Latest entries in Sports Blog
Complete coverage of all MU athletics.
Feb. 7, 2010
Maneater Bracketology: Missouri a No. 9 seed
Despite a blowout win at Colorado on Saturday, Missouri drops two seeds this week, in part because of their home win streak ending at the hands of Texas A&M, which rose to a 7-seed this week.
Overall, I have seven Big 12 teams, which is becoming a pretty standard count. Kansas is the overall No. 1 seed and Kansas State is a 2-seed. Texas, since becoming the overall No. 1, has lost four games and falls to a 3-seed. Baylor is an 8-seed, and Oklahoma State holds onto a bid at No. 11.
A couple movers and shakers: Watch out for Mountain West-leading UNLV (a 4-seed this week) and Atlantic-10-leading Charlotte (a No. 7), while Clemson and Ole Miss are both falling.
And before I get to this week's bracket, here's my Final Four countdown. For an explanation of that, see last week's post. Three teams have stood out as tournament contenders: Kansas, Michigan State and Kentucky. Then I have a bunch of teams I've put in my Final Four just once: Texas, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Villanova, Syracuse and BYU.
Here's the bracket:
MIDWEST (St. Louis)
Oklahoma City: 1. Kansas vs. 16. Arkansas State/Jackson State; 8. UAB vs. 9. California
Providence: 4. Tennessee vs. 13. Northeastern; 5. New Mexico vs. 12. Marquette
Spokane: 3. Purdue vs. 14. Pacific; 6. Butler vs. 11. Utah State
Providence: 2. Georgetown vs. 15. Lehigh; 7. Charlotte vs. 10. Siena
SOUTH (Houston)
Oklahoma City: 1. Syracuse vs. 16. Robert Morris; 8. Baylor vs. 9. Clemson
Spokane: 4. Pittsburgh vs. 13. UTEP; 5. Gonzaga vs. 12. Wichita State
New Orleans: 3. Michigan State vs. 14. Oakland; 6. Vanderbilt vs. 11. Maryland
Milwaukee: 2. Kansas State vs. 15. Morgan State; 7. Rhode Island vs. 10. Louisville
EAST (Syracuse)
New Orleans: 1. Kentucky vs. 16. Jacksonville; 8. Florida State vs. 9. Cornell
San Jose: 4. BYU vs. 13. Kent State; 5. Wake Forest vs. 12. Old Dominion
Buffalo: 3. Wisconsin vs. 14. Murray State; 6. Temple vs. 11. Oklahoma State
Jacksonville: 2. Duke vs. 15. Coastal Carolina; 7. Texas A&M vs. 10. Richmond
WEST (Salt Lake City)
Buffalo: 1. Villanova vs. 16. Stony Brook; 8. St. Mary's vs. 9. Missouri
San Jose: 4. UNLV vs. 13. Sam Houston State; 5. Northern Iowa vs. 12. Connecticut
Jacksonville: 3. Texas vs. 14. Charleston; 6. Ohio State vs. 11. Ole Miss
Milwaukee: 2. West Virginia vs. 15. Weber State; 7. Georgia Tech vs. 10. Illinois
Oklahoma tops Missouri wrestling
As part of the 2010 Beauty and the Beast Event at the Hearnes Center, the Missouri wrestling team lost to No. 9 Oklahoma 25-10. The Tigers three seniors (Mark Ellis, Max Askren and Nick Marable) were the only wrestlers to win their matches against Oklahoma. All three will face top ten opponents Sunday afternoon in a duel with Oklahoma State.
The match started at heavyweight where No. 8 Ellis needed overtime to defeat No. 12 redshirt junior Nathan Fernandez. Ellis had been battling some illness coming into the match.
“I was just glad to get a match that was a long full match to hopefully sweat some of this stuff out of me so that I feel better for tomorrow,” Ellis said.
Ellis will face No. 1 senior Jared Rosholt Sunday when Missouri takes on Oklahoma State.
“I’ll be fine tomorrow,” Ellis said. “I plan on winning this thing tomorrow.”
The best losing effort for the Tigers came from No. 19 junior Todd Schavrien at 141 pounds, who lost 3-0 to No. 3 redshirt junior Zack Bailey. Bailey was not able to score a takedown against Schavrien, with his points coming off of an escape, stalling penalty and riding time bonus.
