Wolverines rally, but fall to Illinois 93-85 – Monday Morning Sports Update

coleman-hawkins-hunter-dickinson

NCAAMBKB – Men’s College Basketball
Yesterday
(15) Illinois 93, Michigan 85

(15) Illinois 93, Michigan 85 – Cockburn, Plummer help No. 15 Illinois beat Michigan 93-85 
Kofi Cockburn scored 27 points and Alfonso Plummer had 26, helping No. 15 Illinois beat Michigan 93-85. The Fighting Illini led by 15 midway through the second half before Michigan rallied within two points down the stretch. Illinois improved to 20-8. DeVante’ Jones scored a season-high 25 points for the Wolverines, who fell to 15-12. Michigan was without suspended coach Juwan Howard, who missed the second of five games for hitting a Wisconsin assistant coach a week ago. Phil Martelli again filled in for Howard.

NCAAWBKB – Women’s College Basketball
Yesterday
(4) Louisville 86, (14) Notre Dame 64
(17) Ohio State 61, Michigan State 55
(21) Iowa 104, (6) Michigan 80

(4) Louisville 86, (14) Notre Dame 64 – No. 4 Louisville women trounce No. 14 Irish in testy matchup
Kianna Smith and Hailey Van Lith each scored 20 points and No. 4 Louisville raced to a huge lead and routed No. 14 Notre Dame 86-64 in a testy matchup. The Cardinals led 41-3 early in the second quarter and beat the Irish for the sixth straight time in improving to 25-3. The teams got into a shoving match in the second quarter. Notre Dame fell to 21-7. This was the final regular-season game for both teams. They both have a double bye in the upcoming Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

(17) Ohio State 61, Michigan State 55 – No. 17 Ohio State women defeat MSU, share Big Ten title
Taylor Mikesell scored 17 points, Jacy Sheldon added 13 points and 10 assists, and No. 17 Ohio State defeated Michigan State 61-55 on Sunday and the Buckeyes later claimed a share of the Big Ten regular-season title. Iowa defeated conference-leading Michigan 104-80 later Sunday, vaulting the Hawkeyes and Buckeyes into a share of first place on the final day of the regular season. Mikesell and Sheldon were the only Ohio State players in double figures against Michigan State. Nia Clouden led Michigan State with 19 points. She was 4 for 18 from the field but made all 10 of her free throws.

(21) Iowa 104, (6) Michigan 80 – No. 21 Iowa shares Big Ten title with win over Michigan.
Caitlin Clark had 38 points and 11 assists and No. 21 Iowa clinched a share of the Big Ten championship with a 104-80 win over No. 6 Michigan. It’s the first conference regular-season title for the Hawkeyes (20-7, 14-4 Big Ten) since 2008, who shared the championship with Ohio State. Clark, who came into the game as the nation’s leading scorer at 27.1 points per game, had a career-high 46 points against the Wolverines in a 98-90 loss on February 6. She was just as effective in this game, hitting 11 of 18 shots from the field, including 8 of 11 in 3-pointers.

NHL – National Hockey League
Yesterday
St. Louis Blues 4, Chicago Blackhawks 0

Blues 4, Blackhawks 0 –Perron, Binnington help Blues pound Blackhawks 4-0
Jordan Kyrou, Pavel Buchnevich and David Perron scored during St. Louis’ dominant second period, and the Blues beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-0 for their fourth straight win. Perron tacked on a third-period goal in the opener of a four-game trip. Brayden Schenn had two assists for St. Louis, and Jordan Binnington made 30 saves in his second shutout of the season. The Blues improved to 3-0-1 against the Blackhawks, closing out their season series. Marc-Andre Fleury made 31 stops for Chicago, turning away several quality chances for St. Louis.

NBA – National Basketball Association
Yesterday
Detroit Pistons 127, Charlotte Hornets 126 – OT
Indiana Pacers 128, Boston Celtics 107

Pistons 127, Hornets 126 – OT – Olynyk’s buzzer-beater in OT ends Pistons’ skid vs. Hornets
Kelly Olynyk made a fadeaway jumper from the baseline at the overtime buzzer and the Detroit Pistons beat Charlotte 127-126, their first victory over the Hornets in nearly 4 1/2 years. Saddiq Bey had 28 points and eight rebounds and Jerami Grant added 26 points for Detroit, which had lost 15 straight games to the Hornets since its last win on Oct. 18, 2017. Olynyk had 20 points and eight rebounds for Detroit, which has won three of four. Charlotte got 33 points from Terry Rozier and 29 points and 10 rebounds from Miles Bridges. The Hornets fell to 0-6 in overtime.

