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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (7.3MB)

Subscribe: RSS

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

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Alexa Willard scored 17 points to help 11th-seeded Missouri State stun third-seeded Iowa State 69-60, becoming the only double-digit seed to reach this year’s Sweet 16. Abby Hipp had 11 points and Danielle Gitzen scored 10 for the Lady Bears, who will compete in an NCAA Tournament regional semifinal for the first time since the Jackie Stiles-led team in 2001. They became the ninth team in 10 years to reach the Sweet 16 as a double-digit seed.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Sweet 16 is set and Missouri State is crashing the party for the first time in 18 years. The 11th-seeded Lady Bears, who last got this far in 2001 when the team made its historic Final Four run, are the only double-digit seed to reach the regional semifinals. The Pac-12 continued to establish its dominance with five teams reaching the Sweet 16 for the second time in three years.

SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals selected the contract of first baseman Lucas Duda from Triple-A Omaha and waived outfielder Brian Goodwin on Monday as they continued to shape their opening day roster. Duda attended spring training with Minnesota on a minor league contract, was released last week and signed a minor league deal with the Royals on Friday. He gets a $1.25 million, one-year contract from Kansas City and the chance to earn $250,000 in performance bonuses.

UNDATED (AP) — Missouri has submitted its appeals brief to the NCAA, taking the next step in attempting to limit or overturn what it believes are overly harsh sanctions in the case of a rogue former tutor. The school argued in the 64-page brief to the NCAA’s appeals committee that the penalties handed down Jan. 31 are contrary to NCAA precedent, were not supported or appropriate given the nature of the allegations, and could have a chilling effect on future NCAA enforcement.

UNDATED (AP) — The first weekend of the NCAA Tournament was a slap in the face to the Big 12, a league that habitually considers itself the toughest in college basketball. Regular-season co-champion Kansas State was beaten by UC Irvine in the biggest first-round upset. Conference tournament champion Iowa State lost to No. 11 seed Ohio State in what may have been the second-biggest upset. Texas Tech is the only team left standing.

UNDATED (AP) — Kansas City quarterback and reigning NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes will be a part of ABC’s coverage of the first round of the NFL draft on April 25. Mahomes will join “Good Morning America” co-host Robin Roberts on set before the first pick. Mahomes led the Chiefs to the AFC championship game in his first season as a starter. He led the league with 50 touchdown passes and was second in passing yards with 5,097.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Missouri State has become a small-school outlier in an NCAA Tournament largely dominated by chalk. The Lady Bears are playing like they belong among the giants of the women’s game. Alexa Willard scored 17 points to help 11th-seeded Missouri State stun third-seeded Iowa State 69-60 on Monday night, becoming the only double-digit seed to reach this year’s Sweet 16.

Abby Hipp had 11 points and Danielle Gitzen scored 10 for the Lady Bears (25-9), who will compete in a regional semifinal for the first time since the Jackie Stiles-led team in 2001. They’ll face Stanford in Chicago after becoming the ninth team in 10 years to reach the Sweet 16 as a double-digit seed.

Missouri State had gone one-and-done in its previous four NCAA appearances. It might have seemed as though a game-deciding run was inevitable in the fourth quarter for the Cyclones. But it was the Lady Bears, fresh off a dominant win over sixth-seeded DePaul, who took control when it mattered.

The Cyclones fell a game shy of matching the school record for wins in a season. This was a brutal way to end the year, but it was still a remarkable turnaround for a program that bottomed out at 14-17 a year ago.
UP NEXT –
Iowa State will look to move on after losing Bridget Carleton, who finished her career seven points shy of the school record, and Middleton. Carleton had 31 points in her final game to lead Iowa State, which shot a ghastly 2 of 17 on 3s and 35.6 percent overall.

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania — University of Iowa sophomore Spencer Lee defeated Virginia’s Jack Mueller, 5-0, on Saturday night to win the 125-pound title at the 2019 NCAA Wrestling Championships.

Lee, the No. 3 seed at 125, scored takedowns in the first and third periods, and forced a pair of stalling calls on Mueller to win the title for the second straight year.

“Terry Brands always tells me big time wrestlers show up at big time moments. We preach that at the University of Iowa, and everyone on my team believes that they’re a big-time wrestler because that’s the mindset you have to have to be in this sport,” Lee said.

“We preach that — big time wrestlers show up at big time matches. I believe that too. I believe we all show up the best we can, especially when you face a great opponent like Jack Mueller. He’s a great exponent.”

Lee outscored his opponents 55-7 in five matches. He won twice by decision and added one major decision, one technical fall, and one pin. He defeated an undefeated opponent in the finals for the second straight year. Mueller was 21-0 entering the finals. A year ago, Lee defeated Nick Suriano in the finals, 5-1. Suriano had been 25-0.

Lee’s individual national title is the 85th in program history, and 12th under head coach Tom Brands.

“He needs to give himself a lot of credit,” said Iowa head coach Tom Brands. “Spencer Lee is a tough costumer. In short that is what I would say. He is a gracious guy, but in the heat of the battle he wants things to go his way. When they go his way, you’re a national champion. He’s that good.”

