Monday Morning Sports – Husker Men Upset Wisconsin, Hoiberg Postgame Comments, UNK Women Rematch with Minnesota-Duluth in NCAA Tournament,

HUSKER MEN UPSET TOP TEN WISCONSIN TO CLOSE OUT REGULAR SEASON:

Alonzo Verge Jr. had nine of his game-high 26 points in an 11-0 run, as Nebraska stunned No. 10 Wisconsin with a 74-73 win on Sunday afternoon in Madison.

The Huskers, who closed out Big Ten play with three straight wins, trailed 71-62 after Brad Davison’s three-pointer with 5:48 remaining, but held the Big Ten champion Badgers without a field goal the remainder of the game.

Wisconsin had won 15 straight games by two possessions or less before Sunday’s loss.

Nebraska now awaits the Big Ten Tournament, where they are seeded No. 13 and take on No. 12 Northwestern in the opening game of the tournament on Wednesday, March 9.

NEBRASKA MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME COMMENTS;
HOIBERG – HUSKERS FOUND A WAY TO WIN

The Nebraska Men’s Basketball team pulled off the upset of their season, downing No. 10 and Co-Big Ten champ Wisconsin in Madison on Sunday afternoon.

The Huskers Head Coach Fred Hoiberg knew his team would have to stay under control to pull of the feat… 

The Huskers are now seeded No. 13 in the Big Ten tournament and take their winning streak facing Northwestern.

HOIBERG – NEBRASKA KEPT COMPETING

The Nebraska Men’s Basketball team shocked Wisconsin with a 74-73 win on Sunday afternoon. Head Coach Fred Hoiberg added in his postgame thoughts that the Huskers never let the game get out of reach… 

Nebraska now heads to postseason play to take on Northwestern in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament. 

UNK WOMEN FACE MINNESOTA-DULUTH IN NCAA TOURNAMENT:

The Nebraska-Kearney women’s basketball team is in the NCAA Tournament for a second consecutive year and will again face the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs in the opening round.

The Lopers (23-7) received one of five at-large bids in the Central Region which will be hosted by top-seed and MIAA Tournament Champion Fort Hays State March 11-14. The region winner advances to the Elite 8 March 21-25 in Birmingham, Ala.

Last year in Warrensburg, Mo., UNK picked up its seventh all-time NCAA win with a 65-57 decision over UMD. Wing Klaire Kirsch (21 points & 15 rebounds) and forward Elisa Backes (22 points & six rebounds) had big efforts for the Lopers while the ‘Dawgs were led by a pair of 6-2 forwards in Brooke Olson (28 points & 11 rebounds) and Sarah Grow (16 points & five rebounds). All four are back this year.

Duluth (24-4) is riding a 16-game winning streak that includes taking the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Tournament title.

LOCAL TEAMS TAKE ON STATE TOURNAMENT:

Area teams in action today taking on the NSAA Boys & Girls state basketball tournament:

GIRLS:

CLASS C1:

#4 Broken Bow v. #5 Gothenburg – 10:45 AM

#3 GICC v. #6 St. Paul – 3:15 PM

CLASS C2:

#1 Hastings St. Cecilia v. #8 Elkhorn Valley – 1:30 PM

CLASS D1: 

#4 Shelton v. v. #5 Niobrara – 3:15 PM

CLASS D2:

#4 Anselmo-Merna v. #5 Sterling – 10:45 AM

BOYS:

CLASS C2:

#8 Amherst v. #1 Freeman – 6 PM

#4 GICC v. #5 Doniphan-Trumbull – 7:45 PM

CLASS D1:

#3 Loomis v. #6 Riverside – 3:15 PM

#5 Burwell v. #4 EPPJ – 10:45 AM

UNK WOMEN FALL TO HAYS IN MIAA TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL:

Senior guard Whitney Randall scored 21 points and fifth-ranked Fort Hays State used a couple of scoring runs to down Nebraska-Kearney, 56-46, Saturday afternoon in an MIAA Tournament semifinal game in Kansas City.

The second-seeded Tigers (27-3) took the rubber match from the Lopers (23-7) and then went on to win the conference title over Missouri Southern 48-42 on Sunday afternoon.

HUSKER WOMEN END BIG TEN TOURNAMENT RUN AGAINST IOWA:

Isabelle Bourne led three Huskers in double figures with 16 points but it was not enough to overcome a huge game from Iowa’s Caitlin Clark in an 83-66 Nebraska loss in the semifinals of the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday evening.

The sixth-seeded Huskers also got 15 points apiece from guards Sam Haiby and Jaz Shelley, but Nebraska could not muster enough energy for a second straight second-half comeback in the setback to the AP No. 12 and second-seeded Hawkeyes (22-7). Iowa snapped a five-game Nebraska winning streak entering the semifinals while the Big Ten co-champions defeated the Huskers for the third time this season.

Nebraska (24-8), which closed the Big Ten Tournament 2-1 including its second win of the season over AP No. 10 Michigan on Thursday, will wait for the 2022 NCAA Division Women’s Basketball Championship bracket to be revealed during the Selection Show on Sunday, March 13 at 7 p.m. (CT). The 68-team bracket announcement will be televised live by ESPN. 

STORM DOMINATE LINCOLN AGAIN ON SUNDAY:

The Tri-City Storm defeated the Lincoln Stars by a final score of 8-3 on Sunday at the Viaero Center. Mitchell Miller notched the first hat trick of his USHL career in the win. The hat trick was the 35th in the organization’s history. 

