Valentine leads No. 2 Michigan St. past Ohio St. 81-54

All Denzel Valentine wanted Friday night was a win at the Big Ten Tournament.

The glitzy numbers didn’t mean a thing.

After finishing with 19 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in an 81-54 blowout over Ohio State in the quarterfinals, the Big Ten player of the year explained what No. 2 Michigan State is really after - a record-tying fifth tourney crown, a No. 1 seed in next week’s NCAA Tournament, and, yes, the school’s third national championship.

“We didn’t accomplish one of our goals, to win the Big Ten championship outright, and we’re kind of mad about it,” Valentine said. “The seniors, me and Matt (Costello) never won a Big Ten championship outright, so we’re kind of mad right now and we’ve got something to play for.”

The motivated Spartans (27-5) are locked in, especially Valentine who could have had a rare triple double if coach Tom Izzo hadn’t put him on the bench for the final 5:28 of the game.

But Valentine knew he could use the rest and spent the rest of the game cheering for his teammates as they rolled to their 11th win in 12 games. Next up is either No. 18 Maryland or Nebraska in Saturday’s second semifinal game.

And in a tournament that has been full of surprises, Valentine and the Big Ten regular-season runners-up look like the closest thing to a sure bet.

Valentine did his part in short, quick bursts Friday.

He scored 10 points in an early 13-3 run that allowed the Spartans to take a 10-point lead less than 6½ minutes into the game. He made a 3-pointer in an 8-0 spurt to open the second half and did all the tidy little things later in a 10-4 run that helped extend the lead to 54-34 with 13:07 to play.

Michigan State pushed the lead to as much as 28 in the second half.

So, naturally, Valentine started looking at the bigger picture.

“Our goal when we got here was to win a national championship and we haven’t accomplished that yet,” Valentine said. “I think we have the perfect team to do it this year, and we’re really hungry to do that this year.”

Their defense looked ready, too.

JaQuan Lyle was the only Ohio State player to reach double figures. He finished with 10, and Michigan State converted 14 Ohio State turnovers into 21 points.

The Buckeyes (20-13) couldn’t get closer than 14 after Michigan State’s initial second-half flurry, and now all coach Thad Matta and his team can do is wait to see if they’ll even get a chance to play in next week’s NCAA Tournament.



Link : http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/mar/11/valentine-leads-no-2-michigan-st-past-ohio-st-81-5/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS

Sammy Sasso doesn't blame anybody but himself for loss to Luke Pletcher

Sammy Sasso didn’t blame anybody for his 2-1 loss to the Greater Latrobe senior in the most-anticipated PIAA Class AAA quarterfinal in many a moon.
E
xcept himself.

“I’m the only one I blame,” said the Nazareth sophomore after the tense, tight loss

at 138 pounds Friday afternoon at the Giant Center in Hershey.

Fans might want to blame the PIAA non-seeding non-system for the fact that the match was a quarterfinal at all, given the wrestlers. Pletcher is a two-time state champ, three-time place-winner, 41-1 on the season, ranked No. 2 nationally by Intermat, and an Ohio State recruit. Sasso is 45-2, ranked #10 nationally, and a stte runner-up (to Franklin Regional’s Spencer Lee) as a freshman.

But Sasso had said Thursday it didn’t matter to him when he met Pletcher, and when the two butted heads Friday it enthralled the crowd and produced a massive media turnout around the mat.

“I love wrestling in matches like that,” Sasso said. “I live for these kind of matches.”

The match delivered almost everything it promised except, perhaps, for the way the decisive point was scored.

Sasso was nailed for a penalty point in the second period with Pletcher already ahead 1-0 on an escape. The penalty point was assessed for a leg-scissors on Pletcher’s head. The call was correct, though the issue of whether it needed to be called was perhaps more questionable.

“I don’t know,” Sasso said. “My legs were kind of flighty, I guess; I was focusing on grabbing his ankles as we were scrambling.”

The call, which was not vigorously disputed by the Nazareth corner at the time, made it 2-0 Pletcher. In the third period, Sasso earned his escape to trail 2-1 and needed a takedown to win.

And he almost got it.

After Pletcher was warned for stalling with 1:09 left in the third period, which turned the crowd to Sasso’s side, Sasso got in deep on his best shot of the bout and grabbed a leg.

He had Pletcher hopping, he had Pletcher crabbing away near the edge, he had Pletcher and pulled him back in bounds, he had Pletcher sprawling to keep his legs away, but Sasso could never quite cover the second leg.

