-17
McCook Community College	3-9		4-11		11-17

The Knights are 1-0 against Scottsbluff this season, beating them in North Platte on Jan 25th, 81-74. After the game on the 26th, the Region IX playoffs will start. Where the Knights play and how many rounds is dependent on what happens the night of the 26th.

Knights beat Scottsbluff: The Knights will be the #1 seed in the Region IX South sub-district and will earn that all important first round bye. This automatically punches their ticket to Sheridan, WY for the Region IX tournament where they will be re-seeded. That tournament will take place on March 7-9. Headed into the Tournament with the #1 seed in the South Sub-district will help the Knights earn a favorable draw for the first round.

Knights lose to Scottsbluff: The Knights drop to #2 and will have to win another game in order to earn their spot in Sheridan. Should this happen the Knights will host McCook at home on Saturday, March 1st. McCook is one of two teams in the South sub-district to get a win over North Platte this season. The Knights split their games against the Indians, losing the first 84-76 on Jan 29th in McCook. The Knights got revenge at home on Feb 20th with a big win, 91-68.

Should the Knights win the Region IX tournament that earns an automatic entry into the National Championship tournament. If the Knights make it to the final day of the Region IX tournament there is still a chance the Knights can earn an “at large” bid into the national championship. As it stands Region IX has two teams ranked in the top 25 on the season (Sheridan and Casper) and Western Nebraska has spent time ranked this season. All of that goes into consideration when discussing “at large” bids.

The Knights have been to the national tournament twice in their history. The furthest they have gotten is the second round.

North Platte – The North Platte Community College Knights women’s basketball team sent the two sophomores, Madisyn Francis, from Houston, Texas, and Nahatabaa Nacona, from Chinle, Ariz., out in style with a 76-49 victory over the Lamar Community College Lopes, Friday at the McDonald – Belton Gymnasium.

The Knights outscored the Lopes 17-10 in the first quarter.

The Knights opened up the second quarter on a 13-4 run to take a 16 point lead at 30-14.  They led the Lopes, 32-21, at halftime.

The Knights started the third quarter on a 10-5 run to take a 42-26 lead.  The Lopes cut the Knights lead to 12 at the end of the third quarter, trailing the Knights 51-39.

In the fourth quarter, the Knights outscored the Lopes, 25-10 to seal the win.

The Knights improve to 5-21 on the season.

They were led in scoring by Emily Joseph, from St. Petersburg, Fla., with 19 points. Nacona added 18 points and Francis had 16 points.

Nacona led the Knights with 10 rebounds and Katie Cox, from New Port Richey, Fla., had nine boards.

The Lopes drop to 2-27.  They were led in scoring by LaZaria Roby with 14 points. Hanna Diaz added 11 points.

Lana Skripkina had nine rebounds to lead the Lopes.

The Knights Women’s next game still to be determined. Should Central beat Southeast on Monday night the Knights would host Southeast on Wednesday. If Southeast gets the win over Central then the Knights will travel to Southeast on Wednesday.

 

For the men, the North Platte Community College Knights defeated the Lamar Community College Lopes on sophomore night, 88-59.

The Knights, with the score tied at nine, went on a 35-12 run to take their biggest lead of the half at 44-21.  They led at halftime, 45-27.

The Knights are 22-3 on the season and 9-2 in the Region IX South Sub-Region.

They were led in scoring by Ilya Tyrtyshnik, from Kiev, Ukraine, and Luke Christen, from Mullen, with 16 points.  Courtney Murrell, from Carrollton, Texas, finished with 14 points and Tim Johnson, from Arlington, Texas, added 10 points.

Sophomore Nelo Nducuia, from Maputo, Mozambique, had seven rebounds to lead the Knights.

The Lopes were led by Jubrile Belo, with 20 points.  Belo also had seven rebounds to lead the Lopes.

Jake Haertl added 13 points.

The Knights travel to Western Nebraska to close out the regular season.

Game time is at 8:30 p.m.

North Platte – The McCook Community College Lady Indians completed the season sweep of the North Platte Community College Knights on Wednesday evening, 86-67, at the McDonald – Belton Gymnasium in Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference play.

The Knights kept it close in the first quarter, trailing 23-19 at the end of the first quarter.  In the first quarter, there were four ties with the last one being 13-13 each.

The Knights continued to keep the pressure on the Lady Indians, tying up the score at 26.  The Indians went on a 14-4 run to take their biggest lead of the half at 40-30. The Knights cut the lead to 50-33 on a three-pointer by Madisyn Francis, from Houston, Texas, to end the half.

The Indians outscored the Knights in the third quarter, 31-18, to take a 81-51 lead at the end of the third.

