Basketball – Page 35 – North Platte Post Archive

Johnson, Plumlee lead Nets past Nuggets, 102-96

Posted on December 23, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) — Joe Johnson scored 27 points, Mason Plumlee added 19 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, and the Brooklyn Nets rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Denver Nuggets 102-96 on Tuesday night.

Jarrett Jack, who started in place of injured point guard Deron Williams, had 17 points and eight assists. Sergey Karasev added 12 points for the Nets, who won their second straight game and improved to 11-2 against sub-.500 teams.

Ty Lawson led Denver with 29 points and had nine assists. Kenneth Faried chipped in 20 points and 14 boards for the Nuggets, who lost their second straight game and have dropped nine of 12.

Nets center Brook Lopez, who had missed his last eight games due to a lower back strain, played eight minutes and had six points and four rebounds in a reserve role.

Valdes, Fleming lead Hawaii past Nebraska, 66-58

Posted on December 23, 2014

HONOLULU (AP) — Aaron Valdes scored 15 points and Isaac Fleming 10 as Hawaii held off Nebraska, 66-58, in a quarterfinal game of the Diamond Head Classic Monday night.

The Rainbow Warriors (9-3) captured their second consecutive victory and fifth in their last six games to advance to Saturday’s semifinal round, where they will play No. 11 Wichita State.

Hawaii opened on an 8-0 run, but Nebraska stormed back, tying it at 11 on a 3-pointer by Walter Pitchford, and taking a brief lead on Terran Petteway’s layup. Quincy Smith converted a three-point play to ignite a 6-0 Hawaii run for a 17-13 lead.

The Rainbow Warriors closed out the first half on an 11-4 run to take a 34-23 lead at halftime.

The Cornhuskers’ offensive struggles in the first half were evident by the numbers: 30 percent shooting from the field, 50 percent from the free-throw line and 11 turnovers.

Hornets top Nuggets 110-82 for Third Straight Win

Posted on December 22, 2014

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Al Jefferson scored 22 points, Kemba Walker added 18 points and nine assists, and the Charlotte Hornets extended their winning streak to a season-high three games with a 110-82 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night.

Rookie P.J. Hairston recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Jefferson and Walker combined to shoot 15 of 25 from the field and didn’t play in the fourth quarter with the game well in hand.

Charlotte improved to 3-0 since Gerald Henderson replaced the injured Lance Stephenson in the starting lineup. Stephenson, who has been the subject of trade rumors, is out at least one more game with a groin injury.

Ty Lawson had 18 points for Denver.

Lady Bulldogs Earn GNAC No. 2 Seed, Boys get No. 6 Seed

Posted on December 22, 2014

The brackets for the 2014 Greater Nebraska Athletic Conference boys and girls basketball tournaments were released on Monday and the North Platte Lady Bulldogs are the No. 2 seed in the girls bracket and the Bulldogs boys are the No. 6 seed.

The 2014 GNAC Tournament will take place in Hastings, Monday, December 29-Wednesday, December 31.

The Lady Dawgs are the No. 2 seed with a 4-2 record to start the season. The defending GNAC Champion Norfolk is the No. 1 seed, also with a 4-2 record. The two teams have two common opponents so far this season. North Platte lost at Lincoln East 63-53 and beat Columbus at home 57-52. Norfolk beat Columbus on the road 48-44 and lost at home vs. Lincoln East 54-43.

North Platte will play seventh-seeded McCook in the first round of the tournament on Monday, December 29 at 2:00 pm. The game will be played in the South Gym in Hastings and can be heard on ESPN Radio 1410 or online at northplattepost.com. The Lady Dawgs are led by senior Kaitlynn Harvey, who is averaging 17 points per game and 2.5 steals. Fellow senior Jessy Hunt is averaging 12.8 points and nine rebounds per game. McCook is currently 3-3 on the season. The bracket for the girls tournament can be seen below.

The North Platte Bulldogs boys basketball team is the No. 6 seed in next week’s tournament and will play third-seeded Kearney in the first round. The game will tip-off at 3:45 on Monday, December 29 in the South Gym in Hastings. The game can be heard on ESPN Radio 1410 or online at northplattepost.com. The Dawgs are 1-5 on the season and are led by junior Rashawn Bryant with 13 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. Senior Shane Mauch is also averaging in double-figures with 10.5 points per game to go along with 3.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists.

The defending GNAC Champion Norfolk is the No. 1 seed on the boys side as well, with Scottsbluff as the No. 2 seed. The boys bracket can be seen below.

