KEARNEY HIGH BASKETBALL SPLITS OMAHA DOUBLEHEADER; HEAD TO METRO SATURDAY:
The Bearcat basketball teams split their metro home opener on Thursday night, as the Bearcat girls earned a victory over Marian while the boys fell to Creighton Prep.
The girls earned a gritty 45-39 victory to give head coach JD Carson his first victory as the head coach of the Bearcats. They will take on Millard South in the early tournament victors match at Marian on Saturday at 3:45 PM.
The boys fell to Prep 53-47 after a defensive stalwart showing by the Junior Jays through all four quarters. The Bearcats will face off against Millard South at Prep on Saturday as the Patriots fell to Lincoln North Star on a late three pointer.
Find full game recaps online at KGFW.com.
NEBRASKA VOLLEYBALL SWEEPS DELAWARE STATE FOR BIG 12 RIVAL SCUFFLE:
The Nebraska volleyball team opened the 2022 NCAA Tournament with a dominant sweep of Delaware State Thursday night at the Devaney Center. The No. 2 seed Huskers never trailed in the match and won each set by double digits.
Nebraska will face Kansas at 7 p.m. on Friday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in the second round. The Jayhawks defeated the Miami Hurricanes, 25-17, 25-18, 25-20, on Friday afternoon.
Pregame on KGFW begins at 6:30 PM with John Baylor on the call from the Huskers Radio Network.
HUSKER WOMEN BLOWN OUT BY HOKIES:
Nebraska’s Isabelle Bourne notched a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds, but No. 9 Virginia Tech jumped to an early lead and pulled away late with an 85-54 women’s basketball win over the Huskers at Cassell Coliseum on Thursday night.
Nebraska slipped to 5-3 with its second loss to a top-20 team on the road this season, while the Hokies improved to 7-0.
Nebraska returns to road action against another top-20 opponent on Sunday, when the Huskers face No. 20 Maryland in their Big Ten Conference opener. Tip-off between the Huskers and the No. 20 Terrapins is set for noon.
LOPER BASKETBALL SPLITS DAY WITH ROGERS STATE:
The No. 26/29 Nebraska Kearney women’s basketball team handcuffed Rogers State, 76-37, Thursday night at Buckle Court.
This was the MIAA opener for both with UNK (8-1) wining a seventh straight game and improving to 7-0 all-time against the Hillcats (2-5) from Claremore, Okla.
The Lopers showed why they are the top-ranked defensive outfit in the MIAA as they limited RSU to six first quarter points and just three in the third.
On the Men’s side, Rogers State started and finished strong to down the Lopers, 78-58.
This was the MIAA opener for both teams with RSU (5-2), now 5-2 all-time against UNK (2-5).
For UNK, Ryder Kirsch had 17 points, six defensive rebounds, three assists and two steals with Utah super senior forward Darrian Nebeker providing a team-best 19 points.
Both teams host Northeastern State on Saturday afternoon.
HUSKERS BEGIN TO HEAD TO TRANSFER PORTAL:
Linebacker Ernest Hausmann, receiver Decoldest Crawford and offensive lineman Brant Banks have each entered the transfer portal.
Former Kearney High Bearcat kicker Gabe Heins entered the transfer portal on Wednesday.
Hausmann is perhaps the most surprising and is the most notable Husker to have entered the transfer portal thus far.
Appearing in all 12 games this season for the Huskers, he racked up 54 total tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack. He started in six of the Huskers’ 12 games this season, including starts in the final four games of the season.
Crawford, a three-star recruit in the Class of 2022, signed with the Huskers after having long been committed to LSU.
DAVIS NAMED HARLON HILL FINALIST FOR SECOND TIME:
Nebraska-Kearney redshirt senior quarterback TJ Davis is one of nine finalists for the 2022 Harlon Hill Trophy as the NCAA Division II College Football Player of the Year.
The winner is determined in a nation-wide vote of D2 school and conference SID’s (178 total); the national voting process will take place over the first two weeks of December. The 36th winner in the trophy’s history will be announced on Friday, Dec. 16.
Davis (Colorado Springs/Widefield H.S.), the 2021 Harlon Hill Runner Up, had another productive fall as UNK went 8-3 in the MIAA and was nationally and regionally ranked throughout the fall. For the regular season, he was the second-best rushing QB in the NCAA (1,136), one of two D2 QB’s to run and throw (1,370) for over 1,000 yards while tallying 29 touchdowns (16 rushing and 13 passing).
