SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Wyatt Lohaus had 22 points as Northern Iowa easily defeated Missouri State 63-43 on Wednesday night. Isaiah Brown had 15 points and six rebounds for Northern Iowa (13-15, 8-7 Missouri Valley Conference). Spencer Haldeman added 12 points. AJ Green had 10 points for the visitors. Neither team was able to get much going offensively in the first 20 minutes. Northern Iowa trailed 19-17 heading to the locker room at halftime, but the Panthers came back in the second half to earn the victory. Both teams set season lows for scoring in the first half. The Panthers’ 17 first-half points were the lowest of the season for the visitors, while the 19 points in the first half for the Bears marked the fewest of the season for the hosts.

Jarred Dixon had 14 points for the Bears (15-13, 9-6), whose four-game winning streak ended with the loss. Tulio Da Silva added 13 rebounds. Kabir Mohammed had eight rebounds. Keandre Cook, who was second on the Bears in scoring entering the contest with 13 points per game, was held to 4 points on 1-of-10 shooting. The Panthers improve to 2-0 against the Bears on the season. Northern Iowa defeated Missouri State 64-59 on Feb. 2. Northern Iowa plays Valparaiso at home on Saturday. Missouri State faces Indiana State at home on Saturday.

Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Bridget Carleton had 28 points and 10 rebounds to help No. 20 Iowa State beat Oklahoma 91-70 on Wednesday, the Cyclones’ first victory over the Sooners since the 2013-14 season. Carleton was 11 of 17 from the field, making 4 of 8 3-pointers. Kristin Scott added 16 points, Madison Wise had 14, and Ashley Joens 13 for Iowa State (20-6, 10-4). Shaina Pellington led Oklahoma (6-19, 2-12) with 14 points. Jessi Murcer and Ana Llanusa each had 11 points.

JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — St. Louis Cardinals newcomer Andrew Miller feels for the dozens of free agents who don’t have jobs the day before spring training games start. The All-Star reliever signed early, getting a $25 million deal for two years with the Cards. But lots of big names are still available. Miller says he believes analytics-driven front offices have devolved into a “group think” mindset.

SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — Kansas City Royals left fielder Alex Gordon is looking forward to teaming up with new center fielder Billy Hamilton to take away hits from opponents this season. The Royals started nine different players in center last year. Gordon is eager to have the speedy Hamilton next to him, especially at spacious Kauffman Stadium.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs have turned to Steve Spagnuolo to shore up their soft defense. The former Rams and Giants head coach knows that it will be a process. But he also said there are pieces in place for a rapid turnaround. And with stars galore on the other side of the ball, Spagnuolo knows his bunch could be the missing piece of a Super Bowl contender.

UNDATED (AP) — It’s finally here _ the first of two meetings between Michigan State and Michigan, the in-state rivals that have looked like the class of the Big Ten for much of this season. While Purdue has joined the Spartans and Wolverines in the title race, the two Michigan State-Michigan games could obviously have a big impact on who finishes first. The Wolverines host the Spartans on Sunday.

UNDATED (AP) — Kansas plays at Texas Tech in a key Big 12 matchup. The Jayhawks and Red Raiders enter play tied for second place in the league at 9-4, a game behind surging Kansas State. Tech has won four straight by an average of 24 points since Kansas beat them 79-63 in Lawrence back on Feb. 2, while the Jayhawks have won their last three games.

WACO, Texas (AP) — Kalani Brown reached career milestones of 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, and the No. 1 Baylor women clinched at least a share of their ninth consecutive Big 12 regular-season championship. The Lady Bears beat Kansas 80-40. It is Baylor’s 10th Big 12 regular season title overall in coach Kim Mulkey’s 19th seasons.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Zach Jackson had 21 points as Omaha topped Western Illinois 77-63. KJ Robinson had 17 points for Omaha (17-9, 11-2 Summit League), which won its fifth straight game.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Wyatt Lohaus had 22 points as Northern Iowa easily defeated Missouri State 63-43. Isaiah Brown had 15 points and six rebounds for Northern Iowa (13-15, 8-7 Missouri Valley Conference).

