(2/24/13)
Wheeler News Service –
Sunday, February 24, 2013 – Morning State Sports
===Stations: We're
still finishing up a few things. Here's what we've got so far, and we'll send
the rest ASAP.===
Editor on Duty: Thom Gerretsen (715) 389-2373
Story Contributions:
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Wheeler Blog:
http://learfielddata.blogspot.com
In the N-B-A...
Atlanta 103, Milwaukee 102
In men's college
basketball...
Villanova 60, Marquette 56
U-W Milwaukee 95,
Indiana-Purdue-Indianapolis 88 in double overtime
Drake 71, U-W Green Bay 54
Indianapolis 72, U-W Parkside 70
In women's college basketball...
U-W Green Bay 80, Valparaiso 38
U-W Milwaukee 74, Wright State 61
Northwestern 54, Wisconsin 52
U-W Parkside 71, Indianapolis 61
In Division-Three men's college basketball tournament title games...
U-W Whitewater 66, U-W Platteville 55 (WIAC)
Saint Norbert 92, Carroll
68 (Midwest Conference)
Aurora 95, Lakeland 71 (Northern Athletics
Conference)
In Division-Three women's college basketball tournament
title games...
Wisconsin Lutheran 75, Concordia-Mequon 52 (NAC)
Carthage
61, Wheaton 52 (CCIW)
Cornell 63, Monmouth 52 (Midwest Conference)
In Cactus League exhibition baseball...
Milwaukee 2, Oakland 1
In women's college hockey...
Wisconsin 3, Bemidji State 1
Here
are the details:
Al Horford made a hook shot with five-point-nine
seconds left to give the Atlanta Hawks a 103-to-102 victory over the Milwaukee
Bucks last night at the B-M-O Harris Bradley Center. Milwaukee blew a
seven-point lead in the final three-and-a-half minutes. Guard J-J Redick, whom
the Bucks acquired in a Thursday trade with Orlando, had 16 points and seven
assists in 35 minutes off the bench. He said he got confused in the fourth
quarter when coach Jim Boylan started calling plays he didn't recognize. But
Redick said it won't take long to straighten that kind of thing out. The nearly
sell-out crowd gave the former Duke star a huge ovation when he entered the
game. Redick said the last thing he wanted to do was start his Milwaukee tenure
with a loss. Horford had 23 points and 11 rebounds for Atlanta. Former Wisconsin
Badger Devin Harris scored 21. Ersan Ilyasova led the Bucks in scoring with 19.
Larry Sanders pulled down 19 rebounds, one short of his career high. But it
wasn't enough, as the Bucks lost their third straight game, and their
ninth-in-their-last-11. Milwaukee still has a three-and-a-half game lead for the
final Eastern Conference playoff spot, but they dropped to two-and-a-half behind
Boston for the Number-seven slot. The Bucks' next game is on Tuesday night at
Dallas.
-2/24-
The Marquette men's basketball team fell into a
three-way tie for second place in the Big East Conference, after losing at
Villanova last night 60-to-56. The 17th-ranked Golden Eagles were sloppy with
the ball, as they committed 19 turnovers to just 10 miscues for the Wildcats.
Junior Cadougan (cuh-doo'-gn) was the only Marquette player to score in double
figures. He had 12, and the Eagles lost despite out-shooting 'Nova 45-to-42
percent. But the Wildcats shot 57-percent in the second half to help nail down
its victory. Darrun Hilliard scored 22 for Villanova, which improved to 9-and-6
in the Big East and 17-and-11 overall. Marquette fell to 10-and-4 in the
conference and 19-and-7 overall. Georgetown is now alone atop the Big East
standings at 11-and-3. Marquette will host Syracuse tomorrow night on E-S-P-N's
"Big Monday."
Elsewhere, the U-W Milwaukee men scored the final nine
points of the second overtime to win a Bracket Buster game at
Indiana-Purdue-Indianapolis, 95-to-88.
-2/24-
The U-W Green Bay
women clinched at least a share of its 15th straight Horizon League regular
season title yesterday, with an 80-to-38 pounding of Valparaiso at home. The
25th-ranked Phoenix opened the game with an 18-to-2 run and rolled from there.
Megan Lukan scored 22 points for Green Bay, which out-shot Valpo 48-to-21
percent. Nobody scored in double figures for the Crusaders. Shaquira Scott had
nine, as Valparaiso dropped to 4-and-8 in the Horizon League and 9-and-16
overall. Green Bay is now 12-and-0 in the conference and 22-and-2 overall. The
Phoenix can win the league title outright with a victory at Detroit on Thursday
night.
Elsewhere, the Wisconsin women missed a chance at overtime,
missing two shots in the final five seconds as the Badgers fell at Northwestern,
54-to-52.