“I thought Schavrien wrestled pretty well,” coach Brian Smith said. “He’s in it to win it, but you got to get a takedown.”
The biggest disappointment for the Tigers came at 125 pounds and 133 pounds. At 125 pounds, freshman Eric Wilson lost a major decision to No. 19 freshman Jarrod Patterson, and at 133, redshirt freshman Nathan McCormick suffered a near fall at the hands of unranked freshman Kendric Maple.
“Our lighter weights just aren’t very good right now,” Smith said.
Another big loss for the Tigers came at 157 pounds where sophomore Patrick Wright lost 5-2 to redshirt senior Chad Terry. The score was tied at two with less than a minute left in the match, and the loss put Missouri in a huge hole down 19-3.
Missouri will face Oklahoma State Sunday at 1 p.m. in its last home match of the season, and the seniors will be recognized before the match. Oklahoma State and Oklahoma tied when they met earlier this season.
Ellis was optimistic about the dual tomorrow, remembering that Missouri was able to upset Iowa State after a tough match the previous day against Central Michigan last season.
“We just got to go out and wrestle tomorrow,” Ellis said. “I believe our guys will be ready.”
Feb. 6, 2010
Missouri men's basketball bounces back against Colorado
Missouri men’s basketball bounced back from a tough loss to Texas A&M on Wednesday night by taking down Colorado 84-66 in Boulder, Colo.
Sophomore guard Marcus Denmon put up a career-high 22 points as the Tigers shot an even 50 percent from the field to improve to 17-6 overall and 5-3 in Big 12 play. The win was MU’s second conference road win, to go along with a victory at Texas Tech on Jan. 13.
After its 32-game home win streak was snapped by the Aggies earlier in the week, Missouri was in need of a pick-me-up. The Tigers may have gotten it with a solid performance against CU.
Missouri had this one in hand pretty much the entire game, never relinquishing the lead it gained early in the first half. Denmon finished 6-of-8 from the field, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. Sophomore guard Kim English finished second on the Tigers in scoring with 21 points.
For the Buffaloes, freshman guard Alec Burks tallied a game-high 25 points.
The Tigers have now won seven-straight against Colorado and four consecutive games at the Coors Event Center.
Missouri gets back to action Wednesday night against Iowa State at Mizzou Arena.
Feb. 5, 2010
Missouri tennis team welcomes two opponents this weekend
After splitting its season-opening double header two weekends ago, the MU women’s tennis team will take the court twice this weekend at home.
On Saturday, the Tigers take on the Billikens of Saint Louis University (2-2). After opening up the season with two losses against tough opponents, Saint Louis bounced back with two 7-0 wins against McKendree University and Southeast Missouri State. The Billikens will host Eastern Illinois Friday before heading out on I-70 for Missouri.
The Tigers will cap off the weekend on Sunday when Purdue (4-0) pay a visit to the Green Tennis Center. Against non-conference opponents, the Boilermakers have enjoyed an extremely strong start to the season with four consecutive 7-0 wins. Meanwhile, Missouri was shutout 7-0 by its first Big Ten opponent of the season, Ohio State. Purdue opens its Big Ten schedule against Penn State at home Friday before traveling down to Columbia for Sunday afternoon’s contest.
Missouri gymnastics to take on New Hampshire this weekend
Missouri’s aspirations for a perfect season came to an abrupt halt on the road last Saturday against Big 12 conference rival Nebraska. The now-No. 14 Tigers lost 194.700-193.175, though victorious Nebraska’s ranking dropped from No. 9 to No. 10.
Tiger senior Sarah Shire was a bright spot despite the season’s first defeat. Shire, for the second straight week, won the all-around title, posting a 38.875. Shire also won her fourth balance beam title of year and holds the nation’s second highest average (9.881) in the event, according to Gymninfo.
Missouri’s first chance to rebound from the loss occurs this Saturday at home against undefeated New Hampshire.
The 7-0 Wildcats came from behind and bested Pittsburgh 194.950-191.675 on Jan. 30 to remain perfect. Despite its record, New Hampshire currently sits just outside the national top 25, hovering at No. 27.
