Basketball – Page 3 – North Platte Post Archive

3-Peat: UConn Beats Notre Dame 63-53 for 3rd Straight Title

Posted on April 7, 2015

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Moriah Jefferson each scored 15 points and UConn beat Notre Dame 63-53 on Tuesday night to win the Huskies third straight championship and 10th overall, tying Geno Auriemma with John Wooden for the most titles in college basketball.

UConn’s coach has now won all 10 of his trips to the national championship game. The Huskies have won five of the last seven titles.

Breanna Stewart stated when she came to UConn that her goal was to win four championships. The junior is now one title away from being the first to win four straight. Stewart has been a huge reason why the Huskies have been on their won three consecutive titles.

The 6-foot-4 star is the latest in a long line of outstanding UConn players that Auriemma has coached, including Rebecca Lobo, Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird and Maya Moore.

Comeback! Duke tops Wisconsin 68-63 for National Title

Posted on April 6, 2015

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Jahlil Okafor scored two big buckets late and his freshman buddy Tyus Jones hit a key 3-pointer to lift Duke to its fifth national title Monday night in a 68-63 comeback win over Wisconsin.

Okafor spent big chunks of the second half on the bench after drawing his third, then his fourth foul.

When he returned, he beat Wisconsin’s big man, senior Frank Kaminksy, for a pair of buckets, then Jones hit a 3-pointer to complete a run from nine down to eight up with 1:22 left.

Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski captured his fifth title, putting him in second place alone behind John Wooden.

Kaminsky outscored Okafor 21-10 but came up short in his last game, as the Badgers (36-4) couldn’t duplicate their thrilling win over Kentucky two nights earlier.

Jones led the Blue Devils (35-4) with 23 points.

NCAA Looking for Ways to Speed Up Game, Increase Scoring

Posted on April 6, 2015

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An NCAA basketball committee is expected to consider rules changes that could speed up games and increase scoring as soon as next season.

On Monday, committee members and officials from schools, conferences and the NCAA briefed reporters on what may change. Three proposals stand out: Reducing the shot clock from 35 seconds to 30, moving the restricted area arc from 3 feet in front of the basket to 4 feet, and calling more fouls in hopes of keeping players from being so physical.

Another possibility is changing how timeouts are used.

The rules committee will meet in Indianapolis from May 12-15. Any changes that pass would still have to be approved by another committee in June.

Duke, Wisconsin Step into Spotlight in National Title Game

Posted on April 5, 2015

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Duke and Wisconsin are finally getting their turn in the spotlight.

After a season that was dominated by discussions of discussions about Kentucky’s pursuit of perfection, it will be the Blue Devils and Badgers meeting for the title on Monday night.

Duke ran roughshod through Michigan State in its semifinal, moving within one win of coach Mike Krzyzewski’s fifth championship. Wisconsin spoiled the Wildcats’ historic run in its semifinal, and will be trying to win the school’s first title since 1941.

The game should be full of intriguing matchups, from Krzyzewski matching wits with Wisconsin counterpart Bo Ryan, to two of the game’s brightest stars going at it in the paint in Duke’s Jahlil Okafor and the Badgers’ Frank Kaminsky.

Tipoff is scheduled for 9:18 p.m. EDT.

Kentucky’s 1st Loss Draws Best TV Rating for Semi Since ’93

Posted on April 5, 2015

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Wisconsin’s win over previously undefeated Kentucky has drawn the highest preliminary television rating for an NCAA semifinal in 22 years.

The Badgers’ 71-64 victory Saturday night averaged a 13.3 overnight rating and 24 share across TBS, TNT and truTV. That’s up 48 percent from last year’s matchup of the same teams.

Turner Sports and CBS said Sunday that was the best rating for a semi since a 13.8/24 in 1993 when Michigan’s Fab Five sophomores edged the Wildcats in overtime.

The main broadcasts Saturday aired on TBS, with “homer” coverage for the teams on TNT and truTV.

Ratings represent the percentage of U.S. homes with televisions tuned to a program, while shares represent the percentage of TVs in use at the time. Overnights measure the country’s largest markets.

Top-Ranked Kentucky Falls Short of Title with 71-64 Loss

Posted on April 4, 2015

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — For 38 games top-ranked Kentucky mastered the art of the tune-out, brushing aside the hype, noise and distractions created by its pursuit of an unbeaten championship season.

