The sixth-seeded Hawks advanced to their first-ever Sweet 16 on Sunday night with another upset victory at Kentucky Wesleyan’s Sportscenter in Owensboro, Ky.
Here’s a look at Sunday’s stars:
1. Billy Baptist
Not only did Baptist lead everyone on the court with 20 points, he made a game-clinching block on Bellarmine’s Jeremy Kendle with 16 seconds left to play. Baptist, paying attention to the scouting report, knew that Kendle loved to pump fake, which he did. By the time Kendle got around to shooting the ball, Baptist was there to swat it away. He also made two big buckets in the second half to give the Hawks the lead after the Knights had tied the game. He’s playing like a man possessed this weekend.
2. Courtney Belger
Playing against Kendle, one of the best point guards in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, the sophomore more than held his own. Belger had 10 points and six rebounds, including two rebounds in the second half when he went above the crowd in the lane to come down with the ball. He also had seven assists against one turnover. When he plays like that, the Hawks are awfully tough to beat.
3. Josh Edmonds
He was the hottest of a pretty-hot QU team. Edmonds drained four 3-pointers as part of a 14-point performance. When the Hawks needed big shots as the teams were jockeying for the lead, Edmonds delivered in a big way. He was also one of the few QU starters to stay out of foul trouble, logging a team-high 38 minutes.
DOBservations
In a 76-60 loss at Bellarmine two weeks ago in the GLVC Tournament, QU made just 4 of 10 3-pointers for the game. This time, the Hawks made four 3-pointers in the first 5 minutes, 5 seconds of the game. QU finished 9 of 17 from behind the arc, part of a strong shooting performance that saw the Hawks shoot 54 percent for the game (22 of 41) and 62 percent in the second half (13 for 21). … With Kentucky Wesleyan getting knocked out in Saturday’s quarterfinals, the Sportscenter was nearly empty most of the day. With an announced crowd of 3,200 for Saturday’s KWC-St. Joseph’s game, not more than a few hundred people showed up for Sunday’s semifinals. … The Hawks are now 3-3 in NCAA play during Marty Bell’s seven-year tenure. … While this is the men’s first Sweet 16 appearance, the QU women’s team reached the regional three times during the 2000s, going 1-2 in region title games. The lone win came in 2004 against Lake Superior State at Pepsi Arena.
The Hawks advanced to the second round of the NCAA Midwest Regional with a win at the Sportscenter in Owensboro, Ky.
Here’s a look at Saturday’s stars:
1. Justin Brock
The junior from Liberty controlled the paint which allowed the Hawks to control the game. He finished with 18 points and a game-high 12 rebounds — his eighth double-double of the season — to lead the Hawks. He had five offensive rebounds, which was part of a dominant effort on the boards for QU. The Hawks outrebounded the Panthers 34-18. If he can duplicate that effort two more times, the Hawks could win a regional championship.
2. Billy Baptist
The Herald-Whig jinx didn’t apply to the senior forward. He played like he didn’t want Saturday to be his last college game. Baptist had 18 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. Included in that total was a sick dunk off an alley oop from Courtney Belger on a fastbreak.
3. Mookie Pierre
Like Baptist, Pierre didn’t want his college career to end. After making two 3-pointers in the first half, Pierre scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half, including some crucial free throws late in the game to seal the win. A focused Pierre can only help the Hawks’ hopes.
DOBservations
The game was delayed for a total of 15 minutes in the first half after the official scorer mixed up each team’s personal foul. The game was stopped with just under 10 minutes to play when Pierre was sent to the line after a foul was thought to put the Hawks at the foul line. As it turned out, it was only Drury’s fifth foul and two Pierre free throws were wiped off the board. A little over a minute later, the game was stopped again after a QU foul on Drury’s Alex Hall. The scorer said the Hawks had only six fouls, while the Drury bench contented the Hawks had seven, which would have put Hall at the line. The Drury bench was right and Hall was awarded free throws. The delays were an embarrassment to the tournament. Guess it’s hard to find good help. Where’s the Pepsi Arena table crew when you need them? … The Hawks will play Bellarmine in a 5 p.m. semifinal game on Sunday. Bellarmine beat Central State 70-66. The Hawks and Knights split their two games this season, each team winning on its home court. … Drury’s Chase Elliott, who scored 25 against the Hawks in a win earlier this season, left the game in the final minute of the first half after cracking his sternum on a play underneath the Hawks’ hoop. … QU is now 2-3 in NCAA Tournament play under Bell. The school is still looking for its first Sweet 16 appearance.
