NCAA – Page 153 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Worth Noting

Posted on March 14, 2012March 14, 2012 by David Shama

Head scratcher: the University of Washington won the Pac-12 regular season championship with a 14-4 record and didn’t receive an invitation to the NCAA tournament. When was the last time a champion from a conference like the Pac-12, Big Ten or ACC was excluded?

“I think if a team wins a major conference they’ve gotta be in the field of 68,” former Gophers coach Jim Dutcher said. “You know the game that knocked them out? South Dakota State went out there and beat them at Washington by about 20 points. (92-73). Ever since South Dakota State whipped them in the nonconference everybody just gave up on Washington. …”

There was speculation last summer about how effectively Timberwolves general manager David Kahn and new coach Rick Adelman would work together. “As far as I can see, it’s just excellent,” Wolves owner Glen Taylor told Sports Headliners. “There’s a good line of communication.”

Wolves forward Derrick Williams, 20, said there’s been no rookie wall for him and he’s “playing better than earlier in the season.” In two of his last three games Williams has scored 19 and 22 points (season average 8.8).

The NBA trade deadline is tomorrow. It seems obvious the Wolves want to move forward Michael Beasley but can’t find the right deal. Under Adelman, Beasley is no longer a starter and he’s seen his minutes reduced.

The Gophers, who play an opening National Invitation Tournament game in Philadelphia against LaSalle tonight on ESPN2, won the NIT in 1998 only to later have the title taken away because of the basketball program’s academic scandal. The Gophers also won the NIT in 1993. Minnesota is 18-11 in the tourney, the oldest in college basketball.

The St. Thomas women’s basketball team includes Carolyn Dienhart, a 5-6 senior guard, who is the daughter of former Gophers athletic director Mark Dienhart and now executive vice president and chief administrative officer at St. Thomas. The Tommies are in the Division III Final Four for the first time in 12 years and play Illinois Wesleyan on Friday in Holland, Michigan.

Hamline outfielder Andy King was the NCAA Division III Hitter off the Week last week. In four games against Wisconsin-Stout and Edgewood, he had nine hits in 12 at bats. The right-handed hitting senior from Fort Myers, Florida scored five runs and drove in 11 with four singles, a double, two triples and two home runs for a 1.667 slugging percentage.

NFL.com, SportingNews.com, Cbssports.com, Scouts. Inc. (ESPN.com) and SI.com all have the Vikings using the No. 3 pick in the first round of next month’s NFL draft to take USC left tackle Matt Kalil.

University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler told WCCO Radio’s Sports Huddle audience on Sunday he doesn’t plan to cut the school’s 25 intercollegiate sports to save money, but instead wants to improve athletic budgets by increasing overall revenues.

Star Tribune columnist and WCCO Radio personality Sid Hartman will be 92 tomorrow, March 15.

Gophers coach Jerry Kill said his players are reading the book Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance written by former Gophers quarterback and Super Bowl winning coach Tony Dungy.

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NIT Bid to Face Modest Applause

Posted on March 9, 2012March 12, 2012 by David Shama

The thought won’t rally an apathetic fan base but the Gophers may have earned a National Invitation Tournament bid with their 75-68 win over Northwestern last night in Indianapolis.

Last Saturday morning Minnesota sources were talking about the need to win two games to make the NIT. That was just hours before Minnesota, losers of six consecutive games, defeated Nebraska in the Gophers’ final regular season game. And then early yesterday evening Minnesota, the No. 7 seed, defeated Northwestern, the No. 10 seed, in the opening game of the Big Ten Tournament for both teams.

Minnesota’s two-game winning streak leaves the Gophers with a 19-13 overall season record. That could be enough to put the school back in the NIT for the first time since 2008.

Certainly a win tonight over Michigan will remove any doubt the Gophers would be invited to the tournament that is the oldest in college basketball, and holds its semifinals and championship game in New York’s hoops mecca, Madison Square Garden.

The NIT selection committee will have to decide if there are 32 teams more to its liking than Minnesota. Probably not, but either an invite or rejection won’t be met with much passion by Minnesota’s fan base.

The Gophers used to be popular with NIT administrators who liked the large crowds Minnesota drew for their NIT games. That’s history now. The NIT novelty wore off here long ago and the last NIT game (2008) in Minneapolis drew 3,882 fans.

Then there’s the problem of declining interest in the Gophers. Coach Tubby Smith has been under heavy criticism after finishing with a 6-12 Big Ten regular season record in each of the last two years. His five year Big Ten record is 39-52. Average home attendance this season was the lowest in five years.

But give Smith and his players credit for upsetting Northwestern last night, spoiling any chance the 18-13 Wildcats had of earning an NCAA invitation. In the overtime, Smith put a smaller lineup on the floor using four guards and forward Rodney Williams. The unit shutdown Northwestern’s offense as the Gophers outscored the Wildcats 14-7 in overtime.

Minnesota trailed 36-34 at halftime after building a 15-5 lead early in the game. Northwestern soon switched to a zone defense and half court trap that changed the game in the Wildcats’ favor despite 16 first half points by freshman point guard Andre Hollins.

It was Hollins who led the team in scoring with 25 points and showed promise of giving Minnesotathe leader it has been looking for all winter. He made five of 10 three point shots and played with poise in overtime.

The Gophers will need more of that tonight against a Michigan team that was 13-5 during the conference regular season and shared the league title with Michigan State and Ohio State. Game time is 5:30 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

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UST Football to Head North in May

Posted on March 2, 2012March 2, 2012 by David Shama

Coach Glenn Caruso told Sports Headliners his St. Thomas football team will travel to Winnipeg in late May to play a game against a club team made up of men about 18 to 30 years old.

Division III rules allow teams to play a foreign game every three years. All MIAC teams are permitted seven spring practices but the foreign game policy allows additional practices.

Three years ago Caruso took the Tommies to Winnipeg for a game against another club team. Asked about the score, Caruso didn’t recall but said St. Thomas won by a “pretty good chunk.”

A few extra practices are useful and winning big is better than the alternative but Caruso raved about something else when discussing plans to head across the border. “We’ll play everyone on the squad,” he said. “The benefit (to the trip) is building camaraderie.”

In four seasons under Caruso the Tommies have become a national Division III power. St. Thomas was 13-0 last fall before losing in the semifinal NCAA Division III playoffs to UW-Whitewater.

Next season the Tommies will open at UW-Eau Claire, playing a program that defeated St. John’s last year. The second nonconference game is at home against UW-RiverFalls. “It certainly gets us ready for our conference (schedule),” Caruso said.

The Tommies games will again be broadcast on WCCO Radio. Caruso said he’s heard from various sources including recruits that the broadcasts are making an impact.

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