“I had a good shot and I was trying really hard to finish,” Sasso said. “I had a split second to capitalize on my opportunity and I didn’t. When I was pulling him back in he was so slippery I thought I would lose my grip. Then I dove in and I just didn’t get it.”

Pletcher, to a chorus of boos, survived to meet Upper Darby’s Colin Cronin in Saturday’s semifinal round (9 a.m.).

“I enjoyed the match, though it’s never good hearing boos,” Pletcher said. “I never want a match to be so close. I probably shut down a little bit at the end like you normally do in a big match.”

Sasso bounced back to win his consolation match 18-5 over South Western’s Owen Wherley and reflect on past and present.

“I had to get mind together to come back and take third place,” he said. “Sometimes you have to beat the system and the referee as well as your opponent. But I will learn from this and be back next year.”

Sasso will meet Erie Cathedral Prep freshman Carter Starocci in a consolation match Saturday.




Link : http://highschoolsports.lehighvalleylive.com/news/article/-6432515900703906670/sammy-sasso-doesnt-blame-anybody-but-himself-for-loss-to-luke-pletcher/

76er’s neck scare overshadows Nets’ unspeakably bad loss

The Nets ran out of time before the 76ers ran out of players.

On a night that the worst team in the NBA shelved its star big man for the season and lost three more players during the game – Robert Covington carried off on a stretcher – the Nets still found a way to lose, falling 95-89 at the Wells Fargo Center.

Jahlil Okafor was ruled out for six weeks to have surgery on his torn meniscus, while Richaun Holmes left with an Achilles injury, Jerami Grant walked off to be evaluated for a concussion and Covington was taken to Jefferson Hospital to be evaluated for a possible neck injury. But the Nets (18-47) trailed by as many as 19, and never got closer than three, at 74-71 in the fourth quarter.

Brooklyn fell behind 17-6 right out of the gate, and the deficit swelled to 52-33 on Ish Smith’s jumper with 2:46 in the half. They went on to lose despite a game-high 24 points from center Brook Lopez, 21 from Thaddeus Young and a near triple-double by Donald Sloan (14 points, nine boards and nine assists).

Philadelphia (9-56) is 2-1 against the Nets and 7-55 against everybody else. Or more to the point, the 76ers had a 13-game losing stretch, bookended by victories against the Nets on Feb. 6 and now Friday night. And as bad as that last loss to Philadelphia was, this was far, far worse.

The 76ers were so desperate they had to dust off venerable Elton Brand. Yes, he’s still in the league; but he’d only logged 19 minutes in two appearances all season. This was a shell of the team Brooklyn lost to, and a squad one could’ve hardly blamed for being distracted and dispirited.

In a chaotic sequence, Philadelphia forward Grant got knocked down and went flying, his foot coming up and kicking teammate Covington square in the face, snapping his neck back. Then as Young stumbled backwards in the mass of tangled bodies, he fell right on Grant’s head.

Play continued upcourt before it was eventually stopped with 9:40 left in the third quarter and Brooklyn trailing 57-47.

Both players were down for some time, before Grant eventually sat up and was able to walk off the court under his own power. But Covington was immobile on the court for roughly 10 minutes, looked after by trainers for both teams, before eventually being put on stretcher and carried off.

Play resumed and the Nets fell even further behind, missed four shots in close and had another blocked as they trailed 66-53.

The Nets clawed within 74-71 with 9:56 when Shane Larkin found Sean Kilpatrick. But that’s where the rally ended.

Okafor will miss the rest of the season with a small meniscus tear in his right knee, but it was news that had the 76ers breathing a sigh of relief. He’ll be able to resume basketball activities in six weeks.

“It’s going to be a 10-minute procedure,” said 76ers coach Brett Brown. “It’s going to restrict him from playing for six weeks, but because of the timing it sounds more dramatic than it probably should that given we’re not going to see him again (this season). But the impact it has on someone is negligible. It’s stuff that you can continue to strengthen and rehab. You do take a deep breath and say that’s not terrible, that’s not bad.”



Link : http://nypost.com/2016/03/11/76ers-neck-scare-overshadows-nets-unspeakably-bad-loss/

Nets help Sixers snap 13-game losing streak with 95-89 loss in Philly

The Philadelphia 76ers have won a total of nine games this season. Two of them (almost ¼) of their wins have come against the Nets.

Talk about an UGLY game for both sides, an eight-win Sixer team going up against an 18-win Brooklyn team. The 76ers, however, snapped a 13-game losing streak with a 95-89 win over the Nets with their last win coming on February 6... against the Nets.

Brook Lopez did all he could to get the win, but like usual, his help was limited and Nets fell for the 47th time this season. The big fella finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots.