Let’s see. You’re a two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback. You’re a young, single guy with pretty much your choice of women.
Yet Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger can’t seem to keep himself out of trouble when it comes to women. Already facing a lawsuit for an alleged sexual assualt that happened in Nevada in 2008, Roethlisberger is once again in the middle of a pretty sticky situation. Last week, he decided it would be a good thing to go bar hopping in — of all places — Milledgeville, Ga., home to Georgia College and State University.
During his night on the town, Roethlisberger struck up a friendship with a 20-year-old co-ed. The night must not have ended well as she, too, claims she was assaulted by Roethlisberger.
While no charges have been filed in either case, Roethlisberger’s playing with fire. As good of a decision-maker he is on the field, he needs to have some of that carry over to his personal decisions. (Let’s not forget that he also nearly killed himself in the summer of 2006 in a motorcycle accident.)
He needs to follow Tom Brady’s lead and find a supermodel of some sort. Heck, even follow in Tony Romo’s footsteps and get Jessica Simpson’s number. If that doesn’t work, I’m sure one of the Jersey Shore girls is available.
Here’s a look at the good, bad and the ugly in the sports world. As always, you can listen to me break these down with WGEM SportsCenter host Josh Houchins around 8:20 or so on Wednesday’s show on ESPN 1440. Feel free to chime in with your own grades by texting us (217-617-9437) or via email at sportscenter@wgem.com.
A — UConn women’s basketball. Got to tip your cap what Geno Auriemma has been able to do with the program. Earlier this week, the Huskies topped their own NCAA record of 70 straight wins by netting their 71st in the semifinals of the Big East Conference Tournament. Being the odds-on favorite to win a second straight NCAA title — and seventh of Auriemma’s tenure — there’s a chance the Huskies could break the UCLA men’s mark of 88 games sometime early next season.
B — Chicago Bears. With no top draft picks to use next month thanks to the Jay Cutler trade, the team did what it had to in free agency. The Bears were aggressive in landing Julius Peppers, Chester Taylor and Brandon Manumalena. Add Peppers with a healthy Brian Urlacher next year and the defense should improve. And you can’t expect Cutler to throw out another clunker of the season like he had in 2009. The Bears should be in position to challenge for the NFC North title now.
C – Area boys basketball. You’d have to classify the 2009-10 season as a down year for high school boys hoops in the area. Just three boys teams in Illinois — QND, Central and Pittsfield — made it through the first round of postseason play. In Missouri, it was even worse as the surprising Louisiana boys were the only ones to survive districts. For an area as wild about basketball as this one is, the lack of postseason success is kind of surprising.
D — Chris Head. He’s the head boys basketball coach at Chicago Brooks High School. He won a state title at Westinghouse in 2002. He thinks that he should be the next head coach at DePaul. Says it would be best for the school to tap a coach from the Chicago Public League to lead a program that hasn’t been relevant in some 30 years now. DePaul’s been horrendous of late, but going to a Public League coach isn’t going to help. Think UConn is going to tab the guy at Storrs High School to take over for Jim Calhoun when he leaves? No. DePaul is trying to run with the big boys in the Big East. Hiring a high school coach won’t help the school do that.
F — Carl Edwards. Talk about road rage. Edwards decided that crashing Brad Keselowski near the end of Sunday’s race in Atlanta was a good thing to do. Keselowski had a nice little ride, too, as his car flipped over after getting a nudge from Edwards. NASCAR, showing no spine at all, put Edwards on probation for a whopping three races. There has to be a better way for these drivers to settle their feuds. Edwards just showed up on WWE’s Raw a few weeks ago. Maybe the NASCAR folks can talk to Vince McMahon about borrowing one of his steel cages.
Bumpy Nixon celebrates with the Galesburg High School basketball team after the team finished third in the 1960 state tournament. (Galesburg Register-Mail photo)
When I moved to Quincy in 1997, there were plenty of folks who asked me if I knew what happened to Bumpy Nixon.
For years, it was Nixon who was credited for sparking the Galesburg-Quincy rivalry. He was a standout for the Blue Devils until moving to Galesburg after his sophomore season in 1958.
After fighting off allegations that it recruited Nixon away from Quincy, Galesburg finished third at state his junior season, the only season Nixon got to complete with the Silver Streaks.
He turned 19 during his senior season and wasn’t allowed to participate in the state tournament that year and the Silver Streaks wound up finishing third in state.
