PAGE
INDIANA GIRLS BASKETBALL STATE FINALS
SESSION 1
SATURDAY
GATES OPEN AT 9:30 AM ET
10:30 AM ET | CLASS 1A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
BETHANY CHRISTIAN (24-3) VS. LANESVILLE (27-2)
APPROX. 12:45 PM ET | CLASS 2A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
LAPEL (22-7) VS. FOREST PARK (25-3)
SESSION 2
GATES OPEN AT 5 PM ET
6 PM ET | CLASS 3A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
FAIRFIELD (27-2) VS. CORYDON CENTRAL (27-2)
APPROX. 8:15 PM ET | CLASS 4A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
FISHERS (26-2) VS. BEDFORD NORTH LAWRENCE (26-3)
INDIANA BOYS BASKETBALL
| ELWOOD | 55 | ANDERSON PREP ACADEMY | 40 | |
| FLOYD CENTRAL | 66 | COLUMBUS EAST | 56 | |
| GREENFIELD-CENTRAL | 69 | PLAINFIELD | 53 | |
| LAKE STATION | 60 | MORGAN TWP. | 59 | OT |
| MOORESVILLE | 84 | VICTORY COLLEGE PREP | 37 | |
| PURDUE POLY ENGLEWOOD | 74 | INDIANAPOLIS TINDLEY | 67 | |
| RIVER FOREST | 50 | WASHINGTON TWP. | 48 | |
| SOUTH BEND ADAMS | 63 | MERRILLVILLE | 57 | |
| SPEEDWAY | 66 | INDIANAPOLIS SHORTRIDGE | 65 | |
| TRI-CENTRAL | 56 | INDIANA DEAF | 28 | |
| TRI-WEST | 70 | HAMILTON HEIGHTS | 64 | |
| TRI | 73 | RANDOLPH SOUTHERN | 51 |
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL SCORES
#1 HOUSTON 89 TULANE 59
#2 ALABAMA 78 SOUTH CAROLINA 76 OT
BOSTON COLLEGE 63 #6 VIRGINIA 48
#18 UCONN 87 #20 PROVIDENCE 60
BUTLER 59 DEPAUL 58
NORTH CAROLINA 63 NOTRE DAME 59
BELMONT 89 INDIANA STATE 88
BRADLEY 76 VALPARAISO 66
ILLINOIS CHICAGO 82 EVANSVILLE 76
WISCONSIN 64 IOWA 52
CINCINNATI 88 TEMPLE 83 OT
CLEMSON 91 SYRACUSE 73
KENTUCKY 82 FLORIDA 74
LSU 84 VANDERBILT 77
MARYLAND 88 MINNESOTA 70
DAYTON 72 MASSACHUSETTS 54
ST. JOHN 79 GEORGETOWN 70
AUBURN 78 OLE MISS 74
COMPLETE SCOREBOARD: HTTP://HOSTED.STATS.COM/CBK/SCOREBOARD.ASP?CONF=-1&DAY=20230222
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL SCOREBOARD
OKLAHOMA STATE 73 #20 IOWA STATE 68
NEBRASKA 90 #25 ILLINOIS 57
PURDUE 86 PENN STATE 62
BALL STATE 80 WESTERN MICHIGAN 49
MICHIGAN STATE 71 MINNESOTA 67
BOWLING GREEN 80 CENTRAL MICHIGAN 72
TOLEDO 80 AKRON 76
KENT STATE 82 OHIO 56
MIAMI OHIO 88 NORTHERN ILLINOIS 67
KANSAS STATE 63 KANSAS 45
BAYLOR 67 TCU 57
MEMPHIS 64 CINCINNATI 53
TEXAS TECH 69 WEST VIRGINIA AND 68 OT
COMPLETE SCOREBOARD: HTTP://HOSTED.STATS.COM/WCBK/SCOREBOARD.ASP?CONF=-1&DAY=20230222
NBA SCOREBOARD
BOX SCORES:
NHL SCOREBOARD
NY ISLANDERS 2 WINNIPEG 1
CHICAGO 4 DALLAS 3
CALGARY 6 ARIZONA 3
BOX SCORES: HTTP://HOSTED.STATS.COM/NHL/SCOREBOARD.ASP
TOP NATIONAL HEADLINES
NBA NEWS
HAWKS GM FIELDS SAYS SNYDER A CANDIDATE TO REPLACE MCMILLAN
ATLANTA (AP) Atlanta Hawks general manager Landry Fields said Wednesday former Utah coach Quinn Snyder is among those being considered to replace Nate McMillan.
The Hawks fired McMillan on Tuesday, and Fields stressed their eighth-place standing in the Eastern Conference is not acceptable for a team which advanced to the conference finals in 2021.
Snyder, 56, was 372-264 as Utah’s coach from 2014-22. He guided the Jazz to six consecutive playoff appearances before stepping down after last season.
Fields said Snyder’s availability “is a factor in the sense that I feel comfortable mentioning his name, but there are other candidates I don’t want to mention because they are a part of other teams.”
Snyder was a Hawks assistant in 2013-14.
Other possible candidates, including Golden State assistant Kenny Atkinson and Milwaukee assistant Charles Lee. Both are former Atlanta assistants.
Fields said he has started talking with potential candidates and could make a hire this season. Assistant coach Joe Prunty began serving as interim coach with Wednesday’s practice but may not be involved in the interview process for the full-time position.
“To do this now, sort of last minute, there’s enough on Joe’s plate,” Fields said, adding his message to Prunty to focus on the task at hand and “we’ll cover everything else later.”
McMillan, 58, went 99-80 as Atlanta’s coach, including a 27-11 record as interim in the second half of the 2020-21 season. His success that season in leading Atlanta to the Eastern Conference finals earned him the full-time position.
McMillan couldn’t follow up on that success. The Hawks lost to Miami in the first round of the playoffs last season after surviving the play-in tournament.
Atlanta is struggling to remain in the top 10 for a return spot in the play-in field. The Hawks lost four of six games before the All-Star break and are only one game ahead of 10th-place Toronto in the East.
Fields said he considered a coaching change for one month and was influenced by back-to-back losses to Charlotte and the New York Knicks before the break.
“I do believe there was slippage and I felt that was a need we needed to address,” Fields said.
Fields said he did not consult point guard Trae Young or other players before making the move. Fields said speculation McMillan’s efforts were affected by conflicts with Young were unfair to the player and were not a factor in his decision to make a coaching change.
Overall in 19 seasons, McMillan has a 760-668 record with the Seattle SuperSonics, Portland Trail Blazers, Indiana Pacers and Hawks.
CURRY RESUMES ON-COURT WORK, STILL SIDELINED BY LEG INJURY
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Stephen Curry has begun individual on-court workouts as he recovers from a left leg injury and will be re-evaluated in another week.
The Warriors said Wednesday that Curry had another examination and “is making good progress.” The reigning NBA Finals MVP has missed the past five games after getting injured against Dallas on Feb. 4 in a collision while defending McKinley Wright IV as he drove to the basket. Wright’s knee hit Curry’s shin.
An MRI exam showed partial tears to his superior tibiofibular ligament and interosseous membrane in his left leg. He also had a bruise.
He will continue to do his on-court progression. Before the All-Star break, Curry said because of the ligament damage it’s hard to know how long his healing will take.
He is averaging 29.4 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.4 assists for the defending champions.
Curry, who this past week attended a pair of Stanford women’s basketball games to support friend Cameron Brink and the women’s game, has sat out 19 games overall this season, 11 of those with a partially dislocated left shoulder.
WESTBROOK SIGNS WITH CLIPPERS AFTER CLEARING WAIVERS
LOS ANGELES (AP) It didn’t take long for Russell Westbrook to join the Los Angeles Clippers.
The nine-time All-Star signed with the Clippers Wednesday after he cleared waivers, then hit the practice court as the team gathered for the first time since the All-Star break.
“I’m super excited. I love to play basketball and I just have a lot of fun while doing it,” Westbrook said. “I get to stay home, see the wife and the kids and take them to school in the morning. That’s a big part of my day and you know, nothing more important than that.”
Coach Tyronn Lue said Westbrook will play on Friday when the Clippers host the Sacramento Kings. When asked how he views what role Westbrook will play and if he would be a starter, Lue said, “I view him as what you will see on Friday.”
Westbrook is from the Los Angeles area, was a standout at UCLA and played less than two seasons for the Lakers before being traded to the Jazz on Feb. 10 as part of a three-team deal.
The Jazz waived him on Monday. Westbrook cleared waivers because no team had the salary-cap space to take on the remaining $47 million he was owed on his expiring contract.
The 15-year veteran is averaging 15.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 7.1 assists in 28.7 minutes per game. He is one of only six players in the NBA this season averaging at least 15 points, six rebounds and seven assists.
Lawrence Frank, the Clippers’ director of basketball operations, said both sides are on the same page about how Westbrook can help the team.
“We had an upfront and honest dialogue. I thought it was a really clean process, in that we talked through a lot of different possibilities to make sure that this could be a good relationship,” Frank said.
Westbrook is reuniting with Paul George, his former teammate in Oklahoma City. George had lobbied the front office to add a point guard before the trade deadline.
George then stepped up the recruiting effort for Westbrook after he was traded to Utah and it appeared he could become a free agent.
“I’ve been in this league a long time and being somewhere that people want you and they embrace you meant a lot to me,” Westbrook said.
Westbrook brings something the Clippers lack – a fast, attacking guard who can get to the rim either to score or kick it out to the perimeter. Lue is hoping Westbrook can manufacture some easy baskets for George and Kawhi Leonard, a role the Clippers were hoping John Wall could play before he was traded to Houston.
“I think that the most important part for me is just coming in, keeping the pace high, using my speed and the ability to be able to get into the paint and get those guys easy shots,” Westbrook said. “I’ll fit right in and continue doing what they have going on right now and everything else will play out itself.”
Westbrook’s signing completes a busy three-week period during which the Clippers made plenty of changes to their lineup. They reacquired Eric Gordon, who began his career with them in 2008, from Houston and got Bones Hyland from Denver.
They also acquired center Mason Plumlee from Charlotte for Reggie Jackson. LA also traded Luke Kennard to Memphis and Wall back to Houston.
The Clippers are fourth in the Western Conference with a 33-28 record. They don’t have much time to get all of their new pieces acclimated since they are in the middle of a playoff push.
“The most important thing is winning the game. And so my job as a coach is to make sure we win the game and whoever is playing well that night will play,” Lue said. “We also got to focus on getting our rotations right. Making sure the right pieces are on the floor together and then kind of see how we’re going to play once the playoffs hit. So it’s a fine line, especially with 21 games left. So we got to speed this process up as best as we can.”
NBA TEAMS GET READY TO MAKE 4TH-QUARTER PUSH FOR PLAYOFFS
Kevin Durant went to Phoenix. Russell Westbrook moved from Los Angeles to Los Angeles. Kevin Love did what once worked out nicely for LeBron James, taking his talents from Cleveland to Miami. And speaking of James, he says he’s about to play some of the biggest games of his career.
The All-Star break ends Thursday.
Let the playoff-push fireworks begin.
“It’s not the start of a new season,” Miami guard Tyler Herro said. “But I think this is when guys really raise their level of play.”
Boston, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Denver, Cleveland and Memphis probably can go ahead and make playoff plans. Houston, Charlotte, San Antonio and Detroit probably can go ahead and start scheduling April vacations.
That leaves 20 teams for 10 playoff spots. Sacramento is in position to end the longest drought in NBA history — 16 years and counting — and Cleveland is in line to make the playoffs without someone named LeBron on the roster for the first time since 1998.
“We have a group that’s dedicated to winning, and there are certain things we have to learn about each other,” Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell said. “It’s not going to be all sunshine and rainbows with us. We’re still a team that’s young, but we also are figuring each other out.”
The Cavaliers are five games behind Boston, 4 1/2 behind Milwaukee and two behind Philadelphia in the East. The rest of the race might get jumbled; 13th-place Orlando is only four games from a play-in berth.
“We’ve given ourselves a chance,” Magic rookie Paolo Banchero said.
Out West, it’s a mess.
“The West is loaded now,” Clippers forward Marcus Morris Sr. said. “I don’t know how that happened.”
Here’s how: Durant went to Phoenix. Durant’s trade to the Suns could make a team that looked vulnerable anything but vulnerable.
Denver is five games clear of Memphis for the West lead and eight games up on No. 3 Sacramento.
But starting with the Kings, there are 11 teams in the standings — Sacramento, the Los Angeles Clippers (who just got Westbrook, after he was bought out by Utah following a trade with the Lakers), Phoenix, Dallas (now with Kyrie Irving alongside Luka Doncic), New Orleans, Minnesota, Golden State, Oklahoma City, Utah, Portland and the Lakers — separated by just six games.
The seedings could flip every night out West.
“Must-see TV,” Morris said.
And James — who just passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the NBA scoring record — says the 23 games the Lakers have left carry incredible significance.
He didn’t go to the playoffs last year. He can’t envision missing them again.
“I don’t want to see myself not being part of the postseason for two years straight. It’s just not part of my DNA,” James said.
Here’s some of what to know for the stretch run:
7 WITH 30
There are seven players — Dallas’ Doncic, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Portland’s Damian Lillard, Boston’s Jayson Tatum and James — averaging at least 30 points per game.
If that holds, it’ll be an NBA record.
There’s been only one season with more than three such players. That was 1961-62, with six — Wilt Chamberlain (50.4), Elgin Baylor (38.3 in 48 games, technically not enough to qualify as a scoring leader), Walt Bellamy (31.6), Bob Pettit (31.1), Oscar Robertson (30.8) and Jerry West (30.8).
IT’S THE FOURTH QUARTER
It’s not the second half of the season. It’s really the fourth quarter.
An NBA regular season has 1,230 games; 884, or 72%, have been played. So if the season was an NBA game clock, 1:30 would remain in the third quarter.
Teams have somewhere between 21 and 25 games left. Minnesota is down to a league-low eight home games remaining, while Indiana has nine. Washington has a league-high 15 home games left, while Atlanta and Charlotte each have 14.
THE CHAMPS
Golden State will emerge from the All-Star break ninth in the Western Conference.
The defending NBA champion Warriors have some work to do.
No reigning champion has missed the following season’s playoffs since the Chicago Bulls didn’t get to the postseason in 1999. Before that, it was the Boston Celtics not making the playoffs in 1970.
Those Bulls lost Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. Those Celtics lost Bill Russell and Sam Jones.
.590 AND IN
Over the last 20 seasons, there have been 173 teams that reached the All-Star break with a winning percentage of .590 or better.
And 171 of them made the playoffs, or 98.8%.
That’s good news for Boston (.712), Milwaukee (.707), Denver (.695), Philadelphia (.667), Cleveland (.623) and Memphis (.614).
The only teams that hit the break with that good of a winning percentage and missed the playoffs were the 2007-08 Warriors and last season’s Cavaliers.
The ’07-08 Warriors went 16-14 after the break and missed the playoffs by two games. Last season’s Cavs went 9-15 after the break, then lost two games in the play-in round.
MILESTONES
Upcoming milestones of note:
— Miami coach Erik Spoelstra (692) is five wins from passing Red Holzman (696) for 20th place on the all-time list.
— Durant (26,684) is 27 points from passing Robertson (26,710) for 13th on the all-time scoring list. Durant is 263 points from passing Hakeem Olajuwon (26,946) for 12th.
— Westbrook (9,002) is 60 assists from passing Isiah Thomas (9,061) for ninth on the all-time list.
— Paul George of the Clippers is 18 3-pointers from 2,000. He’d be the 14th player to reach that number.
— Golden State’s home game Sunday against Minnesota will be the 6,000th regular-season contest in Warriors’ history.
BUSY LA
Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles will be busy — the Lakers and Clippers both have 13 home games to play in the season’s final 46 days.
Not one, not two, but three NBA teams play three consecutive games in Los Angeles during March — the Lakers, the Clippers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. They visit the Clippers on March 21 and 23, then visit the Lakers on March 24.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
EMBATTLED MILLER LEADS NO. 2 ALABAMA PAST GAMECOCKS IN OT
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) Brandon Miller found a safe spot on the basketball court and put up his career-best showing to rescue No. 2 Alabama.
Miller scored a career-high 41 points, including the go-ahead basket with 0.9 seconds left in overtime, as the Crimson Tide outlasted South Carolina 78-76 on Wednesday night.
Miller’s performance came a day after the 6-foot-9 freshman standout was linked to a fatal shooting near campus last month. However, hours before tipoff, Alabama said Miller was “not a suspect” and would remain an “active member” for the Crimson Tide (24-4, 14-1 Southeastern Conference).
Alabama coach Nate Oats has seen embattled players like Miller lock into the game when things are difficult.
“It’s what they’ve done their whole lives and let some of the outside stuff out of their mind,” Oats said. “I thought Brandon did a great job really getting himself mentally ready to play.”
Miller had the Tide’s first 40-point game since Collin Sexton scored 40 against Minnesota in November 2017.
Neither Miller nor any other Alabama players were available to the media after the game.
Miller shook off some early struggles to lead Alabama, which kept its one-game lead over No. 25 Texas A&M in the race for the SEC regular-season championship.
Miller’s final basket in regulation, with 4.1 seconds to play, tied the game at 68 and forced the extra period. Miller finished 14 of 25 from the field and had six of Alabama’s seven 3-pointers.
South Carolina’s Gregory “GG” Jackson II said Miller’s shotmaking ability was hard to overcome. He was 6 of 7 behind the arc.
“Nothing you can do about that,” Jackson said. “He’s a great player.”
The game was a wild finish to an eventful day after Alabama officials announced hours before tipoff that Miller would travel and play against the Gamecocks, despite testimony he transported the gun used in a fatal shooting to former teammate Darius Miles, now one of two people facing capital murder charges.
Miller’s attorney said his client never touched the gun and drove away from the scene when shots were fired.
The game appeared to be the biggest of mismatches with Alabama rolling toward a No. 1 seed in the SEC and NCAA Tournaments, and South Carolina (10-17, 3-11) having lost its previous seven conference games at home.
But it was the Gamecocks who delivered the punches early. They made seven straight shots, including the first college 3 for little-used freshman Eli Sparkman, to lead 22-15 midway through the opening period.
Alabama and Miller rallied and moved in front. Miller hit a smooth 3-pointer, ran the break and finished with a high-flying jam, then had a twisting drive that ended with a dunk, sending the Tide ahead 25-24.
Jackson led South Carolina with 19 points, while Johnson and Jacobi Wright had 18 apiece.
Oats wondered where some of his other usual scorers were in this one. While Miller hit 56% of his shots, the rest of the team was just 13 of 27 overall and 1 of 14 on 3-pointers.
“It could’ve been a distraction,” Oats said of the week. “But Brandon showed up.”
BIG PICTURE
Alabama: The Crimson Tide needed all Brandon Miller could give them in this one. Their defense, typically one of the SEC’s best, allowed the last-place Gamecocks to shoot 48% from the field in the close call.
South Carolina: The Gamecocks haven’t often shown the ability to hang with average teams in the SEC, let alone the league leader in Alabama. Jackson, Johnson and Wright make a strong core when all play like they did against the Tide.
NBA FUTURE
When Alabama’s Miller guarded South Carolina’s Jackson, it was likely a matchup people will see down the road in the NBA. Like Miller, Jackson is considered a first-round selection in the next draft, should he go.
UP NEXT
Alabama returns home to play Arkansas on Saturday.
South Carolina heads to No. 11 Tennessee on Saturday night.
ROBERTS SCORES 26, NO. 1 HOUSTON BEATS TULANE 89-59
HOUSTON (AP) J’Wan Roberts had a career-high 26 points and seven rebounds, Marcus Sasser scored 22 points and No. 1 Houston clinched at least a share of the American Athletic Conference regular season championship with an 89-59 win over Tulane on Wednesday night.
Houston (26-2, 14-1) has won eight straight games.
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said the consistency in winning the title four out of five seasons is what he’s most proud of.
“It’s hard for me to talk about that,” Sampson said. “I don’t know where to start, what to say. I just think staying humble. I do the best I can to coach these kids, put them in the best position to win and for them to be successful. I’ve got a great staff. We all work in conjunction with each other. We’ve been winning around here for a long time.”
Roberts has scored at least 20 points in consecutive games, and Sasser, who also had five rebounds and six assists, has scored at least 20 points in four straight and nine overall this season.
“I still feel like we haven’t reached our ceiling,” Sasser said. “That’s always a positive heading into March. We want to be playing our best basketball in March.”
Tramon Mark added 13 points, and Jamal Shead had 10 points and six assists. Houston outrebounded Tulane 46-27, with Jarace Walker leading the way with a career-high 13 rebounds.
“Our effort is getting better,” Shead said. “A lot of people are playing a lot harder for a longer amount of time. That’s just one thing that we’ve been harping on: playing harder and playing a full 40 minutes.”
The Cougars shot 47%, including 10 of 32 on 3-pointers.
Jalen Cook scored 23 points for his seventh straight game with at least 20 points for Tulane (17-8, 10-4), which saw its five-game winning streak snapped. Jaylen Forbes added 14 points.
“We just ran into a buzzsaw,” Tulane coach Ron Hunter said. “They played well. They wanted to win the league. They want that No. 1 seed in the tournament. That’s how they played. We’ve been playing good basketball, but it’s more what they did. (Sampson) has this team playing really well right now.”
The Green Wave shot 38%, including 7 of 22 on 3-pointers.
“Nothing we did today was good,” Hunter said. “They played like the best team in the country today, so they won.”
Houston used a 22-5 run over an eight-minute stretch of the first half to open up a 35-17 lead ending with a 3-pointer by Sasser with five minutes remaining in the half.
BIG PICTURE
Tulane: The Green Wave’s last win over a ranked opponent came on Dec. 22, 1999, when Tulane defeated No. 25 North Carolina State 73-62. . Tulane dropped to 1-3 in Quad 1 games. . The Green Wave started 3 for 3 from the field then finished the first half 5 of 25.
Houston: The Cougars have won 11 straight over Tulane. … The Cougars had a season-high 16 steals. . Houston forced 19 turnovers, which they converted into 22 points. . The Cougars held a 42-20 advantage in points in the paint and dished out 22 assists on 31 field goals.
“Our team is getting better at certain things,” Sampson said of Houston’s defense. “We’re getting better at our point of attack defense, loading to the ball, our stunts, all the things that we emphasize and teach. We just continue to get better.”
UP NEXT
Tulane: Hosts Wichita State on Sunday.
Houston: Travels to East Carolina on Saturday night.
NO. 6 VIRGINIA GOES COLD, BOSTON COLLEGE WINS 63-48
BOSTON (AP) With Boston College clutching a double-digit lead over No. 6 Virginia late in the second half, the Conte Forum security staff huddled in a tunnel just off the court to prepare for the onslaught of fans that was all but inevitable.