Pacers 128, Celtics 107 – Brissett, Pacers hot from long range, beat Celtics 128-107
Oshae Brissett scored 27 points and Buddy Hield had 11 of his 21 points during the final eight minutes to help the Indiana Pacers beat the Boston Celtics 128-107. The Pacers won for the second time in 10 games and beat their second Eastern Conference foe since Dec. 17. Jayson Tatum finished with 24 points and Jaylen Brown scored 23 as the Celtics’ seven-game road winning streak ended. Boston never led after giving up five straight 3s in the second quarter.

Tonight
Indiana Pacers at Orlando Magic, 7:00 p.m.
Chicago Bulls at Miami Heat, 7:30 p.m.

MLB – MLB players, teams talk for 7th straight day as deadline nears
Negotiators for locked-out major league players and owners recessed their talks until Monday, the day management has set as a deadline to salvage March 31 openers.  The sides held a series of short and more frequent meetings that stretched into Sunday night before saying they would resume in the morning.  MLB says that if there is not a deal by the end of Monday, there will not be enough training time to start the season as scheduled and play 162 games.  Entering the 88th day of the work stoppage they were still far apart on big issues that include luxury tax thresholds and rates, the size of the new bonus pool for pre-arbitration players and minimum salaries.

NASCAR – Larson gets first win of season
Defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson held off Austin Dillon and Daniel Suarez in a tense finish to win at Fontana for the second time.  After starting at the rear under penalty, Larson raced to his 17th career victory and the 11th in his year-plus at Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.  Larson had victory in sight with eight laps to go when Chase Elliott spun and forced a race-record 12th caution. Elliott had a beef with his Hendrick teammate several laps earlier when he got pinched into the wall by Larson, who apologized for it on the radio.  Dillon came in second and Suarez slipped to fourth behind Erik Jones as Chevrolets took the top four spots.

Golf – PGA – Augusta on his mind: Straka rallies to win the Honda Classic
Sepp Straka was able to capture the PGA’s Honda Classic despite trailing by five strokes entering the final round.  Straka is the first Austrian winner in PGA Tour history after firing a 4-under 66 that left him 10 under.  Shane Lowry shot a third straight 67 but fell one shot back. First-round leader Kurt Kitayama was alone in third at 8 under.

Golf – Champions – Jimenez’s second ace propels him to Cologuard Classic win
Miguel Angel Jimenez had his second hole-in-one of the tournament and closed with a 7-under 65 to win the Cologuard Classic. Jimenez started the final round with a two-shot lead and got off to a birdie-eagle start at Tucson National.  The 58-year-old Spaniard ended any hope of a late rally with an ace on the 178-yard, par-3 14th to match the one he had at No. 7 in the opening round. Jimenez closed with four straight pars to finish at 18-under and win for the second time in three PGA Tour Champions starts this season.

Russia/Ukraine – FIFA: No World Cup qualifying ban yet; Russia to play as RFU
FIFA has declined to expel Russia from World Cup qualifying but says that remains an option. International soccer’s governing body has decided instead that the squad can play using the “RFU” acronym for the country’s soccer federation, the Russian Football Union. The FIFA Bureau, featuring the six regional football confederation presidents, also ruled that the Russian flag and anthem cannot be associated with the team.  The compromise was immediately rejected by Poland, which said it would still refuse to play Russia in a World Cup playoff semi scheduled for March 24.

Russia/Ukraine – Euro backlash as FIFA refuses to expel Russia from football
FIFA drew a swift backlash from European nations for not immediately expelling Russia from World Cup qualifying and only ordering the country to play at neutral venues under the name of its federation, the Football Union of Russia. Protesting against FIFA’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Poland said it would still refuse to play the country in a World Cup playoff semifinal, which is scheduled for March 24. The unanimous ruling by the FIFA Bureau was also that the Russian flag and anthem can’t be used with the team playing as “Football Union of Russia (RFU).”

Russia/Ukraine – Albania refuses to play Russia in UEFA Nations League games
Albania’s government joined the wave of European opposition to playing any sports games against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. The move was notable as Albania is among the few national teams in men’s soccer with games scheduled soon against Russia in official competitions. Albania is due to host Russia in Tirana on June 2 in the group stage of the UEFA Nations League competition. The return game is on June 13 though UEFA ruled Friday that Russian teams must find neutral venues for its home games. “Albania will not take part in any sport games with the Russian Federation until the end of Ukraine’s occupation,” Foreign Minister Olta Xhacka said Sunday.