New Hampshire’s success this season comes from the performances of seasoned veterans. During the meet against Pittsburgh, New Hampshire’s upperclassmen came through in the clutch with senior Helena Diodati winning uneven bars (9.825), senior Julie Sauchuk tying on floor exercise (9.825) and junior Chelsea Steinberg and senior Taryn LaFountain tying on beam (9.875) to propel the Wildcats to victory.
Also noteworthy for Saturday’s meet is that the Tigers will share the Hearnes Center with MU’s wrestling team as they simultaneously take on Oklahoma in the Beauty and the Beast Meet.
Feb. 4, 2010
Wrestling matchup previews
The No. 18 Missouri wrestling team stayed hot last weekend with a 22-16 victory over Nebraska to start off Big 12 competition with a win. Missouri has now won five-straight duals heading into a huge weekend of dual play against No. 9 Oklahoma and No. 4 Oklahoma State. These duals are the last home matches of the season for the Tigers.
On Saturday, Missouri will wrestle Oklahoma as part of the 2010 Beauty and the Beast Event. Oklahoma brings in two wrestlers ranked in the top ten for their weight class: junior No. 3 Zach Bailey at 141 pounds and senior No. 6 Eric Lapotsky at 197 pounds. The Missouri wrestlers at both of these weight classes are ranked, but neither is ranked in the top ten.
At 141 pounds, junior No. 19 Todd Schavrien will have the difficult task of facing Bailey. Schavrien is coming off of a 3-1 victory last against Nebraska
At 197 pounds, redshirt freshman No. 15 Brent Haynes will face Lapotsky. Haynes has already pulled off one big upset this season, defeating senior Patrick Bond of Illinois in November.
On Sunday, the Tigers will face an even tougher test against Oklahoma State, who brings in four wrestlers ranked in the top ten for their weight class. Seniors No. 3 Max Askren and No. 6 Nick Marable will each be tested by top ten opponents on Sunday, Askren at 184 pounds and Marable at 165 pounds.
The biggest match of the weekend comes in the heavyweight bout on Sunday, where defending national champion No. 8 Mark Ellis will face senior No. 1 Jared Rosholt of Oklahoma State. Ellis bested freshman No. 19 Tucker Lane 7-2 last weekend.
Missouri coach Brian Smith plans to use the same lineup that he used against Nebraska in both duals this weekend. This lineup includes freshman Eric Wilson at 125 pounds, who is just 2-3 since becoming the third different Tiger to start at that position this season. The only other starter who was not in the opening day lineup for Missouri is sophomore Scott O’Donnell at 149 pounds.
Missouri women's basketball stumbling on the road in conference play
The Missouri women’s basketball team took on 10th-ranked Texas A&M on Wednesday in its eighth conference matchup of the season. The Aggies edged out the Tigers, 65-55, putting Missouri at 11-10 overall and 1-7 in conference.
Texas A&M beat Missouri at their own game, winning the turnover battle that the Tigers always seem to win. The Missouri women turned the ball over 19 times to the Aggie’s 14, also leading to an advantage in points off turnovers for Texas A&M.
Senior forward Jessra Johnson led the team with 15 points, but the Tigers’ 1-for-10 shooting from beyond the arc may have sealed their fate. Senior forward Amanda Hanneman continued her shooting slump, missing all four of her 3-point attempts.
The road conference loss is nothing new for Missouri women’s basketball. Since Big 12 play began this year, they have yet to get a win in an away game and are 0-4 in such contests this season. In fact, the Tigers have just one road win in conference in the past three seasons.
This history of foregone road trips includes multiple seasons in which Missouri failed to win even one conference road game, with this year shaping up to possibly be just the same.
The cold streak is not just a recent trend for the Tigers. Since Big 12 play began 14 years ago, the Missouri women have struggled on the road against conference teams, with a dismal 26-81 record in those games since it all began in 1996.
The Tigers will look to turn things around on Sunday, Feb. 7, as they take on nationally-ranked Iowa State at Mizzou Arena.
Feb. 3, 2010
Missouri football's 2010 recruiting class
Missouri football announced its 2010 recruiting class Wednesday. A total of 23 student-athletes signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the Tigers and make up a group of recruits coach Gary Pinkel labeled one of his best at Wednesday afternoon’s press conference.
