Basketball – Page 73 – North Platte Post Archive

Tim Miles’ Popularity Soaring Among Nebraska Fans

Posted on March 10, 2014

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Coach Tim Miles and the Nebraska basketball team have their fans excited as they move closer to the program’s first NCAA tournament bid since 1998.

Nebraska (19-11) heads to Indianapolis for the Big Ten tournament with 10 wins in their last 12 games and a fourth-place finish in the conference. The court-storming student section was, in a word, nuts during Sunday’s 77-68 upset of then-No. 9 Wisconsin. The rest of the sellout crowd responded to Miles’ plea to stand and make noise the whole game.

Marc Boehm is the executive associate athletic director in charge of the basketball program. He said the fans are in a “euphoric state of mind” because the Huskers’ success has been sudden.

Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament Bracket Announced

Posted on March 9, 2014

Rosemont, Ill. – Michigan, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Nebraska are the top four seeds in the 2014 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament, the conference office announced on Sunday night. The 17th annual event will be contested fromMarch 13-16 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

After winning the outright Big Ten Championship for the first time since 1986 with a 15-3 conference record, Michigan is the tournament’s top seed and will open play at Noon ET on Friday. Wisconsin and Michigan State finished the year with matching 12-6 marks, but the Badgers’ head-to-head win over the Spartans on Feb. 9 gave them the No. 2 seed. Wisconsin opens play at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and earns a first-round bye for the 14th straight season, the longest streak in conference history. Michigan State is the No. 3 seed and begins tournament play at approximately 9 p.m. on Friday, while Nebraska knocked off the Badgers tonight to earn the No. 4 seed with an 11-7 conference record. The Cornhuskers begin postseason play at approximately 2:30 p.m. on Friday.

The opening session of the 2014 event begins at Noon on Thursday when No. 8 Indiana faces No. 9 Illinois and No. 5 Ohio State takes on No. 12 Purdue, with both games airing on BTN. Thursday’s second session commences at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN2 when No. 7 Minnesota squares off against No. 10 Penn State and No. 6 Iowa takes on No. 11 Northwestern. Indiana and Illinois each finished with 7-11 conference marks, but the Hoosiers’ win over Michigan on Feb. 2 secured the higher seed. Penn State and Northwestern completed Big Ten play at 6-12, but the Nittany Lions’ head-to-head victory over the Wildcats on March 6 gave Penn State the tiebreaker.

Friday’s sessions also begin at Noon and 6:30 p.m., with the afternoon contests televised by ESPN or ESPN2, while the evening games will be carried by BTN. No. 1 Michigan takes on the Indiana-Illinois winner at Noon and No. 4 Nebraska takes on the winner of Ohio State and Purdue. No. 2 Wisconsin faces the Minnesota-Penn State victor, while No. 3 Michigan State will play the winner of Iowa-Northwestern.

Big Ten Tournament semifinal games will be played on Saturday, beginning at 1:40 p.m. ET on CBS Sports. The championship game tips off at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday and will also be broadcast by CBS Sports.

Six different programs have won the Big Ten Tournament. Ohio State has claimed four official titles, including three of the last four years. Michigan State has won the tournament on three occasions, including the last time the event was held in Indianapolis in 2012. Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin have each won the championship twice, and Purdue has won the tournament once.

For the second straight year, the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament is sold out, but fans can still reserve a face-value, premium ticket to the Big Ten Tournament Championship Game through the TeamTix reservation system atbigten.teamtix.com.

The 2014 event includes a number of fan events surrounding the games. These events include the Big Ten Hoops Day 5K, Big Ten Career Expo, pep rally in advance of the championship game, restaurant pairings, youth initiatives and much more. Visit www.bigten.org or www.IndianaSportsCorp.org for more information.

NCAA Hopeful Nebraska Upsets No. 9 Wisconsin 77-68

Posted on March 9, 2014

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Shavon Shields and Terran Petteway scored 26 points apiece, and Nebraska upset No. 9 Wisconsin 77-68 on Sunday night to put a dent in the Badgers’ hopes for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

The Cornhuskers (19-11, 11-7) won for the 10th time in 12 games to clinch fourth place in the Big Ten for their highest conference finish since 1997-98. The Badgers (25-6, 12-6) had their longest conference win streak since 1940-41 end at eight games.