The crowd knew. The Virginia players knew. Everyone in the building knew the Eagles were on the verge of the biggest win of coach Earl Grant’s tenure.
“I think they sensed, `Boy, I think we’re going to get these guys,'” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said after BC beat the cold-shooting Cavaliers 63-48 on Wednesday night to send the sellout crowd streaming onto the court in celebration.
“As this thing wore on, you could feel the crowd get into it,” said Bennett, whose team shot a season-low 32% from the field against the BC defense. “They put us on our heels. It was a lot for some of our guys. We’ve got to learn from that, because of what we’ve got coming up.”
Makai Ashton-Langford scored 16 points and Jaeden Zackery had all 12 of his points in the second half for BC (14-15, 8-10 Atlantic Coast Conference). It was the Eagles’ third win over a ranked team this season, but the first over one in the top 10 since beating top-ranked Duke in 2017.
“I think we’re moving in the right direction,” said Grant, who is in his second year since moving to Chestnut Hill from the College of Charleston. “I thought the night was a great test. We were excited about the challenge; we were excited going into it. We knew it would be hard, but we wanted to see what we were.”
Jayden Gardner scored 16 points for Virginia (21-5, 13-4), which fell into a second-place tie with Pittsburgh in the ACC, one-half game behind Miami. The Cavaliers, who had been as high as No. 2 in the AP Top 25, had won four in a row and 11 of their previous 12 games.
Armaan Franklin, the Cavaliers’ leading scorer, and fellow guard Reece Beekman combined to go 4 of 18 from the field and miss all six of their 3-point tries. Virginia finished 4 of 21 (19%) from beyond the arc.
The Cavaliers also shot 67% from the free-throw line, including back-to-back misses by Ryan Dunn that earned all 7,000 in attendance a free order of cheesy bacon fries.
That was all the encouragement the crowd needed.
And the players fed off it, too.
“The program is going up,” Zackery said. “Coming in against ranked teams, we feel like that motivates us more because, honestly, at that point, we don’t have anything to lose. They’re the ones that are ranked. We just come in, play our best.”
Virginia led early before BC took the lead for good midway through the first half, using an 11-2 run to open a 26-17 advantage. The Eagles made it a 13-point game early in the second.
Gardner hit back-to-back baskets midway through the second to make it 44-37, but Isaac McKneely missed a 3-pointer that could have made it a four-point game. Zackery responded by driving the lane, bouncing off a defender and rolling it in off the rim before giving a double-armed flex in celebration.
Then, after Kihei Clark missed a layup, Zackery hit a 3-pointer to give BC a 49-37 lead, earning a congratulatory shoulder-squeeze from big man Quinten Post. Bennett called timeout, but the Cavaliers never again got within single digits.
BIG PICTURE
Virginia had beaten Boston College four times in a row and needed only to keep moving up to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The setback against a sub-.500 team will be damaging.
Boston College had already beaten Virginia Tech and Clemson this season when they were ranked. The Eagles haven’t beaten three ranked teams in a season since 2008-09.
UP NEXT
Virginia: At North Carolina on Saturday.
Boston College: At Wake Forest on Tuesday.
NO. 18 UCONN USES BIG SECOND HALF TO DOWN NO. 20 PROVIDENCE
STORRS, Conn. (AP) With a rowdy crowd behind them on $2 beer night, No. 18 UConn used a big second half to beat No. 20 Providence on Wednesday night.
Jordan Hawkins scored 20 points to lead Connecticut to the 87-69 win and a split of the regular-season series between the New England rivals.
Adama Sanogo and Alex Karaban each added 16 points for the Huskies (21-7, 10-7 Big East), who won for the fifth time in their last six games.
Tristen Newton had 12 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
It was the third time this month the Huskies have avenged a road loss in the Big East with a home win, something Hawkins referred to as his team’s “revenge tour.”
“Things can start to unravel kind of quickly if you’re going into these top-5 teams on the road,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “It’s hard to win a game. And it would have been hard for anyone to come in with this type of crowd today.”
Bryce Hopkins scored 16 points and Jared Bynum had 14 for the Friars (20-8, 12-5), who fell two games behind Marquette in the race for the Big East’s regular-season title.
UConn led by just five at halftime, but outscored Providence 50-37 in the second half.
“The fans were unbelievable,” Karaban said. “They really lifted us up when Providence came storming back in the second half. So, they really gave us momentum to go on that run. Two-dollar beer night was a good one I guess.”
UConn scored the final five points of the first half and Hawkins had the first five points of the second to turn a tie game into a 10-point lead at 42-32.
Providence responded a short time later with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to two points.
But the Huskies held the Friars without a basket for more than five minutes and built the lead to 17 with a 14-0 run and extended that to as many as 22 points.
The Huskies dominated the paint, outscoring the Friars 42-24 down low and outrebounding Providence 40-20.
“It was men against boys in the second half,” Providence coach Ed Cooley said. “I thought their physicality and the environment here was big time.”
This was the first time in the 77-game history of the rivalry that both teams were ranked when they faced each other.
UConn is now 46-31 all-time against Friars, but had lost three of the previous four meetings, including a 73-61 setback in Rhode Island on Jan. 4.
BIG PICTURE
Providence: The Friars, trying to repeat as regular-season conference champions, dropped into a tie with Xavier and Creighton for second place in the conference standings.
UConn: The Huskies extended their lead to a game over Seton Hall for fifth place in the league. The top five teams in the conference standings will earn a bye in the first round of the conference tournament.
KARABAN’S CHIP
Karaban heard a lot of criticism about his defense after Hopkins scored 27 points in the Friars 12-point win in January. He held the Providence star to 4 of 10 shooting in this one.
“The first game, I felt like he embarrassed me,” Karaban said. “I took full responsibility for that loss, because I wasn’t able to contain him as well as I should have.”
FINDING THE WHISTLE
The referees called just five fouls in the first half and neither team shot a free throw before intermission. There were 13 fouls called on Providence in the second half and eight on the Huskies. UConn made 13 of 14 shots from the foul line and Providence was 17 of 20. Providence was 29 of 35 from the line in the teams’ first meeting.
UP NEXT
Providence: The Friars visit Georgetown on Sunday.
UConn: The Huskies head to Madison Square Garden on Saturday for a noon matchup with St. John’s.
KENTUCKY WINS THIRD STRAIGHT, 82-74 OVER FLORIDA
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) Oscar Tshiebwe scored 25 points, Jacob Toppin had 19 points and 11 rebounds and Kentucky beat Florida 82-74 on Wednesday night for its third straight victory.
Toppin closed a 15-4 run with a 3-pointer and fast-break dunk to give Kentucky a 74-63 lead with 3:43 left. But Florida scored the next nine points, including six free throws – the last by Kyle Lofton with 1:12 left.
Chris Livingston ended Kentucky’s nearly three-minute scoring drought on a three-point play with 49.1 seconds left. Florida missed a shot in the lane and Toppin sealed it with two free throws.
Antonio Reeves added 16 points and Livingston had 10 points and 15 rebounds for Kentucky (19-9, 10-5 SEC). Tshiebwe, who was 12 of 13 from the field, banked in a jumper in the first half to reach 1,000 career points – the 61st in program history to do so.
Tshiebwe scored nine of Kentucky’s opening 17 points and Toppin sank a wide open 3-pointer in transition to extend the Wildcats’ lead to 20-9. Florida took its first lead of the first half, 37-36, on Riley Kugel’s long 3-pointer with 17 seconds left before the break. The Gators closed the half on a 22-6 run over the final eight minutes after trailing by as many as 15 points.
Kugel made four 3-pointers and scored 24 points for Florida (14-14, 7-8), which has lost five of its last six games. Kowacie Reeves added 16 points. Florida star Colin Castleton was out due to a broken right hand.
FAN INTERFERENCE
The game was delayed with 13:47 left in the second half for an official review after Kentucky guard Cason Wallace was grabbed by fans sitting courtside after chasing down a loose ball on the sideline. The fans were removed from their courtside seats before play resumed tied at 50-all.
UP NEXT
Kentucky returns home to play Saturday against Auburn.
Florida hits the road to play Vanderbilt on Saturday.
REESE, MARYLAND EXTEND MINNESOTA’S SKID TO 11 GAMES, 88-70
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) Julian Reese had 21 points and 12 rebounds – his second consecutive double-double – and Hakim Hart scored 20 points Wednesday night to help Maryland cruise to a 88-70 win over Minnesota and extend the Golden Gophers’ losing streak to 11.
Hart also had six assists and four steals. Donta Scott added 18 points, Jahmir Young 11 and Donald Carey scored 10 for Maryland (19-9, 10-7 Big Ten).
The Terrapins shot 73.1% before intermission, its best shooting first half since 2017, and shot 68.1% (32 of 47) overall – the sixth-best single-game shooting percentage in program history.
Donta Scott scored seven straight Maryland points, the last of which came on a 3-pointer that gave the Terrapins the lead for good and sparked 15-0 run that made it 35-20 with about six minutes left in the first half. Hakim Hart followed with a layup a 3-pointer before lobbing an inbounds pass to Scott for an alley-oop layup plus the and-1 free throw. Julian Reese made a jumper and Jahmir Young added a layup to cap the spurt.
Pharrel Payne led Minnesota (7-19, 1-15) with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Dawson Garcia added 15 points and eight rebounds and Jaden Henley scored 14 points.
Maryland, which also beat the Golden Gophers 81-46 in Minneapolis on Feb. 4., won its school-record 12th consecutive home Big Ten Conference game. The Terrapins are 15-1 at home this season, 9-0 in home conference games.
UP NEXT
Minnesota wraps up a three-game road trip Saturday at Nebraska
Maryland plays No. 21 Northwestern at home Sunday
CLEMSON REACHES NEW HEIGHTS WITH 91-73 WIN OVER SYRACUSE
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) Hunter Tyson scored 29 points, all five starters scored in double figures, and Clemson set a program single-season record for most ACC wins, rolling past Syracuse 91-73 on Wednesday night.
The Tigers improved to 12-5 in the ACC (20-8 overall). Their previous best conference marks were 11-4 in the Southern Conference in 1951-52 and 11-7 in the ACC in 2017-18.
Tyson added 10 rebounds for his 13th double-double this season. Chase Hunter also had a double-double with 13 points and 11 assists. PJ Hall scored 16, Brevin Galloway 15 and Ian Schieffelin had 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
After a 3-pointer by Chris Bell got Syracuse within 55-44 with 16:19 remaining in the game, Clemson doubled its lead as Tyson scored five points and Hunter and Alex Hemenway hit 3-pointers. A few minutes later, the lead reached 23 when Hunter hit another 3-pointer and Schieffelin threw down a dunk.
Three-pointers by Judah Mintz and Justin Taylor at the end of a 12-1 run got the Orange within 80-66 with 3:14 remaining. Tyson answered with his career-high tying sixth 3-pointer and the Tigers led by at least 15 for the remainder of the game.
Mintz led Syracuse (16-12, 9-8) with 23 points. Jesse Edwards added 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Joe Girard scored 11 points.
Tyson scored 19 points in the first half, making 5-of-8 3-pointers and shooting 7-for-10 overall. He scored the first 11 points in a 17-7 run that gave the Tigers a 31-16 lead with 8:15 remaining before halftime. Clemson went on to lead 45-32 at the break.
Clemson remains in fourth place in the chase for a double-bye in the ACC Tournament. There are three games left in the regular season. The Tigers play at N.C. State on Saturday.
Syracuse plays at Pittsburgh on Saturday.
ESSEGIAN, WAHL HELP SEND WISCONSIN PAST IOWA 64-52
MADISON, Wisc. (AP) Connor Essegian scored 17 points and Tyler Wahl had a double-double and Wisconsin beat Iowa 64-52 on Wednesday night.
Though Wisconsin (16-11, 8-9) is still a game behind Iowa (17-11, 9-8) in the Big Ten standings, the Badgers would win the tiebreaker in the event of an even conference finish due to the season sweep.
Wahl scored 11 points and grabbed 14 rebounds and Chucky Hepburn scored 12. Essegian’s 2-for-7 effort from 3-point range pulled him into a tie with Brad Davison for the freshman school record for made 3s (60) in a season.
Essegian’s second 3 with 10:26 left gave Wisconsin the lead for good at 43-41 and it steadily pulled away from there. Despite Wisconsin’s 4-for-18 shooting performance from 3-point range and 10-for-18 foul shooting, the Badgers were 25-of-48 (52.1%) shooting overall.
Tony Perkins and Filip Rebraca each scored 13 points for Iowa and reserve Payton Sandfort scored 10. Iowa was 20-for-62 shooting (32.3%) and 3 of 28 (10.7%) behind the arc. It was the second consecutive game in which the Hawkeyes missed 15 of their first 17 3s. They finished 3 of 24 from distance in Sunday’s 80-60 loss to Northwestern. Entering Wednesday among the Power 5 schools, Iowa owned the largest disparity between points scored at home (89.2) and on the road (69.7).
Iowa hosts Michigan State on Saturday. Wisconsin plays at Michigan on Sunday.
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
ASI, OKLAHOMA STATE WOMEN TOP NO. 20 IOWA STATE 73-68
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Anna Gret Asi capped Oklahoma State’s best 3-point shooting night of the season with a clutch, tightly contested shot in the final minute and the Cowgirls topped No. 20 Iowa State 73-68 on Wednesday night in a showdown for third place in the Big 12 Conference.
Asi made the score 71-66 as the shot clock expired with 49 seconds to play, making Oklahoma State 8 of 12 behind the line.
The Cyclones had a chance to tie the game but air-balled a 3-pointer with 4.1 seconds to play and then had to foul three times before sending the Cowgirls to the line. Lexy Keys wrapped it up with .4 to go.
Terryn Milton scored 15 points to lead Oklahoma State (20-7, 10-5), which has won six straight. Taylen Collins added 14 points and Asi had 10. The Cowgirls hit at least half of their 3s for the fourth time this season and it’s the first time they finished above 60%.
Ashley Joens scored 20 points for the Cyclones (17-8, 9-6) to move into 18th place on the NCAA scoring list with 2,880 points. Morgan Kane added 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting. The Cyclones also had eight 3-pointers but on 21 attempts.
Lexi Donarski pulled ISU with 68-66 with a layup at the 2:12 mark and had a chance to tie after an OSU turnover but missed a shot. Asi missed a layup for the Cowgirls but the ball went out of bounds off ISU with 1:09 to play. Oklahoma State ran the clock down before Asi’s clutch shot.
Joens converted an offensive rebound into two free throws at 41 seconds to make it 71-68 but after an OSU miss the Cyclones missed the tying attempt.
Naomie Alnatas hit a 3-pointer in the final minute of the first quarter to give the Cowgirls a 22-19 lead and then the Cyclones went 5 of 18 in the second quarter to fall behind 42-33 at the half.
The Cyclones put together an 11-0 run early in the third quarter, taking a 46-44 lead on a Joens layup. The game stayed tight with the Cowgirls making four free throws in the final minute for a 57-53 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Iowa State is home against TCU on Saturday and Oklahoma is at Kansas on Sunday.
NEBRASKA WOMEN BEAT NO. 25 ILLINOIS 90-57
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) Jaz Shelley scored 26 points, Isabelle Bourne had a double-double and Nebraska raced to a 90-57 win over No. 25 Illinois on Wednesday night.
The Cornhuskers shot 59% (36 of 61), had a 44-24 rebounding advantage and outscored the Illini 46-18 inside to avenge a 72-64 loss in the first meeting that started a four-game losing streak they just snapped.
Bourne had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Cornhuskers (15-13, 7-10 Big Ten Conference). Sam Haiby added 12 points and Alex Markowski and Maddie Krull had 11 each.
Makira Cook scored 16 points for the Illini (20-8, 10-7) and Genesis Bryant and Adalia McKenzie added 10 each.
Markowski made a layup with 33 seconds to go and Haiby hit a buzzer-beating floater to give Nebraska a 26-23 lead after one quarter. Bourne made three straight layups to start an 8-0 run in the middle of the second quarter to put the Cornhuskers on top and Haiby hit another buzzer shot for a 45-35 lead at the break.
Nebraska shot 69% in the first quarter to 59% for the Illini but the Cornhuskers hardly cooled off while Illinois finished the game at 23%.
Illinois closes the regular season at Rutgers on Sunday when Nebraska is home against Northwestern.
MLB NEWS
METS’ BELTRÁN WON’T DISCUSS ROLE IN ASTROS’ CHEATING SCANDAL
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) Carlos Beltran refused to discuss his role in the Houston Astros cheating scandal, preferring to concentrate on his new role with the New York Mets.
“Today’s not about the Astros,” Beltran said Wednesday. “Today is about the Mets.”
Beltran was hired by the Mets on Nov. 1, 2019, to replace Mickey Callaway as manager. But the team announced Beltran’s departure the following Jan. 16 without him managing a game.
Beltran’s departure was announced three days after he was the only Astros player mentioned by name in Major League Baseball’s report that concluded that Houston broke rules by using electronics to steal signs en route to the 2017 World Series title.
“I felt like that was a moment that needed to happen and I moved on,” Beltran said.
He joined the Mets last week as a special assistant to general manager Billy Eppler. Beltran said he didn’t expect to return.
“No chance,” Beltran said. “No clue. That’s how the world goes around. … When this opportunity came, it was a no-brainer to say yes.”
Beltran received 46.5% of votes in his first Hall of Fame ballot appearance this year, well short of the needed 75%. His role in the scandal likely impacted voters.
“I felt OK with it,” Beltran said. “I know that I went through a moment in my career that was tough. I also know I had some fans and now I don’t have those fans anymore. But at the end of the day, I have to live my life. I have to move on.”
Beltran said several clubs offered him opportunities to be an on-field coach this season. He sees his new role as a bridge between players and the front office, helping players understand the pressure of playing in New York.
“They test you, they push you, but most importantly they push you to be better,” Beltran said.
Beltran wants to be the mentor he didn’t have when he coming through Kansas City’s system.
“Because you didn’t have it, doesn’t mean you cannot give it,” Beltran said. “In my case I feel when you are in the minor league system you need love. You need people to care about you. That’s why I’m motivated. I’m motivated because I didn’t have that person, and I hope that I can be that person for those kids.”
Now 45, the nine-time All-Star played with the Mets from 2005-11 and is sixth on the team’s career list for homers (149) and RBIs (559). Beltran was the 1999 AL Rookie of the Year with Kansas City. He also played for San Francisco, St. Louis and the Yankees, finishing with a .279 average, 435 homers and 312 bases.
Beltran spent last season as a game analyst for the Yankees’ YES Network.
“That opportunity created this opportunity, because when you are in the game and you stay relevant, people get to see your face and get to see you around,” he said. “It’s hard for me to disappear for five years and say, `OK, I want to get back in the game.’ No chance. I would be a dinosaur. You have to speak the same language baseball is speaking today.”
Beltran wouldn’t rule out becoming a manager.
“You can never say no when you love the game, and you love being around guys and being able to impact players and make careers better,” he said. “At this point I’m OK where I am, but later on I don’t know.”
MLB CURTAILS INFIELD SHIFT, HOPES FOR MORE SINGLES, SPEED
PHOENIX (AP) — Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell needed to add some pop to his lineup a couple years ago, so he put a few more big bodies in his four-man infield, sacrificing defensive range for offensive thump.
“They combined for a weight of over 1,000 pounds,” Counsell said, laughing.
“I don’t think you’ll ever see that again.”
There’s little doubt that hiding a couple bulky sluggers in the infield is going to be more challenging this season. One of Major League Baseball’s most visible rule changes for 2023 is a limitation on infield shifts, which had grown exponentially and are partly to blame for a league-wide batting average drop.
The hope is twofold: One, a few more hits for lefty mashers like Kyle Schwarber or Corey Seager, who were among those hindered by the shift. And two, stress on athleticism and range for those playing defense in the infield.
“I’m sure some guys will like it and some won’t,” said former Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia, a four-time Gold Glove winner. “You’ve got to have range now as an infielder. Got to be able to catch the ball. You’ve got to be quick.
“It’ll be an adjustment for some guys. It’ll make other guys better.”
Hitters in the big leagues had a .243 batting average last season, the lowest since 1968.
The new rule states that all four infielders must have both feet within the outer boundary of the infield and two infielders must be on each side of second base when a pitch is delivered. MLB also mandated infield dirt have uniform dimensions in all 30 ballparks — the outfield edge must be 95 feet from the front of the pitching rubber.
A few hitters — notably New York Mets star Jeff McNeil — adapted to exploit the gaping holes in the infield shifts with hard-hit balls the other way. Most stuck to their modern, pull-heavy approaches, in part because pitchers strategized to make going to the opposite field difficult — even big league hitters struggle to slap an up-and-in 98 mph fastball the other way.
Arizona’s Josh Rojas, a left-hander hitter, said he wasn’t particularly worried about the changes. He views them as just the latest salvo in ongoing pitcher-vs.-hitter battle that’s ebbed and flowed for more than a century.
“The holes will be in different spots,” Rojas said. “My goal as a hitter is to find the holes and use those to my advantage. There are always holes — you can’t cover every single one on the field.”
Enterprising teams spent the offseason peppering the commissioner’s office with questions about ways to potentially circumvent the guidelines.
Morgan Sword, an MLB executive vice president, said teams primarily had three questions:
— Can an infielder be put in motion during the pitch, running toward the other side of the diamond, so that there are three infielders on one side of second base once the ball is put in play? (The answer is no.)
— Can an infielder be put in motion during the pitch, running toward the outfield grass, so that he’s in the outfield by the time the ball is put in play? (No)
— Can teams move outfielders around, such as the left fielder moving into short right field for a lefty pull hitter, leaving left field unmanned? (Yes)
Umpires have broad discretion to enforce the guidelines.
“They’ll know if a team is trying to break the spirit of the rule,” Sword said.
MLB’s hope is shift limits will add a hit or two each night. Not only will the shift affect batting, but it makes speed and agility more important for infielders, who must cover more ground on defense.
“Those are the demands. You have to pick up the baseball and also hit it,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “We’re not just going to put someone in one spot, stand on the ‘X’, we don’t believe in that. We do have very athletic position players.”
The shift limit has been tested in the minor leagues, and Lovullo said that after speaking with the organization’s Double-A manager, Shawn Roof, he expects offense to jump.
“He said it makes a difference,” Lovullo said. “There are more balls getting through.”
The change could affect some pitchers, too. D-backs right-hander Merrill Kelly said he’s been told advanced metrics say he’s been one of the beneficiaries of the shift.
But the veteran, slated to pitch for the U.S. in the World Baseball Classic, is fine with the new rules.
“I’m a fan of taking away from the shift, even though statistics say that I could benefit from it,” Kelly said. “I think hits should be hits and outs should be outs.”
NFL NEWS
X-NFL PLAYER RECOVERS AFTER SAVING HIS KIDS FROM DROWNING
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) A former NFL running back said he’s on the road to recovery after he nearly died while saving his two children from drowning in the Gulf of Mexico in the Florida Panhandle.