In the fourth quarter, the Knights outscored the Lady Indians 16-15.

Francis, Nahatabaa Nacona, from Chinle, Ariz., and Emily Joseph, from St. Petersburg, Fla., each scored 18 points for the Knights.

Katie Cox, from New Port Richey, Fla., had 10 rebounds to lead the Knights, now 4-22 on the season.

The Lady Indians had four players in double figures led by Hailey Tiles and Makenna Bodette, each with 21 points.  Nikki Cross had 14 points and Makayla Jones added 13 points.

Bodette had 12 rebounds.

The Knights close out their regular season on sophomore night, when they host the Lamar Community College. It will be the final regular season game for Francis and Nacona.

The Cincinnati Bengals have hired former Nebraska great Zac Taylor as the 10th head coach in the history of the franchise. The Bengals made the announcement on Monday morning after Taylor completed his season with the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII.

Taylor is the first Husker in the Super Bowl era to become an NFL head coach, and just the fifth former Nebraska player to lead an NFL team. Other former Huskers who have served as head coaches in the NFL include Guy Chamberlin (6 seasons, 1922-27), Ed Weir (2 seasons, 1927-28), Ray Richards (3 seasons, 1955-57) and Ray Prochaska (interim coach, 2 games, 1961).

Taylor started 26 consecutive games at quarterback for Nebraska in 2005 and 2006, leading Nebraska to 17 victories. In 2006, he was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year for his effort in guiding the Huskers to a Big 12 North crown. Taylor threw for 3,197 yards and a Nebraska single-season record 26 touchdowns in 2006.

Taylor takes the helm of the Bengals after serving the past two years on the Los Angeles Rams’ coaching staff. Taylor served as the Rams; quarterbacks coach in 2018, helping Los Angeles win the NFC Championship after posting a 12-4 regular-season record. Taylor was instrumental in the development of Rams’ quarterback Jared Goff, who threw for 4,688 yards and 32 touchdowns this season.

In his first year with the Rams in 2017, Taylor served as the assistant wide receivers coach, helping the Rams to an NFC West title and a trip to the playoffs.

Before working with the Rams, Taylor had prior experience as the University of Cincinnati offensive coordinator in 2016. He worked for four seasons on the Miami Dolphins coaching staff from 2012 to 2015, including a stint as the offensive coordinator and play-caller in the 2015 season.

Taylor began his coaching career at Texas A&M from 2008 to 2011, serving first as a graduate assistant and then as tight ends coach.

Former Huskers to Become NFL Head Coaches

Husker NFL Franchise Year(s) Coaching Record
Zac Taylor Cincinnati Bengals 2019
Ray Prochaska St. Louis Cardinals 1961 (interim) 2-0
Ray Richards Chicago Cardinals 1955-57 14-21-1
Ed Weir Frankford Yellow Jackets 1927-28 15-7-4
Guy Chamberlin Canton Bulldogs 1922-23 21-0-3
Cleveland Bulldogs 1924 7-1-1
Frankford Yellow Jackets 1925-26 27-8-2
Chicago Cardinals 1927 3-7-1
Career Record 1922-27 58-16-7

McCook – Records do not matter when the North Platte Community College Knights and the McCook Community College Indians face each other.

The Knights came into the game with a 15-1 record and 4-0 in Region IX South Sub-Region play.

The Indians upset the Knights Tuesday evening, 84-76, at the Peter and Dolores Graff Event Center.

The Indians jumped out to a 14-point lead at 20-6 to open up the game.

The Knights came back and outscored the Indians 31-11, the remainder of the half to lead the Indians 37-32 at halftime.

In the second half, the Knights built their lead up to eight points at 59-51.

The Indians rallied back and went on a 12-4 run to tie the score at 63.

With the score tied at 70, the Indians outscored the Knights 14-6 to secure the victory.

The Knights, now 15-2 overall, and 4-1 in the South Sub-Region were led in scoring by Da’May Jones, from Houston, Texas, who scored 20 points. DaVonte Tharpe, from Macon, Ga, added 14 points, and Courtney Murrell, from Carrollton, Texas, had 13 points.

Jakub Karwowski, from Warsaw, Poland, had nine rebounds and Edgars Kaufmanis, from Valmiera, Latvia, added eight rebounds.

The Indians, now 9-11, and 2-3 in South Sub-Region play, had five players score in double digits led by AV Banks with 17 points. Miles Black had 16 points, Tyrek Battle-Holley added 15 points. Mardrez McBride scored 11 points and Peanut Cunningham scored 10 points.

Amadou Dieye had nine rebounds for the Indians

The Knights travel to Lamar Community College on Saturday for another Region IX South Sub-Region game.

Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.