The Sports Management major joins fellow QB’s Justin Coleman (1999 and 2000) and Jake Spitzlberger (2011) as Loper Harlon Hill Finalists.
LOPER FOOTBALL HAS TWO NAMED ALL-REGION:
Redshirt seniors Darius Swanson and Hunter Hays represent Nebraska Kearney on the 2022 Division II Conference Commissioners’ Association (D2CCA) All-Super Region 3 team.
Swanson (Aurora, Colo) is a first-team pick for a second year in a row with Hays (McCook) on the second-team. This is his first all-region selection.
A 2021 D2CCA first-team All-American, Swanson led UNK with three interceptions this fall for 44 yards and one touchdown. He also ranked fourth on the team in tackles (69), was tied for the team lead in pass breakups (eight) and forced two fumbles.
Hays is a three-year starter at left guard and part of a line that helped the UNK offense average 33 points and 402 yards per game.
LOPER CROSS COUNTRY RUN TODAY AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS:
The nationally-ranked Nebraska Kearney cross country teams are in Washington Friday afternoon for the 2022 NCAA Division II Championships.
The 19th-ranked Loper women, in the NCAA’s for the first-time in program history, run a 6k at 1:15 p.m. central with the 9th-ranked men starting things with a 10k at noon Central.
The indoor track & field season starts today as well as the annual Blue/Gold Intrasquad begins at 3 p.m. in Cushing Coliseum.
RHULE ANNOUNCES FOOTBALL STAFF HIRES:
Nebraska Head Football Coach Matt Rhule has assembled part of his first Husker staff with the hiring of six coaches on Thursday. The hirings are pending the completion of University of Nebraska background checks.
The coaching staff hires for Nebraska Football include:
E.J. Barthel, Running Backs
Corey Campbell, Head Football Strength and Conditioning
Evan Cooper, Secondary
Ed Foley, Special Teams Coordinator
Terrance Knighton, Defensive Line
Marcus Satterfield, Offensive Coordinator
Full staff biographies can be found at Huskers.com.
Local Results & Schedules:
THIS WEEK IN LOCAL SPORTS:
THURSDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- Girls Basketball: Early Bird Tournament v. Marian
- KHS 45-39 Marian
- Boys Basketball: Early Bird Tournament v. Creighton Prep
- Creighton Prep 53-47 KHS
- Girls Basketball: Early Bird Tournament v. Marian
- UNK:
- Women’s Basketball: v. Rogers State @ Health & Sports Center
- UNK 76-37 RSU
- Men’s Basketball: v. Rogers State @ Health & Sports Center
- RSU 78-58 UNK
- Women’s Basketball: v. Rogers State @ Health & Sports Center
FRIDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- Wrestling: Hastings Dual @ Kearney High School – 6:30 PM
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- N/a
- UNK:
- M/W T&F: v. Blue/Gold Intrasquad @ Cushing Coliseum
- Wrestling: @ Cliff Keen Invite @ Las Vegas, NV – 11 AM
- M/W Cross Country: @ NCAA Championships @ Seattle, WA – 12 PM/1:15 PM
- KGFW Sports Schedule:
- Sports Nightly (6 PM – 6:30 PM)
- NCAA TOURNAMENT: Nebraska Volleyball v. Kansas (6:30 PM – 9:45 PM)
SATURDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- Swimming & Diving: @ Hastings Invite – 9 AM
- Wrestling: @ Kearney High School Invite – 10 AM
- Girls Basketball: Early Bird Tournament v. Millard South – 3:45 PM
- Boys Basketball: Early Bird Tournament – v. Millard South – 1:15 PM
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- Swimming & Diving: @ Hastings Invite – 9 AM
- Wrestling: @ Broken Bow – 9:30 AM
- Girls Basketball: v. Holdrege – 2 PM
- Boys Basketball: v. Holdrege – 3:30 PM
- UNK:
- Wrestling: @ Doane Open @ Crete, NE – 9 AM
- Wrestling: @ Cliff Keen Invite @ Las Vegas, NV – 11 AM
- Women’s Basketball: v. Northeastern State @ Health & Sports Center – 2 PM
- Men’s Basketball: v. Northeastern State @ Health & Sports Center – 4 PM
- KGFW Sports Schedule:
- Kearney High Boys Basketball v. Millard South (1:15 PM – 3:15 PM)
SUNDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- N/a
- UNK:
- N/a
- KGFW Sports Schedule:
- Nebraska Women’s Basketball @ Maryland (12 PM – 3 PM)
