Basketball – Page 8 – North Platte Post Archive

Creighton Tops DePaul 78-63 in 1st Round of Big East Tourney

Posted on March 11, 2015

NEW YORK (AP) — James Milliken scored 22 points and Creighton took charge of a tight game in the second half for a 78-63 victory over DePaul in the first round of the Big East Tournament on Wednesday night.

Devin Brooks added 12 points and senior guard Austin Chatman had 11, surpassing 1,000 for his career. Will Artino provided energy down low, finishing with nine points and eight rebounds to help the 10th-seeded Bluejays (14-18) advance to the quarterfinals Thursday night against No. 23 Georgetown, the tournament’s second seed.

Jamee Crockett scored 15 points to pace seventh-seeded DePaul (12-20), which lost its final eight games of the season and 11 of the last 12. Billy Garrett Jr. had 10 points and eight assists.

The score was tied at 46 before Artino’s putback with 12:45 left started Creighton’s decisive 13-2 surge.

Nuggets Beat Eastern Conference-Leading Hawks 115-102

Posted on March 11, 2015

DENVER (AP) — Danilo Gallinari had 23 points, Will Barton added 16 and the Denver Nuggets beat Eastern Conference-leading Atlanta 115-102 on Wednesday night for their eighth straight home win over the Hawks.

By the end of the third quarter, Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer had seen enough and inserted his bench players, who went on a 24-1 run midway through the fourth quarter to make the score respectable after trailing by 32 with 7:32 remaining. The Hawks haven’t won in the Mile High City since Dec. 6, 2006.

Kyle Korver had 18 points to lead Atlanta. He hit five 3-pointers to give him 1,697 in his career and move him past Kobe Bryant (1,694) for 12th in NBA history.

Denver turned it into a rout with a 45-21 run in the first half. The Hawks’ backups closed the gap by holding the subs for the Nuggets to 5-of-23 shooting in the fourth quarter, but it was a too late.

Penn State Hangs On, Beats Nebraska 68-65 in Big Ten Opener

Posted on March 11, 2015

CHICAGO (AP) — D.J. Newbill scored 26 points, Shep Garner added 19 and Penn State hung on to beat Nebraska 68-65 Wednesday in the Big Ten tournament opener.

The 13th-seeded Nittany Lions (17-15) advanced in the tournament for the first time since a run to the final in 2011, despite letting a 16-point lead in the second half dwindle to one.

They came away with their second-straight win after dropping six in a row when Shavon Shields missed a 3 for 12th-seeded Nebraska (13-18) at the buzzer.

NBA: Union Won’t Agree to Salary Cap Smoothing in 2016-17

Posted on March 11, 2015

NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA says the Players Association has informed the league that it won’t agree to smoothing in the increased revenues from the national TV deals, which will create a significant spike in the salary cap.

The league’s new contracts with ESPN and TNT begin in 2016-17 and will be worth more than $2.6 billion. Because the salary cap is tied to revenues, that will cause it to soar in the first season, giving many teams spending money they otherwise wouldn’t have.

To prevent that, the league has sought to set a cap figure that would lead to gradual increases, but executive vice president of communications Mike Bass says Wednesday the union rejected that approach.

NBPA executive director Michele Roberts said last month the union had turned down the league’s first smoothing proposal.

Has Rough Season for College Hoops Taken Luster off March?

Posted on March 11, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — There is concern about the current state of men’s college basketball with the NCAA Tournament little more than a week away.

Scoring is at a near-record low this season. Fouls are a pervasive problem. Attendance has dropped precipitously in many places, and television ratings are struggling to reach last year’s levels.

Dan Gavitt, the NCAA’s vice president for men’s college basketball, says the game could be hurt if scoring stays down and physical play continues.

Attendance in men’s Division I basketball has fallen seven straight seasons, from an average of 5,327 in 2006-07 to 4,817 last year. Both CBS and ESPN are weathering ratings declines this season.

The NCAA tried to intervene last year, instituting a series of rules reforms designed to boost scoring. They have largely failed to stick.

Millard West Player Statuses in Question after MIP Citations

Posted on March 10, 2015

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Millard West could be without one or more of its varsity basketball players when it plays in the state basketball tournament in Lincoln this week.

One 18-year-old member of the team was among some 70 people cited by police for minor in possession at a party in west Omaha on Saturday night. Police did not identify all of the people ticketed.

Millard West plays Omaha Creighton Prep on Thursday. Millard Public Schools policy calls for a student to be held out of extracurricular activities for 19 days when he or she commits an offense off school grounds.

Millard West athletic director Chris Loofe would not say Tuesday how many players, if any, would be suspended. Loofe said that “will be answered Thursday night when the team takes the floor.”

NPCC Knights Garner Post Season Awards

Posted on March 10, 2015

North Platte Community College Knights sophomore guard Cameron Williams was named to the first team of the National Junior College Athletic Association All Region IX Basketball team. Williams was the second overall selection from the south sub-region behind Northeastern Junior College’s Shikei Blake.

In addition to being named to the all-region team, Williams along with teammate Marco Pascolo was named to the first team of the Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference(NCCAC) team. Freshman Matt Thomas was selected to the second team.