Arsenii Sergeev recorded his 24th victory of the season in goal for the Storm. 

Tri-City returns to action next weekend at the Viaero Center in back-to-back home games against the Fargo Force. Puck drop for each game is scheduled for 7:05pm CT.

BIG TEN WRESTLING RECAP: HUSKERS END SEVENTH:

The Nebraska wrestling team took the seventh-place spot at the 2022 Big Ten Wrestling Championships with 75.5 points for the program’s 10th top-seven finish at the event. 

Nebraska was led by a second-place finish from Eric Schultz (197), and the Huskers clinched seven automatic bids to the NCAA Championships.

In the Huskers’ lone championship match of the day, Schultz faced Penn State’s two-seed Max Dean, and the Nittany Lion scored first with a takedown in the opening three minutes. Schultz responded with a pair of escapes and the wrestlers were tied 2-2 to start Period 3. Dean then tallied an escape of his own and grabbed the riding time point to defeat Schultz by decision, 4-2. 

Nebraska now sets its focus on the 2022 NCAA Championships, which will be held March 17-19 at the Little Caesar’s Arena in Detroit, Mich.

NEBRASKA BASEBALL ENDS WEEKEND ON WINNING NOTE:

The Nebraska baseball team concluded its weekend with a second win on Saturday, as the Huskers posted an 8-2 win at UT Arlington on Saturday afternoon at Clay Gould Balllpark in Arlington, Texas.

Nebraska scored eight runs on a season-high 15 hits and one error, while the Mavericks scored two runs on six hits and an error.

Nebraska returns to action with its first midweek matchup of the season, as the Huskers take on Kansas State on Tuesday, March 8 at 6 p.m. in Manhattan, Kan.

NEBRASKA ALUM COMBINE RESULTS:

Four former Huskers completed their interviews and workouts at the 2022 NFL Combine over the weekend. Here are the results for each athlete:

Austin Allen – 4.83 sec. 40 yard dash; 34.00” vertical; 10’1” broad jump; 7 sec. 3-cone drill; 4.26 20 yard shuttle. 

Cam Jurgens – 4.92 sec. 40 yard dash; 25 reps on Bench press; 

JoJo Domann – 4.62 sec. 40 yard dash; 34.50” vertical; 9’11” broad jump; 

Cam Taylor-Britt – 4.28 sec. 40 yard dash; 

MONDAY SPORTS NIGHTLY SCHEDULE:

Greg Sharpe and the rest of the Sports Nightly crew recap a busy week and weekend for Husker athletics, and will be joined by Husker Men’s Basketball coach Fred Hoiberg from 7 PM – 8 PM. 

Local Results & Schedules:

THIS WEEK IN LOCAL SPORTS:

SATURDAY:

• UNK:
• • WOMENS BASKETBALL: @ MIAA TOURNAMENT
    • #3 UNK v. #2 Fort Hays State
      • FHSU 56-46

MONDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a

• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a

• UNK:
  • WOMENS GOLF: v. SMSU @ Spring Invite, Litchfield Park, AZWOMENS TENNIS: v. Minnesota State @ Grand Island – 11:45 AM

• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
• • N/a

TUESDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a

• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • BOYS BASKETBALL: State Tournament @ Lincoln (Quarterfinals)
    • #3 KCHS v. #6 Wayne @ Bob Devaney Sports Center – 3:15 PM

• UNK:
  • WOMENS GOLF: v. SMSU @ Spring Invite, Litchfield Park, AZ

• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
• • N/a

WEDNESDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a

• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a

• UNK:
  • N/a

• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
• • N/a

THURSDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a

• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • BOYS BASKETBALL: State Tournament @ Lincoln (Semifinals)

• UNK:
  • N/a

• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
• • BASEBALL: @ Rusmatt Tournament
    • V. Rochester University – 6:30 PM

FRIDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a

• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a

• UNK:
  • UNK MENS TRACK: @ NCAA Indoor Championships, Pittsburg, KS
  • WRESTLING: @ NCAA Div. 2 Championships
  • WOMENS TENNIS: @ Cameron Lawton, OK
  • WOMENS BASKETBALL: @ NCAA TOURNAMENT (Hays, KS)
  • UNK v. Minnesota-Duluth – 12 PM
  • SOFTBALL: @ Missouri Western (Doubleheader) – 2 PM, 4 PM

• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
• • WOMENS WRESTLING: @ NAIA National Championships
  • SOFTBALL: @ McPherson Tournament
    • v. No. 24 Central Baptist College – 10:30 AM
    • v. Tabor College – 12:45 PM
  • BASEBALL: @ Rusmatt Tournament
    • v. Cornerstone University

SATURDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a

• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • BOYS BASKETBALL: State Tournament @ Lincoln (Championship)

• UNK:
  • UNK MENS TRACK: @ NCAA Indoor Championships, Pittsburg, KS
  • WRESTLING: @ NCAA Div. 2 Championships
  • WOMENS TENNIS: @ Angelo State
  • SOFTBALL: @ Northwest Missouri State – 12 PM, 2 PM

• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
• • WOMENS WRESTLING: @ NAIA National Championships
  • BASEBALL: @ Rusmatt Tournament
    • v. Cornerstone University