Listed below are the recruits. The Maneater will have more coverage of signing day in Friday’s issue.
Name Pos. Ht Wt Hometown (H. S./Community College)
Nick Demien OL 6 feet 6 inches 295 Wentzville, Mo. (Timberland H.S.)
Kony Ealy DE 6 feet 5 inches 230 New Madrid, Mo. (New Madrid H.S.)
Daniel Easterly DB 6 feet 4 inches 180 Detroit (Cass Tech H.S.)
James Franklin QB 6 feet 2 inches 220 Corinth, Texas (Lake Dallas H.S.)
Tyler Gabbert QB 6 feet 190 Ballwin, Mo. (Parkway West H.S.)
E.J. Gaines DB 5 feet 10 inches 175 Independence, Mo. (Fort Osage H.S.)
Anthony Gatti OL 6 feet 6 inches 280 St. Louis (Parkway North H.S.)
Matt Hoch TE 6 feet 5 inches 245 Harlan, Iowa (Harlan H.S.)
Tristen Holt DB 6 feet 185 Gilmer, Texas (Gilmer H.S.)
Jimmie Hunt, Jr. WR 6 feet 1 inch 195 Cahokia, Il. (Cahokia H.S.)
Henry Josey TB 5 feet 10 inches 180 Angleton, Texas (Angleton H.S.)
Marcus Lucas WR 6 feet 5 inches 205 Liberty, Mo. (Liberty H.S.)
Mitch Morse OL 6 feet 6 inches 280 Austin, Texas (St. Michael’s Academy)
Marcus Murphy TB 5 feet 9 inches 170 DeSoto, Texas (DeSoto H.S.)
Jared Parham LB 6 feet 2 inches 220 Coppell, Texas (Coppell H.S.)
Darvin Ruise DB 6 feet 2 inches 220 Glen St. Mary, Fla. (Baker County H.S.)
Bud Sasser WR 6 feet 3 inches 200 Denton, Texas (Ryan H.S.)
Xavier Smith DB 5 feet 11 inches 180 Edmond, Okla. (North H.S.)
Lucas Vincent DT 6 feet 3 inches 285 Olathe, Kan. (North H.S.)
Kenronte Walker DB 6 feet 205 Fayetteville, N.C. (Westover H.S./Community College of San Francisco)
Eric Waters TE 6 feet 4 inches 215 Arlington, Texas (Summitt H.S.)
Braylon Webb DB 6 feet 195 Gilmer, Texas (Gilmer H.S.)
Greg White TB 6 feet 1 inch 215 De Queen, Ark. (De Queen H.S.)
Jan. 31, 2010
Maneater Bracketology: Missouri a 7 seed
What a contrast Missouri's two games this week were. On Monday night, they get run out of Allen Fieldhouse in a 19-point loss to Kansas only to come back Saturday and dominate Oklahoma State by 15 at home.
But after that, I have Missouri sliding back one spot from last week. Not so much because of the loss, but because of what I'm learning each week about bracketing. It would be easy, for example, to put Missouri at a 6-seed ahead of mid-major New Mexico. But the Lobos have the country's No. 13 RPI and just came off a big win against BYU. Missouri's RPI is 44, which dropped them a line this week.
Regardless, the Tigers have an interesting Round 1 matchup: Against Connecticut, which knocked out the Tigers in last year's tourney. Missouri is one of seven Big 12 teams in this bracket, with Kansas moving back to the overall No. 1 slot and Texas A&M being one of my last four teams in.
One other bracket tidbit of interest this week: The Atlantic 10 has as many teams (Temple, Xavier, Rhode Island, Charlotte, Richmond) as the Big Ten and Pac-10 combined (Michigan State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Ohio State, California).