UNI’s Drew Foster took the title at 197 pounds. with a 6-4 decision over Cornell’s Max Dean in the championship match. Foster becomes the first champion for the Panthers since 2000. Foster wasn’t heavily recruited in high school and worked from a 15-19 freshman season to become an NCAA Champ his senior year.

HAWKEYE ALL-AMERICANS

The Hawkeyes placed fourth at the NCAA Championships with 76 points. Iowa crowned six All-Americans, including Lee, sophomore Austin DeSanto, junior Pat Lugo, sophomore Kaleb Young, sophomore Alex Marinelli, and redshirt freshman Jacob Warner.

Championship Matches
125: No. 3 Spencer Lee (Iowa) dec. No. 5 Jack Mueller (Virginia), 5-0
133: No. 3 Nick Suriano (Rutgers) won in SV-2 over No. 1 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State), 4-2
141: No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis won in SV-1 over No. 2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State), 6-4
149: No. 1 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) dec. No. 2 Micah Jordan (Ohio State), 9-4
157: No. 1 Jason Nolf (Penn State) major dec. No. 2 Tyler Berger (Nebraska), 10-2
165: No. 8 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) dec. No. 2 Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State), 7-1
174: No. 3 Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) dec. No. 1 Mark Hall (Penn State), 4-3
184: No. 6 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 5 Max Dean (Cornell), 6-4
197: No. 1 Bo Nickal (Penn State) dec. No. 2 Kollin Moore (Ohio State), 5-1
285: No. 2 Anthony Cassar (Penn State) major dec. No. 1 Derek White (Oklahoma State), 10-1

Final Team Scores Top 25
1. Penn State 137.5
2. Ohio State 96.5
3. Oklahoma State 84
4. Iowa 76
5. Michigan 62.5
6. Missouri 62
7. Cornell 59.5
8. Minnesota 53.5
9. Rutgers 51.5
10. Nebraska 51
11. Virginia Tech 50
12. Arizona State 42
T-13. Lehigh 40.5
T-13. Northern Iowa 40.5
15. Princeton 35
16. Iowa State 32
17. North Carolina State 31.5
18. Lock Haven 29
19. North Carolina 28.5
20. Oregon State 28
21. Wisconsin 27
22. Northwestern 26
23. Virginia 20.5
24. Duke 19
25. Oklahoma 18.5

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.2MB)

Subscribe: RSS

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

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Megan Gustafson scored 24 points with 19 rebounds, Makenzie Meyer had 18 points and second-seeded Iowa blew past Missouri 68-52 to advance to its second Sweet 16 in five years. Kathleen Doyle scored 15 points for the Hawkeyes (28-6), who put away the Tigers with a blistering 23-4 run in the second half.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — The last time Missouri State got this far in the NCAA Tournament, Jackie Stiles was leading the Lady Bears on a remarkable run to the Final Four. That was in 2001 and in all the years since, Missouri State had never made it to the second round — until now.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Tennessee avoided one of the biggest meltdowns in NCAA Tournament history, letting a 25-point lead slip away before two-time SEC player of the year Grant Williams scored six points in overtime for an 83-77 victory over Iowa. The Volunteers made it back to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2016, though there were more tense moments than the Vols imagined after they ran off to a huge lead in the opening half.

NEW YORK (AP) — Eight invitations to the Sweet 16 have been delivered and the other eight will be decided Monday night. UConn’s back in the regional semifinals for the 26th consecutive year, and the Pac-12 has yet to lose in the postseason, improving to 8-0 after wins by Arizona State and Oregon.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Desmond Bane had 30 points as TCU defeated Nebraska 88-72 in the second round of the NIT. Bane shot 6 for 9 from deep.

ATLANTA (AP) — Ron Hunter is leaving Georgia State to become Tulane’s coach. Less than 48 hours after the Panthers were eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Hunter said he’s moving on from the downtown Atlanta university where he coached the past eight seasons. Hunter takes over a Tulane men’s basketball program that fired Mike Dunleavy after the Green Wave failed to win a game in the American Athletic Conference.

JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals think their lineup is coming together at the right time. Paul Goldschmidt hit his third spring homer in the Grapefruit League finale

UNDATED (AP) — Former Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Jeremy Maclin has announced he is retiring from playing football after nine NFL seasons. The 30-year-old Maclin announced his decision in a Twitter post. Maclin finished with 514 career catches for 6,835 yards and 49 TD catches for Philadelphia, Kansas City and Baltimore.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Megan Gustafson scored 24 points with 19 rebounds, Makenzie Meyer added 18 points and second-seeded Iowa blew past Missouri 68-52 on Sunday to advance to its second Sweet 16 in five years. Kathleen Doyle scored 15 points for the Hawkeyes (28-6), who put away the Tigers with a blistering 23-4 run in the second half. They’ll face either Kentucky or North Carolina State, who play each other on Monday, in the semifinals of the Greensboro Regional next week. Tania Davis hit her first 3 of the game to open the fourth quarter, putting Iowa up 50-41, and Meyer’s corner 3 pushed the lead to 13. Gustafson’s jumper over two defenders made it 60-43 with 4:21 to go, capping a spurt that helped Iowa clinch its highest win total in 31 years.