Thaddeus Young chipped in 21 points and nine rebounds, but the Nets' starting wings finished just 5-of-17 from the floor. Not to mention, the bench (excluding Kilpatrick) finished with five points on 1-of-12 shooting.

Meanwhile, Carl Landry - yes Carl Landry - torched Thaddeus Young and led the Sixers with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Nerlens Noel's presence was felt in the paint, as the Sixers big man tallied three blocks to go along with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

The Sixers nailed nine three-pointers. The Nets on the other hand, shot just 5-of-17 from three and 38 percent from teh field. Sigh..

Bojan Bogdanovic sat out due to rest tonight and Markel Brown did NOT take advantage of his opportunity. He shot just 2-of-7 from the floor and was taken out in favor of Sean Kilpatrick (10 points, 4-of-7 shooting) down the stretch. Kilpatrick, on his second 10-day contract, notched his third game in double digits in five appearances with the Nets.

The Nets finish the nine-game circus road-trip with a record of 3-6 and will return home this Sunday night to play the Milwaukee Bucks. They couldn't find a way to beat the Sixers, despite Jahlil Okafor sitting out with a torn meniscus. It was a good win for the Sixers, but an unfortunate and scary day overall.

In the third quarter, Jerami Grant was knocked down and inadvertently kicked Robert Covington in the head. Grant was deemed out for the rest of the game and was later checked for a concussion, while Covington was taken off on a stretcher and was later transported to a nearby hospital.




Link : http://www.netsdaily.com/2016/3/11/11209270/NBA-Basketball-Brooklyn-Nets-at-Philadelphia-76ers-Circus-Road-trip

Pittsburgh Penguins Sting The Columbus Blue Jackets

The Pittsburgh Penguins were across the state line tonight visiting the Columbus Blue Jackets in a match-up of the fourth and eighth place teams in the Metropolitan Division.

It’s getting to that point in the season.  The point where each game seems to carry that much more weight.

Where if you are going to make that trip to the playoffs, you have to prove that you are a playoff-caliber team. That’s exactly what the Penguins were looking to do tonight, as they played their division rivals.
The game got off to an inauspicious start for the Penguins with Columbus scoring on a two-on-one at the 5:05 mark of the first.  Not the way Pens fans wanted this game to kick-off, particularly when facing one of the best goalies in the league, recently back from injury, in Sergei Bobrovsky.

The Pens weren’t intimidated by who was in the opposite crease though.  They were back on the board later in the first with an absolute blast by Kris Letang on a nice feed from Evgeni Malkin.  The first period would close out with a 1-1 tie.

The second period saw a flurry of activity which kicked off very early in the period.  Just 45 seconds into the first, Chris Kunitz shoveled a loose puck into the net to give the Pens a 2-1 lead.

Just about two minutes later, taking a pass across the neutral zone, Cam Atkinson moved into and through the Penguins’ zone quickly. He made what was really quite a nice move to beat Marc-Andre Fleury and tie the game at 2.

Carl Hagelin, who had missed time recently but was back on the ice after clearing the concussion protocol, gave the Pens the lead at 4:47 of the second, with a backhander that beat Bobrovsky.  That lead would hold up through the remainder of the second period.

With under five minutes remaining in the game, and the ice at 4-on-4, Ryan Murray hit the post with a shot, and the Pens were grateful to maintain the one goal lead.  Not long after, Fleury denied a one-time taken by defenseman Seth Jones.

The Penguins would be able to hold off the Blue Jackets and get the two points in the standings, winning the contest by a final score of 3-2.  Columbus led most of the statistical categories, including hits, faceoff wins, takeaways and blocked shots.  However, the Penguins found a way to put the puck in the net one more time than Columbus in the statistical category that matters the most.


Link : http://penslabyrinth.com/2016/03/11/pittsburgh-penguins-sting-the-columbus-blue-jackets/

Seahawks lose Alvin Bailey to Cleveland as offensive-line makeover continues

On Friday, as the third day of the NFL’s free-agent signing period came to a close, how the Seahawks will fill out their offensive line in 2016 appeared as mysterious as when the week began.

The Seahawks have not signed an offensive lineman — one of theirs or from another team — since the free-agent period began Wednesday.

And on Friday, the Seahawks saw another player get away, as Alvin Bailey, a backup and sometimes starter the past three seasons after making the roster as an undrafted free agent in 2013, signed with the Cleveland Browns.

A possible sign that Bailey would not return came Wednesday when the team did not tender him an offer as a restricted free agent by the deadline. That made him an unrestricted free agent, though some observers thought the Seahawks hoped to re-sign Bailey at a lesser amount than the $1.6 million tender.

