Sports News-December 19, 2012
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It won't be Tebow Time at the Meadowlands this Sunday. Instead, New York Jets fans can prepare for a McElroy Moment. Coach Rex Ryan has benched struggling quarterback Mark Sanchez and will start Greg McElroy over Tim Tebow for Sunday's game against the San Diego Chargers. Sanchez's benching follows Monday night's 14-10 loss at Tennessee, in which he threw four interceptions and couldn't handle a low snap deep in Titans territory with just seconds remaining. The Jets were eliminated from playoff contention with the loss. McElroy is a seventh-round pick last year out of Alabama, who helped lead the Jets to a 7-6 win over Arizona earlier this month after Ryan pulled Sanchez from the game late in the third quarter. Ryan hasn't decided whether Sanchez or Tebow will be the backup.
Multiple media outlets are reporting Wisconsin will hire Utah State's Gary Andersen as head football coach to replace Bret Bielema. The Wisconsin State Journal was first to report that Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez had offered Andersen the job last night. Andersen is in his fourth year at Utah State and is coming off his best season yet. The 18th-ranked Aggies won the Western Athletic Conference and finished 11-2.
The Nebraska volleyball is ranked seventh in the final American Volleyball Coaches Association poll released yesterday. The Huskers finished the year with a 26-7 record, and came up one win short of reaching the NCAA Tournament Final Four. Oregon beat Nebraska in the Omaha regional final, and the Ducks went on to finish as national runners-up. Texas tops the poll, followed by Oregon, Penn State, Stanford, Michigan, USC, Nebraska and Minnesota. All seven teams that beat the Huskers are ranked in the final poll. Creighton finished 24th with their 29-4 record. Nebraska was ranked tenth at the end of the regular season.
Dylan Talley hit a pair of free throws with six seconds left to seal the Nebraska men’s basketball team’s 59-55 win over Jacksonville State last night. The Huskers led 50-35 after a pair of Talley free throws with seven minutes remaining. The Gamecocks then outscored Nebraska 18-4, closing with 56-55 on Ronnie Boggs' corner three-pointer with 23 seconds left. The Cornhuskers’ Ray Gallegos made one of two free throws to put the N-U up two. Then Jacksonville State's Chris Deanes drove the lane, missing a wide-open layup. Talley was fouled on the rebound and hit the clinching free throws. The Gamecocks hit nine of ten free throws during its stretch surge. Nebraska made five of eight from the line during that period, but managed only two field goals in the final seven minutes while the Jacksonville State hit five. Brandon Ubel led the Huskers with 15 points and ten rebounds. Nebraska improves to 7-3 while the Gamecocks drop to 8-3.
The Nebraska football team’s 2013 recruiting class yesterday picked up a big offensive line boost when tackle David Knevel of Ontario, Canada selected the Huskers over Alabama and West Virginia according to the Omaha World Herald. The 6’9, 285-pounder who’s rated as a three or four-star prospect depending on the service, was rumored to be a Nebraska commit for days after fellow 2013 Husker commit Josh Banderas announced on Twitter last week that Knevel had joined the class. Knevel received a late offer from Alabama and took an unofficial visit to Tuscaloosa in December. A January enrollee, Knevel had offers from Wisconsin, Purdue, Missouri and Arkansas, among other schools. He’s the top prospect in Canada and the first Canadian commit since the late 1990s, when the Huskers signed Dahrran Diedrick in 1998 and Patrick Kabongo in 1999.
Creighton's head baseball coach Ed Servais was tabbed as one of three assistants for USA Baseball's 2013 Collegiate National Team yesterday. Joining Servais on TCU's Jim Schlossnagle’s four-man staff are Mike Bianco of Mississippi and Tim Esmay of Arizona State. Servais will coach team defense and serve as the first base coach for the USA National Team. He enters his tenth season leading the Creighton baseball program in 2013 as the winningest coach in Bluejay history with 327 victories. With a career record of 327-195, Servais led the Jays to the NCAA Tournament in three of the past six seasons and was named the Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year four times in his tenure at Creighton. The dates for the 2013 schedule and opponents will be announced in the coming weeks on USABaseball.com.
