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Midwest Sports Headlines: 3/7/2020

Sports

March 7th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Dorka Juhasz had 15 points and 14 rebounds to help No. 6 seed Ohio State beat No. 3 seed and 19th-ranked Iowa 87-66 in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament. Ohio State will face No. 7 seed Michigan in the semifinals. After the Hawkeyes scored the first point of the game on a free throw, the Buckeyes went on a 25-4 run, including 19 straight points, capped by Juhasz’s 3-pointer for a 20-point lead with 2:50 left in the first quarter. Ohio State led by double digits the rest of the way, going into halftime with a 48-31 lead. Kathleen Doyle led Iowa with 16 points.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa star big man Luka Garza says working vacations in Bosnia and California last summer helped elevate his game. Now he’s one of the leading candidates for national player of the year. Garza did two-a-day basketball workouts with his uncle and cousin in Bosnia and three-a-day workouts with his father and grandpa in California. Garza has led the Big Ten in scoring since November. He’s scoring 23.7 points per game and is on a streak of 15 consecutive games of 20 points or more in Big Ten play. That’s the longest streak in the Big Ten in 26 years.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Isiaih Mosley scored on a putback as Missouri State grabbed the lead midway through the opening period and hit the gas, eliminating No. 3 seed Indiana State from the Missouri Valley Conference quarterfinals 78-51. The top three seeds in the MVC tournament — Northern Iowa, Loyola Chicago and the Sycamores were bounced in the quarterfinals. Missouri State, the No. 6 seed, faces seventh-seeded Valparaiso, which ousted second-seeded Loyola Chicago in overtime. Gaige Prim scored 17 points to lead five Bears into double-figure scoring. Indiana State was led by 14 points apiece from Jordan Barnes and Jake LaRavia.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (AP) — Roman Penn scored a career-high 26 points, including 12 straight to start a game-breaking 18-0 run midway through the second half, and eighth-seeded Drake shocked Missouri Valley Conference champion Northern Iowa 77-56 in a quarterfinal game. It started with a pair of free throws at the 10:50 mark. He followed up with a couple of layups and then a pair of 3-pointers. After teammate Liam Robbins scored inside, Penn hit another jumper and Garrett Sturtz capped it with free throws for a 67-48 lead with 2:28 to play. Northern Iowa was led by AJ Green with 19 points.

SAINT LOUIS, Mo. (AP) — John Kizer drove the left side of the paint, drawing two defenders and passed to Eron Gordon for the winning layin as Valparaiso stormed from 18 points down to knock No. 2 seed Loyola Chicago out of the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference 74-73 in overtime. Kiser finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocked shots for the seventh-seeded Crusaders. All nine Loyola Chicago players scored but only Keith Clemons reached double figures with a career-high 28.

SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — Mike Matheny was let go two seasons ago from his job as St. Louis Cardinals manager. Now as Ned Yost’s replacement with Kansas City, Matheny is excited about an opportunity to build the Royals from the ground up, and his players are ready for his enthusiasm. The Cardinals won three NL Central titles and one pennant in 6 1/2 years under Matheny. They missed the postseason in 2016 and ’17, and he was fired midway through the 2018 season. Matheny joined the Royals in their player development department a year ago.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska men’s basketball player has been cited after leaving the scene of a minor accident. Lincoln police say sophomore guard Cam Mack also was cited Wednesday for negligent driving. Court records don’t list an attorney for him. A woman told police Mack’s car struck hers from behind and left the area before officers arrived. She gave officers his car license number. The Nebraska Athletic Department released a statement saying coach Fred Hoiberg was aware of the incident and wouldn’t comment until all information about the matter was known.