Peyton Hillis issued a statement on Twitter, thanking those who helped him following the Jan. 4 incident on Pensacola Beach. He was initially on a ventilator, but was released from the hospital in mid-January.
“I just wanted to come on here and thank everyone for all the prayers and love y’all have given me,” Hillis wrote. “It’s really made all the difference.”
Hillis, 37, said he hasn’t done any interviews because it was a “very traumatic time” and he wanted to keep his family out of the public eye.
“But I did want to come on here and show my appreciation for everyone who helped save my life and for all of your prayers and love and support. I left the hospital with no worries and concerns and should make a 100% recovery. I’m a very lucky and blessed man,” Hillis wrote.
Hillis was drafted by the Denver Broncos in 2008 and also played with the Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Giants. He retired in 2015.
EAGLES RESERVE LINEMAN WAIVES ARRAIGNMENT IN RAPE CASE
CAMBRIDGE, Ohio (AP) — A reserve offensive lineman for the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles will make his initial court appearance in Ohio on rape and kidnapping charges next month after waiving his arraignment in the case.
Josh Sills, an undrafted free agent who appeared in just one game this season, was scheduled to appear in Guernsey County Common Pleas Court on Feb. 16. He instead chose to waive his appearance, and a not guilty plea was entered on his behalf. Sills remains free on a $25,000 cash bond he posted and he’s is due to appear at a pretrial hearing March 9.
The rookie, who played at West Virginia and Oklahoma State, was indicted Jan. 31 by a Guernsey County grand jury. His attorney, Michael Connick, has said the allegations are false and that Sills will be aggressively defended.
Sills was listed as a backup guard and played just four snaps on special teams against the Cardinals on Oct. 9 — the one game he played. He was on the inactive list for most of the year and was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list after he was indicted, meaning he couldn’t practice, play or travel with the Eagles as they prepared for their Super Bowl matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs.
The indictment accuses Sills, who is from Sarahsville, Ohio, of engaging in sexual activity that was not consensual and holding a woman against her will on Dec. 5, 2019. A statement issued by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said the incident was immediately reported, and that the county sheriff’s office conducted a detailed investigation.
NHL NEWS
ALEX OVECHKIN RETURNS TO CAPITALS FOLLOWING DEATH OF FATHER
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) Alex Ovechkin is back with the Washington Capitals, eager to play hockey again while he and his family are still mourning the death of his father, Mikhail.
Ovechkin missed four games over the past week to fly to Moscow. He went straight from the airport to the team’s practice facility Wednesday after landing to take part in practice with an eye on returning to game action as soon as Thursday.
“Obviously it was a hard week mentally, physically,” Ovechkin said after skating for roughly 45 minutes to get his conditioning back. “It was probably toughest situation I’ve been through my whole NHL career. But it’s life, and we move on.”
Ovechkin thanked the Capitals for their moment of silence dedicated to Mikhail prior to a game last week and for the support shown by members of the organization and fans. He said he got the chance to speak to his dad by video call before his death at age 71 last week and expects his mother and brother to visit him in the U.S. soon.
“We try to do the best we can in that kind of hard moment,” Ovechkin said.
In his hard moment, Ovechkin wanted badly to get back on the ice. After only skating once during his absence, the 37-year-old captain said this season felt like training camp.
But there also wasn’t time to waste. The Capitals went 0-4 during Ovechkin’s absence and have lost five in a row in regulation for the first time in nine years.
“I just want to come back right away, put my mind in a different position,” Ovechkin said. “We’re struggling right now, so I just want to try to do my best to bring energy, bring something to the team.”
Having been outscored 20-8 during the franchise’s longest skid since 2014 – the previous time the Capitals missed the playoffs – they’ll gladly take the lift that comes with Ovechkin returning.
“He’s our leading scorer,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “He helps in a lot of different areas: offensively, power play, leadership, size, physicality, presence, so there’s a lot of things that Alex brings to the table. I’m glad he was able to get home and be with his family, and we’re certainly glad to have him back.”
Tears welled in Ovechkin’s eyes when talking about his dad getting him into the sport, being along for his journey to second on the NHL goal-scoring list and getting to share a day with the Stanley Cup together in the summer of 2018 after he and Washington won it after several years of disappointment.
“He give me everything: all his health, all his time,” Ovechkin said. “He traveled with me all over the world and (was) at every practice when he had a chance.”
Mikhail Ovechkin was a familiar face at practices for years until his health kept him back in Russia. Longtime teammate Nicklas Backstrom and other Capitals players remembered Ovechkin’s dad for his smile and support around the rink, even though his English was limited.
“He had a great sense of humor,” Ovechkin said. “Even when he don’t understand people, he always tried to ask something. But, yeah, the people who know him, they’re going to miss his smile. They’re going to miss his energy.”
HOLMSTROM, SOROKIN LEAD ISLANDERS TO 2-1 WIN VS. JETS
NEW YORK (AP) Simon Holmstrom scored the go-ahead goal in the third period and Ilya Sorokin made 24 saves to lead the New York Islanders to a 2-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday night.
Sebastian Aho also scored for New York, which won for the third time in four games and extended its winning streak against Winnipeg to six games, dating to March 28, 2019.
“Everyone is recognizing that we are short a lot of bodies and everyone is committed to doing what you have to do to win the game,” veteran forward Zach Parise said.
Connor Hellebuyck made 20 saves and Nikolaj Ehlers scored the lone goal for Winnipeg, which completed its four-game road trip (1-3) with a loss.
With the game tied at 1, Hellebuyck struggled to pick up the loose puck after Matt Martin’s shot from in close created a rebound. Holmstrom was able to fire a shot to the glove side to give New York the lead at 9:57 of the third period.
“The more he can get into those areas, the more dangerous he becomes,” Islanders coach Lane Lambert said of Holmstrom. “I thought he did a good job of getting to that spot and they did a good job of finding him.”
Bo Horvat made two nifty passes on the sequence, setting up Martin for a chance from in close, and then Holmstrom. Martin also picked up an assist on the play to extend his individual point streak to three games.
Kyle Palmieri drew a slashing penalty with 2:31 remaining to prevent the Jets from tying the game in the closing minutes.
Ehlers evened the score at 1 with a power-play goal at 4:30 of the second period. The Danish forward wired a wrist shot over the glove of Sorokin from the faceoff circle as he collected his fifth goal of the season in his 22nd game. Josh Morrissey and Kyle Connor assisted.
Winnipeg outshot New York outshot 11-4 in the middle frame, but was unable to take the lead.
“Coming down the stretch, you know the games are going to be tight, the margin for error is so slim,” Jets forward Adam Lowry said. “It is tough to create offense out there, two great goalies and two teams that are pretty committed to defense.”
Aho scored his fifth of the season at 17:35 of the first period to open the scoring. Brock Nelson fired a shot that created a juicy rebound that Aho buried during 4-on-4 action. Winnipeg’s Mason Appleton committed a turnover in the offensive zone, which led to the scoring opportunity for New York.
Ross Johnston and Pierre-Luc Dubois each received two-minute matching roughing penalties, which led to wide-open play that the Islanders were able to capitalize on.
“Two of the top goalies in the league, you are not going to score at them at will unless you get extremely lucky,” Martin said. “You can expect a close game and Ilya really kept us in through the first two periods. In the third, we have been pretty good at locking it down and capitalizing on our opportunities.
“It really doesn’t matter to me how, it just matters that we get the points and keep moving forward.”
MILESTONES
Mark Scheifele skated in his 700th career game and became the fifth player in franchise history to reach that mark, joining Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little, Toby Enstrom and Chris Thorburn. … Ehlers skated in his 500th career game and became the third player in Jets team history (since the franchise relocated to Winnipeg in 2011-12) to reach that milestone.
UP NEXT
Islanders: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Friday night.
Jets: Host the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night.
KANE, DOMI LEAD BIG BLACKHAWKS RALLY IN 4-3 WIN OVER STARS
DALLAS (AP) Patrick Kane keeps scoring as the trade talk keeps swirling.
Kane and Max Domi scored two goals apiece, and the Chicago Blackhawks erased a three-goal deficit in a 4-3 victory over the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night.
Playing without the Western Conference lead for the first time in more than a month, the Central Division-leading Stars lost their fifth consecutive game – the past two against last-place teams – and have just two wins in 10 games.
The Central cellar-dwelling Blackhawks won their fourth in a row, rallying from a 3-0 deficit in the second period. The first two goals came when Kane and Domi assisted on each other’s tallies.
Both finished with three points, and Seth Jones had two assists against his hometown team.
The Stars are among the teams presumably interested in trading for Kane before next week’s deadline. It isn’t affecting the 34-year-old who has spent all 16 of his NHL seasons with the Blackhawks. Kane has three multi-goal games in the past four for seven total.
“I think the guys in here have been really good about not necessarily talking about the subject,” said Kane, who has 16 goals. “There’s a lot of guys in here that are probably going through the same thing. We’re all kind of in the same boat.”
Tyler Seguin and captain Jamie Benn scored 79 seconds apart in the first period for the Stars before Jason Robertson ended an 0-for-21 skid on the Dallas power play with his team-leading 35th goal just six seconds into the man advantage in the second.
The Stars had a rush in the final seconds after pulling goalie Jake Oettinger, and a shot from Seguin went in. But replay showed it was clearly after the clock ran out.
A night earlier, Kane had a breakaway in the closing seconds of overtime against Vegas, but the goal was ruled to have been after time expired. The Blackhawks won in a shootout.
“I still think that was a goal,” Domi said with a smile. “I watched it like 100 times. I’m like, `I still think it’s a goal.’ But we won, so who cares?”
Domi’s tiebreaking goal early in the third period was unassisted after he blocked a shot from Colin Miller near the blue line, chased down the ricochet and beat Oettinger on the breakaway.
Domi started the rally when the Blackhawks had 30 seconds of a power play after a 4-on-4. Kane was alone behind the net with the puck and slipped a pass to Domi for his 16th.
Five minutes later, Domi stole a puck near center ice, went in 2-on-1 and passed to Kane behind Oettinger for the easy goal.
Kane beat Oettinger on the stick side again for the tying goal on a pass from Philipp Kurashev with 1:55 remaining in the second.
“I think it’s definitely a punch in the gut,” Robertson said. “We gave up three 2-on-1 goals today and that can’t happen, especially when we’re in this little rut to begin with.”
Benn’s no-look goal for a 2-0 Dallas lead came with him staring down 19-year-old rookie teammate Wyatt Johnston on a 2-on-1 before sending a wrist shot past Jaxson Stauber inside the far post.
Seguin opened the scoring when he tracked down a loose puck in the offensive zone, faked his way past Domi and beat Stauber from between the circles. It was almost the same spot where moments earlier Stauber made a glove save on Seguin.
TRADING FOR TRADE PIECE?
The Blackhawks acquired defenseman Nikita Zaitsev and draft picks from Ottawa for future considerations. Chicago got a 2023 second-round pick and 2026 fourth in exchange for taking on the remainder of Zaitsev’s contract.
The 31-year-old Russian is signed through next season at a salary cap hit of $4.5 million. Chicago can send Zaitsev to another team before the March 3 trade deadline or any time over the next year.
UP NEXT
Blackhawks: The second game of a four-game trip is Saturday in San Jose.
Stars: At Vegas on Saturday, which will be just the second game in a span of a week.
FLAMES RALLY FOR 6-3 WIN, END COYOTES’ POINTS STREAK AT 9
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) Jakob Pelletier and Walker Duehr scored goals 25 seconds apart in the third period and the Calgary Flames rallied to beat the Arizona Coyotes 6-3 on Wednesday night.
Calgary’s Mikael Backlund scored with 3:19 left to cap the scoring. It was his 13th of the season and was the Flames’ third power-play tally of the night.
Milan Lucic, Elias Lindholm and Tyler Toffoli also scored for the Flames, who opened a three-game swing as they chase the top eight in the Western Conference playoff race. It was their first time playing at Mullett Arena. They outshot the Coyotes 52-14.
Lindholm, who also had an assist, reached 500 career points.
“Our season is on the line, and we played a solid game,” Lindholm said. “Stuck with it and got the results.”
Calgary went up 4-3 with 15:07 left on Pelletier’s goal after Arizona’s Matias Maccelli had been penalized for tripping. Just 26 seconds later, Duehr made it 5-3.
Pelletier’s winner was his second career goal – the 2019 first-round pick played in just his 12th NHL game. “It’s time for me to step up and score goals,” he said.
Duehr was recalled from the Calgary Wranglers of the American Hockey League on Tuesday and contributed a goal and an assist.
“We needed the young guys,” Flames coach Darryl Sutter said. “Walker’s pace and his speed makes a difference to our team.”
Nick Schmaltz, Clayton Keller and Maccelli scored goals for the Coyotes, who saw their nine-game points streak (5-0-4) come to an end. It had been the longest such streak running in the NHL and only six have been longer in the NHL this season.
“I think they were desperate, faster and they played a better game than us,” Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said.
Calgary dominated the shots on goal, with an 18-3 edge after the first period. But the only goal of the period was scored by Lucic, from in close on a nice feed from Duehr.
Karol Vejmelka managed to keep the Flames off the board the remainder of the period. In the first minute of the second period, the Flames’ Mikael Backlund went off for tripping, the first penalty assessed in the game. Then 29 seconds later, Schmaltz scored his 16th goal on a one-timer from Keller’s cross-ice pass. Juuso Valimaki also assisted on the goal at 1:11.
Keller was penalized for tripping at 7:09 of the second. But Vejmelka and the Coyotes killed the penalty, and Keller returned to the ice and scored his 24th of the season, unassisted, at 9:31.
Arizona made it 3-1 at 11:06 when Maccelli beat Dan Vlagar on the short side for his fourth goal, also unassisted. At that point the Coyotes were being outshot 30-8.
The lead didn’t last long. Arizona was assessed a bench penalty during a line change and 7 seconds into the Calgary power play, Lindholm put home a rebound off Toffoli’s shot at 12:58. Toffoli tied it 1:02 later with a high shot from the blue line that beat Vejmelka for his 24th goal of the season. Lindholm assisted on that goal.
CONGRATS
Calgary D Chris Tanev played in his 700th NHL game Wednesday. Tanev, who broke in with Vancouver in 2011, ranks fourth among undrafted players in career games. Toronto’s Mark Giordano (1,081) leads that list.
UP NEXT
Flames: At Vegas on Thursday night.
Coyotes: Host Nashville on Sunday.
TITANS RELEASE LEWAN, WOODS, BULLOCK TO CLEAR UP CAP SPACE
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — New Tennessee Titans general manager Ran Carthon started clearing up some much-needed salary cap space Wednesday.
The Titans announced they released three-time Pro Bowl left tackle Taylor Lewan for a failed physical and also released veteran wide receiver Robert Woods and kicker Randy Bullock.
Lewan, the 11th pick overall in the 2014 draft out of Michigan, tore his right ACL last September. He tore the same ACL in 2020 and has played only 20 games combined over the past three seasons. The nine-year veteran had been due $14.8 million in the final year of his contract.
He started 100 of 105 games played for Tennessee. His podcast “Bussin’ With the Boys” announced his release on social media, and Lewan, who turns 32 in July, retweeted the post with his own message to Titans’ fans.
“I hope I did enough to create something all the titan fans can be proud of, I love you all,” Lewan wrote.
The Titans started Wednesday approximately $23.5 million over the salary cap of $224.8 million for the 2023 season, a number they must reach by the start of free agency March 15. Only Jacksonville, New Orleans and Tampa Bay had worse cap situations, according to Spotrac.com.
These three moves leave the Titans $4.2 million over the cap, though they still have an effective cap deficit of about $152,123, according to Overthecap.com. Lewan and Woods had been set to carry the sixth and seventh-highest salary cap hits for the team in the 2023 season.
Lewan’s release has been expected since he tore his ACL last September and was placed on injured reserve.
Woods, acquired from the Rams by trade last offseason, led the Titans with 53 catches for 527 yards with two touchdowns. He started 15 of 17 games, but was due $13.7 million in base salary with a cap hit of $14.6 million. His release cost the Titans only $2.6 million in dead cap money.
The receiver, who turns 31 in April, wrote on social media “Free” after being released.
“Where should I go,” Woods wrote as a follow-up with a couple of emojis.
Bullock appeared in 31 games the past two seasons. He had been due $1.64 million in the final season of the two-year deal he signed last offseason, and releasing the 33-year-old kicker from his sixth NFL team saves the Titans $2.6 million against the cap with a $600,000 dead cap cost.
His release apparently frees up the kicker job for Caleb Shudak, the undrafted rookie free agent out of Iowa that the Titans kept around after he hurt his kicking leg in June. He appeared in one game for Tennessee, making three of his four field goals.
MEN’S TENNIS
DJOKOVIC HOPES TO PLAY IN US DESPITE BEING UNVACCINATED
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) Novak Djokovic has asked American authorities for special permission to enter the United States to play tennis tournaments in California and Florida despite being unvaccinated against the coronavirus, the top-ranked Serb said Wednesday.
The Transportation Security Administration has said the requirement for foreign air travelers to be fully vaccinated against the disease would be in place at least until mid-April. The tournament in Indian Wells will be played from March 6-19 and the Miami Open is scheduled from March 20-April 2.
“Everything is currently in the process,” Djokovic said at his training ground in Belgrade. “I have a big desire to be there.
“I am really thankful to the Indian Wells and Miami tournament (officials) and community for their support publicly and they would like me to be able to play in their tournaments.”
Djokovic is one of the most high-profile athletes who is unvaccinated against COVID-19.
Last year, the 35-year-old Djokovic was deported from Australia ahead of the Australian Open because of his vaccination status. Djokovic returned to the tournament in January after Australia lifted its strict vaccine mandate to win his 22nd Grand Slam title, tying the record with Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic said Wednesday that Nadal remains his biggest on-court rival despite the rise of 19-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who had been at the top of the rankings before a leg injury prevented him from playing at the Australian Open.
“(Alcaraz) is arguably the next biggest thing in our sport, or he’s already there.” Djokovic said. “I just feel that the rivalry with Nadal is something that is difficult to eliminate.
“Nadal has been the biggest rival and he probably will remain the biggest rival I ever had in my in my career.”
Djokovic reached another milestone in his tennis career this week by tying German great Steffi Gaff with 377 weeks at the top of the world rankings.
“Obviously, Steffi Graf is one of the biggest legends of our sport, both men and women tennis, and someone that I truly admire and respect,” Djokovic said. “So, of course, it’s very flattering that I am able to equal her record and obviously have a possibility to break it as well the next week.”
Djokovic said his next tournament will be next week’s Dubai Open.
MEN’S GOLF
LIV GOLF GETS ANOTHER SETBACK IN COURT FIGHT WITH PGA TOUR
(AP) — A federal judge has ruled the PGA Tour can add Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and its governor, Yasir al-Rumayyan, as defendants in its countersuit in the ongoing legal fight with LIV Golf.
The ruling Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman was the second setback in the last week for Saudi-funded LIV Golf, which has accused the PGA Tour of monopolistic actions as the rival league gets started.
LIV Golf’s second season kicks off Friday at a Mexican beach resort south of Cancun.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen last week ruled the Public Investment Fund, which owns 93% of LIV Golf, and al-Rumayyan are required to give testimony and produce documents related to the antitrust lawsuit.
Now their involvement deepens as defendants in the countersuit.
Lawyers for PIF and al-Rumayyan had sought to quash subpoenas claiming sovereign immunity. They are expected to appeal van Keulen’s decision that their involvement falls under the commercial activity exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act.
The dispute centers around LIV’s argument that PIF and al-Rumayyan were investors, while the PGA Tour says documents obtained during the discovery process indicate they were actively involved in attracting players to join the league and thus breach contracts with the PGA Tour.
In her ruling, Freeman said adding PIF and al-Rumayyan as defendants in the counterclaim would not delay the trial, tentatively set for January 2024. She wrote in her ruling that any delay “is not likely to outlast the delay caused by the subpoena dispute.”
Phil Mickelson was among 11 players who sued the PGA Tour on Aug. 3 in the Northern California court. LIV Golf joined the lawsuit, and now only three players – Matt Jones, Bryson DeChambeau and Peter Uihlein – remain as plaintiffs.
In a separate ruling, Freeman ruled the PGA Tour’s amended counterclaim must keep under seal details related to LIV’s contracts and business strategy. However, she denied LIV’s request to keep sealed matters that relate to the Saudi involvement in LIV operations.
MEN’S SOCCER
MLS SAYS SAN DIEGO, LAS VEGAS TOP CANDIDATES FOR 30TH TEAM
NEW YORK (AP) Major League Soccer hopes to pick a 30th team by the end of the year.
“San Diego and Las Vegas are the most likely,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said Wednesday during a kickoff event at the league’s new television studio built together with Apple TV.
“The 30th team will come at some point soon,” Garber said. “We’d like to get that announced by the end of the year.”
He mentioned Detroit; Phoenix; Sacramento, California; and Tampa, Florida, as other expansion possibilities.
St. Louis, the league’s 29th team, opens play Saturday at Austin.
Garber did not rule out expanding beyond 30 teams.
HCAC BASKETBALL
HCAC RECOGNIZES 2023 MEN’S BASKETBALL ALL CONFERENCE AND AWARDS
CARMEL, Ind. – The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) announced the 2023 Men’s Basketball All-Conference teams and the major award winners.
Tate Ivanyo (Valparaiso, Ind.) from Anderson University was named the 2023 HCAC Player of the Year, in a vote of league coaches. The sophomore led the league in scoring, average 18.4 points per game, amassing 332 points over the course of the conference schedule. He was second in three-point field goal percentage (46.4 percent) with 58 league-leading 58 three’s, and third in overall field goal percentage (51.6 percent). Ivanyo also picked up 27 steals, a top-10 figure, and racked up 38 assists, for a 2.1 average, top-25 in the conference category.
On the defensive end, Jaden Terry (Indianapolis, Ind.) of Earlham College was noticed for his efforts, earning the title of 2023 HCAC Defensive Player of the Year. The senior wreaked havoc on foe’s offenses, with a 2.2 steals per game average, the second best mark in the standings. He was also seventh in assist to turnover ratio, with a 0.9 average and doled out 3.4 assists per game, the sixth best mark in conference play. Terry also got things done on the offensive end, the second leading scorer in the HCAC, with an 18.2 points per game average, with 327 points over the course of the conference schedule. He also averaged the ninth best rebounding mark in the league, with 6.3 boards per game.
Mount St. Joseph University’s Luke Collinsworth (Lawrenceburg, Ind.) was named the 2023 HCAC Newcomer of the Year. The first year averaged 15.1 points per game, the ninth best mark in the league, with 242 points. The forward was fourth in the league in field goal percentage, with a 47.5 shooting average. He also picked up 5.3 rebounds per contest, with 84 boards and was 15th in the conference in blocked shots with a 0.5 average.