The Wildcats just couldn’t succeed at blocking out Wisconsin and big man Frank Kaminsky, who won 71-64 Saturday night to turn their dream season into a devastatingly sour footnote.

Hoping to become the first team since Indiana in 1976 to finish as unbeaten champions, Kentucky (38-1) instead lost the rematch of last year’s semifinal against the Badgers and joined Indiana State (1979), UNLV (1991) and Wichita State (2014) — unbeaten teams that lost in the NCAA Tournament.

The fortitude and good fortune that helped Kentucky overcome several stiff challenges this season were absent against the determined Badgers (36-3), who made shots and grabbed the rebounds that the Wildcats couldn’t.

Redick Scores 24 as Clippers Beat Nuggets, 107-92

Posted on April 4, 2015

DENVER (AP) — J.J. Redick scored 24 points, DeAndre Jordan had 14 points and 22 rebounds and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Denver Nuggets 107-92 on Saturday night.

Chris Paul had 23 points and nine assists for the Clippers, who moved a half-game ahead of San Antonio for the fifth seed in the Western Conference with their ninth win in 10 games. They are just a game back of Memphis for the third seed and host the Grizzlies next Saturday.

Los Angeles has just two road games remaining, although one of them is against the Lakers at Staples Center.

On Saturday, the Clippers made themselves at home at Pepsi Center against a depleted Nuggets team, missing point guard and leading scorer Ty Lawson due to a sore right forearm. The Nuggets were further short-handed when backup Jameer Nelson left in the second quarter with a right hip flexor strain.

Green Scores 21 to Help Spurs Cruise past Nuggets

Posted on April 4, 2015

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Danny Green scored 21 points, including 6-for-6 shooting on 3-pointers, and the San Antonio Spurs cruised to a 123-93 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Friday night after losing Tiago Splitter to a right calf injury during a strong start.

Kawhi Leonard had 20 points and Aron Baynes added 18 points in 19 minutes for San Antonio, which has won six straight.

Danilo Galinari scored 20 points to lead Denver and Jameer Nelson added 14. The Nuggets trailed by as many as 37 points despite shooting 47 percent from the field.

The Spurs (50-26) extended their league record of consecutive 50-win seasons to 16 straight. San Antonio moved into a tie with the Los Angeles Clippers for fifth in the Western Conference.

Kentucky’s John Calipari Chosen AP Coach of the Year

Posted on April 3, 2015

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — John Calipari, whose Kentucky team is the first in 24 years to reach the Final Four undefeated, has been selected The Associated Press’ coach of the year.

The Wildcats were the talk of the college basketball this season in winning the Southeastern Conference regular season and tournament championships. They were ranked No. 1 the entire season and were a unanimous choice for 12 weeks.

Many thought Kentucky had so much talent that it would be hard to instill a team-first attitude. Calipari started the season with two five-man units he substituted in groups. It worked well enough that eight players in the rotation are averaging between 5.6 and 11.0 points a game.

Calipari is the third Kentucky coach to win the award, which started in 1967. Eddie Sutton won in 1986 and Tubby Smith in 2003.

Calipari received 40 votes Friday from the 65-member national media panel that picks the weekly Top 25.

Tony Bennett of Virginia was second with nine votes while Mike Brey of Notre Dame got five.

Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky Chosen AP Player of the Year

Posted on April 3, 2015

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Frank Kaminsky, the 7-footer who anchored Wisconsin’s run to a second straight Final Four, is the runaway choice as The Associated Press’ player of the year.

Kaminsky averaged 18.7 points and 8.0 rebounds while shooting 54.9 percent from the field and 41.5 percent from 3-point range as the Badgers ran up a 35-3 record and won the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles.

“Frank the Tank'” is the first Wisconsin player to win the award, which started in 1961. He is the third from the Big Ten in the last six seasons, joining Ohio State’s Evan Turner in 2010 and Michigan’s Trey Burke in 2013.

Kaminsky received 58 votes Friday from the 65-member national media panel that selects the weekly Top 25. Duke freshman Jahlil Okafor received five votes and Kentucky’s Wille Caulaey-Stein and Notre Dame’s Jerian Grant had one each.