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Bridget Carleton had 28 points and 10 rebounds to help No. 20 Iowa State beat Oklahoma 91-70 on Wednesday, the Cyclones’ first victory over the Sooners since the 2013-14 season. Carleton was 11 of 17 from the field, making 4 of 8 3-pointers. Kristin Scott added 16 points, Madison Wise had 14, and Ashley Joens 13 for Iowa State (20-6, 10-4). Shaina Pellington led Oklahoma (6-19, 2-12) with 14 points. Jessi Murcer and Ana Llanusa each had 11 points.

Just one game on the Western Iowa postseason slate tonight. Glenwood and Denison will battle for a spot in the Girls 4A State Tournament tonight in Denison. The game was postponed from last night.

Girls Class 4A Region 2 Final: Glenwood at Denison-Schleswig 7:00pm

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Jim Field.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.8MB)

Subscribe: RSS

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon knew the ball would be in Iowa guard Jordan Bohannon’s hands. The No. 24 Terrapins were ready in the final 7.8 seconds, and they turned the No. 21 Hawkeyes away from a third-straight buzzer beater with a 66-65 victory on Tuesday night. Bruno Fernando scored 11 points for Maryland (20-7, 11-5 Big Ten), the last two of which came on a putback with 7.8

seconds to go that gave the Terrapins their winning margin.
Maryland gave up an 11-point lead over the final four minutes, but held on against an Iowa team that had won its last two games via buzzer-beater and had two looks at the basket in the final seven seconds. The Terrapins got 17 points from Anthony Cowan, who shot 5 of 10 from 3-point range and had eight rebounds. Eric Ayala added 11 points and Fernando had 11 rebounds. Despite Iowa’s furious comeback effort, which included Bohannon being fouled on a 3-pointer, Turgeon was happy with how his team responded to Iowa’s getting back in the game.

“They shoot five free throws, we’ve had the ball for 20 seconds and there was still 3:57 to go and it’s a two-point game,” Turgeon said. “It was crazy how fast we lost it. But my guys were tough tonight.
“Iowa missed about seven wide-open 3s for us. And we started to make shots. We got ourselves going and got our defense going.” Iowa (20-6, 9-6) saw its four game-win streak end. The Hawkeyes were led by Bohannon, who had 14 points, and Isaiah Moss, who added 12 points and 10 rebounds. Hawkeyes head coach Fran McCaffery couldn’t pinpoint a major difference in a reason for this outcome being different than the previous pair, other than the final possession was emblematic of the entire game. “It was kind of the whole game,” McCaffery said. “Shots by good shooters weren’t going in. There was a lot (of options at the end). I think (Bohannon) felt like he was free enough to pull. He wants to be the guy shooting it in that situation.”

The Hawkeyes couldn’t make another miracle, and finally were bit by inconsistent play they were able to overcome previously. Iowa held Maryland without a field goal for nearly six minutes to open the game, but allowed the Terrapins to shoot nearly 52 percent in the second half. The Hawkeyes dipped slightly last week after narrow wins, but a loss to a ranked team shouldn’t be the biggest indictment.
Maryland: A road win against a ranked team should boost the Terrapins next Sunday, provided Turgeon’s team holds serve at home against Ohio State.
UP NEXT
Iowa welcomes Indiana to Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Friday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Brady Ellingson had 17 points to lead five Drake players in double figures as the Bulldogs topped Bradley 77-68 on Tuesday night. D.J. Wilkins added 14 points for the Bulldogs. Tremell Murphy chipped in 13, Nick McGlynn scored 13 and Anthony Murphy had 12. Murphy also had nine rebounds for the Bulldogs, while McGlynn posted nine rebounds and three blocks. Elijah Childs scored a career-high 24 points and had nine rebounds for the Braves (15-13, 7-8 Missouri Valley Conference), whose four-game win streak was broken. Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye added 13 points and 10 rebounds.