Kentucky Maintains Stranglehold on Top 25

Posted on December 22, 2014

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Dec. 21, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week’s ranking:

	Record	Pts	Prv
1. Kentucky (65)	12-0	1,625	1
2. Duke	10-0	1,548	2
3. Arizona	12-0	1,502	3
4. Louisville	10-0	1,344	4
5. Virginia	11-0	1,336	6
6. Wisconsin	10-1	1,322	5
7. Villanova	11-0	1,214	7
8. Gonzaga	11-1	1,170	8
9. Texas	10-1	1,149	9
10. Kansas	9-1	1,096	10
11. Wichita St.	8-1	966	11
12. Iowa St.	9-1	821	13
13. Washington	10-0	798	16
14. Utah	8-2	796	14
15. Maryland	11-1	678	17
16. Notre Dame	11-1	536	21
17. St. John’s	9-1	517	20
18. West Virginia	10-1	464	22
19. Oklahoma	7-3	436	15
20. North Carolina	8-3	414	24
21. Ohio St.	9-2	411	12
22. Baylor	9-1	203	—
23. N. Iowa	10-1	162	—
24. Colorado St.	11-0	144	—
25. TCU	11-0	120	—

Others receiving votes: Georgetown 85, San Diego St. 72, VCU 70, California 32, Miami 27, Arkansas 22, Indiana 11, LSU 7, Old Dominion 7, Florida 4, Penn St. 4, Oklahoma St. 3, Seton Hall 3, Butler 2, Minnesota 2, Davidson 1, Valparaiso 1.

Irving is USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year

Posted on December 21, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) — Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving, the MVP of the Basketball World Cup, was honored Sunday as the USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year.

Irving started in all nine games for the Americans in Spain and averaged 12.1 points and 3.6 assists. He scored 26 points in the gold-medal game, going 6 of 6 from 3-point range to spark a rout of Serbia.

Irving was selected by USA Basketball’s board of directors.

North Texas Holds On to Beat Creighton 62-58

Posted on December 21, 2014

DENTON, Texas (AP) — Colin Voss had 16 points and eight rebounds to help North Texas hold on and beat Creighton 62-58 on Sunday.

Creighton overcame a 17-point deficit, using a 31-6 run capped by back-to-back 3’s by Toby Hegner and Isaiah Zierden, to pull within 57-55 with 1:19 left.

T.J. Taylor split a pair of free throws for North Texas to stretch its lead to 58-55 with 35 seconds to go. The Bluejays couldn’t answer, missing four 3-point attempts. Taylor then made four more from the line to seal it for North Texas

Austin Chatman hit a trey at the buzzer to cap the scoring for Creighton.

Jordan Williams added 13 points, and Taylor dished out five assists and was 7 of 8 from the line for North Texas (6-4).

Hegner scored 13 points and Zierden finished with 12 to lead Creighton (9-4).

Gallinari Out After Tearing Meniscus in Right Knee

Posted on December 21, 2014December 21, 2014

DENVER (AP) — Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari has a torn meniscus in his right knee and is expected to soon undergo surgery.

The team has yet to announce a timetable for his return.

Gallinari turned in one of his best games of the season Saturday in a win over Indiana as he scored 19 points, including a 3-pointer to spark a critical fourth-quarter run.

Gallinari is averaging 7.8 points in 18.8 minutes this season.

He was back on the court this year after missing nearly 18 months with a torn ACL in his left knee that required three surgeries.

The banged-up Nuggets will be without guard Randy Foye (right quadriceps) and center JaVale McGee (lower left leg strain) on Monday at Charlotte. Forward Darrell Arthur is questionable with a leg injury.

Gallinari leads Nuggets past Pacers, 76-73

Posted on December 20, 2014December 21, 2014

DENVER (AP) — Danilo Gallinari scored 19 points, including a 3-pointer to spark a key fourth-quarter run, and the Denver Nuggets hung on to beat the Indiana Pacers 76-73 on Saturday night.

Ty Lawson added 15 points and 10 assists for the Nuggets, who won games on successive nights after losing six of seven coming into the back-to-back set.

David West had 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Pacers, who lost for the 10th time in 11 games. Indiana also dropped its sixth straight game in Denver.

Both teams were held to season lows in scoring with Indiana hitting just 30.7 percent of its shots from the field and Denver making 36.6 percent.

With 27.5 seconds remaining in the third quarter, C.J. Miles, who finished with 16 points, made a 3-pointer to even the score at 55-55 heading into the fourth quarter.

Theriot with 31, Lifts No. 12 Nebraska past High Point 83-57

Posted on December 20, 2014December 21, 2014

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Rachel Theriot scored a season-high 31 points, and Tear’a Laudermill chipped in 22 to help No. 12 Nebraska roll to an 83-57 victory over High Point on Saturday.

Theriot dished out five assists and made 13 of her career-high 24 attempts from the floor to pick up her second career game scoring more than 30 points. Theriot scored a career-best 33 points against Minnesota last season, which the Cornhuskers face December 29 to open conference play.

Emily Cady had 12 points, six rebounds and three steals before leaving with a bruised tailbone with about 15 minutes remaining.

Hailie Sample had six assists and nine rebounds to go with her six points.

Nebraska (10-1) led by as many as 28 points and played with only three bench players with the rest out with various injuries.

Kaylah Keys had 14 points and four assists, but eight turnovers for High Point (6-5).