Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Vinnie Shahid scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half to lead North Dakota State to a 73-63 win over Omaha in the Summit League Tournament title game. The No. 4-seeded Bison also got 15 points and seven rebounds from Tyson Ward and return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Texas Tech sophomore guard Jarrett Culver is the AP Big 12 player of the year after helping lead his hometown Red Raiders to a share of the regular season conference title. Chris Beard was named coach of the year after his third season with the seventh-ranked Red Raiders. Kansas junior guard Dedric Lawson, the league’s top scorer and rebounder, and Kansas State senior guard Barry Brown Jr. joined Culver as unanimous first-team picks. Lawson was also the top newcomer.
UNDATED (AP) — Michigan State’s Cassius Winston is The Associated Press player of the year in the Big Ten Conference and Purdue’s Matt Painter is its coach of the year. Winston, Purdue’s Carsen Edwards and Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ were unanimous picks to the AP All-Big Ten team in voting of 15 journalists covering the conference. Michigan freshman Ignas Brazdeikis was picked newcomer of the year.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Former Kansas football coach David Beaty says he is suing the school’s athletic department, alleging breach of contract and seeking $3 million he says he is owed after he was fired in November. Beaty finished with a 6-42 record in four seasons. He was fired with three games left but stayed in place. Kansas officials say they are withholding the money pending an NCAA investigation into possible violations under Beaty.
UNDATED (AP) — While it might not land a No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, the Big Ten was arguably the nation’s top conference during the regular season. The conference has four teams with legitimate Final Four aspirations in Michigan State, Michigan, Purdue and Wisconsin. All of them will be in action this week at the conference tournament in Chicago.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee forward Grant Williams is the Associated Press’ Southeastern Conference player of the year and Mississippi’s Kermit Davis is coach of the year. Williams earned unanimous first-team all-SEC honors for a second straight season. The 14-member media panel also voted Arkansas’ Daniel Gafford, Kentucky’s PJ Washington, LSU’s Tremont Waters and Mississippi State’s Quinndary Weatherspoon to the first team.