Sports News-November 12, 2012
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Mike D'Antoni's agent says the Los Angeles Lakers have signed the former coach of the Suns and Knicks to a four-year contract to replace Mike Brown. The deal was confirmed late Sunday night, two days after the Lakers fired Brown five games into the season. D'Antoni got the job over former Lakers coach Phil Jackson. The eleven-time NBA champion coach spoke to the club's top brass Saturday about a return. Instead, the Lakers went with D'Antoni, who spent five seasons coaching Lakers point guard Steve Nash in Phoenix. D'Antoni then coached New York for the past three seasons, resigning last March. The Los Angeles Times first reported D'Antoni's hiring several hours after the Lakers beat Sacramento 103-90 for their second straight win under interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff.
Kansas State and Oregon are now on course to play for the BCS National Championship. After Alabama was upset by Texas A&M, the new BCS standings have the Wildcats first and the Ducks second. Notre Dame is third, not too far behind, but most likely in need of a loss by Oregon or Kansas State to reach the title game on Jan. 7 in Miami. As for Alabama's run at three championships in four seasons, and the Southeastern Conference's string of six straight BCS titles, both need help to continue. Nebraska moves up from 16th to 14th. Kansas State, Oregon, and Notre Dame, are the only undefeated teams in the criteria.
The debut of new Nebraska men's basketball coach Tim Miles was a successful one, as the Huskers topped Southern, 66-55, in the season opener last night at the Devaney Center. Brandon Ubel paced the Big Red with his second career double-double, totaling 21 points on 8-12 shooting and twelve rebounds. Nebraska shot 52% from the floor. Junior guard Ray Gallegos, who redshirted in 2011-12, had a career-high 16 points on 7-11 shooting while Dylan Talley added 17 points and seven rebounds for the Huskers. N-U returns to action Thursday evening, when they take on Valparaiso in the opening game of the Joe Cipriano Nebraska Classic at the Devaney Center. Tip-off is set for 8:00.
At this point, the Nebraska Cornhusker football team don't care how they win as long as they win. The Huskers erased a 14-point halftime deficit to beat Penn State 32-23 Saturday, N-U’s fourth come-from-behind win in six games. A win at home this week against Minnesota and one at Iowa would let Nebraska make good on coach Bo Pelini's public challenge to win out after that blowout loss at Ohio State on October 6. According to STATS LLC, the Huskers are among only three teams since 2000 to have come back from four second-half deficits of ten or more points to win. Nebraska is 8-2 overall and 5-1 going into a 2:30 home kickoff on Saturday with Minnesota. The Golden Gophers are 6-4 overall and 2-4 in the Legends. The Huskers are ranked 14th in the BCS Standings and 14th in the Associated Press Top 25 & USA Today poll.
Jordan Hooper produced her first double-double of the season with game highs of twelve points and 14 rebounds to lead 18th ranked Nebraska to a 64-39 women's basketball victory over Temple yesterday at the Devaney Center. With the victory, Nebraska improved to 2-0 on the season while the Owls slipped to 1-1. Nebraska concludes its three-game season-opening home stand by playing host to Northern Arizona on Friday at the Devaney Center at 7:05.
The Nebraska wrestling team earned its second dual win in as many days as the ninth-ranked squad defeated 19th ranked Wyoming 22-15 yesterday. The Huskers, which also won at Northern Colorado on Saturday, built a quick 16-0 lead as its first four wrestlers won by major decisions. Winners for Nebraska included James Green, Austin Wilson, Robert Kokesh, Josh Ihnen, Skylar Galloway, and Ridge Kiley. The Huskers open their home schedule Friday night against top ranked Minnesota at NU Coliseum at 7:00.
Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Jose Gomez and MVC Defensive Player of the Year Andrew Ribeiro scored second half goals as the twelfth ranked Creighton men's soccer won the MVC Tournament title, 2-1, over SIU Edwardsville yesterday in Peoria. The title is Creighton's second consecutive tournament crown, fifth in eight years, and 13th in the 22-year history of the event. The 15-3-2 Bluejays have now won ten straight overall matches and improved to 11-1 this year in games decided by one goal. They who have now earned an NCAA Tournament berth 20 times in the last 21 years, have bid to host all four preliminary rounds at the Morrison Stadium but could receive a first-round bye when the pairings are announced late afternoon today.
The Omaha World Herald & Lincoln Journal Star have posted their final high school volleyball rankings. The Lutheran High Northeast Eagles move up from fourth to second in the Omaha World Herald and stay at number three in the Lincoln Journal Star in Class “C-2”. The Lady Eagles finished 30-6 after falling to Hartington Cedar Catholic in the State Championship Match last Saturday. Lutheran High Northeast had beaten Freeman & North Platte St. Patrick’s to reach the title match. Norfolk Catholic slipped from third to fourth in the Omaha World Herald and remain fifth in the Lincoln Journal Star in Class “C-1”. The Lady Knights finished 28-3 after falling in the opening round of the State Tournament last Thursday to Lincoln Christian.