Sterling, CO – It was a late night for North Platte Community College basketball in Sterling Colorado, but ultimately a good one. The women played perhaps their most complete game to date in a losing effort to NJC while the Men had their mettle tested and squeaked out a victory to stay with just one loss on the season.

The women were up first against a very good NJC team (11-4) at home but from the opening tip you could tell that this was going to be a different game for the Knights.

The first quarter featured a lot of time on possessions as both teams were feeling each other out. NJC made the first substitution in the game after about 3 mins of play when they replaced all five of their starters in an effort to jump-start the offense. North Platte was playing excellent defense and was starting to affect the NJC Plainswomen.

The Quarter ended with NJC holding on to a 15-12 lead. Leading the way for the Knights was center Angel Richards who has been battling injury for much of the start of the season.

NJC found their stride at the start of the second when they rattled off a quick 8-2 run prompting a time out by first year head coach Jeff Thurman. After the time out the Knights were able to find a small groove on offense but struggled with the inside out game by NJC. The Knights were outscored 25-13 in the quarter and were down 40-25 at the half. Emily Joesph and Nahatabaa Nacona lead the way for the Knights with 5 points each.

At the start of the third quarter you could tell the Knights were determined and came out with intensity. Teams traded buckets and with 6:45 left in the quarter the Knights took a time out with the score 48-32. Everytime NJC scored a basket the Knights would come down and match, neither team able to go on a run. Another time out at 4:03 left by NJC with the score 52-36. NJC was still in control but the Knights would not go away. NJC would find its groove on offense and finish the third on a 17-8 run to take a 69-44 lead going into the final frame. Late in the third the Knights would lose starting guard Madisyn Francis to injury.

The Plainswomen would be too much for the Knights in the fourth as the team, beset by injuries, would just run out of gas in Sterling. The final score 81-54. The Knights now have almost a week off before taking on Southeast, a division game, at home on Monday Jan 28th.

The nightcap was a game that would go down as one of the best this season for the Knights. The Knights have, for whatever reason, always struggled with the Northeastern Plainsmen (they came into the game with a 36-71 overall record against the Plainsmen). Last time these two teams met it took two overtimes to determine the winner. Tuesday nights game would not disappoint.

NJC would come out guns blazing and show they were not afraid of a Knights team that came in with only one loss on the season. 8 points later the Knights took a quick time out as they looked a bit shell shocked.

That feeling wouldn’t last as the Knights stormed back out of the time out behind guard Ilya Tyrtyshnik who started raining shots from the three point line (5/5 in the first half for 15 points). A flurry of offense would follow and the Knights would jump into a double digit lead and extend it to twelve 26-14 forcing a time out from NJC with 12:03 left in the half.

The rest of the half would belong to the Knights, they were able to get any shot they wanted, at the rim or from distance. The biggest lead of the half was with four minutes left that saw the Knights up by 18, 48-30. NJC would grab some momentum headed into half time as they scored the final six points of the half including a half court shot to beat the buzzer. The score at the half stood at 48-36.

With all the momentum NJC had a feeling they were in the game and it showed. They came out and got the first five points in the second half to cut the lead to seven which got a quick time out from Head Coach Kevin O’Connor.

Whatever he said to his team worked as they came out of the time out with renewed focus and went on a 6-0 run of their own to push the lead back into double digits.

From there the teams would stay fairly even. NJC would hold the slight advantage and with 8:56 left on the clock would take a time out down by six 63-57. The next three minutes would be disastrous for the Knights. NJC would get some support from the home crowd who could feel a momentum swing coming and over those three minutes NJC would go on a 10-3 run to retake the lead 67-66 with six minutes to play. They had come from 18 points down to snatch the lead from the Knights.

From there it was a dog fight. The Knights never allowed NJC to get more then a three point lead from there on out. Teams would trade blow after blow with big shots from Courtney Murrell (25 points, 6 rebs) leading the way for the Knights.

Da’May Jones would be sent to the free throw line for the double bonus with 9.9 seconds left and the Knights down 78-77. Jones would show why he is an 83% shooter from the free throw line, making both and pushing the Knights into the lead 79-78. A final shot from NJC would fall short and they would foul Tim Johnson on the rebound. Johnson would make 1 of 2 and the Knights would steal a win on the road 80-78.

The Knights improve to 14-1 on the season and now await a Western Nebraska team who just fell out of the national rankings on Jan 15th. That game will be Friday Jan 25th in North Platte. Tip Off at 7:30.

Coming up in April the NSAA Representative Assembly will have the opportunity to add two new sports in the winter: Girls wrestling and Bowling.