Justin Simmons scored a season-high 32 points and grabbed eleven rebounds, helping Nebraska-Omaha hold off NAIA program Benedictine for a 74-70 victory last night. Simmons, who scored 36 points in a game last season for Butler Community College in Kansas, also assisted on Caleb Steffensmeier's only basket of the game, a three-pointer with 1:59 left that put the Mavericks ahead for good at 70-68. Simmons added a layup and two free throws in the final seconds to seal the win. John Karhoff chipped in 17 points off the bench for UNO, and teammate C.J. Carter scored ten. The game was the Mavericks' first at home since a 96-86 loss to Saint Mary on Nov. 11, and UNO was 1-9 on the road since then. Nebraska-Omaha is now 3-10 on the season.
The Wayne State women’s basketball team fell seven spots in the newest USA Today Sports Division II Top 25 Coaches’ Poll released yesterday after WSC dropped from twelfth to 19th. The Wildcats went 1-1 last weekend beating Upper Iowa on Friday evening before losing to Winona State on Saturday. The 6-2 Wildcats are off until New Year’s Eve when the Wildcats will host Chadron State College with tip-off set for 4:00.
Local Schedule: NECC at Iowa Central CC at Ft. Dodge, IA (MBB-6:00); Tulsa at Creighton (MBB-7:05).
Local Scores: Seward 54 LHNE 41 (BBB).
Spracklen Physical Therapy Star Athlete of the Week: Jacob Woockman of the Lutheran High Northeast wrestling team.
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final OT Atlanta 100 Washington 95
Final Toronto 113 Cleveland 99
Final Miami 103 Minnesota 92
Final Utah 92 Brooklyn 90
Final Chicago 100 Boston 89
Final Milwaukee 98 Indiana 93
Final Dallas 107 Philadelphia 100
Final Denver 112 San Antonio 106
Final L-A Lakers 101 Charlotte 100
Final Golden State 103 New Orleans 96
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final ( 4) Arizona 89 Oral Roberts 64
Final ( 7) Ohio St. 65 Winthrop 55
Final ( 9) Kansas 87 Richmond 59
Final (18) San Diego St. 76 Point Loma 49
Final (20) Michigan St. 64 Bowling Green 53
Final (25) NC State 88 Stanford 79
TOP-25 WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final ( 3) Baylor 76 (10) Tennessee 53
Final ( 7) Kentucky 80 Pepperdine 62
Final (14) Louisville 75 Washington St. 39
Final (16) Dayton 90 Akron 59
BOYS BASKETBALL
Alma 49, Eustis-Farnam 32
Arthur County 62, Hyannis 50
Baileyville-B&B, Kan. 38, Pawnee City 35
Bancroft-Rosalie 70, Cedar Bluffs 39
Beatrice 65, Raymond Central 44
Bloomfield 42, Elkhorn Valley 34
Burwell 69, Ainsworth 49
Cambridge 47, Norton, Kan. 36
Crofton 59, O'Neill 51
David City 57, Central City 40
Diller-Odell 49, Meridian 44
Exeter/Milligan 53, Nebraska Lutheran 27
Fairbury 51, Centennial 46
Falls City Sacred Heart 67, Mound City, Mo. 17
Fort Calhoun 64, Weeping Water 50
Freeman 59, Johnson County Central 50
Fullerton 65, Neligh-Oakdale 37
Giltner 60, Franklin 38
Gretna 57, Crete 32
High Plains Community 58, Shelby/Rising City 30
Holdrege 48, Grand Island Central Catholic 32
Humphrey St. Francis 69, St. Edward 29
Kearney 57, Lexington 23
Kearney Catholic 74, Overton 53
Kenesaw 52, Axtell 40
Lewiston 57, Deshler 42
Leyton 72, Peetz, Colo. 49
Lincoln Christian 56, Syracuse 34
Lindsay Holy Family 64, Ewing 52
Madison 52, Plainview 31
McCool Junction 39, Lawrence-Nelson 30
Medicine Valley 53, Wallace 44
Millard North 48, Omaha Bryan 35
Millard South 68, Omaha Benson 57
Nebraska City 78, Conestoga 36
Norris 42, Lincoln Pius X 38
