Friday March 29th Local Sports

THIS WEEKEND:

== SATURDAY
– AM-1300 KGLO — NCAA women’s regional semifinal in Albany NY — Iowa vs. Colorado — pre-game 2:15, tipoff 2:30

– AM-1300 KGLO — Minnesota Twins at Kansas City — joined in progress after Iowa basketball

 

== SUNDAY
– AM-1300 KGLO — Minnesota Twins at Kansas City — Inside Twins 12:00, pre-game 12:30, first pitch 1:10

 

 

BOSTON — A Cyclone rally fell short in Boston as Iowa State sliced a 10-point Illinois halftime lead to two but could not get over the hump in a 72-69 loss in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.

That’s ISU coach T.J. Otzelberger. A slow start was costly as the Cyclones trailed by as many as 13 points in the opening half and never led.

A Cyclone team that was picked to finish seventh in the Big 12 preseason poll finishes with a record of 29-8 and a Big 12 Tournament title.

Illinois won its seventh straight game to reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 2005.

That’s Illinois coach Brad Underwood. The Illini held off Iowa State in the waning minutes and will play top ranked and defending champion UCONN in the East Regional final on Saturday.

Terrance Shannon led The Illini with 29 points. Curtis Jones paced the Cyclones with 26.

 

 

 

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — Darian DeVries was introduced as the new coach at West Virginia. DeVries moved on after leading Drake to six-straight seasons of 20 wins or more and three NCAA Tournament appearances in the last four years.

DeVries led the Bulldogs to back-to-back Missouri Valley Tournament titles.

He takes over a tradition rich West Virginia program that suffered through a 9-23 record this past season.

DeVries also announced his son, Tucker, will be joining him at West Virginia. Tucker DeVries is a two-time Missouri Valley Player of the Year.

 

 

ALBANY NEW YORK — Iowa star Caitlin Clark says she is focused on the present and not what lies ahead. USA Basketball announced Clark has been added to the roster of the U-S Women’s team that will take part in training camp next week leading up to the Summer Olympics in Paris. She is also expected to be the top pick in next month’s WNBA Draft. Clark and her second ranked Hawkeyes prepare to face Colorado on Saturday in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in Albany, New York, after edging West Virginia in her final game in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

West Virginia bottled up Iowa’s high scoring offense with pressure defense and Clark says the Hawkeyes can expect more of the same going forward.

Iowa coach Lisa Bluder says Clark continues to thrive in the glare of the national spotlight.

Bluder says Clark has remained focused on the team despite a hectic schedule.

USA Basketball says Clark’s attendance at the camp will depend upon Iowa’s status in the NCAA Tournament. You can hear the Iowa-Colorado game on AM-1300 KGLO starting with the pre-game at 2:15 with the tipoff scheduled for 2:30

 

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The ownership transfer of the Minnesota Timberwolves has slammed to a halt. Glen Taylor declared he won’t take the final step of his drawn-out $1.5 billion deal to hand Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez the majority stake because they didn’t meet all of the deadlines in the sale conditions. Lore and Rodriguez agreed to the purchase nearly three years ago. They strongly disputed Taylor’s stance and said he simply had cold feet about letting go. The pair already owns a 40% stake. This final stage was to sell them another 40%.

 

 

 

KANSAS CITY — The Minnesota Twins started their season with a victory on Thursday, defeating the Kansas City Royals by a 4-1 final. Unfortunately, they may have suffered a few key losses in the process.

Royce Lewis, who started at third base, recorded two hits, including a solo home run, before having to exit the game in the third inning after suffering what the team called a quad injury running the bases.

Meanwhile, the Twins also saw starting outfielder Max Kepler leave Thursday’s contest after fouling a ball off his leg. Kepler finished out his at-bat before being replaced by Matt Wallner. His X-rays were negative but Manager Rocco Baldelli said they would see how he feels Saturday.

 

 

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Matt Boldy broke a tie 18 seconds into the third period and the Minnesota Wild beat the NHL-worst San Jose Sharks 3-1 on Thursday to pick up a couple of points in their slim playoff bid. Joel Eriksson Ek also scored, Ryan Hartman added an empty-net goal and Kirill Kaprizov had two assists. Filip Gustavsson made 26 saves and assisted on Hartman’s goal to help Minnesota improve to 7-1-3 in its last 11 games. Having not played in five days, Minnesota is nine points back of Vegas for the final wild-card berth in the Western Conference and three points behind St. Louis. Mikael Granlund scored and Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 29 shots for the Sharks.

 

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s athletic department has announced it has hired an independent investigator to look into the environment in the women’s gymnastics program after members of the team and staff brought forward concerns regarding head coach Larissa Libby. Libby has been placed on administrative leave, not as a disciplinary measure but to protect the integrity of the review, the athletic department said in a statement. Phil Catanzano, co-founder of the Boston-based Education and Sports Law Group, will conduct the investigation.