The Bulldogs improve to 2-0 against the Braves for the season. Drake defeated Bradley 69-52 on Jan. 16. Drake (21-7, 10-5) will pursue its fifth consecutive win on Sunday when the team visits Illinois State. Bradley matches up against Evansville at home on Saturday.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State might have blown its shot at the Big 12 title because it suddenly and somewhat inexplicably can’t win in Ames. Jared Butler scored 17 points, Freddie Gillespie had 14 and Baylor upset No. 19 Iowa State 73-69 on Tuesday night. Makia Mason scored 14 points on 18 shots in his return from a toe injury for the Bears (17-9, 8-5 Big 12). They outrebounded Iowa State 44-28 and grabbed 18 offensive boards over the smaller Cyclones, who’ve dropped back-to-back games at Hilton Coliseum — dubbed “Hilton Magic” because of how well the Cyclones typically play there. Iowa State’s 6-3 road record is the best in the Big 12. But for the third time this season, the Cyclones lost a home game they were favored to win.

After trailing by 10 points midway through the first half, Iowa State went ahead 52-50 on Marial Shayok’s three-point play with 11:45 left. Baylor swapped the lead with the Cyclones (19-7, 8-5) seven times in the next eight minutes, but Butler followed a layup with a 3 to put the Bears ahead 69-65 with two minutes left. Iowa State’s Cameron Lard then fumbled an entry pass from Shayok, and Mason hit two free throws to make it 71-65 with 35.3 seconds to go. Shayok had 20 points for Iowa State, which went nearly six minutes without a field goal down the stretch.

Iowa State, which also lost to TCU and Kansas State in Ames, fell two games behind the league-leading Wildcats. “It’s really mind boggling, to be honest with you,” Prohm said of his team, which beat K-State, Texas Tech and Mississippi on the road. “If you play the right way and you get beat, you get beat. We’ve got good teams in this league. We didn’t play the right way.” One bright spot for Iowa State was freshman Tyrese Haliburton. After passing up too many open looks recently, he buried 3 of 4 3s. …Eight different players grabbed offensive boards for Baylor. …The Cyclones had just five turnovers. …The Bears had 18 second-chance points and led for nearly 31 minutes.
UP NEXT: Iowa State plays at TCU on Saturday.

The Exira-EHK Spartans used a 21-6 third quarter advantage to secure a win over the Audubon Wheelers 61-45 on Tuesday night. It was a tight first half with the Spartans leading by just 5 at halftime 26-21. The Spartans then ripped off a 19-4 run to start the third quarter and grab a comfortable lead that lasted the rest of the way.

The Spartans got 19 points from 6-7 senior Dakota Rold to lead the win. After the game Rold said they talked at halftime about keeping the intensity high in the second half and it payed off.

Fellow senior Cole Burmeister added 14 points in the win. Burmeister said when they play strong defense that is what really makes the Spartans offense go, and that happened in the second half.

The Spartans improved to 21-2 on the season and will get a chance to avenge those two losses on Thursday. The Spartans will take on the Ar-We-Va Rockets in the Class 1A District 15 Final on Thursday night in Manning. The Rockets handed the Spartans the only blemishes on their record. Burmeister said they are excited for the opportunity to play them again.

Audubon got 22 points from senior Tate Killeen as his terrific career comes to an end along with Noah Muzney and Lane Lawson. The Wheelers ended the season with a 16-7 record.

The Spartans and Rockets game on Thursday night will be a 7:00pm tip and we will have coverage on KJAN with pregame starting about 6:45pm.

The Ar-We-Va Rockets finished strong in a 66-54 win over the AHSTW Vikings a Class 1A District 15 Semifinal on Tuesday night. The Rockets led the game by 7 at the end of the first quarter and 4 at halftime 24-20. The Rockets led by 7 again at the end of the third and then used strong foul shooting to close out the win. The Rockets sank 15 of 16 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter and finished 24 of 28 at the line for the game.

Keegan Simons led the way for Ar-We-Va with 22 points and Drew Schurke finished with 20. Schurke was 8 for 8 from the stripe in the final quarter. The Rockets improved to 22-1 on the season and advanced to the District 15 Final on Thursday night.

AHSTW was able to make enough plays to stay within striking distance throughout the game but could never grab the lead from late in the first quarter on. The Viking were led by 19 points from Raydden Grobe and 12 from Blake Osbahr. The Vikings’ season ends with a record of 12-11.

Ar-We-Va will face the Exira-EHK Spartans on Thursday night in that District Final in Manning. The Spartans advanced in the second game of the evening with a 61-45 win over Audubon.