North Platte St. Patrick's 55, Sandhills/Thedford 45
Omaha North 84, Council Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln, Iowa 35
Omaha Skutt Catholic 62, Omaha Roncalli 42
Omaha South 61, Omaha Burke 54
Ord 58, West Holt 49
Palmer 63, Loup City 52
Randolph 58, Homer 33
Seward 54, Lutheran High Northeast 41
Southern 62, Friend 49
Sterling 68, Dorchester 23
Stuart 61, Santee 42
Superior 51, Tri County 37
Twin River 57, Osceola 32
Wahoo 65, Lincoln Lutheran 32
Wakefield 70, Osmond 31
Wayne 67, Columbus Scotus 56
Wilber-Clatonia 42, Thayer Central 34
Wilcox-Hildreth 47, Northern Valley, Kan. 41
Winnebago 58, Guardian Angels 50
Wynot 47, Ponca 38
York 79, Fillmore Central 44
Yuma, Colo. 58, Chase County 37
Yutan 83, Tekamah-Herman 53
Paxton Tournament
Mullen 50, Garden County 26
Paxton 82, Maywood 24
Peru State College Tournament
Third Place
Nebraska City Lourdes 56, Auburn 43
Championship
Falls City 40, Johnson-Brock 21
Pleasanton Tournament
Third Place
Bertrand 69, Pleasanton 45
Championship
Ravenna 62, Arapahoe 54
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Ainsworth 73, Burwell 43
Alma 49, Eustis-Farnam 32
Axtell 44, Kenesaw 37
Baileyville-B&B, Kan. 59, Pawnee City 40
Bloomfield 50, Elkhorn Valley 16
Central City 61, David City 32
Columbus Scotus 49, Wayne 32
Conestoga 43, Nebraska City 35
Crofton 69, O'Neill 29
Deshler 47, Lewiston 20
Diller-Odell 53, Meridian 22
Elkhorn 54, Ralston 32
Emerson-Hubbard 88, Winside 15
Exeter/Milligan 58, Nebraska Lutheran 10
Fairbury 48, Centennial 23
Falls City Sacred Heart 52, Mound City, Mo. 43
Fillmore Central 40, York 35
Fort Calhoun 43, Weeping Water 22
Freeman 53, Johnson County Central 28
Friend 44, Southern 30
Fullerton 37, Neligh-Oakdale 34
Giltner 44, Franklin 32
Gretna 60, Crete 53
Guardian Angels 82, Winnebago 56
Holdrege 52, Grand Island Central Catholic 35
Homer 57, Randolph 39
Humphrey 48, Pender 41, OT
Humphrey St. Francis 55, St. Edward 25
Hyannis 44, Arthur County 42
Kearney 34, Lexington 21
Kearney Catholic 80, Overton 27
Lawrence-Nelson 49, McCool Junction 37
Leyton 34, Peetz, Colo. 27
Lincoln Christian 50, Syracuse 45, OT
Lincoln High 63, Omaha Marian 53
Lincoln Lutheran 42, Wahoo 35
Lindsay Holy Family 52, Ewing 34
Logan View 31, Archbishop Bergan 26
Madison 44, Plainview 38
McCook 41, Gothenburg 40
Medicine Valley 47, Wallace 40
Millard North 57, Omaha Bryan 25
Norris 55, Lincoln Pius X 49, 2OT
North Platte St. Patrick's 68, Sandhills/Thedford 43
Norton, Kan. 59, Cambridge 26
Omaha Benson 55, Millard South 43
Omaha Burke 51, Omaha South 43
Omaha North 59, Council Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln, Iowa 38
Osmond 56, Wakefield 22
Palmer 47, Loup City 33
Raymond Central 53, Yutan 41
Schuyler 49, Boys Town 25
Shelby/Rising City 53, High Plains Community 17
South Sioux City 62, Sioux City, West, Iowa 43
Sterling 47, Dorchester 18
Stuart 70, Santee 24
Superior 67, Tri County 37
Twin River 37, Osceola 28
West Holt 52, Ord 34
Wilcox-Hildreth 39, Northern Valley, Kan. 34
Wynot 63, Ponca 47
Paxton Tournament
Mullen 42, Garden County 14
Paxton 56, Maywood 31
Peru State College Tournament
Third Place
Auburn 48, Johnson-Brock 26
Championship
Falls City 38, Nebraska City Lourdes 30
Pleasanton Tournament
Third Place
Bertrand 49, Pleasanton 39
Championship
Arapahoe 50, Ravenna 36
POSTPONEMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS
Omaha Central vs. Omaha Northwest, ppd.
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