In the years since graduating from high school, Lawrence “Bumpy” Nixon was a tough guy to find. Three years ago, a Galesburg publication called “The Paper” was able to catch up with him.
On Sunday, Nixon died at age 69 in a Monteagle, Tenn. nursing home. According to the Galesburg Register-Mail, Nixon’s wishes are to have his ashes scattered in the Mississippi River sometime this summer near Quincy.
It looks like Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf (What? You don’t remember him?) has some company in the form of East Texas football coach Guy Morriss.
Morriss, who thankfully washed out as a head coach at two major colleges, is now toiling at Texas A&M-Commerce, an NCAA Division II school in Commerce, Texas. Seems that two of his players were arrested in a drug sting. The pair allegedly was trying to sell some marijuana. Well, Morriss didn’t like the fact the campus newspaper was going to report on the arrests, so he did what any overbearing control freak would do — have his players steal all of the papers.
“I’m proud of my players for doing that,” Morriss said. “This was the best team building exercise we have ever done.”
Really?
So, you don’t like the message, so you try to censor it and advocate stealing. That’s the way to be a leader of young men.
Morriss should be fired for suggesting that it was just fine for his players to steal the papers. Wouldn’t be surprised if it was his idea. Looking at his track record, losing Morriss wouldn’t be a great loss for the school. He was 9-14 in two years at Kentucky and 18-40 in five years at Baylor. In his first season at Commerce, the Lions were 5-5.
Hopefully, there will be many more gut-punching plays like this one for Morriss and his team:
The good folks at Augusta National Golf Club have been known to be a controlling bunch over the years. One thing they can’t control — the weather.
Seems that even the home of the Masters has been socked by the snow. I was forwarded the following pictures of a recent snow storm that left a few inches of the white stuff on the grounds.
Enjoy while thoughts of warmer days fill your head.
Here's a look at Amen Corner's famous par-3 12th hole after a recent snowfall at Augusta National Golf Course in Augusta, Ga.
The walk over Rae's Creek on the Hogan Bridge had to be slippery at the par-3 12th hole at Augusta National.
As you can see from this look at the par-3 16th — the spot where Tiger Woods made his amazing chip during his last Masters win — the snow didn't stick to the greens thanks to coils that keep them heated.
Welcome to the most wonderful time of the year — March Madness, spring training, St. Patrick’s Day (hey, I’m Irish). There’s something for everyone in March. Here’s a look at this week’s grade book. If you want to listen to me go over these, listen in to WGEM SportsCenter on ESPN 1440 around 8:20 or so on Wednesday morning. You can also hand out your grades by texting us at 217-617-9437 or emailing us at sportscenter@wgem.com.
A — Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball team. The Lady Raiders didn’t win a Class 2A state tournament, but this grade isn’t just for the weekend. It’s a tip of the cap to a senior class that helped win two state trophies in three seasons. As Jared Bell pointed out in Monday’s Herald-Whig, this may just be the start of some really good times for the folks at 10th and Jackson.
B — U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team. Other than the few players that the Blackhawks and Blues contributed to the team, I couldn’t name more than three U.S. players before the state of the tournament. Can’t say that I can name a ton now either, but I appreciated the team’s run to the silver medal. It would have been sweet to beat the Canucks on their home ice, but it didn’t happen. This tweet sums up how I feel about Olympic hockey. I’ll check back in when Sochi rolls around in 2014.
C — Steve Alford. Remember him, Iowa fans? In the college basketball equivalent of purgatory, Alford has made a winner at New Mexico. (Seriously, when was the last time you saw them on TV?) The Lobos are rising in the national rankings, but Alford showed over the weekend that he may be more like his college coach, Bobby Knight, than he thinks. Alford had some issues with BYU’s Johnathan Tavernari and told him about after a game over the weekend. Some people tried to make a capital case out of it, but it’s not really a big deal. Now had Alford launched a chair at the kid or grabbed him around the neck, then the pundits would have been in business.
D — NHL. Thanks to the Olympics, the interest in professional hockey has never been higher than what it is right now. The U.S.-Canada gold medal game drew huge ratings, helping boost what was a great Olympics ratings-wise for NBC. But was it the last time we’ve seen the NHL pros in the games? NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the league hasn’t talked about another shutdown for the 2014 Sochi Games. Russia’s Alex Ovechkin has already said he’ll play for his home country — NHL approval or not. In order to grow its brand the NHL needs to have its players play on this international stage.
