Basketball – Page 66 – North Platte Post Archive

Father: Girl Befriended by Hoops Star has Died

Posted on April 9, 2014April 9, 2014

DETROIT (AP) — The father of an 8-year-old girl with cancer who befriended Michigan State basketball star Adreian Payne says his daughter has died.

Matt Holsworth says Lacey Holsworth died at their St. Johns, Mich., home late Tuesday “with her mommy and daddy holding her in their arms.”

Lacey met Payne during one of her hospital stays two years ago, and their friendship quickly blossomed and strengthened.

When it was Payne’s turn to be honored during Senior Night, the 6-foot-10 center scooped up Lacey and carried her around the court. He did it again in Indianapolis after Michigan State won the Big Ten tournament, and the little girl with the blond wig was there when he took part in a recent slam-dunk competition.

Holsworth said Wednesday Lacey “loved unconditionally and without hesitation.”

UConn Routs Notre Dame 79-58, Wins 9th Title

Posted on April 8, 2014

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Breanna Stewart scored 21 points and Stefanie Dolson added 17 points and 16 rebounds to help UConn beat Notre Dame 79-58 on Tuesday night, giving coach Geno Auriemma and the Huskies a record ninth national championship.

Auriemma passed Pat Summitt for the most titles all-time and capped off the school’s fifth undefeated season in unprecedented fashion. The game was the first title matchup between two unbeatens in the history of college basketball.

The victory also makes the University of Connecticut the center of the college basketball world with both the men’s and women’s teams winning the championship this year. The men beat Kentucky on Monday night. The pair of victories come a decade after the Huskies became the only school to accomplish the feat.

The loss was Notre Dame’s third in the title game in the past four years.

The Irish (37-1) were looking for their first championship since 2001.

Connecticut Wins NCAA Title, 60-54 over Kentucky

Posted on April 7, 2014

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Shabazz Napier scored 22 points and Connecticut won its second NCAA title in four years, beating all those Kentucky freshmen 60-54 in the championship game Monday night.

Napier is among three UConn seniors who were part of the Huskies’ 2011 title. That trio stayed after coach Jim Calhoun’s retirement even when the Huskies were ineligible for the NCAA tournament last season.

They came back strong in coach Kevin Ollie’s second season, and the Huskies (32-8) went all the way to their fourth overall title.

Kentucky (29-11), with five freshmen starters, never led in the championship game.

The Wildcats missed 11 of 24 free throws, while the Huskies were perfect on 10 tries.

NCAA Finalists Illustrate Many Ways to Make a Run

Posted on April 7, 2014

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Kentucky reached the brink of an NCAA title with five freshman starters, including the cool right hand of Aaron Harrison and his decisive 3-pointers in three straight games.

Connecticut got to Monday night’s championship game behind a pair of starters with Final Four experience, and a strong dose of defense.

Wisconsin and Florida rode rosters heavy on upperclassmen to the final weekend, and the Badgers were in position to beat the young Wildcats thanks to their 3-point shooting after 7-foot stalwart Frank Kaminsky was shut down.

Bottom line: There are plenty of ways to make a run in the NCAA tournament. And there will be another batch of potential “one and dones” in the nation’s elite programs no matter how many in the current crop jump to the NBA.

Rockets Rally for 130-125 OT Win over Denver

Posted on April 6, 2014

HOUSTON (AP) — James Harden had 32 points and Chandler Parsons scored eight points in overtime to lift the Houston Rockets to a 130-125 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night.

Denver led by one in overtime when Houston made three consecutive 3-pointers to make it 130-122 with less than two minutes left. Parsons made the last two and high-fived with fans on the front row as he ran down the court after sinking the second one.

The Rockets trailed by eight late in regulation before using a 9-1 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Harden under heavy pressure from Randy Foye, to tie it at 117 with 7.1 seconds remaining.

Evan Fournier scored 26 points and Aaron Brooks added 24 points and 15 assists against his former team.

UConn and Kentucky for National Title

Posted on April 6, 2014

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Connecticut and Kentucky couldn’t have met in last year’s championship game and few people gave them a chance to be in this year’s.

But they are.

Seventh-seeded Connecticut and eighth-seeded Kentucky meet Monday night in the NCAA championship game.

Neither was around in last year’s postseason — Connecticut because of a tournament ban over academic issues; Kentucky because it didn’t make the field.

They both have made their presence felt this year on the way to an unlikely title game.

Connecticut (31-8) has brought defense to the forefront in a five-game run that has the Huskies within 40 minutes of their fourth national championship.

Kentucky has used late game heroics from Aaron Harrison, one of five freshmen starting for the Wildcats (29-10), who are looking for title No. 9.

Final Four TV Viewership Down after Move to Cable

Posted on April 6, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) — The Final Four’s television viewership is down after its move to cable.

The two NCAA semifinals Saturday averaged a total of 14 million viewers, an 11 percent decrease from last year’s games on CBS. That number included viewers of the main coverage on TBS along with the school-specific “TeamCasts” on TNT and truTV. Turner Sports and CBS did not receive network-by-network ratings breakdowns from Nielsen.

TBS is in about 14 percent fewer homes than CBS.

This was the first time the semifinals were on cable. Turner and CBS are in the fourth season of a 14-year, $10.8 billion deal to jointly broadcast the tournament. Monday’s title game will be on CBS.

FINALS WATCH: Broncos RB Ball Attends in Frog Suit

Posted on April 6, 2014

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Denver Broncos running back Montee Ball, who played college football at Wisconsin, wore a frog suit to the Final Four on Saturday night.

Ball and two friends tried to join the Wisconsin student section courtside late in the second half of the Badgers’ 74-73 loss to Kentucky, but were denied entrance to the floor level because they didn’t have the necessary wrist bands.

The students caught wind of Ball’s struggles, turned around and started chanting “let them in, let them in.”

Security at AT&T Stadium didn’t budge, not even after one student walked toward the stands and slipped Ball his wristband.

Ball argued profusely, and even flipped off his frog cap at one point, before stomping back to his seats. His friends followed — one dressed in a leopard suit and the other in a cow suit.

Final Four Sets NCAA Attendance Record at 79,444

Posted on April 5, 2014

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Final Four has set an NCAA basketball attendance record at the billion-dollar home of the Dallas Cowboys.

The national semifinals drew 79,444 on Saturday night at AT&T Stadium, beating the previous record of 78,129 when Kentucky beat Michigan State in a regular-season game at Ford Field in Detroit on Dec. 13, 2003.

The crowd also topped the Final Four mark of 75,421 from 2011 at Reliant Stadium in Houston.

It wasn’t the biggest basketball crowd in the Cowboys’ stadium. The NBA All-Star game drew 108,713 in 2010, less than a year after the opening of the $1.2 billion showplace with a huge video board that hangs above the field or court.

Conley, Gasol Lead Grizzlies Past Nuggets 100-92

Posted on April 5, 2014

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Marc Gasol had 24 points, Mike Conley scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half, and the Memphis Grizzlies kept their playoff hopes alive with a 100-92 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Friday night.

Zach Randolph added 20 points, including the last four points for Memphis, and grabbed 15 rebounds. Tayshaun Prince scored 12 before leaving with an ankle injury in the first half and Courtney Lee scored 10 for Memphis, which won its 11th straight home game.

Randy Foye led the Nuggets with 21 points, one of five Denver players in double figures. Kenneth Faried finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds for Denver, which lost its fifth in the past six.

Ty Lawson, who didn’t start for disciplinary reasons, scored 16 points, while Timofey Mozgov had 13 points. Aaron Brooks scored 11.