Player of the Year – Tate Ivanyo, Anderson
Defensive Player of the Year – Jaden Terry, Earlham
Newcomer of the Year – Luke Collinsworth, Mount St. Joseph
Coach of the Year – Nate Conley, Manchester
The HCAC also honors an All-Conference First Team, Second Team, and Honorable Mention Team. The members of those teams are selected by a vote of league coaches.
For more information on HCAC Men’s Basketball, visit the websites of any of the participating schools, or go to the HCAC’s home on the internet at www.heartlandconf.org. Be sure to stay up to date on all of your Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference news by following @HCACDIII on Twitter and by liking the “HCAC DIII” Facebook page.
2023 HCAC All-Conference First Team
| Jaylan Green | JR | G | Transylvania University |
| Max Greenamoyer | JR | G | Hanover College |
| Ty Houston | SR | G | Hanover College |
| Tate Ivanyo | SO | W | Anderson University |
| Miles McGowen | SO | F | Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology |
| Logan Willoughby | SO | G/F | Manchester University |
2023 HCAC All-Conference Second Team
| Luke Collinsworth | SO | F | Mount St. Joseph University |
| Marell Jordan | SR | G | Defiance College |
| Zach Sawyer | JR | G | Manchester University |
| Bryant Smith | SO | G | Manchester University |
| Camden Smith | JR | G | Anderson University |
| Jaden Terry | SR | G | Earlham College |
2023 HCAC All-Conference Honorable Mention
| Ryan Bostic | SO | G | Franklin College |
| Max Chaplin | SR | G | Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology |
| Carter Crowe | SR | F | Franklin College |
| Quentez Columbus | SO | G | Manchester University |
| Bryson Huckeby | FY | W | Anderson University |
| Lynn King | SO | G/F | Franklin College |
| Tommy Makabu | SR | G | Earlham College |
| Colby Napier | SO | G | Transylvania University |
HCAC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
HCAC HONORS 2023 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL ALL-CONFERENCE AND AWARDS
CARMEL, Ind. – The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) announced the members of the 2023 All Conference teams as well as the other marquee awards following the regular season.
Headlining the awards are the 2023 HCAC Co-Players of the Year, Lexi Dellinger (Berne, Ind.) from Anderson University and Madison Kellione (Cynthiana, Ky.) from Transylvania University.
This is the second straight Player of the Year recognition for Dellinger, who led the league in scoring for the second straight season as well, averaging 21.8 points per game with 349 points over the course of the regular season. She also ranked third in the league in rebounds per game with an 8.4 average, was third in field goal percentage (46.5 percent) and had a conference leading 47.4 percent three-point percentage and three-pointers per game with 2.8. She added 2.6 assists per contest and 1.5 steals a game.
The Pioneers have put together another record breaking year, coasting through the regular season with an unblemished 25-0 overall record, and are ranked No. 2 in the country. Kellione has been a key ingredient in fueling Transylvania’s success. The senior only averaged 27.5 minutes a game, but still managed to put up stellar numbers. Kellione posted 14.7 points per game, picked up 250 points in conference play, and leads the league in assists (4.6 apg) and assist to turnover ratio (2.3).
Fellow Pioneer Kennedi Stacy (Salyersville, Ky.) also earned recognition, being named the 2023 HCAC Defensive Player of the Year. The senior wreaked havoc on foes offenses, leading the league in steals with 40, averaging 2.4 per game. She also ranked in the top-25 in rebounding with 4.5 boards a game, and 77 overall. She also got it done on the other end of the court, ranked third in the league in scoring (15.1 ppg), sixth in field goal percentage (43.7 percent), and fifth in assists (2.9 apg).
The HCAC also recognizes a Newcomer of the Year, a student athlete in their first year of athletic competition. Jordan Coon (Evansville, Ind.) from Franklin College was voted as the Newcomer of the Year. The first year averaged 11.3 points a game, amassing 181 points on the season.
The HCAC also honors an All-Conference First Team, Second Team, and Honorable Mention Team. The women’s coaches also recognize a Newcomer Team. The members of those teams are selected by a vote of league coaches and can be found below.
For more information on HCAC Women’s Basketball, visit the websites of any of the participating schools, or go to the HCAC’s home on the internet at www.heartlandconf.org. Be sure to stay up to date on all of your Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference news by following @HCACDIII on Twitter and by liking the “HCAC DIII” Facebook page.
Co-Player of the Year – Lexi Dellinger, Anderson University
Co-Player of the Year – Madison Kellione, Transylvania University
Defensive Player of the Year – Kennedi Stacy, Transylvania University
Newcomer of the Year – Jordan Coon, Franklin College
Coach of the Year – Juli Fulks, Transylvania University
2023 HCAC All-Conference First Team
| Lexi Dellinger | SR | G | Anderson University |
| Grace Bezold | SO | G | Hanover College |
| Madison Kellione | SR | G | Transylvania University |
| Morgan Smith | SR | F | Bluffton University |
| Kennedi Stacy | SR | G | Transylvania University |
| Dasia Thornton | SR | F | Transylvania University |
2023 HCAC All-Conference Second Team
| Laken Ball | SR | F | Transylvania University |
| Katherine Benter | SO | G/F | Hanover College |
| Madison Drummonds | JR | F | Mount St. Joseph University |
| Taylor Heath | JR | G | Hanover College |
| Hailee Kline | FY | G | Manchester University |
| Karlee Mills | FY | G | Mount St. Joseph University |
2023 HCAC All-Conference Honorable Mention
| CiCi Bailey | JR | F | Franklin College |
| Jordan Coon | FY | G | Franklin College |
| Taylor Day | GR | G | Defiance College |
| Chloe Jansen | SR | G | Mount St. Joseph University |
| Morgan Jenkins | FY | G | Mount St. Joseph University |
| Anyiah Murphy | SO | G | Mount St. Joseph University |
| Kayla Prigge | SO | G | Bluffton University |
| Jade Shipley | SR | G | Anderson University |
2023 HCAC Newcomer Team
| Jordan Coon | FY | G | Franklin College |
| Kalista Friday | FY | G | Defiance College |
| Morgan Jenkins | FY | G | Mount St. Joseph University |
| Hailee Kline | FY | G | Manchester University |
| Jessie Ringen | FY | G/F | Manchester University |
| Lauren Smith | FY | G | Anderson University |
TOP INDIANA NEWS RELEASES
INDY FUEL
FUEL COMPLETE COMEBACK OVER IOWA
CORALVILLE – The Fuel headed to Iowa for their final Wednesday game of the regular season in hopes to defeat the Heartlanders and break their losing streak. Despite going down 3-1, the Fuel came back to beat Iowa 4-3 in regulation.
1ST PERIOD
Iowa opened the scoring with a goal just 58 seconds into the game from Nolan Orzeck. Less than a minute after that, Yuki Miura was called for hooking but the Fuel were able to kill off the penalty.
Andrew Bellant tied the game at one each at 7:46 of the first period before defenseman Cam Bakker sat for a tripping call that the Heartlanders were able to kill off. The first period ended with Indy outshooting Iowa 11-5.
2ND PERIOD
The second period opened with back-to-back Fuel penalties followed by a goal for Iowa by Tommy Parran to make it 2-1. At 12:39 they added on another goal by Brendan Robbins to make it 3-1.
Five minutes later, Carson Rose scored for Indy marking his third straight game against Iowa with a goal. A minute after that, Luc Brown tied the game 3-3 with a goal after taking three penalties in the game.
25 seconds before the period ended, Chase Lang gave Indy their first lead of the game with a power play goal after Justin Wells took a delay of game penalty for the Heartlanders.
3RD PERIOD
Two minutes into the final frame, Iowa’s Tommy Parran took a holding call which was the first of many penalties in the period.
There were only about seven minutes of even-strength play during the period as both teams alternated trips to the box as things got chippier through the period.
Ultimately, no team scored again but the final moments of the game were spent sorting two roughing penalties and a slashing penalty on Iowa that were all assessed at 19:55. In the end, Indy outshot Iowa 32-22 and defeated them 4-3.
The Fuel will return to Indiana Farmers Coliseum on Friday, February 24 when they host the Toledo Walleye for Hockey is for Everyone night.
INDIANA SWIMMING
INDIANA WINS 800 FREESTYLE RELAY, MEDALS TWICE ON OPENING NIGHT
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – For the second-straight year and fifth time in seven years, Indiana started its pursuit of the Big Ten title with a win in the 800-yard freestyle relay on the first night of events Wednesday (Feb. 22) night inside Canham Natatorium.
IU’s quartet of sophomore Rafael Miroslaw, junior Tomer Frankel and seniors Brendan Burns and Van Mathias posted the third-best time in program history in 6:10.80. The time beat their previous season best set at midseason by over 11 seconds.
Strong splits from Miroslaw (1:32.73) and Frankel (1:33.33) kept the Hoosiers amongst the top teams at the halfway point, then Burns blazed a 1:32.03, the best split in the field, to give IU a two-second lead going into the final leg. Mathias went 1:32.71 to shut the door as IU won by 2.7 seconds. Only five swimmers swam sub-1:33, and three of those were Hoosiers.
Through two events, Indiana shares the lead with Ohio State, each earning 118 points on opening night. Michigan sits third with 112 points.
IU also medaled in the 200-yard medley relay, grabbing bronze in 1:23.52 and earning an NCAA A cut. Indiana was eighth after the first 50 yards, but Mathias (22.74) and Frankel (19.89) shot the Hoosiers into contention with the fastest splits in their respective strokes. Junior Gavin Wight anchored the relay in 18.80.
“It was a pretty eventful night,” IU head swimming coach Ray Looze said. “On the medley relay, we had a little rough start on that, and what was remarkable, is I think we were eighth after the first leg and then slowly worked our way back into third, which was really impressive given the way this pool swims. You really don’t want to get behind. I was happy and impressed with the composure that those guys displayed.
“And then to come back and get the victory in the 800 freestyle, our first two guys are our fastest guys, and really it was the third and fourth guys that solidified the win. So, you never know where it’s going to come, but it takes a team. I like the way the team responded, and I think that first portion of the relay was a hit in the face, but I think it’s going to be a good thing in the end. Sometimes when you get punched, it gets you into the game, and then you can move forward. I think that will serve in that capacity for us.
“I’m super proud of the guys, and we have a lot of work to do. We expect this to be a real battle. This conference meet is never easy, so I think we understand that now clearly.”
TEAM SCORES
t1. Indiana – 118
t1. Ohio State – 118
3. Michigan – 112
t4. Minnesota – 100
t4. Wisconsin – 100
t4. Purdue – 100
7. Northwestern – 92
8. Penn State – 88
RESULTS
200 MEDLEY RELAY
3. Luke Barr, Van Mathias, Tomer Frankel, Gavin Wight – 1:23.52 (Bronze, NCAA A Cut)
800 FREESTYLE RELAY
1. Rafael Miroslaw, Tomer Frankel, Brendan Burns, Van Mathias – 6:10.80 (Big Ten Champion, NCAA A Cut)
UP NEXT
The 2023 Big Ten Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships resume Thursday for day two, the first full day of action. Athletes will compete in the 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle, 1-meter dive and 400 medley relay, with preliminaries beginning at 10 a.m. ET. Finals are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. ET.
PURDUE WBB
PURDUE STORMS TO SENIOR NIGHT WIN
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue women’s basketball team sent its seniors off to a dominant 86-62 win in their final home game at Mackey Arena over Penn State on Wednesday night. The senior class accounted for 71 of the Boilermakers’ points on the night.
Purdue improved to 18-8 on the year and 9-7 in the Big Ten, securing the program’s first winning record in the league since 2017-18. Katie Gearlds joined Carolyn Peck and Linn Dunn as the only Purdue head coaches to post win improvements in each of their first two seasons.
The senior class put on a show, accounting for 82.5% of Purdue’s point total and outscoring Penn State by nine. Lasha Petree posted her second straight outing with 23 points, going 9-of-18 from the field in her final outing at Mackey Arena.
Cassidy Hardin connected on a trio of 3-pointers to finish with 11 points. Caitlyn Harper was 7-of-9 shooting and 4-of-4 at the line to record 18 points, falling two rebounds shy of a double-double. Rickie Woltman made her first start of the year and added four points.
Jeanae Terry made more history, tallying her third non-point double-double of the season. She is the only Boilermaker to ever achieve the feat. The Detroit native went for 10 rebounds and assists, while falling one point shy of a triple-double and two steals short of a quadruple-double. Terry’s eight steals tied for fifth most in program history and were the most by a Boilermaker since March 7, 2008, by FahKara Malone.
The offense churned along all night at a 51.6% shooting clip, while making six 3-pointer and going 14-of-15 at the line. The Boilermakers turned the ball inside for 48 points and scored 12 on the break.
The defense forced Penn State (13-15, 4-13) into 17 turnovers that flipped into 27 points. Purdue held the Lady Lions to 36.2% shooting, despite nine 3-pointers on the night. The Boilermakers won the rebounding battle 37-30.
The seniors got the ball rolling in the first, as Hardin, Petree and Woltman combined to start the night on a 10-0 run, forcing a Penn State timeout 66 seconds into the game. Holding the Lady Lions off the board on their first five shots, Petree and Jayla Smith capped the first quarter with back-to-back traditional 3-point plays to give the Boilermakers a 26-12 advantage.
As explosive as the first quarter was, Purdue added to it in the second with 31 points. The Boilermakers went 11-of-16 shooting to extend its lead to as many as 26 points. Petree scored 10 points in the frame, including seven straight for Purdue in the middle of the quarter.
The Boilermakers carried a 57-34 lead into the break. It was the most points in a half for Purdue since 2013 against Central Michigan and the most in an opening half since 2005 against Arkansas State. The Boilermakers shot 64.7% over the opening 20 minutes.
The hot hands cooled off in the second half. Penn State outscored Purdue 18-16 in the third quarter, closing the period on an eight-point run after the Boilermaker built the lead to 29 points with 2:25 to play.
In the fourth, Penn State cut the gap within 20 points midway through the period. Harper fought her way through contact for a tough layup to kickstart an 8-0 run that froze any potential comeback bid. While Purdue went 11-of-30 in the final 20 minutes, the defense kept the Lady Lions to just nine made field goals.
NOTES
• Purdue leads the all-time series with Penn State 35-23.
• Terry has finished one point shy of a triple-double twice this season, after becoming the first Boilermaker to record multiple in a career last season.
• Petree has scored in double figures 19 times this season and has topped 20 points in seven outings.
• Terry is one of 14 players nationally since 2009 to record at least eight points, rebounds, assists and steals in a game.
• Terry’s 10 helpers moved her up to fifth in single-season history at Purdue, becoming the first Boilermaker in program history to have two top-five campaigns.
• Cassidy Hardin played her 138th career game at Purdue, two shy of Danielle Campbell’s record of 140.
• The Boilermakers averaged 1.25 points per possession on Wednesday night, just its fourth game over 1.2 since 2009.
• Purdue is now 16-1 when holding an opponent under 70 points.
UP NEXT
Purdue will close out the 2022-23 regular season Sunday afternoon with a road trip to Minnesota. Tipoff on B1G+ is slated for 3 p.m. (ET).
PURDUE VOLLEYBALL
5 BOILERMAKERS SELECTED FOR U.S. WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM OPEN PROGRAM
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Five Boilermakers are poised to attend the U.S. Women’s National Team Open Program at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs from February 24-26.
Representing Purdue will be outside hitters Eva Hudson and Chloe Chicoine and middle blockers Raven Colvin, Lizzie Carr and Lourdès Myers.
It is the second consecutive year Colvin has received the prestigious invitation.
Three of Purdue’s five attendees will be underclassmen in the fall, the most among Big Ten representatives. Underclassmen include Big Ten Freshman of the Year and AVCA All-America Honorable Mention Hudson, and two first-year competitors in 2023 freshman Chicoine and redshirt-freshman Carr.
The WNT Open Program is used for consideration for selection to both the U.S. Women’s National Team and the U.S. Women’s Collegiate National Team. In 2023, members of the U.S. Women’s National Team will compete in the following events: Volleyball Nations League, Paris Olympic Qualifier, Pan American Cup and NORCECA Continental Championship.
Previous Open Program attendees include All-Americans Grace Cleveland, Danielle Cuttino, Ashley Evans, Caitlyn Newton and Blake Mohler.
Purdue’s five attendees are second-most among Big Ten programs (Penn State leads the league with six).
More than 45 top volleyball coaches will also be at the Training Center to help run the program and evaluate the athletes. They will join U.S. Women’s National Team staff including Head Coach Karch Kiraly, Assistant Coach Erin Virtue (head coach at Michigan), Assistant Coach Tama Miyashiro and Assistant Coach Alfee Reft (head coach at UCLA).
PURDUE SWIMMING
BOILERS IMPRESS IN 200 MEDLEY RELAY TO OPEN BIG TENS
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Purdue men’s swimming & diving opened the Big Ten Championships on Wednesday with an impressive showing in the 200 medley relay, coming up just shy of the program record and an NCAA automatic qualifying time.
Idris Muhammad, Andrew Witty, Brady Samuels and Nick Sherman teamed up for a time of 1:23.86, taking fourth place. The mark was just .04 hundredths shy of the team record (1:32.82) set at the 2021 Big Ten Championships. Purdue’s quartet was also only one tenth of a second off the NCAA A Standard of 1:32.76. The Boilermakers should be in a good position to qualify the relay for the NCAA Championships regardless if at least one Purdue swimmer can qualify for NCAAs as an individual.
Muhammad, Witty, Samuels and Sherman had accounted for the team season-best in the 200 medley relay at the Purdue Invitational in November. Together they enjoyed a time drop of 0.94 hundredths Wednesday. The top six teams in the event all broke the pool record at Michigan’s Canham Natatorium, which had stood since the 2014 Big Ten Championships. Sherman (18.85) was one of five swimmers with a sub-19 second split on the freestyle anchor leg. The All-American enjoyed a notable time drop of four tenths from his showing in the event at the Purdue Invite.
The Boilermakers also placed sixth in the 800 freestyle relay with a time of 6:28.17. Connor McCarthy, Cooper Callahan, Ethan Shaw and Charlie King represented Purdue in the event. Shaw led the way with a split of 1:35.00.
Muhammad, Witty, McCarthy, Callahan and King all made their relay debuts at Big Tens on Wednesday. Callahan earned the opportunity to be part of the 800 free relay as a freshman.
WEDNESDAY AT THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
* – Team Season-Best Time
^ – Personal Season-Best Time
200 Medley Relay
Muhammad, Witty, Samuels & Sherman, 1:23.86* (B) – Finished 4th (52 Points); 2nd Fastest in Team History
800 Free Relay
McCarthy, Callahan, Shaw & King, 6:28.17^ – Finished 6th (48 Points)
WEDNESDAY TEAM SCORES
T-1.) #6 Indiana 118
T-1.) #8 Ohio State 118
3.) #17 Michigan 112
T-4.) Purdue 100
T-4.) #23 Wisconsin 100
T-4.) #25 Minnesota 100
7.) Northwestern 92
8.) Penn State 88
BUTLER MBB
BUTLER CLAWS OUT COMEBACK WIN OVER DEPAUL, 59-58
Butler overcame a 12-point second-half deficit and came up with a key defensive stop as the final clock expired, taking a 59-58 win Wednesday night at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.
With the win, Butler improves to 14-15 overall and 6-12 in BIG EAST play. DePaul falls to 9-19 (3-14 BIG EAST).
TOP DAWG PERFORMANCE: Ali Ali posted a season-high 15 points to go along with five assists and five rebounds for the Bulldogs. He made six of his nine attempts from the field. He matched Simas Lukosius for the team-lead in points.
STAT OF SIGNIFICANCE: After DePaul scored the first six points of the second half to take their largest lead of the game at 36-24 with 18:45 remaining, the Bulldogs put together a 25-9 spurt over the next nine minutes to take a four-point advantage.
HOW IT TRANSPIRED:
Butler made eight of its first 12 attempts from the field in building a 19-10 lead with 11:07 remaining in the first half.
Butler then went cold, scoring just five points the rest of the half as DePaul used a 17-3 run to eventually take a 30-24 halftime lead.
Butler’s 25-9 run gave the Bulldogs a 49-45 lead with 9:44 to play.
DePaul would not go quietly, retaking the lead at 56-55 with 3:31 remaining. But the next four points belonged to the Bulldogs as Butler clamped down on defense over the next three minutes.
Umoja Gibson hit two free throws to pull DePaul within one at 59-58 with 38 seconds remaining before an empty Butler possession gave the Blue Demons a chance at the win.
Jayden Taylor was able to deny Javon Johnson’s drive and a scrum for a loose ball ensued as time expired.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
Butler was able to overcome a 3-for-17 performance from three-point range.
Lukosius scored 15 points and tied for the team-high with seven rebounds for the Bulldogs.
Taylor had 13 points and five rebounds.
Butler committed only nine turnovers.
Butler shot 40 percent from the field.
Gibson led DePaul with 25 points, including five three-pointers.
DePaul went 9-for-27 from three-point range.
Butler made 10 of 14 free throw attempts, while DePaul was only 5-for-11.
OF NOTE:
Butler won the first meeting between the schools this season, 78-70, Jan. 4 at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Butler is now 18-2 against DePaul since the Bulldogs joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013-14 season. The Bulldogs have won seven straight in the series.
This is Butler’s second win of the season when trailing at halftime; Butler is now 2-14 under that scenario.
UP NEXT: The Bulldogs have a weekend bye before returning to action Tuesday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse in the team’s final home game of the season. Marquette, currently ranked in the Top 10 nationally and topping the BIG EAST standings, visits for a 6:30 p.m. tip. Tickets are still available for the contest.
IUPUI MBB
JAGUARS TO HOST RED HOT ROBERT MORRIS ON BLACKOUT NIGHT AT THE COLISEUM
INDIANAPOLIS – The IUPUI basketball team will host a red hot Robert Morris squad on Thursday night (Feb. 23) inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum on ESPN+. The men’s game will be preceded by the women’s team against Robert Morris, scheduled to tip-off at 5:30 p.m. The men’s game will start roughly 30 minutes afterwards. RMU (15-15, 10-9 HL) comes in on a four-game winning streak, including pummeling the Horizon League’s top team, Youngstown State, on Tuesday night.
IUPUI fans are encouraged to wear BLACK on Thursday as part of a BLACKOUT NIGHT at the Coliseum. The first 100 IUPUI students in attendance will be given $10 concession vouchers and DJ Iman Tucker will provide in-game entertainment. Black and minority owned businesses will be highlighted throughout the evening and the game will be sponsored by IUPUI’s Africana Studies, Black Student Union, African Student Association and Black Faculty & Staff Council.