Shields made a couple free throws, Ray Gallegos hit a 3 and Shields dunked in transition to start a 12-1 run that turned a 52-48 deficit into a 60-53 lead with 5 minutes left.

Davis Leads Pelicans Past Nuggets, 111-107 in OT

Posted on March 9, 2014

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Anthony Davis tied his career high with 32 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked six shots, and the New Orleans Pelicans erased a 16-point deficit to capture their third straight victory, 111-107 over the Denver Nuggets in overtime Sunday night.

Tyreke Evans had 20 points and Anthony Morrow added 14, including a 15-foot pullup in the lane that tied the game at 94 with 1 second left in regulation.

Davis’ free throws gave New Orleans the lead for good at 106-104, and his block of Ty Lawson’s driving layup prevented Denver from tying it with 1:14 left in overtime.

Davis became the first player in franchise history — going back to the club’s founding as the Charlotte Hornets in 1988 — to have as many points, rebounds and blocks in one game.

Kenneth Faried had 22 points and 10 rebounds for Denver.

NPCC Lady Knights Fall in District F Championship

Posted on March 9, 2014

Bottineau, ND – The North Platte Community College Lady Knights basketball team (16-13, 3-1 Region IX Division II) ended their season Sunday afternoon in the District F Championship falling at the hands of the Dakota College at Bottineau Lady Jacks (15-17) 65-83. The Lady Jacks now advance to the Division II Women’s National Championship in Overland Park, Kan.

The Lady Knights finish the season with 16 wins, which ties for the second most in program history and second most in head coach Richard Thurin‘s 13 year career. The 0.552 win percentage is the seventh time in program history the Lady Knights have finished over .500 and it is the third in Coach Thurin’s career.

Lady Knights All-Time Win-Loss Record

After traveling 10 hours to reach Bottineau, the Lady Knights got off to a fast start and took a 39-36 lead into the locker room behind 43 percent shooting in the half while holding the Lady Jacks to only 38 percent shooting from the field.

In the second half, the Lady Knights struggled to connect from the field as they only shot 26 percent (10-39) from the field. Conversely, the Lady Jacks shots started to fall on their way to scoring 47 points and shooting 52 percent from the field. The Lady Knights out-rebounded the Lady Jacks 48-42.

“It wasn’t one of our better games,” said coach Thurin. “This time of year you need to be playing your best ball. They shot ball well and we didn’t.”

In her last game in a Lady Knights uniform, DaVontaye Merritt again paced North Platte with a double-double, scoring 19 points and pulling down 19 rebounds, including 10 offensive rebounds. Also in her final game as a Lady Knight, Courtney Widick scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Aliyah Brown was the only other Lady Knights in double-figures as she finished with 12 points.

Imani Scott led the Lady Jacks with 32 points and Savannah Bruce had 14 while Lead Patrizek had 10.

Along with Merritt and Widick, Jordan Dickerson and Samantha Hyatt played their last game in a Lady Knights uniform Sunday. The sophomores finish their career with 31 wins and back-to-back Region IX Championships. The 31 wins is the second most in Lady Knights history for a two year stretch. Last season, the Lady Knights also won the District F Championship to advance to the Division II Women’s National Championship.

Merritt and Widick will go down as two of the greatest Lady Knights to ever wear a uniform as both finished in the Top 20 of the All-Time Scoring List.

Merritt finishes her career with 863 points which places her 3^rd All-Time in Lady Knights history.

Widick finishes her career with 570 points which places her 18^th on the All-Time scoring list.

Lady Knights Top 25 Scoring List

“It was a good season,” said coach Thurin. “I feel bad for our sophomores as they showed good leadership all season.”

No. 16 Nebraska Wins Big Ten Tourney Title

Posted on March 9, 2014March 10, 2014

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Rachel Theriot scored 19 of her 24 points in the second half Sunday, leading Number 16 Nebraska past Number 23 Iowa 72-65 for the Big Ten tournament title.

