Friday Afternoon Sports – Bearcat Girls in HAC Semifinal, Kearney Boys Drop HAC Consolation, Husker Men’s Defense Dominates Iowa, Big Red Adds Tight End Coach, Local Sports Schedule

BEARCAT GIRLS HOOPS IN HAC SEMIFINAL:

The Kearney girls pulled off the upset of the tournament on the girls bracket of the HAC Tournament, taking down #3 Lincoln Southwest 47-34 on their home court Thursday afternoon. The win earns Kearney a ticket to the semifinals today to face #2 Lincoln High as the Links will rematch the Bearcats from the Dec. 9 contest at Kearney High School. 

Pregame for the girls contest is set at 4 PM. Hear the contest on 1340 KGFW, 96.1 FM, on the free KGFW mobile app, and online at KGFW.com.

KEARNEY BOYS DROP HAC CONSOLATION MATCHUP WITH NORTH STAR:

The Kearney Boys Basketball team fell to Lincoln North Star 65-50 in the Heartland Athletic Conference Tournament consolation match at Lincoln East High School early Friday afternoon. A full recap is available on KGFW.com.

The loss drops Kearney to 7-3 on the season as the Bearcats return to action at Kearney High School on Jan. 3 against North Platte. Kearney will have a chance for a rematch with the Navigators on Jan. 27 at Lincoln North Star. 

HUSKER MEN DOMINATE HAWKEYES:

Juwan Gary’s 14 points led five Huskers in double figures, as the Huskers held Iowa to 26 percent shooting in a 66-50 victory Thursday evening.

Gary, who also grabbed nine rebounds, keyed the Huskers’ best defensive performance since the 2018-19 season, as the Hawkeyes were held 33 points below their Big Ten-leading scoring average.

In addition to Gary, Sam Griesel had 12 points and 10 rebounds while C.J. Wilcher (13), Emmanuel Bandoumel (10) and Derrick Walker (10) all finished in double figures for Nebraska, which improved to 6-1 at home with the only setback coming in an overtime loss to now No. 1 Purdue.

The 50 points allowed was NU’s best defensive effort under Fred Hoiberg and lowest by a Big Ten opponent since Northwestern was held to 50 points on Feb. 16, 2018.

Nebraska travels to East Lansing to take on the Michigan State Spartans on January 3.

HUSKERS ADD TIGHT END COACH:

Bob Wager, who spent the past 17 years leading the Warriors, confirmed on Friday he will join Matt Rhule and his staff at Nebraska as a tight ends coach and special teams assistant.

Wager has been the athletic coordinator and head football coach at Martin since the 2006 season. He led the Warriors to a playoff berth, which snapped a seven-year drought.

In 17 seasons, Martin has won at least 10 games eight times.

BIG TEN COMMISSIONER WARREN CONSIDERED FOR BEARS JOB:

Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren has emerged as a strong candidate to be the next president of the Chicago Bears.

Warren is one of the final candidates in the Bears’ search for the team’s next president/CEO and remains engaged after a lengthy search, with sources telling ESPN that he’s a serious-enough candidate that he interviewed in person.

Warren’s experience as an executive with the Minnesota Vikings, including as the franchise’s chief operating officer, has been appealing to the Bears. 

He played a role in helping the Vikings build a new stadium, U.S. Bank Stadium. That’s a task that the Bears are approaching in the upcoming years on 326 acres in Arlington Heights.

The search is expected to finish in the upcoming weeks.

BRAZIL SOCCER ICON PELE PASSES:

Pelé, the Brazilian king of soccer who won a record three World Cups and became one of the most commanding sports figures of the last century, died Thursday. He was 82.

The standard-bearer of “the beautiful game” had undergone treatment for colon cancer since 2021. The medical center where he had been hospitalized for the last month said he died of multiple organ failure as a result of the cancer.

A funeral is planned for Monday and Tuesday, with his casket to be carried through the streets of Santos, the coastal city where his storied career began, before burial.

NCAA BOWL GAME SCORES/SCHEDULE:

THURSDAY:

Pinstripe Bowl: Minnesota 28-20 Syracuse

Cheez-It Bowl: #13 Florida State 35-32 Oklahoma

Alamo Bowl: #12 Washington 27-20 #21 Texas

FRIDAY:

Duke’s Mayo Bowl: Maryland 16-12 #23 NC State

Sun Bowl: #18 UCLA v. Pitt – 2 PM

Gator Bowl: #19 South Carolina v. #21 Notre Dame – 3:30 PM

Arizona Bowl: Ohio v. Wyoming – 4:30 PM

Orange Bowl: #6 Tennessee v. #7 Clemson – 8 PM

NFL SCORES/SCHEDULES:

THURSDAY:

Dallas Cowboys 27-13 Tennessee Titans

Local Results & Schedules:

THIS WEEK IN LOCAL SPORTS:

THURSDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • Girls Basketball: Heartland Athletic Conference Tournament
    • #6 KHS 47-34 #3 Lincoln SW
  • Boys Basketball: Heartland Athletic Conference Tournament
    • #3 Lincoln High 68-54 #6 KHS
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • Girls Basketball: Amherst Holiday Tournament
    • Amherst 50-44 KCHS
  • Boys Basketball: Amherst Holiday Tournament
    • Amherst 58-37 KCHS

FRIDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • Girls Basketball: Heartland Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinal @ Lincoln North Star
    • #6 Kearney v. #2 Lincoln High – 4:15 PM
      • KGFW Pregame at 4 PM
  • Boys Basketball: Heartland Athletic Conference Tournament Consolation @ Lincoln East
    • #7 Lincoln North Star 65-50 #6 KHS
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • Girls Basketball: Amherst Holiday Tournament
    • KCHS v. Hastings St. Cecilia (Consolation) – 11 AM
    • York v. Amherst (Championship Final) – 2 PM
  • Boys Basketball: Amherst Holiday Tournament
    • Kearney Catholic v. Hastings St. Cecilia (Consolation) – 12:30 PM
    • York v. Amherst (Championship Final) – 3:30 PM
• UNK:
  • N/a
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Kearney Boys Basketball v. Lincoln North Star (10:45 AM – 12:45 PM)
  • Kearney Girls Basketball v. Lincoln High (4 PM – 6 PM)
  • Sports Nightly (6 PM – 8 PM)

SATURDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • Girls Basketball: Heartland Athletic Conference Tournament Final @ Lincoln North Star
    • #6 Kearney v. TBA
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a
• UNK:
  • Women’s Basketball: @ Lincoln University – 1 PM
  • Men’s Basketball: @ Lincoln University – 3 PM
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Kearney Girls Basketball v. TBA (TBD)

SUNDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a
• UNK:
  • N/a
• KGFW Sports Schedule:
  • Nebraska Women’s Basketball @ Indiana (12 PM – 3 PM)