F — NBA. Of all of the things the league might want to worry about, it has decided to lay the hammer down on Dallas’ Caron Butler for … (wait for it) chewing straws. Seems that Butler loves to chew straws when he plays. This wasn’t a big deal when he was with the miserable Wizards, but put him on a contender like Dallas and all of the sudden the straws became a problem. Looks like the league and Butler have come to a compromise, but still this is pretty sill business for the NBA.
He’s the Tim Tebow of squash. When it comes to college squash, no one can touch Trinity College’s Baset Chaudhry. The 6-foot-5 Pakistani is a two-time All-American and the defending squash singles national champion.
This year, Chaudhry is 13-0 to run his record to 55-2 for his career. Let’s just say that this guy really squashes his competition.
If this video of Chaudry is any indication, he may have some anger management issues.
The Yale player in this video — freshman Kenneth Chan — is probably about seven or eight inches shorter than Chaudhry. Since video of Chaudhry’s display hit the Internet, he’s come out and apologized for being the first squash player to have ever been caught talking smack. Oh by the way, Chaudhry’s win wound up sealing Trinity’s 12th straight national squash title. Not that anyone cares about how dominant the Bantams are in the wake of Chaudhry’s actions.
Of course, the top-ranked Chaudhry has an ulterior motive for the apology — he doesn’t want the College Squash Association to ban him from the upcoming squash singles national tournament next weekend. The CSA is still debating its decision.
Maybe they should let the kid from Yale beat him with his racquet for a while before letting Chaudhry back in.
I can just see the WWE coming up with a villainous squash player. Heck, Chaudhry’s big enough to play the role if he could put on a few pounds.
If it was possible to give an “F” to Mother Nature, I think we’d all flunk her after the recent round of snow. Isn’t it supposed to be spring soon? Here’s a look at the good, bad and ugly in the world of sports. Josh Houchins and I will break these down around 8:20 or so during Wednesday’s edition of the popular WGEM SportsCenter show on ESPN 1440.
A — Hannibal girls swimming. The Lady Pirates finished fourth over the weekend in the MSHSAA state meet in St. Charles thanks to a huge day by former Sheridan Swim Team member Rebekah Land, who won two individual state titles. Land won the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke and was on the victorious 200-yard freestyle relay squad with Meredith Voss, JaLynn Gieske and Kaylan Gieske.
B — “Tremendously tremendous.” Al Michaels he ain’t, but NBC hockey analyst Ed Olczyk’s description of the U.S.-Canada men’s hockey game on Sunday was right on the mark. It was a fantastically fantastic hockey game that I actually watched from start to finish. (Too bad it was on MSNBC instead of NBC. More people deserved to watch.) A gold medal in hockey isn’t going to get people all worked up about what I still consider a niche sport, but it’s sure fun to watch.
C — Danica Patrick. So far, so mediocre for the speedway queen in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. After a 36th-place finish at Daytona, Patrick was 31st at Fontana last week. It’s unrealistic to expect her to come out and win right away. Yet, on Saturday she was busted twice for speeding down Pit Row. She also finished farther back than she started (26th). At least, she finished the race in California after getting wrecked out at Daytona. I don’t think Jimmie Johnson has anything to worry about for a while.
D — Quincy University men’s basketball team. After serving up the women’s team in this spot two weeks ago, it’s the men’s turn to catch some Mid-Week Grades heat. The Hawks had a 3 1/2-game lead in the GLVC North with five games to play but could seal the deal on a division title. After a 16-0 start, the Hawks have lost seven of their last 11 games and go into the conference tournament with their confidence a bit shaken. I think with one win in the GLVC Tournament that they’ll be a lock for the NCAAs, but a first-round loss could have them on the outside looking in.
F — Marquis Daniels. The Boston Celtics role player recently had a nearly 3-pound jeweled head piece made of himself. (One blogger thinks it could also be Whoopi Goldberg.) Why in the world would Daniels need this kind of bling? Guess that now I’m bearing down on 40 that I’m out of touch with what’s cool today. The gold grillz for teeth must be so 2002 I suppose. If you want to take a look at how this thing was made, check out the video below:
1. Billy Baptist
2. Courtney Belger
3. Josh Edmonds
1. Justin Brock
3. Mookie Pierre
Let’s see. You’re a two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback. You’re a young, single guy with pretty much your choice of women.
It looks like Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf (What? 
He’s the Tim Tebow of squash. When it comes to college squash, no one can touch Trinity College’s 