Last year the Assembly got close to giving the 60% needed to pass to make bowling a sport, there were concerns on how the schedule was going to be structured and what the playoffs would look like. It looks like the NSAA heard those concerns and have made the proper changes. NSAA executive director Jay Bellar said the most recent proposal “addresses many of the issues people had last year.” During the 2017 fall high school bowling club season, the proposal states approximately 900 student-athletes competed on high school club teams around the state.

The other sport the Assembly is looking at is adding girls wrestling. Girls wrestling passed in four of the six districts, and the sport appears to have even stronger support looking at a survey of wrestling coaches conducted by the NSAA. Of the 139 coaches who responded, 118 were in favor of the NSAA proposal of adding a separate girls division and girls state championship.

Bellar said 144 girls in the state took the Optimum Performance Calculator assessment to participate in high school wrestling this year competing against boys. Bellar mentioned that if the numbers were there they would be open to adding girls wrestling.

The proposal right now would start as soon as the 2019-20 season and would call for just one division throughout the state. According to the NSAA there is enough room during the state championships to add the girls format.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Nebraska found itself in the zone Monday night.

The No. 25 Indiana Hoosiers looked completely befuddled.

As Glynn Watson Jr. scored 15 points, Isaac Copeland added 14 and James Palmer flirted with a triple double, it was a smothering defense that helped Nebraska pull away for a 66-51 upset — its second straight victory on the Hoosiers’ home court.

“At halftime, I said ‘It’s OK to win with defense,'” Cornhuskers coach Tim Miles said, trying to steady his team. “This is sure a confidence builder.”

The Huskers (13-4, 3-3 Big Ten) won their second straight overall, extended their winning streak in the series to a school-record three and racked up style points by limiting the nation’s second-best shooting team to its lowest point total and worst shooting percentage (36.5) of the season.

All it took was a fast start and Mills’ trademark 1-3-1 defense to rattle the lethargic Hoosiers (12-5, 3-3), who never recovered from a dismal start. Indiana has lost three straight overall and had its home-court winning streak snapped at 10.

“That was probably one of the most disappointing games that we’ve played as a team this season. We didn’t have any energy, any pop, either end of the floor,” Indiana coach Archie Miller said. “I didn’t think that we played with near enough energy to compete in this league. Offensively we were just horrendous in the first half.”

It wasn’t a matter of what went wrong but what didn’t?

While Romeo Langford scored 18 points and Juwan Howard had 17 points and eight rebounds, nobody else scored more than five. And aside from Langford and Morgan, who were a combined 13 of 29 from the field, Indiana managed just six baskets.

Palmer, meanwhile, had 11 points, nine rebounds and seven assists — matching Indiana’s team assist total in a game the Hoosiers seemed to zone out.

“I thought we did a good job getting to Romeo and Juwan, making them play in a crowd,” Miles said. “We kept them out of transition for the most part. Getting off to an early lead was probably most important. Getting the crowd out of the game. The way you win big road games, you play from the front, and just hang on.”

Nebraska followed that blueprint perfectly, scoring the first nine points and extending the lead to 25-7 midway through the first half.

When the Cornhuskers missed 12 consecutive shots, Indiana closed the deficit to 26-20 late in the first half and got as close as 35-32 early in the second half.

But Nebraska answered with an 8-0 run and closed it out by methodically pulling away late.

BIG PICTURE

Nebraska: The Cornhuskers’ defense can challenge anyone in the Big Ten with its length and versatility. And when they score consistently, they can pose a real threat against any team anywhere.

Indiana: Sure, the bounces didn’t go Indiana’s way. But Miller acknowledged his team was lethargic and out of sync from the start. He knows they need to get better quickly.

STAT PACK

Nebraska: Never trailed in the game. … The 15-point victory margin was Nebraska’s largest in the series since a 38-18 victory in February 1920. . … Palmer and Copeland made their 50th consecutive starts. … The Cornhuskers also ended the Hoosiers 26-game home winning streak in December 2016, their last trip to Assembly Hall.

Indiana: Made only four of its first 19 shots and had only nine points with 5 minutes left in the first half. … The Hoosiers were 2 of 14 form 3-point range and 11 of 19 on free throws. … Justin Smith was 2 of 7 from the field after making 22 of 27 in the previous five games (81.5 percent). He had five points.

THEY SAID IT

Nebraska: “I thought our guys did a very good job with the game plan from the get go,” Miles said.

Indiana: “We just weren’t getting the ball moved,” Langford said. “We were just playing a little bit too conservative on the 1-3-1, weren’t really attacking, and that’s what you’re supposed to do against the 1-3-1 is attack and get the ball in the middle.”

UP NEXT

Nebraska: Returns home Thursday to face its second straight ranked opponent, No. 6 Michigan State

Indiana: Hits the road for the third time in four games when it visits rival Purdue on Saturday.