Here's this week's bracket:
MIDWEST (St. Louis)
Oklahoma City: 1. Kansas vs. 16. Sam Houston State vs. Jackson State; 8. Florida State vs. 9. California
Providence: 4. Tennessee vs. 13. Maryland; 5. Temple vs. 12. Marquette
Spokane: 3. Kansas State vs. 14. Pacific; 6. Ohio State vs. 11. Richmond
Providence: 2. Georgetown vs. 15. Charleston; 7. Xavier vs. 10. Siena
EAST (Syracuse)
New Orleans: 1. Villanova vs. 16. Robert Morris; 8. Ole Miss vs. 9. Oklahoma State
San Jose: 4. Georgia Tech vs. 13. Akron; 5. Vanderbilt vs. 12. Cornell
Buffalo: 3. Purdue vs. 14. Stony Brook; 6. Butler vs. 11. Cincinnati
Jacksonville: 2. Duke vs. 15. Lafayette; 7. Missouri vs. 10. Connecticut
SOUTH (Houston)
Oklahoma City: 1. Kentucky vs. 16. Morgan State; 8. Baylor vs. 9. Mississippi State
Spokane: 4. Pittsburgh vs. 13. Murray State; 5. Gonzaga vs. 12. Florida
New Orleans: 3. Wisconsin vs. 14. IUPUI; 6. New Mexico vs. 11. North Carolina
Milwaukee: 2. Texas vs. 15. Jacksonville; 7. Clemson vs. 10. Charlotte
WEST (Salt Lake City)
Buffalo: 1. Syracuse vs. 16. Arkansas State; 8. Rhode Island vs. 9. St. Mary's
San Jose: 4. BYU vs. 13. George Mason; 5. Northern Iowa vs. 12. Texas A&M
Jacksonville: 3. West Virginia vs. 14. Coastal Carolina ; 6. Wake Forest vs. 11. Louisiana Tech
Milwaukee: 2. Michigan State vs. 15. Weber State; 7. UAB vs. 10. UNLV
One concept I'm also introducing is tallying my Final Four. In years past, I would do a weekly bracketology and then actually play out that bracket in my mind. I'd include some odd upsets in the early rounds and sometimes a homer pick for Missouri or Illinois, but eventually, I'd pick a strong Final Four. Here's the cool thing, though, if I had up the total number of times a team ends up in my imaginary Final Four, the four teams with the most points (and in separate regions in the real bracket announced in March) have more than not ended up in the Final Four.
For instance, last year's top four teams just so happened to represent four different regions. In order, the teams that appeared most in my Final Four bracketologies were: North Carolina, Connecticut, Villanova and Michigan State.
Now, this doesn't always work. There will always be some surprising teams like George Mason in 2006 or Georgia Tech in 2004. But other teams that weren't necessarily expected have also made my bracket work in March by following this formula, such as LSU in 2006, Louisville in 2005 or Marquette and Syracuse in 2003.
I started doing this in 2003 after I correctly predicted the Final Four in 2002 (Maryland, Oklahoma, Kansas, Indiana) and it's worked fairly well since. So now, in addition to providing a bracket, I'll give my Final Four tallies and at the end of the year we can see if any of it made sense. So far, based off three brackets, here's who I've had in my Final Four:
Kansas (3); Kentucky (3); Michigan State (2); Villanova, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Texas (all with 1).
Jan. 28, 2010
Gymnastics rakes up Big 12 awards
No. 11 Missouri’s hot streak continues after besting Iowa State in the conference opener Jan. 22. Senior Sarah Shire’s career-high score on floor exercise (9.950) propelled the Tigers to 5-0.
For her impressive performance, the Big 12 voted Shire the Gymnast of the Week. It was the second time in as many weeks Shire was the recipient of the honor.
With this last award, Missouri continues to sweep the Big 12 Gymnast of the Week titles in the early going of the season. MU sophomore Mary Burke was the first Tiger this year to be recognized as Gymnast of the Week.
The road does not get any easier for the Tigers as they travel to Lincoln, Neb., to take on the undefeated ninth-ranked Cornhuskers this coming Saturday and avenge last season’s Big 12 Championship loss dealt at the hands of Nebraska.
The Cornhuskers (4-0) are coming off a home victory against No. 17 Michigan.
Junior Maria Scaffidi is the Cornhuskers’ most potent gymnast thus far in the season. Scaffidi is the ninth-ranked gymnast on floor exercise and is the 21st-best in the all-around.
Another Nebraska asset is junior Erin Davis who is tied as the fourth -best gymnast on vault in the country.
Missouri will fight history when squaring off against the Cornhuskers. Nebraska is 65-6 all-time against Missouri.