Head coach Matt Crenshaw’s team has continued to fight to the finish of the regular season, but struggled to get games to the finish line all season long. The Jaguars are coming off an 81-68 defeat at Detroit Mercy in a game in which it shot nearly 51 percent from the floor and a season-high 55.6 percent from three-point range. However, UDM feasted at the foul line, outscoring the Jaguars 21-9 at the charity stripe in a 13-point outcome. Vincent Brady II had a team-high 13 points and John Egbuta added 11 off the IUPUI bench. Chris Osten tallied 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting and DJ Jackson closed with eight before later being named the #HLMBB Freshman of the Week. Cooper Dewitt came off the IUPUI bench to knock in a pair of threes for his six points and Marlon Taylor, making his second career start, had six points, five boards, three blocked shots and two steals.
IUPUI’s top scorer, Jlynn Counter, was limited to just five points and 18 minutes due to foul trouble.
QUOTABLE
“We had that stretch where we turned it over and let them get out in transition and get their energy going. They got some easy ones and that really swung the momentum. I thought we had a good gameplan and for the most part, we stuck to it. Offensively, we were good in the half court and got some really good shots,” Crenshaw said following Sunday’s loss at Detroit Mercy.
SCOUTING ROBERT MORRIS
RMU has surged to get to 15-15 on the season and 10-9 in Horizon League play. The Colonials outshoot and outrebound foes for the season while shooting a respectable 34.1 percent from three-point range. Enoch Cheeks (16.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg) and Kahliel Spear (15.3 ppg, 8.1 rpg) make up one of the league’s most formidable duos while Josh Corbin (10.9 ppg, 88 3’s) is one of the league’s top three-point shooters.
UP NEXT
IUPUI will close out the regular season on Saturday (Feb. 25) when the Jaguars host Youngstown State in the Jungle at 7:00 p.m. That game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Tidbits heading into Thursday’s game (click here for full game notes)
ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT HONOREES
IUPUI’s Jonah Carrasco and Boston Stanton III were both named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District earlier this week. Carrasco completed his undergrad with a 3.64 GPA and has maintained a 3.83 mark as he pursues his Master’s degree in organizational leadership. Stanton has a 3.70 GPA while majoring in psychology.
CRUNCH TIME
IUPUI has piled up a collection of ‘so closes’ and ‘near misses’ this year, going 0-8 this season in games this season decided by seven points or less.
Half of IUPUI’s most recent 12 losses have come by seven points or fewer, including an overtime loss to Oakland on Jan. 19.
EIGHT AWARDS; THREE FRESH AWARDEES
IUPUI freshmen have collected eight #HLMBB Freshman of the Week Awards this season as Vincent Brady II has collected four honors and DJ Jackson and Armon Jarrard have been honored twice.
Brady is second on the team in scoring (10.9 ppg) and third in rebounding (3.9 rpg) and leads the team in minutes played (31.9 mpg, 15th in the HL) and threes made (53). Brady comes in having made at least one three in 24 straight games and in 27 of the team’s 29 games this season. He comes in having scored in double-digits in each of IUPUI’s last five games, averaging 15.0 points per game during that span and shooting 40.6 percent from three in those five contests.
A VERY BRADY DUNK
Speaking of Brady, you may have seen him on your timeline recently as his dunk in the closing minutes of IUPUI’s win over Green Bay went viral on social media. Brady threw down a vicious one-handed hammer with 2:40 to play over GB’s Cade Meyer, later earning ESPN’s #SCTop10’s No. 1 play and ‘Dunk of the Day’ honors, along with additional mentions from Fox Sports, NCAA March Madness, House of Highlights and other social accounts. It received just under 1-million views on ESPN’s SportsCenter account alone.
FRESH DUBS
It would appear that Brady will be hovering around double-digits in scoring all season long as he sits at 10.9 points per game entering today’s game, which would break the program’s freshman record.
Earlier this season, he had a stretch of four straight games with 15-or-more earlier this season, becoming the first IUPUI freshman to do so since Alex Young in 2008.
Freshmen scoring in double-digits has been a rarity for the IUPUI program as just two have done so in the program’s Division I-era. The aforementioned Young went on to score 2,286 points in his four-year IUPUI career and current Indiana Pacer George Hill scored 1,619 points in three-plus seasons before being drafted in the first round of the 2008 NBA Draft.
Here’s the full list of IUPUI true freshmen to score in double digits for a season in the Division I era (1998-present).
Alex Young – 10.8 ppg (2008-09)
George Hill – 10.7 ppg (2004-05)
COUNTER POINTS
It’s safe to say that sophomore guard Jlynn Counter has emerged as the program’s most important player this season. Here are a few nuggets about the Oklahoma City-native.
-he’s scored 20-or-more in five of IUPUI’s last 10 games
-he ranks among the Horizon League’s top-15 in scoring (13.9 ppg), assists (3.3 apg), field goal percentage (49.5%) and free throw percentage (81.1%)
-in Horizon League play, he’s averaging 13.8 points, 4.1 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game
-he started the year 0-of-14 from three in the season’s first 12 games, but has gone 12-of-36 (33.3 percent) since.
BAKERS DOZEN
Senior Marlon Taylor became the 13th different player to start a game this season as he was awarded his first collegiate start at Oakland on Feb. 15. All 12 of the Jaguars’ scholarship players have started at least one game this season as graduate student Jonah Carrasco started in place of an injured Chris Osten at Cleveland State.
TOPS IN THE COUNTRY
IUPUI is tops in the nation, having had 14 different players miss at least one game due to injury or illness, 12 of whom are scholarship student-athletes. Highest on the list are Zach Gunn (out for the season), Bryce Monroe (25 games missed) and DJ Jackson (11 games). Other scholarship student-athletes who have missed multiple games this season include Daylan Hamilton (11 games), Amhad Jarrard (9 games), Armon Jarrard (7 games), John Egbuta (5 games), Cooper Dewitt (5 games) and Boston Stanton III (2 games).
Behind IUPUI, Wyoming and Iona have all had nine student-athletes miss time.
IUPUI has not had a game this season in which the entire roster was available.
THE ONLY ONE IS NO. 1
True freshman Vincent Brady II is the only IUPUI player to have appeared in all 29 games this season and is tied with Chris Osten with a team-high 28 starting nods.
TEN HIT TEN
Freshman DJ Jackson became the tenth different IUPUI player to have a double-digit scoring game for the Jaguars this season, doing so against Detroit Mercy on Jan. 21. Amazingly, of all 10 players who have scored in double-digits this season, none were on the IUPUI roster last season.
CHRIS DON’T MISS
Graduate transfer Chris Osten is currently shooting 67.9 percent for the season, chasing the school record for single-season shooting percentage (Jon Avery – 67.9 percent in 2008-09). The 6-foot-9 forward is shooting an absurd 77.1 percent from the field (54-of-70) at home this year and shooting 73.6 percent in Horizon League games. He’s doesn’t qualify to be among the national or Horizon League leaders (needs 5 FGM/game to qualify), but would rank fifth nationally if he did qualify.
Coming into this season, he had scored in double-digits just one time in his Division I career
in stops at both Arizona State and Northern Illinois, and never had a double-double. However,
in 21 games this season, Osten has hit double-figures 12 times and registered four double-doubles.
SEEING 20-20
IUPUI had a pair of 20-point scorers against Oakland last Thursday as freshman Vincent Brady II had a career-high 23 points (8-16 FG, 4-9 3’s, 3-3 FT) and Jlynn Counter tallied 22 (8-16 FG, 1-2 3’s, 5-6 FT). It marked the first time under head coach Matt Crenshaw that two players have gone for 20-or-more in the same game.
FRESH STARTERS
IUPUI had three freshmen in the starting lineup in the season opener at Iowa State as Vincent Brady II, Amhad Jarrard and Armon Jarrard all got the starting nod. The trio, all of whom are Indianapolis natives, combined on four points, five boards and an assist in their collegiate debut.
A fourth freshman, DJ Jackson, made his first collegiate start on Dec. 31 against NKU.
4K
IUPUI hosted its annual NCAA Readers Become Leaders game on Dec. 12 against Spalding University and had a program best 4,114 fans in attendance. The game attracted roughly 3,500 3rd graders from Central Indiana and stressed the importance of creating reading habits at a young age. The 4,114 fans easily surpassed the previous record for an IUPUI home game – 3,327 against Indiana State inside Conseco Fieldhouse on Dec. 23, 2008.
The previous record for an IUPUI game inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum was 3,159 in the inaugural game against Indiana State on Nov. 14, 2014.
BALL STATE WBB
WBB IMPROVES TO 14-0 AT HOME WITH IMPRESSIVE WIN OVER WMU
MUNCIE, Ind. – – The Ball State women’s basketball team turned in another dominating performance Wednesday night in Worthen Arena, earning an 80-49 victory over Western Michigan to improve to 14-0 in home games this season.
The 31-point advantage tied as the Cardinals (23-5; 13-2 Mid-American Conference) largest margin of victory in a league game this season. In addition, the 49 points were the fewest BSU has allowed in a contest this entire season.
The effort also helped Ball State remain tied atop the MAC standings with both Bowling Green and Toledo who also picked up league wins Wednesday.
The opening minutes of the game appeared to mimic the first meeting between the Cardinals and Broncos (10-16; 5-10 MAC) in Kalamazoo, as the teams traded baskets throughout the first quarter.
Ball State did manage to end the first period with a 21-17 edge over WMU after a defensive rebound and layup from graduate senior Thelma Dis Agustsdottir.
But it was the second quarter that the Cardinals caught on fire, shooting 73.3 percent (11-for-15) from the field to outscore the Broncos 27-10.
The heavy hitters in the second quarter were sophomore Ally Becki and senior Annie Rauch, with both ending the first half with 10 points. Their effort helped the Cardinals take a 48-27 advantage into intermission.
After the break, the Cardinals were nearly unstoppable, extending its lead to 29 (64-35) at the end of the third quarter and eventually winning by 31 (80-49)
With Ball State’s hot shooting and stellar defense, Western Michigan had no chance of making a comeback in the second half.
The Cardinals domination also allowed 11th-year head coach Brady Sallee the opportunity to give his bench and newcomers extra playing time. In fact, all 12 members of the Cardinals’ roster saw action, with 10 of the 12 scoring at least one basket.
For the game, redshirt senior Anna Clephane led BSU with 14 points while Becki was not far behind with 13. Sophomore Marie Kiefer and Rauch each had 11 apiece.
With only three regular season games remaining, Ball State has already locked up a spot in the 2023 Mid-American Conference Tournament with will be played at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio (March 8-11).
The Ball State women’s basketball team will host MAC rival Toledo for its regular season home finale Saturday at 1 pm ET in Worthen Arena. The Cardinals will also pay tribute to seniors Clephane and Agustsdottir prior to the contest.
NOTRE DAME MBB
FINAL MINUTE HAUNTS IRISH AGAIN IN 63-59 LOSS TO UNC
SOUTH BEND. – For the third straight game, the Notre Dame men’s basketball squad (10-18, 2-15) had an opportunity to capture victory in the final minute but came up on the short end, falling 63-59 to the visiting North Carolina Tar Heels (17-10, 9-8). Down one with 11 seconds on the clock, the Irish were a second away from a UNC shot-clock violation and big defensive stand, but the Tar Heels nipped the rim and killed the shot-clock, forcing the Irish to foul.
North Carolina’s height advantage and ability to rebound to garner more shots was the difference maker down the stretch. The Tar Heels collected nine offensive rebounds in the final four minutes of the game. They collected 23 total in the game, which resulted in 23 second-chance points.
The Fighting Irish have now lost eight ACC games by five points or less this season. In addition, excluding the Wake Forest game, six of the team’s last seven losses have come by a combined margin of 21 – that’s an average of 3.5 points per loss.
Three Irish finished in double figures: Cormac Ryan (14 points), Trey Wertz (13 points) and JJ Starling (10 points). Nate Laszewski led in rebounding with nine to go with his six points.
Notre Dame outshot North Carolina, 39.7 percent to 33.3 percent. The Tar Heels only shot 18.5 percent in the first half. UNC finished with 52 rebounds to ND’s 33.
How It Happened
Pete Nance scored nine of North Carolina’s first 11 points as the Tar Heels took a slow 15-10 lead at the 8:05 media. Then the Notre Dame offense started to churn. Hammond, Goodwin and Wertz hit back-to-back-to-back three-pointers which gave the Irish their first lead of the game at 19-15.
The Irish rode that momentum into a 17-4 scoring run which they rode into the half, hitting six of their last 11 from the field. Hammond in particular ignited the run, scoring all nine of his first-half points in that stretch. ND shot 10-of-32 (31.3 percent) in the half.
With the score 27-19 at the half, Notre Dame held North Carolina to its lowest first-half score total of the year. The Tar Heels shot 5-of-27 from the field (18.5 percent), which was their lowest shooting percentage in a half since 1980. Their five field goals were the fewest in a half in over a decade.
Unfortunately, Notre Dame’s lead was short-lived as North Carolina made seven of its first 12 shots in the second half to produce a 15-4 scoring run. Notre Dame needed an offensive spark and they got one with Starling, who scored six of the team’s next eight points to reclaim the lead at 39-36.
Eight minutes and five lead changes later, it was 55-54 UNC with two minutes remaining. During that stretch, no team led by more than three points.
The Tar Heels crashed the boards to get on the board. One possession, in particular, saw them miss three shots and garner three offensive rebounds before finally converting the layup.
Down on the offensive end, Goodwin quickly answered, prompting a Coach Brey timeout, now just down 56-57 with a minute to go. UNC’s Davis took his defender 1-on-1 and converted a tough jumper just beyond the free-throw line, extending the lead to 59-56.
The Irish put the ball in Starling’s hands and the freshman beat his defender with a driving layup down the right side of the paint – now 59-58 UNC with 30.3 seconds left.
Next, the offensive boards helped UNC again as they got two shots off but no rim. Notre Dame was a second away from a huge defensive stand and on UNC’s third shot of the possession they hit the front end of the rim as the rebound was knocked out-of-bounds. It stayed with UNC with now just nine seconds on the clock, shot-clock off, which meant ND had to foul.
The Tar Heels made both free throws and then fouled Notre Dame so they couldn’t shoot the three. Starling made the first and intentionally missed the second, but the Irish couldn’t come up with the board and ultimately fell 63-59.
Up Next
With three games remaining in the regular season, Notre Dame hits the road to challenge Wake Forest in Winston-Salem on Saturday, Feb. 25. Tip is set for 7 p.m. ET on ACC Network.
NOTRE DAME HOCKEY
IRISH PREPARE FOR REGULAR SEASON FINALE
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame hockey team heads North for their regular season finale at No. 4/4 Michigan, Feb. 24-25. The top-20 series comes with both teams still in the hunt to finish second in the Big Ten conference and clinch home ice in the playoffs.
Friday’s contest inside Yost Ice Arena will be streamed on B1G+ at 7 p.m. followed by Saturday’s puckdrop taking the primetime slot at 8 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.
QUICK HITS
Prior to their bye week, the Irish closed out their regular season home schedule with five of six league points against Ohio State. Behind two goals from Landon Slaggert Friday night, the Irish defeated the Buckeyes 2-1 to open up the weekend series.
The Irish faced a 2-0 deficit halfway through Saturday night’s contest but a pair of seniors lit the lamp to knot things up and force overtime. Jack Adams and Nick Leivermann scored for the Irish in regulation while senior netminder Ryan Bischel made 45 saves in regulation to send the contest to an overtime frame. Bischel made five additional saves in overtime to finish the night with 50 official saves, his second 50+ save performance of the season and his career, before securing the extra conference point in a nine-round shootout.
Leivermann opened the shootout with a goal before Hunter Strand gave the Irish the advantage in round four. The Buckeyes evened it out in the fourth round to force additional shots. On senior night, Chase Blackmun found the go-ahead tally in the ninth round to give the Irish a 3-2 shootout lead. Bischel made the final save on the ensuing Buckeye attempt to get the extra point on his senior night. In net, Bischel made seven saves in the shootout to finish the night with an unofficial count of 57 saves.
Bischel was named Big Ten Second Star of the Week on Feb. 14 after officially stopping 87 of 90 shots faced in the two games played.
Bischel currently leads the nation in saves while his save percentage of .930 ranks third nationally.
NOTRE DAME vs. MICHIGAN
The two teams previously met in early November inside Compton Family Ice Arena, with the Irish and Wolverines splitting the weekend series.
After dropping night one to the visiting Wolverines, the Irish bounced back to a 3-2 overtime victory Saturday night to earn the split.
After slipping to a 2-0 deficit after one period of play, the Irish came back to knot things up in the second period behind goals from Tyler Carpenter and Chayse Primeau.
Grant Silianoff scored the game-winning goal Saturday night against the Wolverines to secure the victory.
Silianoff has a strong history with the Wolverines, having net his first collegiate goal against the Maize and Blue on November 27, 2020. The junior now has 33 points off 11 goals and 22 assists in 87 games played.
Freshman Niko Jovanovic made his collegiate debut in game two of the weekend series, tallying an assist on the first Irish goal of the night for his first career point.
In their last eight meetings at Yost Ice Arena, the Irish have claimed victory seven times, having most recently lost in Ann Arbor in the 2022 Big Ten Semifinal contest last March.
The Irish have not lost a regular season contest inside Yost Ice Arena since November 10, 2018.
Both regular season contests in Ann Arbor last season went to overtime with Ryder Rolston and former forward Max Ellis each netting a game-winner on the road against the Wolverines in 2021-22.
In four regular-season games played against the Wolverines last season, now-captain Nick Leivermann led the team with six assists. The graduate student now boasts 10 points against the Wolverines off two goals and eight assists. Trevor Janicke (1-4-5), Silianoff (2-2-4), Rolston (2-2-4), Jack Adams (2-2-4), Hunter Strand (2-0-2), Jesse Lansdell (2-0-2), Chayse Primeau (1-1-2), Solag Bakich (0-2-2), Chase Blackmun (0-2-2), and Justin Janicke (0-2-2) all boast multiple career points against Michigan.
In 159 meetings between the two teams, the Irish trail the Wolverines 70-84-5.
INDIANA STATE MBB
INDIANA STATE’S STREAK ENDS IN LAST TWO SECONDS AT BELMONT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Indiana State’s win streak came to a close in heartbreaking fashion Wednesday night at Belmont as the Sycamores fell 89-88 to the Bruins inside Curb Event Center. Indiana State (20-10, 13-6 MVC) used a 10-0 run in the first half to lead Belmont (20-10, 13-6 MVC) by 17 points at halftime, but it came down to the final seconds of the game when the Sycamores were called for a controversial foul that sent Belmont to the line for a pair of game-winning free throws with two seconds on the clock.
Julian Larry notched his 100th assist of the season early in the first half and finished with a game-high six assists. Xavier Bledson led Indiana State in scoring with 20 points in his second start of the year, and four other Sycamores scored in double-figures including Courvoisier McCauley who pulled down a team-high seven boards alongside his 12 points.
The game opened up in back-and-forth fashion until Belmont got two straight buckets for an 8-4 lead at 17:34, but Larry put up a block before back-to-back Sycamore buckets gave Indiana State its first lead of the game at 13-11 with 13:43 to go in the first half.
That lead was pushed to 21-13 when Larry dished out his third assist of the day for his 100th of the season on the first of back-to-back Sycamore triples. Belmont cut its deficit to one point at 26-25 with 8:23 left in the frame, but then Indiana State exploded for a 19-3 run to push its lead to 17 points at 45-28 with 2:42 to go.
That lead hit a game-high 19 points with just under a minute to go in the half, and after Belmont got a couple late buckets back, Cooper Neese nailed a triple at the buzzer to send the Sycamores into halftime with a 54-37 lead. Indiana State hit its last six of seven field goals in the first half.
Belmont cut its deficit down to nine points early in the second half, but ISU went back up by 11 with a pair of Bledson free throws at 16:25. The Bruins responded with a three and a putback dunk to trim the deficit to six at 58-52 with 16:08 to go.
The Bruins then went on a quick 6-0 spurt to even things up at 60-all while the Sycamores went five minutes without a field goal until a Cade McKnight jumper at 13:12 followed by a triple to put ISU back up 65-60. McKnight then put up a block for a crucial stop with the Sycamores ahead 69-64.
Neese pulled up for a transition three to make it 72-66 at 8:43 before ISU went on a 9-0 run capped by a McCauley triple that pushed the lead to 11 points at 81-70 with 5:52 to go. The Sycamores led 88-83 after a midrange jumper from Neese with 1:33 remaining, and they still held onto an 88-87 lead when they called a timeout after a pair of Belmont free throws with 35.7 on the clock.
The Sycamores had a chance to go up by three on a one-and-one with 18 seconds left but missed the first free throw and Belmont secured the rebound. With two seconds on the clock, Jayson Kent was called for a contentious foul that sent Ben Sheppard to the charity stripe where he knocked down both free throws to give Belmont its first lead since the first five minutes of the first half, which was enough for the win.
Inside the Numbers
Indiana State outshot Belmont overall in the game 53.6 percent to 50.0 percent but shot 62.5 percent in the first half compared to 41.7 percent in the second. Belmont shot 44.4 percent with four threes in the first half followed by 55.9 percent with eight threes in the second half.
Indiana State led by 17 at halftime but was outscored 52-34 in the second half.
The Sycamores were outrebounded 35-32 in the game including 10-4 on the offensive boards. Courvoisier McCauley pulled down a team-high seven boards.
Robbie Avila and Jayson Kent each posted double figures in the game but combined for 24 points in the first half and then combined for just five points in the second half.
News & Notes
Xavier Bledson got the start with Cameron Henry out due to a concussion and posted a team-high 20 points for his third 20-point outing of the season and second-straight double-figure scoring game. Both of his first two 20-point games this season came off the bench.
With his third assist of the day early in the first half, Julian Larry notched his 100th assist of the season. He joins teammate Cameron Henry with that feat this year, and it is the first time two Sycamores have recorded 100 assists in the same season since Matt Renn and Michael Mesner in 2000-01. He finished the game with a team-high six assists.
Courvoisier McCauley hit three triples tonight and moved into sole possession of second place on Indiana State’s all-time list of 3-pointers in a single season with 94. He has hit three or more threes in seven straight games and 20 times total this season.
Cooper Neese hit three triples for the fourth time this season, all four times coming in the last seven games. He is four 3-pointers away from tying Jordan Printy for fourth place on Indiana State’s all-time list of career 3-pointers made.
The Sycamores hit nine threes in the game to bring their season total to 282 which extends the program record for 3-pointers in a single season.
Up Next
The Sycamores return to the Hulman Center one last time this season when they host Missouri State Sunday, Feb. 26 for senior day. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. ET on ESPN+ with the seniors being recognized in a pregame ceremony.
PURDUE FT. WAYNE VOLLEYBALL
PURDUE FORT WAYNE DEFEATS MCKENDREE 3-1 FOR MIVA WIN
LEBANON, Ill. – The Purdue Fort Wayne men’s volleyball team beat McKendree 3-1 (25-22, 25-22, 23-25, 25-20) on Wednesday night (Feb. 22) for its second MIVA win of the season.