It’s the first time the Cornhuskers (25-6) have ever won a conference tourney crown, clinching the league’s automatic NCAA tournament bid. Nebraska also posted its second straight 25-win season and is tied for the second most victories in school history. The Cornhuskers head into the postseason with plenty of momentum after winning 12 of 13.

Iowa (26-8) was led by Ally Disterhoft with 20 points and Samantha Logic with 14 but had a six-game winning streak snapped.

Nebraska never trailed, though Iowa closed to 57-56 with 7:43 to play. Theriot, the tourney’s most outstanding player, helped Nebraska pull away with an 8-3 run.

Creighton’s McDermott Leads All-Big East Team

Posted on March 9, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) — Creighton’s Doug McDermott, the eighth player in college basketball history to score more than 3,000 points, is among three unanimous selections for the All-Big East team.

Joining the two-time All-America as unanimous choices by the league’s coaches Sunday are Providence guard Bryce Cotton and Xavier guard Semaj Christon.

The rest of the six-man first team are Markel Starks of Georgetown, D’Angelo Harrison of St. John’s and James Bell of Villanova.

McDermott, who closed the regular season with a career-high 45 points Saturday against Providence, leads the nation is scoring with a 26.5 average. He is shooting 52.2 percent from the field and 44.7 percent from 3-point range and averages 7.2 rebounds.

Creighton’s McDermott Scores 45, Goes Over 3,000

Posted on March 8, 2014

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Doug McDermott scored a career-high 45 points and became the eighth player in Division I history to go over 3,000 for a career, and No. 13 Creighton rolled to an 88-73 victory over Providence on Saturday night.

McDermott passed the milestone with a 3-pointer midway through the second half. After the ball went in, he ran backward with his right hand in the air, three fingers raised. At the next timeout Doug and his coach-father, Greg McDermott, shared a long embrace on the court as the team huddled at the bench.

McDermott scored 22 points in the first half as the Bluejays (24-6, 14-4 Big East) put away the Friars (20-11, 10-8) quickly.

Bryce Cotton, the Big East’s second-leading scorer, had all of his 23 points in the second half for Providence. LaDontae Henton added 21.

No. 16 Nebraska Crushes No. 19 Michigan St. 86-58

Posted on March 8, 2014

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (AP) — Tear’a Laudermill scored 20 points and Rachel Theriot added 18 as third-seeded and No. 16 ranked Nebraska, exploded for a 50-point first half in beating No. 19 Michigan State, the No. 2 seed, 86-58 on Saturday in the Big Ten semifinals.

The Cornhuskers (24-6) advance to the Big Ten tournament championship game against No. 23 Iowa, the fifth-seeded team, on Sunday.

Nebraska was on top 24-17 in the first half prior to Laudermill’s 3-pointer that capped a 9-0 Cornhusker run and stretched the lead to 33-17 over Michigan State (22-9). Over the next 6 minutes, Nebraska upped that margin to 23 points and led the Spartans 50-27 at the break.

The Cornhuskers scored first in the second period, opening a 26-point lead, and coasted the remainder of the half, while shooting 52 percent from the floor.

Branndais Agee led Spartan scorers with 18 points.

Faried, Lawson Lead Nuggets Past Lakers 134-126

Posted on March 8, 2014

DENVER (AP) — Kenneth Faried scored a career-high 32 points, Ty Lawson had 30 and the Denver Nuggets beat the skidding Los Angeles Lakers 134-126 on Friday night.

Wilson Chandler had 19 points, and Timofey Mozgov and Evan Fournier added 13 apiece for the Nuggets, who swept the three-game season series.

Pau Gasol scored 27 points to lead the Lakers in their third straight defeat and sixth in eight games. This one ensured their first losing season since going 34-48 in 2004-05.

Jordan Farmar and Robert Sacre had 24 points apiece for the Lakers, who were coming off a 142-94 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday. The 48-point defeat was the biggest in franchise history.