The Omaha World Herald & Lincoln Journal Star have posted their high school volleyball rankings. In the Omaha World Herald, Papillion La Vista South won their third consecutive title in Class “A” to remains first in the “Nebraska Top 10” & Class “A” while Class “B” champion Northwest remains number one in Class “B”. In Class “C-1”, State Champion Kearney Catholic stays at number one, Columbus Scotus remains second, and Norfolk Catholic slips from third to fourth. In Class “C-2”, State Champion Hartington Cedar Catholic is the new number one after moving up from third, Lutheran High Northeast jumps from fourth to second, and West Holt falls from eighth to ninth. In Class “D-1”, State Champion Exeter/Milligan is the new number one, Howells/Dodge falls from first to second, West Point Guardian Angels slips from second to third, and O’Neill St. Mary’s remains fifth. In Class “D-2”, State Champion Humphrey High stays at number one, Stuart remains sixth, Ewing is once again seventh, and Wynot stays at number nine. In the Lincoln Journal Star, Papillion La Vista South won their third consecutive title in Class “A” to remain first while Class “B” champion Northwest remains number one in Class “B”. In Class “C-1”, State Champion Kearney Catholic stays at number one, Columbus Scotus remains second, and Norfolk Catholic stays at number five. In Class “C-2”, State Champion Hartington Cedar Catholic is the new number one after moving up from fourth, Lutheran High Northeast remains third, and West Holt falls out of the rankings. In Class “D-1”, State Champion Exeter/Milligan is the new number one, Howells/Dodge stays at number two, West Point Guardian Angels slips from first to third, and O’Neill St. Mary’s jumps from ninth to seventh. In Class “D-2”, State Champion Humphrey High stays at number one, Stuart enters the rankings at number ten, and Ewing falls from the rankings.
Checking out the local schedule for today, high school football semifinal games are played in Class “D-1” & “D-2”. In Class “D-1”, Elgin Public/Pope John hosts Arapahoe at 3:00 and Exeter/Milligan faces Bruning/Daveport/Shickley at Bruning at 6:30. In Class “D-2”, Humphrey St. Francis visits Falls City Sacred Heart at 4:30 and Shelton entertains Giltner at 7:00. In another event, the Nebraska-Omaha women’s basketball team is home against North Carolina A&T at 7:00.
Tuesday Evening: The 10-1 Norfolk Catholic visits 10-1 Pierce in a Class “C-1” Semifinal Playoff football game at 6:00. Pregame coverage at 5:30 on 106 KIX & 106KIX.com.
Local Scores: Nebraska 66 Southern 55 (MBB); (18) Nebraska 64 Temple 39 (WBB); (9) Nebraska 22 (19) Wyoming 15 (WR Dual); (12) Creighton 2 SIU-Edwardsville 1 (MVC M. Socc. Championship); Saint Mary 96 Nebraska-Omaha 86 (MBB); Nebraska-Omaha 6 Minnesota-Duluth 3 (Hock.).
NFL Scoreboard: New Orleans 31 Atlanta 27; New England 37 Buffalo 31; Denver 36 Carolina 14; Minnesota 34 Detroit 24; Cincinnati 31 N.Y. Giants 13; Baltimore 55 Oakland 20; Tampa Bay 34 San Diego 24; Tennessee 37 Miami 3; Seattle 28 N.Y. Jets 7; Dallas 38 Philadelphia 23; St. Louis 24 San Francisco 24 (OT) (Tie); Houston 13 Chicago 6.
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Brooklyn 82 Orlando 74
Final L-A Clippers 89 Atlanta 76
Final Memphis 104 Miami 86
Final Oklahoma City 106 Cleveland 91
Final L-A Lakers 103 Sacramento 90
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final ( 2) Louisville 79 Manhattan 51
Final ( 4) Ohio St. 82 Albany (NY) 60
Final ( 9) Syracuse 62 (20) San Diego St. 49
Final (10) Florida 84 Alabama St. 35
Final (11) North Carolina 80 FAU 56
Final (12) Arizona 82 Charleston Southern 73
Final (19) Baylor 78 Jackson St. 47
Final (23) Wisconsin 87 SE Louisiana 47
Final (24) Cincinnati 80 UT-Martin 57
TOP-25 WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final ( 2) UConn 103 Coll. of Charleston 39
Final ( 4) Stanford 92 Santa Clara 57
Final ( 5) Maryland 88 Loyola (Md.) 45
Final ( 8) Penn St. 72 Howard 61
Final ( 9) Louisville 95 Portland 48
Final (10) Georgia 57 Rutgers 51
Final Georgetown 62 (11) Delaware 56
Final (14) St. John's 72 UCF 54
Final (18) Nebraska 64 Temple 39
Final (20) Tennessee 71 (22) Georgia Tech 54
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