This the Mastodons’ third win all-time at McKendree and second in a row.
In a true Purdue Fort Wayne vs. McKendree match fashion, it was a defensive grinder on Wednesday night. The Mastodons hit .205 and the Bearcats hit .189.
Jon Diedrich led the way with 15 kills for the Mastodons, with Bryce Walker (13) and Mark Frazier (12) right behind. Mark Frazier tied his career-high with four aces. Wilmer Hernandez took over libero duties for the night midway through the match and tied his career-high with 12 digs.
Set one went to the Mastodons thanks to a 5-1 run to go up 21-15. This included a pair of blocks from Frazier.
The ‘Dons started off with a 9-4 push in set two, but McKendree took a 12-11 lead. Immediately after, the Mastodons went on an 8-1 run behind Carlos Mercado’s service. This gave the ‘Dons a lead to hold the rest of the way.
McKendree took set three after a late 5-1 run from which the ‘Dons could not recover.
The Mastodons never got a huge run going in set four, but they happily traded twos for ones, eventually taking the set 25-20.
Purdue Fort Wayne improves to 11-4, 2-3 MIVA. McKendree falls to 6-6, 1-4.
The Mastodons return home for a game on Friday (Feb. 24) against the Lewis Flyers.
PURDUE FT. WAYNE WBB
MASTODON WOMEN’S BASKETBALL HEADS TO MILWAUKEE FOR KEY #HLWBB CONTEST
FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Purdue Fort Wayne women’s basketball team is set for a game at Milwaukee on Thursday (Feb. 23) with Barbasol Horizon League Championship seeding on the line. A win would keep the Mastodons in the hunt for the No. 5 seed and a bye to the quarterfinals.
Game Day Information
Who: Milwaukee Panthers
When: Thursday, February 23 | 6 PM ET
Where: Milwaukee, Wis. | Klotsche Center
Live Stats: Link
Watch: ESPN+
Game Notes: Purdue Fort Wayne | Milwaukee | Horizon League
Know Your Foe
Milwaukee is 9-17 this season with a 7-11 record in Horizon League play. The Panthers are 3-7 since last playing the Mastodons, with wins over Robert Morris, Detroit Mercy and Youngstown State. Kendall Nead (10.9) and Emma Wittmershaus are the two Panthers that average double-figures.
The Series
Milwaukee leads the series 9-3 and has never lost at home against the Mastodons. Prior to the game earlier this season, the Panthers had won seven in a row. The Mastodons’ 72-62 win over Milwaukee earlier this year saw all five starters score in double-figures.
Rolling Past NKU
In Purdue Fort Wayne’s win over Northern Kentucky on February 18…
• Audra Emmerson scored a career-high 19 points
• The Mastodons picked up their first win over NKU since 2014 and first league win over the Norse since 1997
That Seems Good
The Mastodons’ 32 points in the fourth quarter against Wright State (Feb. 16) was the most points scored by a Mastodon team in a quarter since quarters were introduced in women’s basketball in the 2015-16 season.
Grabbing Boards
The Mastodons held Wright State to just 19 rebounds on February 16, which tied the fewest rebounds by an opponent since the Mastodons held Centenary to 17 on January 31, 2011.
A Win Would…
• Be the Mastodons’ first-ever win at Milwaukee
• Keep the Mastodons in the running for a top-four seed in the Horizon League Championship
Ball Control
The Mastodons had a season-low five turnovers against Wright State on February 16. It tied the fewest turnovers dating back to at least 1990 (given available records) with three other games: Manchester (2021), Western Illinois (2016) and North Dakota State (2008).
Ball Control Times Two
The Mastodons had a then-season-low seven turnovers against Cleveland State and won the points off turnovers battle 23-1.
Defense (Clap, Clap) Defense
Purdue Fort Wayne has held its opponents to 64 points or fewer in 13 games this season. They are 10-3 in such games.
She’s Back!
After four games of four points or less, Amellia Bromenschenkel has averaged 14.5 points per game in the last 10 games, with double-figures in all but one.
The Best Choice For Defensive Player of the Year
In Horizon League play, Shayla Sellers leads the league with 2.1 steals per game and is 12th in the league with 0.7 blocks per game. She is one of two players in the league that is in the top 12 in both categories.
Thieves!
Purdue Fort Wayne is second in the Horizon League and is 71st in the country with 9.1 steals per game. The ‘Dons also force the 65th-most turnovers in the country at 18.32 per game, a league-best.
Especially Those Two!
In league play, Shayla Sellers and Amellia Bromenschenkel are first and second in the Horizon League with 2.1 steals per game.
Sellers Swiper
Shayla Sellers ranks in the top-140 in the country with 49 steals this season.
Last Time Out
Purdue Fort Wayne beat Northern Kentucky for the first time in almost 10 years. Audra Emmerson scored a career-high 19 points for the Mastodons.
Coming Up
Purdue Fort Wayne will play its final game of the 2022-23 regular season at Green Bay. That game will have major postseason implications and will likely determine where the Mastodons will be playing in the Barbasol Horizon League Championship.
PURDUE FT. WAYNE MBB
‘DONS HEAD TO THE SHORES OF LAKE MICHIGAN FOR TILT AT MILWAUKEE
FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Mastodons, like Alice Cooper, are now regular visitors to Milwaukee in the Horizon League. The ‘Dons will take their annual trip on Thursday (Feb. 23) to play the Panthers in a key league game.
Game Day Information
Who: Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (16-13, 8-10 Horizon League) at Milwaukee Panthers (18-10, 12-6 Horizon League)
When: Thursday, February 23 | 8:30 p.m. ET
Where: Milwaukee, Wis. | Klotsche Center
Live Stats: Link
Watch: ESPN+
Radio: Listen
Game Notes (PDF): Purdue Fort Wayne | Milwaukee
Series Record: ‘Dons lead 5-1
‘Dons and Ends:
// Damian Chong Qui celebrated his Senior Day on Sunday with a game-winning 3-pointer. He launched a shot from just inside the mid-court line to defeat Wright State 77-75 at the buzzer. It was featured as the No. 1 play on ESPN SportsCenter’s Top 10. It was his second dramatic 3-pointer in just over a year. He hit a dramatic 3-pointer on Feb. 14, 2022 last season to force overtime against Cleveland State. His shot against Cleveland State was also featured on ESPN.
// Jarred Godfrey broke the program’s all-time scoring record vs. Robert Morris (Feb. 12). He now owns 2,107 points. John Konchar’s 2,065 points is now in second place. Godfrey broke the record on a free throw. Konchar also broke the record on a free throw when he set the previous record Jan. 24, 2019 against Omaha.
// Jarred Godfrey is closing in on the program’s all-time 3-point record. Godfrey owns 259 3-pointers. Only Mo Evans (266 from 2013-17) had made more 3-pointers than Godfrey in program history.
// Jarred Godfrey has four games of 20 plus points over the last six games. He has 12 games of 20 or more points this season.
// Jarred Godfrey is the all-time leader in games played in program history with 150. He set the record on Jan. 25th at Northern Kentucky, when he passed former teammate Cameron Benford (2017-22) who played in 141 games for the previous record mark.
// Ra Kpedi on the season has seven double-digit rebound games, including double-doubles at Northwestern (Nov. 18), vs. Oakland (Dec. 3) and vs. Cleveland State (Jan. 16).
// Jarred Godfrey has made a career-high 122 free throws, 10th most in a single season in program history. When he gets to 128 he will rank 7th in school history.
// Ra Kpedi has already passed his rebound total from last season. He owns 240 rebounds this season, and had 208 last year. He’ll need to reach 262 to crack the top 10 in program history in single-season rebounds.
// Ra Kpedi broke into the top 10 in career rebounds against Youngstown State on Friday, Feb. 10. He now owns 520 career rebounds as Mastodon, 7th in program history.
// Ra Kpedi is averaging 8.8 rebounds per game in league play. The last Mastodon to average that many rebounds per game in league play was John Konchar in 9.3 in the Summit League in 2016-17.
// Jarred Godfrey is the only active player in NCAA Division I men’s basketball with 2,000 points, 600 rebounds, 400 assists, 200 3-pointers and 200 steals. Since 1992-93 only four other student-athletes have finished with such a career stat line. D.J Cooper (Ohio, 2010-13), Kerry Kittles (Villanova, 1993-96), Ricky Minard (Morehead State, 2001-04) and Marreon Jackson (2017-12, Toledo/Arizona State) are the others. (per sports-reference.com)
// The ‘Dons are 14-2 this season when scoring 71 or more points in a game.
// Per sports-reference.com, Ra Kpedi leads the Horizon League in offensive rebounding percentage at 15.4 percent. He is first in the league with 109 total offensive boards.
// Jarred Godfrey owns 635 rebounds, third in program history. He is also in the top five in points, assists, steals, field goals, free throws and 3-pointers in program history.
// Jarred Godfrey is shooting 90.4 percent (122-of-135) from the free throw line this season, 8th in the nation. Only once in program history has a player made 50 or more free throws in a season and finished at 90 percent or better. That was Ben Botts in 2008-09, making 65-of-71 (91.5 percent). The best free throw percentage in program history with 100 attempts in a season is Steve Bard in 1987-88 who made 88-of-102 (86.3 percent). The Division I era program record for best single-season free throw percentage in school history is Bryson Scott’s 81.8 percent in 2017-18 on 202-of-247 shooting.
// Ra Kpedi has won the opening tip in 24-of-29 games this season. He also won the tip in overtime against Oakland (Dec. 3).
// The ‘Dons are 17th in the nation in 3-pointers per game (9.5).
// The ‘Dons are 16th in the nation in 3-point defense with teams shooting just 29.5 percent against them from three.
// Jarred Godfrey (2,107), Damian Chong Qui (1,554), Anthony Roberts (1,516), Bobby Planutis (1,175) and Deonte Billups (1,039) have each scored 1,000 career NCAA points.
// With a pair of student-athletes with 1,500 career points at the Division I level (Jarred Godfrey and Damian Chong Qui) ‘Dons are one of 13 teams in the nation with two or three players who have reached that mark in Division I contests.
// The ‘Dons have 15 games of double-digit offensive rebounds this season.
EVANSVILLE MBB
TOUMI RECORDS CAREER-HIGH IN HOME FINALE
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Yacine Toumi recorded a career-high 20 points in Wednesday’s home finale inside the Ford Center that saw the University of Evansville men’s basketball team fall to UIC by a final of 82-76.
Box Score
Toumi was 9-for-18 from the field and tied for the game-high with eight rebounds. Kenny Strawbridge Jr. added 18 points with Gage Bobe and Marvin Coleman II finished with 12 and 11, respectively. Jace Carter led the Flames with 22 points and 8 rebounds. Tre Anderson completed the contest with 18 tallies.
Both teams shot well to open the game with UIC hitting their first four attempts to take a 9-4 lead while Evansville was 4-for-6 with a Gage Bobe triple tying the game at 9-9 less than four minutes in. After UIC went back in front at 14-12, the Purple Aces made their move, recording eight in a row.
Preston Phillips got things started with a score off a UIC turnover while Kenny Strawbridge Jr. converted a 3-point play and a triple to give UE a 20-14 lead at the 10:34 mark. The Flames countered with a 9-0 stretch over the next three minutes to retake the lead. They hit three field goals in a row along with two free throws. Evansville missed four shots and turned it over twice in that span.
Bobe connected on his second triple as the Aces knotted the score at 25-25 but the Flames continued to have the answer. Up 28-27, the Flames went on a 12-2 run to take a 40-29 advantage, their largest of the half. Marvin Coleman II hit a three to finish the half with UIC leading, 40-32.
After completing the first half on an offensive run, the Flames kept up the intensity as they opened the second stanza by scoring ten in a row. Facing the 50-32 deficit, the Aces responded with a 10-0 rally. Strawbridge had two 3-point plays and eight total points in the run to make it a single digit game at the 14-minute mark.
Two minutes later, Chris Moncrief knocked down his second shot to get his team within six before finding Phillips for a dunk to cut the deficit to five at the midway point of the half. With 8:15 remaining, the Aces made it a one-possession game when Toumi drove to the basket for his sixth make of the night. A 10-2 UIC run cemented a double-digit lead entering the final five minutes.
Evansville continued to battle in the final minute, getting as close as four points before the Flames wrapped up the 82-76 victory. UIC shot 50.9% on the night while tallying 35 rebounds. UE checked in at 45.5% and a total of 34 boards.
Regular season play comes to a conclusion on Sunday when the Aces visit Illinois State.
SOUTHERN INDIANA WBB
USI HOSTS TENNESSEE TECH, VISITS TENNESSEE STATE TO CONCLUDE REGULAR SEASON
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball concludes the 2022-23 regular season this week, seeking to earn a berth into the Ohio Valley Conference Championship Tournament. The Screaming Eagles host Tennessee Tech University Thursday at 5 p.m. in the home finale before traveling to Tennessee State University Saturday at 1 p.m.
At Thursday’s home game, University of Southern Indiana Athletics will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the passing of Title IX. Some former female student-athletes and coaches will be in attendance and recognized for their contributions to USI Athletics.
The Screaming Eagles (11-16, 5-11) enter the week ninth in the OVC standings and one game back of Morehead State University for eighth, which is a coveted spot as only eight of the 10 OVC teams make it into the conference tournament. USI is coming off a road swing last week at the University of Arkansas Little Rock and Southeast Missouri State University, where Southern Indiana fell by single digits in each contest. With both games coming down to the final minute, Little Rock won 58-50 and Southeast Missouri won 63-59.
Saturday’s game at SEMO was a tale of two halves for USI. After struggling in the first half of the contest, USI found its flow in the second half. Trailing by as many as 20 points early in the third quarter, USI came within one point of SEMO with three minutes left, but Southern Indiana ran out of time in its comeback effort.
Junior forward Meredith Raley (Haubstadt, Indiana) paced USI with a career-high 27 points against the Redhawks, having an instrumental role in USI’s second-half push. Raley scored 23 of her 27 points in the second half. Senior forward Hannah Haithcock (Washington Courthouse, Ohio) registered 15 points and nine rebounds for the second consecutive game, nearly averaging a double-double for the week. Haithcock also had a big role in USI’s strong second half in the game, scoring 13 of her 15 points after halftime. Raley and Haithcock combined to control the paint for USI in the last two quarters.
Following Saturday’s game, Raley and Haithcock are the only USI players to score 25 or more in a game this season. Haithcock has done it twice with a 25-point game and a career-high 31 points at Lindenwood University earlier in conference play. Raley leads the team with 22 games scoring 10 or more and is averaging 15.6 points per outing in the last nine games. Haithcock has scored in double figures in 21 games this season and has scored 14 or more in 16 of the last 20 games, averaging 15.7 points per game and 7.5 rebounds during the 20-game stretch. Sophomore guard Vanessa Shafford (Linton, Indiana) has tallied double digits in scoring 20 times this season.
On the season, Haithcock leads USI with 15.0 points per game and is second in rebounds with 6.5 boards per game. Raley is second at 13.7 points per contest, while Shafford is averaging 12.6 points and team-best 7.0 rebounds per outing.
USI will be looking for a season split against each opponent this week. Tennessee Tech won the first meeting, 79-59, against USI in Cookeville, Tennessee on February, while Tennessee State won by four, 59-55, at USI on February 2 in the first matchup.
Tennessee Tech has a 17-9 overall record and is 11-5 in the OVC. The Golden Eagles have won four of their last five games and are third in the OVC standings. On Saturday, Tennessee Tech claimed a 74-63 home win against UT Martin. Tennessee Tech shot 50 percent overall and from three, hitting 11 three-pointers. The Golden Eagles are the top scoring offense and three-point shooting team in the conference.
Senior guard Maaliya Owens led the Golden Eagles with 27 points. On the season, Owens leads Tennessee Tech with 14.5 points per game. Senior guard Jada Guinn is second on the team at just under 10 points per contest.
Tennessee State is 11-15 this season with a 7-9 conference record. TSU has won three straight games and four of the last six. Last Saturday, Tennessee State won 87-83 at home against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Tennessee State shot nearly 60 percent in the game and were 19-26 at the line. The Tigers are the third-best scoring offense in the OVC, while on defense, they rank first in the conference in steals per game.
TSU had four players in double figures on Saturday and was led by graduate guard Erica Haynes-Overton with 19 points. Sophomore guard Gia Adams had 18 points. The Tigers are led in scoring by Haynes-Overton at 15.3 points per game. She also leads the team with 62 steals. Adams is second on the team in points, averaging 13.8 points per contest.
Thursday’s matchup can be seen live with a subscription to ESPN+, while Saturday’s game will be shown on ESPN3. Both contests can be heard on 95.7 FM The Spin (http://957thespin.com).
Purchase All-Session Passes to the OVC Tournament, Support USI Athletics
The Ohio Valley Conference Tournament will be held at the Ford Center in Downtown Evansville March 1 through March 4. USI Athletics is offering a special discount on All-Session Ticket Books through February 24.
Purchase a Ticket Book through USI Athletics and attend ALL EIGHT SESSIONS for ONLY $60 (adult single session tickets are $30 & $20 for men’s sessions and $15 for women’s sessions + fees). This special offer allows you to avoid ticket fees AND $30 from each ticket book sold comes back to support USI student athletes. Ticket books purchased through USI Athletics will be available for pickup on campus prior to the first session at the Ford Center on March 1 and specific details on pickup will accompany your purchase confirmation.
Plan to purchase your All-Session OVC Tournament Tickets through the University of Southern Indiana Athletics Office (Link) to show your support for Screaming Eagles Basketball!
VALPO MBB
MEN’S BASKETBALL CELEBRATES SENIORS ON WEDNESDAY
The Valparaiso University men’s basketball program recognized a quintet of seniors on Wednesday night at the Athletics-Recreation Center prior to a 76-66 setback to Bradley in the home finale. Ben Krikke (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada / Jasper Place), Nick Edwards (Atlanta, Ga. / Grayson [Glenville State]), Quinton Green (Columbus, Ohio / Homeschool [Cedarville]), Kobe King (La Crosse, Wis. / La Crosse Central [Wisconsin]) and Luke Morrill (Lombard, Ill. / Montini) along with student manager Sam Back (North Judson, Ind. / North Judson) and cheer/dance seniors were celebrated as part of a pregame ceremony. Head coach Matt Lottich and the senior players addressed the crowd after the game.
How It Happened
Valpo raced out to a 9-2 lead in the early going, with Maximus Nelson (Appleton, Wis. / Appleton North) hitting a 3 at the 17:36 mark to extend the lead to seven.
Bradley responded with a 10-point run to jump ahead 12-9 by the 14-minute mark.
Valpo led by four at the 10:36 mark of the first half to make it 18-14. Bradley followed with a 9-0 run to grab a five-point lead and force a Valpo timeout with 7:19 on the clock.
With 2:28 left in the first half, Bradley had its first double-figure lead of the day at 39-28, and the Braves had their largest lead at 42-30 when the game reached the halftime break. Bradley had 10 offensive rebounds and 11 second-chance points in the opening half.
Bradley built the lead up to 15 early in the second half, but Valpo bit into the deficit and eventually slimmed the lead down to seven when Green hit a 3 at the 12:49 mark.
The Beacons could get no closer, but did outscore the Braves 36-34 after the break.
Inside the Game
Krikke scored a team-high 17 points, while Green contributed 16 and knocked down four of his six 3-point attempts. Krikke reached double figures for the 18th straight game and has been in double figures in all 19 league contests.
King tallied 10 points, his 30th consecutive game with a double-figure scoring output. He shattered the program record for consecutive double-figure scoring outputs within the same season. Previously, Alec Peters (2016-17) and Javon Freeman-Liberty (2019-20) shared the program record for consecutive double-figure scoring outputs within the same year.
Krikke entered the program’s all-time top 10 for points in a single season on Wednesday. He finished the day with 584 points this year, climbing over fellow lefty Dan Oppland’s 2004-05 season (577) and Oppland’s 2005-06 season (573) to jump to ninth on the single-season scoring list.
Krikke moved into seventh on the program’s single-season made field goal list, upping his total to 229. He leapfrogged Javon Freeman-Liberty (2019-20, 227) and Alec Peters (2015-16, 223) on Wednesday.
Edwards gave out eight assists, climbing into the top 10 in single-season program history for assists. He surpassed Bryce Drew’s 1996-97 season (145) and Ali Berdiel’s 2002-03 season (146) to move into ninth in program history with 152 assists this season.
The starting lineup featured all five seniors who were recognized on Wednesday including Morrill, a walk-on who made his first collegiate start. This snapped a streak of Valpo having the same starting lineup in 14 consecutive games.
VALPO SOFTBALL
SOFTBALL HEADS TO THE SUNSHINE STATE
Valparaiso (1-4, 0-0 MVC)
Feb. 24-26 – at The Spring Games (Madeira Beach, Fla.)
Feb. 24 – vs. Siena (5-0) – 10 a.m. CT | vs. FIU (6-5) – 3 p.m. CT
Feb. 25 – vs. Dartmouth (0-0) – 10 a.m. CT | vs. UT Martin (1-4) – 12:30 p.m. CT
Feb. 26 – vs. Oakland (0-0) – 11:30 a.m. CT
Next Up in Valpo Softball: The Valpo softball team continues early-season competition with its longest trip of the year, flying down to Madeira Beach, Fla. to compete at The Spring Games. The Beacons will face Siena, FIU, Dartmouth, UT Martin and Oakland over a three-day span.
Previously: Valpo was idle from competition last weekend after opening the season by going 1-4 at the DePaul Dome Tournament, where the Beacons beat Western Illinois and fell to DePaul, SLU, Bowling Green and Eastern Kentucky.
Looking Ahead: The Beacons will head to Louisville, Ky. next weekend for the Bellarmine Round Robin, where they will play the hosts twice and Eastern Illinois three times.
Following Valpo Softball: All five of this weekend’s games will be video streamed via FloSoftball (subscription required). Live stats will be available for the FIU game as well.
Head Coach Meaggan Pettipiece: Meaggan Pettipiece was hired in September 2022 as head coach of the Valpo softball program. Pettipiece brings over a decade of experience as a collegiate head coach, most recently the last three seasons at the Division I level at Akron. Prior to her time at Akron, Pettipiece spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Kent State and was head coach at Northwood for 10 years. Pettipiece, who owns 251 career coaching victories, was an All-American on the diamond and helped California University of Pennsylvania to a D-II national title in 1998 collegiately before playing internationally for Team Canada, including at the 2000 Summer Olympics.
Series Notes: Siena/Dartmouth – First meetings.
FIU – FIU holds a 2-1 advantage in the all-time series and won the last matchup, 9-1, in Miami on Feb. 14, 2016.