Bailey started the Super Bowl XLVIII win over Denver as an extra lineman when the team made extensive use of its jumbo packages.

He started five games in the 2014 regular season and in the NFC title-game win over Green Bay. Considered the front-runner to start at left guard entering training camp in 2015, he couldn’t hold the job and became a backup at tackle when the team moved Justin Britt to left guard and Garry Gilliam to right tackle.

Bailey played sparingly before starting three games in the second half of the season in place of injured left tackle Russell Okung. Those starts included the 36-6 win at Arizona that concluded the regular season (he also started at left tackle the previous year at Arizona when the Seahawks gained a franchise-record 596 yards).

Bailey is the second offensive linemen to depart during the free-agent signing period, following guard J.R. Sweezy, who signed with Tampa Bay.

Bailey’s departure also continues a hefty makeover of the Seahawks’ offensive line since the Super Bowl win over Denver.

Four of the five offensive linemen who started in that game are gone — Sweezy, center Max Unger, guard James Carpenter and right tackle Breno Giacomini. Also gone are Bailey and backup guard Paul McQuistan. The other two offensive linemen who were on the active roster for that game are unrestricted free agents — Okung and center/guard Lemuel Jeanpierre. Also gone is tackle Michael Bowie, who was inactive for the Super Bowl but on the 53-man roster.

Okung could be the next one out the door, though his status remains unclear.

A league source confirmed that Okung visited the New York Giants on Friday and will visit the Detroit Lions on Saturday. Okung reportedly also has interest from the 49ers.

The Seahawks hope to retain Okung, and he has not ruled out returning. But Okung, who is representing himself, has been intent on gauging his worth on the open market.

Muddying the waters for Okung is a shoulder injury that required surgery last month. He suffered a dislocation in the Seahawks’ divisional playoff loss at Carolina. Okung is undoubtedly using the visits in part to calm concerns about his health.

If Okung gets away, the Seahawks would explore other options at left tackle. Names linked to Seattle are Oakland’s Donald Penn and Pittsburgh’s Kelvin Beachum, who is expected to visit Seattle on Monday, according to NFL.com. Beachum, 26, played just six games in 2015 after tearing a knee ligament and is considered the best free-agent tackle available other than Okung.

The Seahawks also are talking to a few other offensive linemen, including guard J’Marcus Webb of the Raiders, Arizona guard/center Ted Larsen and Arizona backup guard/tackle Bradley Sowell.

The Seahawks could also wait to see if other linemen become available late (there has been speculation that Denver Broncos left tackle Ryan Clady could be released).

Bailey’s departure leaves the Seahawks with just nine offensive linemen on their roster — centers Patrick Lewis (who was tendered an offer as a restricted free agent but has yet to sign it), Will Pericak,Kristjan Sokoli and Drew Nowak; guards Justin Britt and Mark Glowinski; and tackles Garry Gilliam, Terry Poole and Kona Schwenke.


Link : http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/seahawks/seahawks-lose-ol-alvin-bailey-to-cleveland/

Free-agent market finally thaws for David Freese

Los Angeles Angels third baseman David Freese missed the entire month of August after suffering a broken finger when he was hit by a pitch last year. In the 31 games after he returned on Sept. 1, Freese hit .308 with a .486 slugging percentage to head off into free agency.

But that wasn't enough to get Freese into spring training until Friday. The Pittsburgh Pirates announced they had signed the former South Alabama star. Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Freese got a one-year contract worth a guaranteed $3 million.

Despite his late start, Freese likely will begin his eighth MLB season as the Pirates' starting third baseman. Jung Ho Kang played third base for Pittsburgh last season, but he suffered a leg injury late in the year and isn't expected to be ready to return until May. After Kang returns, Pittsburgh reporters already have speculated that Freese could be the right-handed half of a first-base platoon with John Jaso, depending on how he's swinging the bat.

Freese batted .257 with 27 doubles, 14 home runs and 56 RBIs in 121 games in 2015, his second season with the Angels.

Los Angeles got Freese from the St. Louis Cardinals in a trade. He was a National League All-Star in 2012 and won the World Series MVP Award during the Cards' victory over the Texas Rangers in 2011. Freese's two-run triple with two outs in the bottom of the ninth sent Game 6 into extra innings, then he won the game with a home run in the 11th.

In 721 MLB games, Freese has a .276 batting average with 301 runs, 133 doubles, five triples, 68 home runs and 348 RBIs. In 51 postseason games, he has a .282 batting average with 15 doubles, one triple, eight home runs and 30 RBIs.


Link : http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2016/03/free-agent_market_finally_thaw.html