Basketball – Page 68 – North Platte Post Archive

Fearsome Final Foursome Headed to North Texas

Posted on March 30, 2014

The Final Four will not have any upstarts like the past few years.

The power programs that did make it will still have plenty to prove in North Texas.

Florida, the top overall seed, is back in the Final Four for the first time since winning consecutive titles in 2006-07, this time without all those first-round NBA picks.

The Gators will face Connecticut, 2011 national champions who were barred from last year’s bracket because of academics.

Wisconsin has reached the Final Four for the first time under coach Bo Ryan, who is finally going as a coach after taking his late father every year since 1976.

Rounding out the foursome is Kentucky, the preseason No. 1 thought to be out of contention after struggling midseason.

Spurs Win 16th Straight, Beat Nuggets 133-102

Posted on March 29, 2014

DENVER (AP) — Marco Belinelli scored 27 points, Tim Duncan added 20 and the San Antonio Spurs extended their winning streak to 16 games by beating the Denver Nuggets 133-102 on Friday night.

Reserve Patty Mills had 16 points for the Spurs, who scored a season-high in points. This is their longest regular season win streak since reeling off 17 straight from Feb. 29 to March 31, 1996.

San Antonio also maintained a three-game lead for the top seed in the Western Conference. It’s a quick turnaround for the Spurs, who host New Orleans on Saturday.

Randy Foye scored 20 for a banged-up Nuggets squad that lost for the fourth time in five games.

Creighton’s Wragge Entered in 3-Point Competition

Posted on March 28, 2014

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Creighton forward Ethan Wragge will participate in the 3-point shooting contest that will be held in conjunction with Final Four weekend in the Dallas area next week.

The 26th annual event is Thursday at Moody Coliseum on the SMU campus.

Wragge was one of the most prolific 3-point shooters in Creighton history and this season made 47 percent of his attempts. Wragge started the week ranked fifth nationally in 3-point shooting.

Wragge will be the third Creighton player in 12 years to take part in the contest. Kyle Korver finished second in 2003. Booker Woodfox did not advance to the semifinals in 2009.

Attendance at Women’s Hoops First Two Rounds Drops

Posted on March 27, 2014

Attendance for the NCAA women’s tournament is down after the first two rounds.

The 16 sites averaged nearly 4,100 fans, down roughly 700 from the previous year. It probably didn’t help that three of the locations didn’t have host schools playing at them — Los Angeles, Seattle and Toledo. While the Ohio site had good attendance mainly because Notre Dame was there, Los Angeles and Seattle ranked as the bottom two locations in attendance.

Less than 1,000 fans turned out for the second round matchup between BYU and Nebraska in L.A.

The NCAA won’t have that problem next year when the top four seeds in each region will host the opening rounds.

While early attendance is lagging, the NCAA is hopeful that will change in the regionals.

Duncan Leads Spurs over Nuggets 108-103

Posted on March 26, 2014

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Tim Duncan had 29 points, 13 rebounds and five assists, and the San Antonio Spurs overcame a fourth-quarter collapse to beat the Denver Nuggets 108-103 Wednesday night for their 15th straight victory.

Danny Green scored 16 points before leaving with a foot injury early in the second half. Tiago Splitter, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili had 10 points apiece for San Antonio (55-16), which maintained the league’s best record.

Aaron Brooks scored 25 points and Kenneth Faried had 24 points, including 15 points in a frenzied final quarter for Denver. Timofey Mozgov added 14 points and 11 rebounds and Quincy Miller had 11 points.

After leading by as many as 24 points and by 20 midway through the third quarter, San Antonio needed Duncan’s late heroics to preserve its win streak.

Denver went on a 34-20 run in the final 11 minutes.

Hickson Has Surgery to Fix Torn ACL

Posted on March 25, 2014

DENVER (AP) — The Denver Nuggets say forward J.J. Hickson had surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right knee on Tuesday.

Hickson hurt his ACL early in the fourth quarter of Denver’s loss at Dallas last Friday, when he went down along the baseline. This has been an injury-riddled season for the Nuggets, who were already without Danilo Gallinari, JaVale McGee and Nate Robinson after they each had season-ending operations.

The 25-year-old Hickson averaged 11.8 points and 9.2 rebounds this season. He also had a team-high 26 double-doubles.

Nuggets general manager Tim Connelly said of Hickson: “We know he will attack his rehab with the same energy and hard work that he displays on the court every night.”

Durant Scores 27, Leads Thunder Past Nuggets

Posted on March 25, 2014

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Kevin Durant had 27 points and eight assists to help the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Denver Nuggets 117-96 on Monday night.

Caron Butler scored 23 points, his highest total since the Thunder added him right after the trade deadline. Reggie Jackson had 16 points and a career-high 11 assists, and Serge Ibaka added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Thunder, who won their fourth straight.

Durant, who was coming off a 51-point game against Toronto on Friday, is averaging 37 points during the winning streak. The Thunder sat point guard Russell Westbrook so he could rest his surgically repaired right knee.

Ty Lawson scored 25 points for the Nuggets, who had won three of four. The Thunder held Denver to 39 percent shooting.

Silver: 2 Years of College Best for NBA Players

Posted on March 24, 2014

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Adam Silver says he’s heard the “Bill Gates theory” numerous times from critics over the last month: You shouldn’t be required to attend college to become a millionaire.

But the new NBA commissioner steadfastly believes that basketball players should spend at least two years in college before being allowed to enter the draft — instead of the required one.

Fair or not, he says it’s simply best for the league.

Speaking before Monday’s Rockets-Bobcats game in Charlotte, Silver says “I think two years is the right balance.”

That means if Silver had his way Jabari Parker and Andrew Wiggins would be staying in school another year. But there’s little he can do about that.

An agreement between the league and players association is not imminent.

Warren Buffett Fans Can Buy Cutouts of His Head

Posted on March 24, 2014

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Fans of investor Warren Buffett can now buy oversized cutouts of his head to wave around in public.

Fathead usually makes cutouts and life-size posters of athletes and celebrities. The Detroit-based company said Monday that customers wanted a Buffett cutout after they were used to promote Buffett’s $1 billion NCAA tournament challenge.

Fathead CEO Patrick McInnis says Buffett agreed to let the company sell his likeness because all the profits will go to two Detroit nonprofits: Money Matters for Youth and Motor City Blight Busters.

Buffett made several television appearances in recent weeks because his firm was insuring a $1 billion prize for a perfect NCAA tournament bracket in a Quicken Loans contest.

Buffett is chairman and CEO of the Omaha, Neb., based Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate.

Nebraska Assistant to Coach South Dakota Men

Posted on March 24, 2014

VERMILLION, S.D. (AP) — The University of South Dakota is hiring Nebraska assistant Craig Smith as its new head men’s basketball coach.

The Coyotes scheduled a Monday news conference to introduce Smith.

Smith has been a longtime assistant for Cornhusker coach Tim Miles. He’s coached with him at Mayville State, North Dakota State and Colorado State.

Smith was the head coach at Mayville State in North Dakota from 2004-07, winning NAIA coach of the year honors after leading the Comets to the NAIA Division II national championship game in 2007.

Smith also has served as an assistant at Northern State in South Dakota and Minot State in North Dakota.

Smith is a native of Stephen, Minn., and a University of North Dakota alum. He’s replacing Dave Boots, who retired last September after 25 years.