UT Martin – Valpo is just 1-2 all-time against UT Martin, but won the last meeting, 8-4, in Chattanooga, Tenn. on Feb. 25, 2012.
Oakland – Former conference foes in the Mid-Continent Conference and the Horizon League, it’s a tight all-time series between Valpo and Oakland, with the Golden Grizzlies holding a slim 21-18 edge. This is the first matchup since Valpo won a rain-shortened 1-0 game to open the 2017 Horizon League Tournament.
What’s Back: Valpo returns 10 of 18 letterwinners from last season’s squad for the 2023 campaign. In all, 40.4% of Valpo’s plate appearances are back for this season and 63.6% of last season’s inning pitched return as well.
Who’s New: This year’s 16-player roster includes six newcomers donning the Brown and Gold for the first time. A quintet of freshmen – Kaia Garnica, Kimberli Rodas, Lexi Szostak, Lyna Vasquez and Cadence Augustine – are joined by Kent State transfer Autumn Acord. While Garnica was sidelined on opening weekend, the other five all made their Valpo debuts at the DePaul Dome Tournament.
Welcome to the Sunshine State: This weekend marks Valpo’s longest road trip of the season as it heads down to Florida. This is the Beacons’ first trip to Florida since playing at The Spring Games in Longwood, Fla. in 2020.
Hitting the Road: This weekend’s games continue a long and winding road for the Beacons before they finally get the chance to play at the Valpo Softball Complex. This is the second of four weekends of action prior to the start of conference play, as Valpo already played at the DePaul Dome Tournament and will later visit Bellarmine and Eastern Kentucky in preconference action. The Beacons have a mid-week game at Illinois leading into their conference-opening weekend at Southern Illinois before finally opening the home slate at the Valpo Softball Complex March 24 versus Illinois State. All told, Valpo is slated to play its first 22 games of the season away from home.
Walk It Out: Making her first career start in the win over Western Illinois, freshman Lyna Vasquez discovered that reaching base was as easy as 1-2-3-4. Vasquez drew a trio of full-count walks from Leatherneck pitching, tying for the third-most walks in a single game in program history and becoming the first Valpo player since April 2021 to draw three walks in a game. For the weekend, Vasquez reached base at a .556 clip, tallying four walks and a double.
A Pair of Firsts: The win over Western Illinois featured a pair of firsts for junior Emily Crompton. Crompton, who had not registered a defensive stat in her first two seasons, came up with her first career outfield assist on what proved to be a crucial out at the plate in the second inning in the eventual 1-0 victory. Crompton then delivered an RBI double for the game’s lone run in the fourth inning, her first career extra-base hit.
Strong Outing From Seib: Senior pitcher Easton Seib delivered a vintage performance in the circle to earn the win over Western Illinois, scattering six hits and walking just one in the 1-0 victory. The shutout was the fourth of Seib’s collegiate career, and marked the second time she has blanked the opposition in a 1-0 victory. Seib posted a 3.00 ERA over 18.2 innings of work in three games on opening weekend.
Hersch Keeps On Running: Fifth-year infielder Taylor Herschbach continued an impressive streak to open the 2023 season, stealing a base successfully against Bowling Green. Herschbach was a perfect 13-for-13 on the basepaths last year, tying a program single-season record for most steals without being caught. In fact, Herschbach has not been caught stealing since March 7, 2020.
U OF I SWIMMING
GREYHOUNDS PEPPER LIST OF NCAA NATIONAL QUALIFIERS
INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Swimming & Diving Committee announced on Wednesday the qualifiers for the upcoming NCAA DII Championships. A total of thirty-eight Greyhound student-athletes will represent the University at the national meet, set for March 7-11 at the IU Natatorium in downtown Indianapolis. The total derives from 29 invitees (16 women, 13 men), four relay-only swimming and five divers.
Co-hosting the year’s biggest meet with Indiana Sports Corp, UIndy will send its contingent 10 minutes north to the world-class venue. Diving pre-quals are set for Tuesday of that week, followed by the men’s and women’s 800 free relay finals later that evening. The regular schedule starts that Wednesday and runs through Saturday, with morning preliminaries at 10 a.m. ET, diving at 2 p.m. and evening finals at 6 p.m. each day.
Click the links above that to find the complete list of Greyhounds attending the meet.
Last March at the 2022 Championships, the UIndy women set a program best with a runner-up finish at National. the men, meanwhile, earned their third consecutive third-place showing.
U OF I MBB
MEN’S BASKETBALL TOPS SECOND SET OF REGIONAL RANKINGS
INDIANAPOLIS – The UIndy men’s basketball team sits atop the second set of NCAA Midwest regional rankings, announced on Wednesday. In last week’s initial poll, 10 programs were listed in alphabetical order “under consideration.”
The complete rankings can be found here.
The Greyhounds are 24-2 this season and have won 18 straight games, dating back to their Dec. 6 victory at Christian Brothers. UIndy is first in the GLVC with two regular season games left on the docket: Missouri-St. Louis (2/23) and Missouri S&T (2/25). In addition, UIndy recently rose to No. 4 in both the NABC (coaches) and D2SIDA (media) national polls.
The regional advisory committee (RAC) uses a host of criteria to determine the poll’s top 10, including performance indicator (PI), strength of schedule (SOS) among others. Among all Midwest region programs, UIndy ranks first in the following categories: Massey Rating, performance indicator, RPI, and region wins.
The Hounds are riding an 18-game winning streak, matching the program’s best stretch since joining NCAA DII. Jesse Bingham leads the team with 16.0 points per game, while Kendrick Tchoua is averaging 14.4 points and 7.8 rebounds each contest with a DII-leading 74.4 field goal percentage.
MARIAN MBB
HARVEY’S CAREER-HIGH FUELS MARIAN’S CL TOURNAMENT WIN OVER BETHEL
INDIANAPOLIS – Trailing by seven at the break, the Marian men’s basketball team ramped up their defense in the final 20 minutes, going on multiple runs in the second half to pull away and defeat Bethel 81-70 in the Crossroads League Tournament Quarterfinals. Marian’s win advances them to the semifinals with a 21-8 overall record.
The Knights started out strong, scoring inside and out in the opening minutes to jump in front 7-3. Following a Brody Whitaker make, Bethel caught fire running their offense through Nathan Aerts, as he scored 13 points in the first six minutes to help the Pilots take control of the wheel. Aerts’ offensive attack helped Bethel go up by as many as nine in the first seven minutes, however Marian was able to trim their deficit slightly as Christian Harvey and Taeshon Cherry earned points for the home team.
Bethel was able to hold their lead at six or more for the final 12 minutes of the opening half, and would lead by as many as 12 points in the period as they forced Marian into tough, contested shots. Harvey slowly helped bring his team back to life, scoring six straight Knight points to whittle the Pilot lead to eight with over three minutes to go. The senior would bring Marian within seven at the break as he executed a two-for-one opportunity in the closing seconds, scoring 14 points in the half to send the Knights back to the locker room trailing just 46-39.
Harvey continued to be the catalyst starting the second half, going on a 6-2 run to bring his team back within three and force an early timeout. The score before the media timeout would be Marian’s last nearly three minutes, as Bethel pestered the Knights offense.
Despite the lulls, Marian stayed in the game with strong defense, and got the offense going as Brody Whitaker converted a three-point play. A corner three from Gavin Foe off a no-look pass from Luke Gohmann delivered Marian’s first lead at 51-50 since the 17:03 mark of the opening half, while Whitaker completed the 8-0 run with another score. Bethel would quiet the run with a drive to the basket, but an open three from Gohmann woke the crowd back up, with a Maximus Gizzi layup jumping the difference to five with 9:32 to play.
Marian’s lead would teeter between three and six points, as the Knights and Pilots traded score for score and strong defense for strong defense. A driving score on the fast break from Hayden Langkabel with 4:28 to go put Marian on top 66-61, while Harvey drove to the dish and added two more, making it a three-possession game. The Knights continued to stay on top by two scores or more for the final four minutes, and with 55.5 seconds to go Langkabel iced the game, growing Marian’s lead to 12 as he sank four free throws. Marian would finish the game making five of their final six foul shots, sealing the 81-70 win in the closing minute.
The Knights defense played a large role in the win, as they erased their seven-point halftime deficit and out-scored Bethel 42-24 in the final 20 minutes to seal the win. Marian limited Bethel to just 29 percent from the floor in the final half, while their offense shot 45 percent in the period, knocking down 20 free throws in total in the win.
Harvey poured in a career-high 28 points in potentially his final home game, making 10-of-15 shots from the field while going 8-9 at the stripe. Cherry finished with 16 points, while Langkabel scored 11 and Whitaker had 10. Gohmann and Cherry each had nine rebounds, and Langkabel led Marian with four steals.
Marian will travel to Grace College for the semifinals on Saturday afternoon, with tip scheduled for 1:00 p.m. against the top-seeded Lancers.
MARIAN WLAX
MARIAN PICKS UP 17-5 VICTORY OVER ANDERSON IN SEASON OPENER
Anderson, Ind. – The Marian women’s lacrosse team began their 2023 campaign off right on Wednesday night as they defeated Anderson University 17-5. Marian had six different players score with five scoring a hat trick or more. With the win, the Knights start their season off 1-0.
Marian got off to quick and hot start with back-to-back goals to kick off the first game of the season. Ella Grace Giedd scored the game’s first goal as she notched her first goal in a Marian uniform before 16 seconds later Grace Martin got one to go in to make it 2-0 early. The Knights got a good look at the 10:53 mark from Giedd on the free position shot, but Anderson goalie was able to make the save. The Knights continued to put pressure on the Ravens’ defense, scoring three more quick goals from Giedd, Katelynn Gray, and Ruby Mason to put Marian up 5-0.
Anderson found their first good look with a little under eight minutes left in the first quarter, but a save by Katherine Hirsch left the Ravens still searching. The Knights extended their lead to 7-0 after Giedd completed the hat trick, followed by Mason finding back netting. Hirsch picked up three saves to keep Anderson scoreless, while Madison Ash connected with Giedd for the goal with 4:26 left in the first to give them the 8-0 advantage. However, Anderson found their first goal of the game 10 seconds later to end the first quarter 8-1 in favor of the Knights.
The Ravens were the first to attack in the second quarter with their second goal coming with 10:52 remaining. Marian got their offense flowing again at the 7:12 mark when they responded by back-to-back goals from Katelynn Gray and Martin to hit the 10 goals mark. Anderson started finding their offensive rhythm as they scored again to trail 10-3. Ash had the last say of the half as she put one past the Ravens’ goalie with 51 ticks left to give the Knights the 11-3 lead at halftime.
The offensive momentum seemed to swing towards the Ravens in the third quarter with the hosts picking up the first goal to cut their deficit 11-4. Mason ended the scoring drought for Marian at the 3:16 mark which would be the final goal scored of the quarter, putting the Knights up 12-4 going into the final quarter of action.
Marian pushed their lead to 10 goals after Grace executed on the free position goal, followed by Ash scoring at the 9:12 mark, making the score 14-4. The Ravens continued to battle as they got their fifth goal a little over two minutes later, but Tori Farkas started a scoring spurt for Marian with 4:49 to go. Mason and Katelynn Gray each hit back netting to score the final goals of the game and lead Marian to the 17-5 win.
The Knights’ victory was headline by Giedd’s team-leading four goals on six shots. Katelynn Gray, Ash, Mason and Martin each recorded a hat trick, while Ash and Mason dished out two assists. Gray picked up a team-best four groundballs and Mason won five draws.
Hirsh got the win in goal for Marian as she made six saves and allowed five goals.
Marian will return to action on Friday at 6 PM when they host Georgetown College in their home opener.
SMALL COLLEGE ATHLETIC SITES:
INDIANA WESLEYAN ATHLETICS: https://iwuwildcats.com/
EARLHAM ATHLETICS: https://goearlham.com/
WABASH ATHLETICS: https://sports.wabash.edu/
FRANKLIN ATHLETICS: https://franklingrizzlies.com/
ROSE-HULMAN ATHLETICS: https://athletics.rose-hulman.edu/
ANDERSON ATHLETICS: https://athletics.anderson.edu/landing/index
TRINE ATHLETICS: https://trinethunder.com/landing/index
BETHEL ATHLETICS: https://bupilots.com/
DEPAUW ATHLETICS: https://depauwtigers.com/
HANOVER ATHLETICS: https://athletics.hanover.edu/
MANCHESTER ATHLETICS: https://muspartans.com/
HUNTINGTON ATHLETICS: https://www.huathletics.com/
OAKLAND CITY ATHLETICS: https://gomightyoaks.com/index.aspx
ST. FRANCIS ATHLETICS: https://www.saintfranciscougars.com/landing/index
IU KOKOMO ATHLETICS: https://iukcougars.com/
IU EAST ATHLETICS: https://www.iueredwolves.com/
IU SOUTH BEND ATHLETICS: https://iusbtitans.com/
PURDUE NORTHWEST ATHLETICS: https://pnwathletics.com/
INDIANA TECH ATHLETICS: https://indianatechwarriors.com/index.aspx
GRACE COLLEGE ATHLETICS: https://gclancers.com/
ST. MARY OF THE WOODS ATHLETICS: https://smwcathletics.com/
GOSHEN COLLEGE ATHLETICS: https://goleafs.net/
HOLY CROSS ATHLETICS: https://www.hcsaints.com/index.php
TAYLOR ATHLETICS: https://www.taylortrojans.com/
VINCENNES ATHLETICS: https://govutrailblazers.com/landing/index
SPORTS EXTRA
NBA STANDINGS
| Eastern Conference | ||||||||||||
| Atlantic Division | ||||||||||||
| W | L | Pct | GB | Home | Road | Div | Conf | Last 10 | Streak | |||
| Boston | 42 | 17 | .712 | — | 24-7 | 18-10 | 8-1 | 25-12 | 7-3 | 1 W | ||
| Philadelphia | 38 | 19 | .667 | 3.0 | 23-8 | 15-11 | 7-5 | 22-13 | 7-3 | 4 W | ||
| Brooklyn | 34 | 24 | .586 | 7.5 | 18-11 | 16-13 | 6-7 | 24-13 | 5-5 | 1 W | ||
| New York | 33 | 27 | .550 | 9.5 | 16-15 | 17-12 | 5-8 | 23-16 | 6-4 | 3 W | ||
| Toronto | 28 | 31 | .475 | 14.0 | 18-13 | 10-18 | 4-9 | 17-19 | 6-4 | 2 W | ||
| Central Divison | ||||||||||||
| W | L | Pct | GB | Home | Road | Div | Conf | Last 10 | Streak | |||
| Milwaukee | 41 | 17 | .707 | — | 24-5 | 17-12 | 8-4 | 23-13 | 10-0 | 12 W | ||
| Cleveland | 38 | 23 | .623 | 4.5 | 25-6 | 13-17 | 11-3 | 22-11 | 8-2 | 1 L | ||
| Chicago | 26 | 33 | .441 | 15.5 | 16-13 | 10-20 | 5-7 | 20-20 | 3-7 | 6 L | ||
| Indiana | 26 | 34 | .433 | 16.0 | 18-14 | 8-20 | 4-5 | 18-17 | 2-8 | 1 W | ||
| Detroit | 15 | 44 | .254 | 26.5 | 8-21 | 7-23 | 0-9 | 6-27 | 3-7 | 2 L | ||
| Southeast Division | ||||||||||||
| W | L | Pct | GB | Home | Road | Div | Conf | Last 10 | Streak | |||
| Miami | 32 | 27 | .542 | — | 19-10 | 13-17 | 7-3 | 15-17 | 5-5 | 2 L | ||
| Atlanta | 29 | 30 | .492 | 3.0 | 15-12 | 14-18 | 5-5 | 17-19 | 4-6 | 2 L | ||
| Washington | 28 | 30 | .483 | 3.5 | 14-12 | 14-18 | 6-3 | 15-17 | 6-4 | 2 W | ||
| Orlando | 24 | 35 | .407 | 8.0 | 14-15 | 10-20 | 3-8 | 12-25 | 5-5 | 1 L | ||
| Charlotte | 17 | 43 | .283 | 15.5 | 9-18 | 8-25 | 6-8 | 9-29 | 3-7 | 2 W | ||
| Western Conference | ||||||||||||
| Northwest Division | ||||||||||||
| W | L | Pct | GB | Home | Road | Div | Conf | Last 10 | Streak | |||
| Denver | 41 | 18 | .695 | — | 27-4 | 14-14 | 10-5 | 29-11 | 7-3 | 3 W | ||
| Minnesota | 31 | 30 | .508 | 11.0 | 20-13 | 11-17 | 8-7 | 22-19 | 5-5 | 1 L | ||
| Oklahoma City | 28 | 29 | .491 | 12.0 | 17-12 | 11-17 | 5-6 | 15-17 | 5-5 | 1 W | ||
| Utah | 29 | 31 | .483 | 12.5 | 18-12 | 11-19 | 4-6 | 19-18 | 4-6 | 1 L | ||
| Portland | 28 | 30 | .483 | 12.5 | 16-14 | 12-16 | 5-8 | 20-16 | 5-5 | 1 L | ||
| Pacific Division | ||||||||||||
| W | L | Pct | GB | Home | Road | Div | Conf | Last 10 | Streak | |||
| Sacramento | 32 | 25 | .561 | — | 17-12 | 15-13 | 5-6 | 20-13 | 5-5 | 1 L | ||
| LA Clippers | 33 | 28 | .541 | 1.0 | 15-13 | 18-15 | 6-4 | 19-16 | 6-4 | 2 W | ||
| Phoenix | 32 | 28 | .533 | 1.5 | 20-10 | 12-18 | 9-1 | 21-15 | 7-3 | 1 L | ||
| Golden State | 29 | 29 | .500 | 3.5 | 22-7 | 7-22 | 4-6 | 17-14 | 5-5 | 1 L | ||
| LA Lakers | 27 | 32 | .458 | 6.0 | 14-14 | 13-18 | 2-9 | 14-20 | 4-6 | 1 W | ||
| Southwest Division | ||||||||||||
| W | L | Pct | GB | Home | Road | Div | Conf | Last 10 | Streak | |||
| Memphis | 35 | 22 | .614 | — | 24-5 | 11-17 | 6-2 | 17-16 | 4-6 | 1 W | ||
| Dallas | 31 | 29 | .517 | 5.5 | 19-10 | 12-19 | 7-2 | 23-16 | 5-5 | 3 L | ||
| New Orleans | 30 | 29 | .508 | 6.0 | 20-10 | 10-19 | 7-4 | 19-15 | 4-6 | 1 L | ||
| San Antonio | 14 | 45 | .237 | 22.0 | 9-21 | 5-24 | 2-7 | 5-30 | 0-10 | 14 L | ||
| Houston | 13 | 45 | .224 | 22.5 | 8-20 | 5-25 | 1-8 | 7-31 | 2-8 | 7 L |
NHL STANDINGS
| Eastern Conference | ||||||||||||
| Atlantic Division | ||||||||||||
| GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | ROW | GF | GA | Home | Road | L10 | ||
| Boston Bruins | 56 | 43 | 8 | 5 | 91 | 41 | 210 | 118 | 24-2-3 | 19-6-2 | 6-3-1 | |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 58 | 35 | 15 | 8 | 78 | 35 | 200 | 156 | 22-6-4 | 13-9-4 | 6-4-0 | |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 56 | 36 | 17 | 3 | 75 | 34 | 201 | 163 | 22-4-2 | 14-13-1 | 6-2-2 | |
| Florida Panthers | 60 | 29 | 25 | 6 | 64 | 27 | 209 | 210 | 16-8-3 | 13-17-3 | 6-4-0 | |
| Detroit Red Wings | 56 | 27 | 21 | 8 | 62 | 25 | 175 | 180 | 14-11-3 | 13-10-5 | 7-3-0 | |
| Buffalo Sabres | 55 | 28 | 23 | 4 | 60 | 27 | 204 | 193 | 11-15-2 | 17-8-2 | 5-4-1 | |
| Ottawa Senators | 56 | 27 | 25 | 4 | 58 | 25 | 172 | 179 | 16-12-2 | 11-13-2 | 7-2-1 | |
| Montreal Canadiens | 57 | 24 | 29 | 4 | 52 | 20 | 156 | 207 | 14-14-1 | 10-15-3 | 4-5-1 | |
| Metropolitan Division | ||||||||||||
| GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | ROW | GF | GA | Home | Road | L10 | ||
| Carolina Hurricanes | 56 | 38 | 10 | 8 | 84 | 35 | 192 | 148 | 20-6-2 | 18-4-6 | 9-1-0 | |
| New Jersey Devils | 57 | 37 | 15 | 5 | 79 | 36 | 197 | 154 | 16-11-2 | 21-4-3 | 6-3-1 | |
| New York Rangers | 57 | 33 | 15 | 9 | 75 | 30 | 192 | 156 | 16-10-4 | 17-5-5 | 7-1-2 | |
| New York Islanders | 61 | 30 | 24 | 7 | 67 | 30 | 177 | 171 | 18-10-3 | 12-14-4 | 6-2-2 | |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 56 | 27 | 20 | 9 | 63 | 26 | 180 | 178 | 15-8-4 | 12-12-5 | 4-5-1 | |
| Washington Capitals | 59 | 28 | 25 | 6 | 62 | 27 | 176 | 173 | 14-12-3 | 14-13-3 | 3-7-0 | |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 59 | 23 | 26 | 10 | 56 | 22 | 159 | 190 | 11-14-3 | 12-12-7 | 3-5-2 | |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | 57 | 18 | 34 | 5 | 41 | 17 | 146 | 212 | 12-17-2 | 6-17-3 | 4-4-2 | |
| Western Conference | ||||||||||||
| Central Division | ||||||||||||
| GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | ROW | GF | GA | Home | Road | L10 | ||
| Dallas Stars | 58 | 30 | 16 | 12 | 72 | 28 | 188 | 152 | 15-8-7 | 15-8-5 | 2-3-5 | |
| Winnipeg Jets | 58 | 35 | 22 | 1 | 71 | 34 | 181 | 150 | 20-8-0 | 15-14-1 | 4-6-0 | |
| Colorado Avalanche | 55 | 31 | 19 | 5 | 67 | 27 | 173 | 155 | 14-9-4 | 17-10-1 | 6-2-2 | |
| Minnesota Wild | 57 | 31 | 21 | 5 | 67 | 25 | 169 | 162 | 19-10-2 | 12-11-3 | 5-4-1 | |
| Nashville Predators | 55 | 27 | 22 | 6 | 60 | 24 | 157 | 167 | 16-10-3 | 11-12-3 | 6-4-0 | |
| St. Louis Blues | 57 | 26 | 28 | 3 | 55 | 23 | 176 | 209 | 13-13-2 | 13-15-1 | 3-7-0 | |
| Arizona Coyotes | 58 | 20 | 29 | 9 | 49 | 17 | 158 | 205 | 13-9-2 | 7-20-7 | 5-1-4 | |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 57 | 20 | 32 | 5 | 45 | 19 | 143 | 206 | 12-16-3 | 8-16-2 | 5-4-1 | |
| Pacific Division | ||||||||||||
| GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | ROW | GF | GA | Home | Road | L10 | ||
| Vegas Golden Knights | 57 | 34 | 18 | 5 | 73 | 31 | 186 | 160 | 17-13-0 | 17-5-5 | 5-2-3 | |
| Los Angeles Kings | 58 | 32 | 19 | 7 | 71 | 27 | 197 | 195 | 17-9-2 | 15-10-5 | 7-2-1 | |
| Seattle Kraken | 57 | 32 | 19 | 6 | 70 | 32 | 197 | 178 | 15-10-3 | 17-9-3 | 4-5-1 | |
| Edmonton Oilers | 58 | 31 | 19 | 8 | 70 | 31 | 218 | 193 | 14-11-5 | 17-8-3 | 4-1-5 | |
| Calgary Flames | 58 | 27 | 20 | 11 | 65 | 26 | 186 | 179 | 15-11-2 | 12-9-9 | 4-4-2 | |
| Vancouver Canucks | 57 | 22 | 30 | 5 | 49 | 19 | 195 | 231 | 11-15-1 | 11-15-4 | 3-5-2 | |
| San Jose Sharks | 58 | 18 | 29 | 11 | 47 | 17 | 174 | 213 | 6-14-7 | 12-15-4 | 4-4-2 | |
| Anaheim Ducks | 58 | 17 | 34 | 7 | 41 | 14 | 145 | 246 | 9-16-1 | 8-18-6 | 3-5-2 |
FOOTBALL HISTORY
THE 1929 PRO FOOTBALL SEASON AT A GLANCE
New franchise additions included the Orange Tornadoes, Staten Island Stapletons, and Minneapolis Red Jackets. The Buffalo Bisons were also added as they suspended operations for the previous year and happily enjoyed reentry to the fray of active NFL franchises. There were also a few revisions to returning teams. The Pottsville Maroons were now the Boston Bulldogs, the New York Yankees folded, and the Detroit Wolverines merged with the New York Giants, staying under the name umbrella of the Giants.