-2/24-
Four Number-One seeds lost last night in the
boys' state high school basketball regionals. Sun Prairie was upset in
Division-One along with Waunakee in Division-Two, Crandon in D-Four, and
Wausaukee in Division-Five. All of the returning champions and A-P Number-Ones
that played last evening won their games. A few schools were off, because they
had wait for opponents who were behind in the brackets after being snowed out on
Friday night. Nine regional finals will be played tomorrow night. And then
fields will be set for the boys' sectionals that begin on Thursday. Thirty-six
of the 42 top-seeded teams are still alive, including all eight in
Division-Three.
-2/24-
Ryan Braun homered in his first at-bat
yesterday, as the Milwaukee Brewers topped Oakland 2-to-1 in their Cactus League
exhibition opener in Phoenix. The Brewers won despite getting only three hits.
Braun said he's far ahead of normal in his preparations for the regular season.
That's because he'll compete for Team U-S-A in next month's World Baseball
Classic. Braun said he started his pre-workout routines earlier than normal –
and before the world tournament begins, he'll get more at-bats than usual in the
Brewers' Spring Training games. Starter Mike Fiers and seven Milwaukee relievers
allowed a combined five hits and four walks, while striking out nine. The
Brewers will play Cleveland this afternoon. Mark Rogers is expected to start for
the Crew.
-2/24-
The Brewers sold 87-thousand tickets yesterday,
as they opened their single-game ticket sales for the upcoming season at Miller
Park. Hundreds of fans lined up outside the stadium as part of the club's annual
"Arctic Tailgate" event. And many others bought seats online. Opening Day is
sold out, except for limited tickets which remain as part of season-ticket
packages. And only limited seats are available for the April 20th game against
Chicago, the May 26th contest against Pittsburgh, and the June 23rd game against
Atlanta.
-2/24-
Matt Kenseth of Cambridge took 16th yesterday in
the NASCAR Nationwide Series' season debut at Daytona. Beloit-born Danica
Patrick finished 36th, after she had engine trouble and completed only
31-of-the-120 laps. Tony Stewart won the race, after a major crash on the final
lap that injured at 28 people in the grandstands. Regan Smith's car was hit from
behind on the outside wall and then careened into several other cars. Fourteen
of the injured were taken to area hospitals, while the rest were treated at the
track's medical center. NASCAR's top series' makes its 2013 debut today with one
of the season's highlights, the Daytona-500. Kenseth is the defending champion,
and he'll start 12th. Paul Menard of Eau Claire starts 17th. Travis Kvapil of
Janesville takes up the rear in the 43rd spot.
-2/24-
Steve
Stricker of Madison was eliminated yesterday in the quarter-finals of the
Accenture Match Play golf championship in Marana Arizona. Stricker lost to Ian
Poulter 3-and-2, after he defeated Scott Piercy one-up in the Sweet-16 round
earlier in the day. Stricker, the Number-four seed in the Sam Snead bracket, won
three straight matches before bowing out. Poulter is the highest remaining seed.
He'll play Hunter Mahan in today's semi-finals. Matt Kuchar will play Jason Day
in the other semi.
-2/24-
Sergio Bonaldi of Italy won the main
men's race by a photo finish yesterday at the 40th American Birkbeiner
(birk-by-ner) cross country ski event in northwest Wisconsin. It was originally
thought that Italy's Fabio Santus won the 50-kilometer event from Cable to
Hayward. But a photo review determined that Bonaldi was the winner. The Italian
men swept the top four positions. Caitlin Gregg of Minneapolis won the women's
Birkie. Tatjana Mannima of Estonia was just four-tenths of a second behind as
the runner-up. Gregg won her second Birkie in three years. Skiers from 21
countries and 48 states competed in the nation's largest Nordic ski race, and
the fourth-largest in the world.
-2/24-
The Wisconsin women's
hockey team will host Saint Cloud State next weekend in the first round of the
W-C-H-A Playoffs. The Badgers finished the regular season in a tie for second,
after winning at Bemidji State 3-to-1 last night. Kelly Jaminski had a goal and
an assist, as the Badgers finished at 17-9-2-and-2 in conference season play.
The sixth-ranked Badgers are also 21-9-and-2 overall.
-2/24-
The
fields are set for the boys'-and-girls' state high school hockey tournaments
that begin this coming week in Madison. The brackets were completed last night,
after four boys' teams and two girls' squads won their sectional finals. The
boys' quarter-finals begin on Thursday. Wausau West faces Verona. Defending
champion Green Bay Notre Dame takes on Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln. Whitefish Bay
plays Eau Claire Memorial. And Superior goes against Fond du Lac. The winners
advance to the semi-finals on Friday. All but one of the eight top-seeds made it
to state. Kettle Moraine is the only one who didn't, after falling to Whitefish
Bay in the second round. The girls' state tournament begins on Friday with the
semi-finals. Returning champion Schofield D-C Everest faces Onalaska. And
Hayward plays Milwaukee University. Three-of-the-four Number-One seeds advanced.
The University School upset top-seeded Brookfield Central in their sectional
final, 1-to-nothing.