Williams, an Omaha South High School graduate, averaged 20.9 points per game for the Knights this season and finished his career with 1128 points, which ranks him seventh on the Knights all-time scoring list. Williams also broke the Knights school record for most free throws made during a season with 206 free throws made. The previous record was held by Joe Beem, who played for the Knights from 1982 – 1984, with 192 free throws made.

Marco Pascolo, a sophomore from Udine, Italy averaged 10.9 points per game and 7.5 rebounds per game this season for the Knights. Pascolo’s career scoring total of 657 points left him five points away from being tied for 50^th on the all-time list. Pascolo scored 22 points in the Knight’s loss in the semifinals to eventual Region IX champion Northwest College.

Matt Thomas, a freshman from Elkhorn, NE averaged 9.8 points a game during the season. Thomas scored 11 points per game against NCCAC opponents. Thomas started in all 33 games for the Knights as a freshman this season.

The Knights ended their season with a record of 24 – 9 in the semifinals of the Region IX tournament, losing to eventual champion Northwest College 85 – 72.

Huskers Face Penn State in Big Ten Tournament

Posted on March 10, 2015

Nebraska hopes to keep its season alive, as the Huskers travel to the United Center in Chicago to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions Wednesday afternoon.

All-session and single-session tickets for the 2015 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament remain on sale through Ticketmaster outlets, by visiting ticketmaster.com, by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000 or going to unitedcenter.com.

Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m. and the contest will be televised nationally on ESPN2 with Mike Tirico, Dan Dakich and Quint Kessenich. Wednesday’s game is also available online and on mobile devices on the WatchESPN app.

The game will be broadcast across the state of Nebraska on the 37-station IMG Husker Sports Radio Network, including KLIN 1400 AM in Lincoln, 1110 KFAB in Omaha and KRVN 880 AM in Lexington with Kent Pavelka calling the action and Matt Davison adding color commentary. The game can be heard for free on Huskers.com and is available on the Huskers’ app on iOS or android devices, as well as on TuneIn Radio and on SiriusXM Satellite Radio.

The Huskers (13-17, 5-13 Big Ten) are the No. 12 seed in this week’s tournament and will look to snap an eight-game losing streak dating back to the first meeting with Penn State on Feb. 7. On Sunday, the Huskers lost a heartbreaker to No. 10 Maryland, 64-61, as Shavon Shields missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds. Shields and junior Terran Petteway nearly carried the Huskers to victory on Sunday, combining for 45 points and 16 rebounds. Shields had a game-high 26 points, while Petteway collected his third double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Wednesday’s matchup with Penn State (16-15, 4-15 Big Ten) features two of the Big Ten’s most prolific scorers in Nebraska’s Terran Petteway and Penn State’s D.J. Newbill. Petteway, a third-team All-Big Ten pick, is fourth in the Big Ten in scoring at 17.8, while Newbill, a second-team All-Big Ten selection, is averaging a conference-high 20.7 points per game.

Penn State comes in with a little momentum after upsetting Minnesota, 79-76, on Sunday in Minneapolis, as Newbill hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to snap a six-game losing streak. PSU won the first matchup, 56-43, in State College on Feb. 7.

With a win Wednesday, the Huskers will face fifth-seeded Iowa (21-10) in the second round Thursday at approximately 1:30 p.m. or 25 minutes after the conclusion of the Michigan/Illinois contest.

Faried’s 19 Points Leads Nuggets past Knicks, 106-78

Posted on March 9, 2015

DENVER (AP) — Kenneth Faried had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and the Denver Nuggets routed the New York Knicks 106-78 on Monday night.

Wilson Chandler and Will Barton scored 17 points apiece for the Nuggets, who enjoyed their largest margin in a win this season.

The Knicks lost their fourth straight and fell to 12-50, the NBA’ first 50-loss team this season. Alexey Shved had 19 points for New York, which has just seven wins in 2015.

The lead grew to as much as 34 in the fourth. It was the largest lead of the season for the Nuggets, who tied a season low with eight turnovers. They didn’t have a turnover in the second or third quarter.

Petteway Earns All-Big Ten Honors

Posted on March 9, 2015

Lincoln — Terran Petteway was honored Monday night, as he was a third-team All-Big Ten selection by both the coaches and the media. Petteway, a 6-foot-6 junior guard from Galveston, Texas, leads the Huskers and ranks fourth in the Big Ten in scoring at 17.8 points per game. He also tops the Huskers in assists (2.8) and blocked shots (0.9), while ranking second in rebounding (5.0). He is one of only nine players in the country – and one of two from a power conference – averaging 17.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.

Petteway reached double figures in 28 of 30 regular-season games, including a career-high 32 against Michigan State on Jan. 24, while he averaged 25.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in a pair of matchups against regular-season champion Wisconsin. In all, he had 12 games with at least 20 points, including six in Big Ten play. In conference play, Petteway finished fourth in scoring (16.9 ppg), 14th in assists (2.9 apg), and sixth in 3-pointers per game (2.2 per game). It is the second time that Petteway has been honored by the Big Ten, as he was a first-team selection in 2013-14.

In addition, senior Trevor Menke was chosen as the team’s sportsmanship nominee, as one member of each team is selected for their contributions off the court.