OFFICIATING CHANGES
The National Football League made a substantial change to their officiating crews. The addition of a fourth on-field official, the Field Judge, helped to box the gameplay in so that eyes could see the action from all sides. The FJ joined the Referee, Umpire, and Head Linesman on the field. According to a recent post on the Football Zebras website, the new Field Judge position was optional during the next few seasons as clarified by NFL and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Field judge would cover a few areas of the field, the sideline opposite the head linesman and the deep secondary of the defense behind the umpire. Offenses explored both areas as the game used the forward pass more than previously.
COMPETITION FOR THE 1929 NFL TITLE & THE ALL-PROS
In the first nine weeks of play, the frontrunners in the standings were the Green Bay Packers and the New York Football Giants. Neither franchise had lost a game. The press touted the November 24 meeting between the 8-0-1 Giants and 9-0 Packers as the unofficial NFL championship game. There would not be an official postseason contest to determine a League Champion until 1933, so the records meant everything for the title. They were probably pretty close in this prediction, as each team had other games remaining on their schedules afterward, but none threatened these powerhouse elevens.The game was everything it was built up to be. The Pack took the early lead when Verne Lewellen sailed a touchdown pass to Herdis McCrary, and Bo Molenda’s extra point gave Green Bay a 7–0 lead in the first quarter. The Giants responded with a TD passing strike of their own when Benny Friedman found Tony Plansky for the score, but the extra point kick attempt was blocked, and New York trailed 7–6 in the third quarter. The Packers padded this lead in the final stanza, winning 20–6 to take a one-game lead in the standings. As predicted, neither Green Bay nor New York lost their remaining games; the Packers finished at 12–0–1, the Giants at 13–1–1. It was a tight race, but with the head-to-head victory Curly Lambeau and his Packers had sealed their first NFL championship title.
With great teams comes some individual recognitions for the players that stood out amongst the others. The fellas that played their hearts out are legendary when you consider that there were the likes of: Bull Behman, Tony Plansky, Ernie Nevers, Mike Michalske, Verne Lewellen, Joe Wostoupal, Benny Friedman, Ray Flaherty, Lavvie Dilweg, Cal Hubbard, Milt Rehnquist, Duke Slater, Bob Beattie, Walt Kiesling, Steve Owen, Ken Strong, George Pease, Luke Johnsos, Joey Maxwell, Jack Spellman, Walt Holmer, Doug Wycoff, Herb Blumer, Johnny Blood, Wally Diehl, Jug Earp, Hal Hanson, Bill Kern, Bob Lundell, and Frank Racis.
HALL OF FAME BIRTHDAYS FOR FEBRUARY 23
February 23, 1877 – Lisle, New York – The incredible guard of Princeton University, Bill Edwards was welcomed into the world. The National Football Foundation has a special story for this player. For more on Big Bill, please click his name.
February 23, 1923 – Hudson, Ohio – The awesome Ohio State end, Dante Lavelli also known as “Glue Fingers” was born. Incredibly Lavelli is reported to have only played in 3 college games before he served in the US Infantry and then turned professional after his tour of duty was complete. How could he be attractive to pro franchises with so little of a college resume you might ask? Well his Coach at Ohio State was one, Paul Brown, who remembered the sure handed freshman and in 1946 when assembling the new Cleveland Browns team in the 1946 inaugural season of the AAFC, Brown looked Lavelli up. According to Glue Fingers bio on the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s website; “To make the Browns, he had to beat out four more experienced and highly regarded candidates. But Dante not only prevailed, he led the league in receptions and won All-AAFC honors in his rookie season. He also caught the winning touchdown pass in the first AAFC championship game between the Browns and the New York Yankees.” Dante made the All-AAFC again in 1947 and after the Browns moved into the NFL in 1950, Lavelli was All NFL twice and started in 3 of the first 5 Pro Bowl games played! He finished his Pro Football career with 386 catches and 62 touchdowns. Dante Lavelli was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1975.
February 23, 1930 – Temple, Texas – Bobby Dillon, the 6 foot – 1 inch tall safety from the University of Texas arrived into this life. The ProFootballHOF.com website states that Bobby picked off four passes as a Rookie for the Green Bay Packers and totaled 52 of them in his 8 year NFL career. His return yards on those career picks was 976 yards with 5 going for touchdowns! When he called it quits he was tied for second on the All time list of L3ague interceptions and held the Packers record. The Pro Football Hall of Fame honored Bobby Dillon’s football legacy by placing his bronze bust in Canton, unfortunately posthumously in 2020.
February 23, 1940 – Columbia, Mississippi – The brilliant tight end from Northwestern Louisiana University, Jackie Smith was born. Smith was a long tenured NFL player as his career spanned 16 seasons according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s website. Jackie was a tenth round pick by the St Louis Cardinals in 1963 and played 15 seasons for the Redbirds. His bio describes him as a fierce blocker and an extremely hard person to tackle once he got his mitts on the ball. When he retired he led all TE’s with 480 receptions, 40 scores and 7918 receiving yards. In his final season he had the privilege of playing in Super Bowl XIII with the Dallas Cowboys. Jackie Smith was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1994.
February 23, 1943 – Erie, Pennsylvania – The talented wide receiver that once wore the colors of the Florida State Seminoles, Fred Biletnikoff entered into this life. In his first two seasons at FSU, he played on both sides of the ball. He showed off his defensive skill set in his junior year he made a 99-yard run with an intercepted pass against Miami per the NFF. According to Dan Brabender’s book, “Sports Heroes of the Erie School District“ was FSU’s first consensus All-American and he set single season records with 70 receptions, 1179 receiving yards and 15 scores in 1964 a the school. Fred had some of his greatest performances while on the big stage. In a Gator Bowl victory over powerful Oklahoma, Freddie B hauled in 13 receptions for 192 yards and four touchdowns in the Seminoles 36-19 romp. Fred’s Florida State career was so impactful that they retired the All-American’s jersey number 25 from being used further in the school’s football program. The collegiate accomplishments of Fred Biletnikoff were held for preservation in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1991. The Oakland Raiders took Fred inthe 1965 AFL Draft and he stayed with the franchise for his entire 14 year Pro Career. The shifty wideout caught a career 589 passes for 8974 yards and 76 TDs. The Pro Football Hall of Fame says that Biletnikoff “owned several significant NFL marks as well. Along with another Hall of Fame receiver, Raymond Berry, Fred held the record for having caught 40 or more passes in 10 consecutive seasons. His 70 receptions, 1,167 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns in 19 post-season games were also NFL post-season career records.” He played in two AFL All-Star games and four AFC-NFC Pro Bowl games as well as three AFL and five AFC championship games, plus Super Bowls II and XI. Fred was the MVP of that Super Bowl XI Raiders victory! Fred Biletnikoff was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988. As a final note we share that the earlier mentioned Author Dan Brabender, declares Biletnikoff to be the greatest wide receiver in NFL history!
February 23, 1950 – Union, South Carolina – The outstanding linebacker from Tennessee Tech, Jim Youngblood celebrates his date of birth. The National Football Foundation’s bio on Jim says that he; “set a school record with 476 tackles.” And “Tennessee Tech retired his jersey, No 53.” After both the 1971 and the 1972 seasons, Youngblood received All-American honors for his great play. Jim Youngblood’s collegiate career is forever preserved as he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1996. After school, Jim was picked by the Los Angeles Rams in the 1972 NFL Draft and played 11 seasons there and one final year with Washington.
TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1921 Brooklyn trade 29-year-old Rabbit Maranville to the Pirates for Billy Southworth, Fred Nicholson, Walter Barbare, and $15,000 in cash. The future Hall of Fame shortstop will spend four of his 19 major league seasons playing for the Bucs, providing excellent defense while compiling a .283 batting average.
1934 Brooklyn coach Casey Stengel signs a two-year deal to manage the Dodgers, replacing skipper Max Carey, who guided the sixth-place club to a 65-88 record last season. During the rookie manager’s three-year tenure with the Brooks, the team will finish 43 games under .500, finishing no higher than fifth place.
1960 Twenty-eight months after the Dodgers play their last game in Brooklyn, the demolition of Ebbets Field finally begins when a wrecking ball, painted with red and white stitches, begins its work on the ballpark Brooklyn called home for 44 years. Before the demolition, wheel-chair-bound Roy Campanella, the team’s former All-Star catcher and three-time National League MVP, is given an urn of dirt from behind home plate in front of a crowd of 200 faithful fans.
1986 Although he loses his arbitration case, Boston third baseman Wade Boggs receives the largest amount ($1.35 million) ever awarded by this process. Last season’s AL batting champ had sought $1.85 million, but arbitrator Thomas Roberts rules in favor of the Red Sox, resulting in a drop of a half-million dollars for the infielder.
1987 Three days into spring training, Dick Howser’s attempted comeback after undergoing brain tumor surgery comes to an end when the frail-looking Royals manager finds he is physically too weak to continue. Third-base coach Billy Gardner replaces the ill skipper, who will die three months later at St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City.
1988 Facing the loss of the 1990 All-Star game and possible postseason games, the Chicago City Council passes an ordinance, 29-19, allowing the Cubs to play 18 night games a season through the year 2002 at Wrigley Field, the last major league ballpark to be illuminated. The legislation prohibits beer sales after 9:20 p.m. and organ music ten minutes later.
1990 Although the owners drop their arbitration and minimum salary proposals, spring training camps remain closed. Baseball’s seventh work stoppage will last 32 days, resulting in the delay of Opening Day for a week and the overall season extended by three days to accommodate the 162-game schedule.
1997 Ira Berkow’s front-page story about Larry Doby appears in the Sunday New York Times, detailing the 22-year-old second baseman’s experience about being the first black to play in the American League. The article spurs much interest about the former Newark Eagle, leading many to believe the story helped his election to the Hall of Fame the following year.
2000 Cubs manager Don Baylor names four captains, selecting first baseman Mark Grace, right fielder Sammy Sosa, pitcher Kevin Tapani, and reliever Rick Aguilera. The quartet will be the Cubs’ first captains since the 1960s and early 1970s when Ron Santo held the position.
2006 Complaining about the lack of support from local baseball officials, Roberto Kelly resigns as manager of Panama’s team in the World Baseball Classic. The Giants spring training instructor believes some players choose not to participate in the WBC, opting to play in the Panamanian championships.
2012 Avoiding a 50-game suspension, Ryan Braun becomes the first major league player to challenge a positive test result successfully. The panel that heard the appeal voted 2-1 in favor of the 28-year-old Brewer outfielder because the test collector kept the urine sample at home and stored it in his refrigerator for two days before sending the specimen to a Montreal laboratory for analysis.
2013 After three years of futility in New York, Jason Bay, who mutually agreed to terminate his contract with the Mets in November, clouts a two-run homer in his first at-bat of spring training in the Mariners’ 8-6 exhibition victory over the Padres. In the offseason, the likable but oft-injured outfielder signed with Seattle for $1 million, a far cry from the four-year, $66-million free-agent deal he inked, leaving Boston for the Big Apple in 2009.
2016 Jose Reyes becomes the first player disciplined under baseball’s new domestic violence policy when he is placed on paid leave until the completion of criminal proceedings, stemming from his arrest following an argument with his wife at a Hawaiian resort in late October. The 32-year-old All-Star shortstop, who pleaded not guilty to a charge of abuse of a family member, will not report to the Rockies’ spring training camp.
2016 At a news conference at Borough Hall in Queens, the Mets announce the team will host an LGBT Pride Night on August 13 at Citi Field, featuring discounted seating for the game against the Padres and a free postgame concert. A portion of the ticket proceeds purchased from Mets.com/pride for the event, expected to attract more than 5,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender fans, will benefit the LGBT Network, a non-profit organization Safe Schools Initiative working to stop bullying in Long Island and Queens.
2020 The new-look Phillie Phanatic, a redesign prompted by a copyright dispute, struts his stuff in the team’s spring training home opener. The colorful changes made to the uproarious mascot’s costume pays homage to the history of the franchise; with powder-blue tail recognizing a historical color in the Phillies’ story, the blue socks with a red stripe honoring the 1948 uniform famously worn by Phillies Hall of Fame outfielder Richie Ashburn, and the red shoes featuring a Liberty Bell design paying tribute to the City of Love.
SPORTS IN NUMBERS
43 – 13 – 98 – 33 – 26 – 88
February 23, 1964 – Richard Petty in the famous blue Patterson Motors Plymouth, Number 43 lead for record 184 of the 200 laps of the 6th annual Daytona 500 and takes the checkered flag of the Great American Race.
February 23, 1968 – Number 13, Wilt Chamberlain became very first NBA player to reach the milestone of scoring 25,000 points in his career.
February 23, 1969 – Junior Johnson’s team driver, LeeRoy Yarbrough driving the Number 98 Ford Torino Cobra , catches Charlie Glotzbach on final lap to win his first Daytona 500. It was the first time in the big race’s history that the victor won on a pass in the last lap!
February 23, 1985 – Goaltender Patrick Roy, wearing the Number 33 sweater made his NHL debut for the Montreal Canadiens. The goalie would end up making the All-Rookie team that season fro his brilliant play. Roy would mind the crease for Montreal for 12 seasons and then spend an additional 7 full years playing for the Colarado Avalanche. He hoisted the Stanley Cup 4 times and led the Legaue in Goals against three differeent times in his 19 year career.
February 23, 1986 – Red Sox infielder Wade Boggs, Number 26 won the largest arbitration to date worth $1.35 million eventhough he lost his arbitration case.
February 23, 2014 – Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Number 88 National Guard Chevrolet takes the checkered flag at the 56th running of the Daytona 500. The victory broke a 55-race winless streak to win his 2nd Great American Race.
TV THURSDAY
| NCAA BASKETBALL GAMES – MEN’S | TIME ET | TV |
| Penn State at Ohio State | 6:30pm | FS1 |
| Memphis at Wichita State | 7:00pm | ESPN2 |
| Longwood at Gardner-Webb | 7:00pm | ESPNU |
| Towson at Charleston | 7:00pm | CBSSN |
| Northeastern at Drexel | 7:00pm | NBCS-PHI |
| Northern Kentucky at Detroit Mercy | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Wright State at Oakland | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| North Texas at Charlotte | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| UTEP at FIU | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| UTSA at Florida Atlantic | 7:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Delaware at North Carolina A&T | 7:00pm | FloSports |
| Elon at William & Mary | 7:00pm | FloSports |
| Monmouth at Hampton | 7:00pm | FloSports |
| Stony Brook at UNCW | 7:00pm | FloSports |
| Robert Morris at IUPUI | 7:30pm | ESPN+ |
| Rice at UAB | 7:30pm | ESPN+ |
| Utah Tech at UTRGV | 7:30pm | ESPN+ |
| California Baptist at Sam Houston | 7:30pm | ESPN+ |
| Kansas City at South Dakota State | 8:00pm | – |
| St. Thomas at North Dakota State | 8:00pm | – |
| Southeastern Louisiana at Lamar | 8:00pm | ESPN+ |
| McNeese at Houston Christian | 8:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Nicholls at New Orleans | 8:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Utah Valley at Tarleton | 8:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Southern Utah at UTA | 8:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Oral Roberts at South Dakota | 8:00pm | – |
| Michigan at Rutgers | 8:30pm | FS1 |
| Northwestern State at UIW | 8:30pm | ESPN+ |
| A&M-Commerce at A&M-Corpus Christi | 8:30pm | ESPN+ |
| Little Rock at SIUE | 8:30pm | ESPN+ |
| Purdue Fort Wayne at Milwaukee | 8:30pm | ESPN+ |
| USC at Colorado | 9:00pm | ESPN2 |
| Northwestern at Illinois | 9:00pm | BTN |
| Tennessee State at UT Martin | 9:00pm | ESPNU |
| Louisiana Tech at WKU | 9:00pm | CBSSN |
| Washington at California | 9:00pm | PAC12N |
| Southeast Missouri at Lindenwood | 9:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Tennessee Tech at Southern Indiana | 9:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Cleveland State at Green Bay | 9:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Sacramento State at Montana State | 9:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Eastern Washington at Weber State | 9:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Idaho at Idaho State | 9:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Portland State at Montana | 9:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Pacific at Saint Mary’s | 10:00pm | NBCS-BAY |
| Pepperdine at Santa Clara | 10:00pm | WCCN |
| UC San Diego at UC Irvine | 10:00pm | ESPN+ |
| CSU Bakersfield at CSUN | 10:00pm | ESPN+ |
| Long Beach State at UC Santa Barbara | 10:00pm | ESPN+ |
| UC Davis at Cal State Fullerton | 10:00pm | ESPN+ |
| San Diego at Gonzaga | 11:00pm | ESPN2 |
| UCLA at Utah | 11:00pm | FS1 |
| Portland at San Francisco | 11:00pm | CBSSN |
| Washington State at Stanford | 11:00pm | PAC12N |
| UC Riverside at Hawai’i | 11:59pm | Spectrum |
| COLLEGE BASKETBALL – WOMEN’S | TIME ET | TV |
| Mt. Saint Marys at Rider | 11:00am | ESPNU |
| Miami(FL) at Louisville | 6:00pm | ACCN |
| South Carolina at Tennessee | 7:00pm | ESPN |
| Kentucky at Texas A&M | 7:00pm | SECN |
| Wisconsin at Northwestern | 7:00pm | BTN |
| GOLF | TIME ET | TV |
| PGA: The Honda Classic | 2:00pm | GOLF |
| NBA REGULAR SEASON | TIME ET | TV |
| Denver at Cleveland | 7:00pm | ALT Bally Sports |
| Boston at Indiana | 7:00pm | NBCS-BOS Bally Sports |
| Detroit at Orlando | 7:00pm | Bally Sports |
| Memphis at Philadelphia | 7:30pm | TNT |
| New Orleans at Toronto | 7:30pm | Bally Sports Sportsnet |
| San Antonio at Dallas | 8:30pm | Bally Sports |
| Oklahoma City at Utah | 9:00pm | Bally Sports ATTSN-RM |
| Golden State at LA Lakers | 10:00pm | TNT |
| Portland at Sacramento | 10:00pm | Root Sports NBCS-CA |
| NHL REGULAR SEASON | TIME ET | TV |
| Anaheim at Washington | 7:00pm | Bally Sports NBCS-WSH |
| Buffalo at Tampa Bay | 7:00pm | MSG-BUF Bally Sports |
| Edmonton at Pittsburgh | 7:00pm | Sportsnet ATTSN-PIT |
| Los Angeles at New Jersey | 7:00pm | Bally Sports MSGSN |
| Minnesota at Columbus | 7:00pm | Bally Sports |
| NY Rangers at Detroit | 7:00pm | Bally Sports MSG |
| Vancouver at St. Louis | 8:00pm | Bally Sports Sportsnet |
| Calgary at Vegas | 9:00pm | ESPN |
| Boston at Seattle | 10:00pm | NESN Root Sports |
| Nashville at San Jose | 10:00pm | Bally Sports NBCS-CA |
| SOCCER | TIME ET | TV |
| UEFA Europa League: PSV vs Sevilla | 12:45pm | Paramount+ |
| UEFA Europa League: Monaco vs Bayer Leverkusen | 12:45pm | Paramount+ |
| UEFA Europa League: Midtjylland vs Sporting CP | 12:45pm | Paramount+ |
| UEFA Europa League: Nantes vs Juventus | 12:45pm | Paramount+ |
| UEFA Europa Conference League: Anderlecht vs Ludogorets | 12:45pm | Paramount+ |
| UEFA Europa Conference League: Partizan vs Sheriff | 12:45pm | Paramount+ |
| UEFA Europa Conference League: Dnipro-1 vs AEK Larnaca | 12:45pm | Paramount+ |
| UEFA Europa League: Manchester United vs Barcelona | 3:00pm | Paramount+ |
| UEFA Europa League: Rennes vs Shakhtar Donetsk | 3:00pm | Paramount+ |
| UEFA Europa League: Union Berlin vs Ajax | 3:00pm | Paramount+ |
| UEFA Europa League: Roma vs Salzburg | 3:00pm | Paramount+ |
| UEFA Europa Conference League: Basel vs Trabzonspor | 3:00pm | Paramount+ |
| UEFA Europa Conference League: Gent vs Qarabağ | 3:00pm | Paramount+ |
| UEFA Europa Conference League: Fiorentina vs Sporting Braga | 3:00pm | Paramount+ |
| UEFA Europa Conference League: Lech Poznań vs Bodø / Glimt | 3:00pm | Paramount+ |
| Copa Libertadores: Universidad Católica vs Millonarios | 7:00pm | beIN Sports |
| Liga MX: Santos Laguna vs Toluca | 9:05pm | ESPN+ |
| XFL | TIME ET | TV |
| St. Louis at Seattle | 9:00pm | FX ESPN+ |