Russia/Ukraine – Ukraine athletes defend country, demand sanctions for Russia
With Russian troops encircling the capital of Kyiv, more than 60 athletes from Ukraine and elsewhere sent an open letter to Olympic and Paralympic leaders urging them to immediately suspend the Russian and Belarussian Olympic and Paralympic Committees. Among them was Ukranian skeleton rider Vladyslav Heraskevych. He made headlines earlier this month in Beijing when he unfurled a banner reading “No War in Ukraine.” The 23-year-old athlete is now hunkered down in Zhytomyr, a city about 90 miles west of Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv. He says things are quiet where he is, but there is no safe spot in Ukraine right now and he’s ready to defend his country if needed.

Russia/Ukraine – Ukraine invasion puts Russia’s elite sports status at risk
The invasion of Ukraine could further undermine Russia’s status as an elite sports dynasty, which already has been weakened by deception and doping scandals but often punished only by a tepid pushback from international sports bodies. A number of federations, including skiing, curling and Formula 1, pulled premier events out of Russia following the invasion. A further reckoning could impact both Russia’s ability to host events domestically and dominate them abroad. That would deliver a financial and psychological blow and undercut the image cultivated by President Vladimir Putin and other Kremlin leaders of a prosperous country fortified by strong athletes.

Russia/Ukraine – World judo body suspends Putin as its honorary president
Vladimir Putin has temporarily lost his most senior official position in world sports. The International Judo Federation has cited “the ongoing war conflict in Ukraine” for suspending Putin’s honorary president status. The Russian president is a keen judoka and attended the sport at the 2012 London Olympics. The IJF is rare among Olympic sports bodies for using the word “war” to describe Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ordered by Putin on Thursday. Others have used phrases such as “escalation of conflict.”

Russia/Ukraine – Ukraine’s 20 Paralympic athletes have yet to arrive in China
None of the 20 athletes from the Ukrainian Paralympics team has reached Beijing with the Games opening at the end of the week. International Paralympic Committee spokesman Craig Spence says he’s hopeful the athletes would arrive in China for Friday’s opening ceremony despite difficult logistics. He declined to disclose the team’s whereabouts, citing safety reasons and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said there were no flights out of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. In addition, flights entering China for the Paralympics — as well as for the just-closed Olympics — can originate only from a few designated hub airports.

MCCAA – Junior College Basketball
Yesterday
Softball
Ganon University JV 7, Lake Michigan College 5
Lake Michigan College 10, Rosemont College JV 2

Baseball
Frederick Community College 7, Lake Michigan College 6 – Game 1
Frederick Community College 15, Lake Michigan College 4 – Game 1 (5 Innings)

Today
Softball
Lake Michigan College vs. St. Mary’s University of Minnesota JV, 11:30 a.m.
Lake Michigan College vs. Monroe College, 1:45 p.m.
-Games at Clermont, FL

Baseball
Lake Michigan College vs. Davenport (MI) JV – 10:00 a.m./12:30 p.m.    (Doubleheader)
-Games at Winter Haven, FL

MHSAA – High School Sports
Tonight
Girls Basketball – District Quarterfinals
Division 1 at St. Joseph
Mattawan vs. Portage Northern, 5:30 p.m.
Lakeshore vs. Sturgis, 7:00 p.m.

Division 1 at Battle Creek Central
Battle Creek Central vs. Coldwater, 5:30 p.m.
Gull Lake vs. Kalamazoo Loy Norrix, 7:00 p.m.

Division 2 at Berrien Springs
Berrien Springs vs. Coloma, 7:00 p.m.

Division 2 at Edwardsburg
Niles vs. Constantine, 7:00 p.m.

Division 2 at Paw Paw
Comstock vs. Parchment, 7:00 p.m.

Division 2 at Hamilton
Allegan vs. Hamilton, 7:00 p.m.

Division 3 at Watervliet
Bridgman vs. Buchanan, 7:00 p.m.

Division 3 at Decatur
Bangor vs. Decatur, 7:00 p.m.

Division 3 at Schoolcraft
Delton-Kellogg vs. Galesburg-Augusta, 5:30 p.m.
Kal. Hackett vs. Vermontville Maple Valley, 7:00 p.m.

Division 3 at Fennville
Fennville vs. GR Covenant Christian, 5:30 p.m.
Holland Black River vs. Wy. Potter’s House, 7:00 p.m.

Division 3 at Union City
Centreville vs. Quincy, 5:30 p.m.
Union City vs. White Pigeon, 7:00 p.m.

Division 4 at Athens
Mendon vs. Burr Oak, 7:00 p.m.

Boys Basketball – Regular Season
BCS
Michigan Lutheran at Covert, 6:30 p.m.

Non-Conference
Howardsville Christian at Kalamazoo Heritage, 5:00 p.m.