Hawkeyes fans will get at least one more opportunity to watch Gustafson, the greatest player in school history. Is Gustafson good enough to help lead Iowa to the Final Four? She might be — but Gustafson’s teammates will need to play above expectations for that to be possible. Gustafson received a standing ovation when she was finally pulled from her final home game with 22.4 seconds to go.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Tennessee avoided one of the biggest meltdowns in NCAA Tournament history Sunday, letting a 25-point lead slip away before two-time SEC player of the year Grant Williams scored 6 points in overtime for an 83-77 victory over Iowa. The Volunteers (31-5) made it back to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2016, though there were more tense moments than the Vols imagined after they ran off to a 44-19 lead in the opening half.

The biggest NCAA Tournament comeback? BYU’s 25-point rally past Iona in the First Four in 2012. Tenth-seeded Iowa (23-12) nearly pulled off another one, sending it overtime tied at 71 — the first overtime game in this year’s tournament.

Jordan Bohannon scored 18 for Iowa, which never led but managed to tie it twice after falling so far behind. The Hawkeyes wrapped up a turnaround season. They improved their win total by nine games and were second in the Big Ten in scoring in coach Fran McCaffrey’s ninth season. They were prone to give up a lot of points and lost three games by at least 20.
UP NEXT
Tennessee heads to Louisville to play third-seeded Purdue on Thursday. The Boilermakers beat defending champion Villanova 87-61 on Saturday behind Carsen Edwards’ career-high 42 points.

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

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Bridget Carleton led four players in double figures with 23 points and third-seeded Iowa State throttled New Mexico State 97-61 for its first NCAA Tournament win since 2013. Alexa Middleton had 15 points, nine assists and five rebounds for the Cyclones (26-8), who were one-and-done in their last three trips to the Big Dance.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Alexa Willard and Danielle Gitzen each scored 20 points and 11th-seeded Missouri State stunned DePaul 89-78, snapping the Blue Demon’s five-game winning streak in opening-round NCAA Tournament games. Freshman Elle Ruffridge had a career-high 15 points for the surprisingly stout Lady Bears (24-9).

UNDATED (AP) — The point guard for Mike Krzyzewski’s first Final Four team now is trying to lead Central Florida to its first Sweet 16 berth. Standing in Johnny Dawkins’ way is his former coach and boss. Dawkins will match up with Krzyzewski on Sunday as No. 9 seed UCF attempts to upset No. 1 seed Duke in an East Region matchup.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Bryce Brown scored 25 points and hit seven 3-pointers, leading Auburn to an 89-75 takedown of mighty Kanas in the Midwest Region. Auburn had a 17-point lead before the midpoint of the first half and kept pouring in shots, hitting 13 3-pointers while shooting 53 percent against one of the college basketball’s premier programs.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Pac-12 and Atlantic Coast Conference showed conference supremacy in the opening round of the women’s NCAA Tournament. The two power conferences combined to go 13-1 in the first two days.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Looking for a team that could carry Loyola-Chicago’s mantle deep into the NCAA Tournament? Check out the South Region, which has three double-digit seeds still standing. That includes those 13th-seeded Anteaters, who have some parallels with last year’s Ramblers.

JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — Paul Goldschmidt wanted to stay in St. Louis, just like Mark McGwire, Jim Edmonds and Matt Holliday. Acquired in December from Arizona, Goldschmidt gave up a chance to become a free agent after this season when he finalized a new contract with the Cardinals that guarantees an additional $130 million from 2020-24.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State cruised to its first NCAA Tournament win in six years on Saturday — and moved a step closer to its first Sweet 16 in nearly a decade.
Bridget Carleton led four players in double figures with 23 points and third-seeded Iowa State routed New Mexico State 97-61 on Saturday for its first victory in the tournament since 2013.

Alexa Middleton had 15 points, nine assists and five rebounds for the Cyclones (26-8), who were one-and-done in their last three trips to the Big Dance. On Monday, they’ll face 11th-seeded Missouri State — which stunned DePaul 89-78 earlier Saturday — in search of the program’s first regional semifinal appearance since 2010.

“The NCAA is supposed to be fun, and today was fun,” Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said. “The best part of it is that we get to play again.” Iowa State never trailed — and it never let the Aggies’ explosive offense breathe, either.

After seeing the rival Hawkeyes struggle mightily with a No. 15 seed on Friday, the Cyclones eased any fears over a possible upset with a stirring start. Iowa State will likely find buckets much tougher to come by on Monday when they host the Bears — who picked up their first NCAA win since superstar Jackie Stiles led them to the Final Four in 2001.

Iowa State senior Meredith Burkhall, who had seen her role diminish with sophomore Kristin Scott emerging as a star in the post, hit back-to-back shots in the fourth quarter that brought the Cyclones bench to its feet. It might have been the last extended action in Hilton Coliseum for Burkhall, as Iowa State closes out home play on Monday.