Monday March 15th Local Sports

INDIANAPOLIS — The Iowa Hawkeyes are the second seed in the West Region and will play 15th seeded Grand Canyon University Saturday in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The Hawkeyes are 21-8 after falling to Illinois in the semifinals at the Big Ten Tournament. Junior guard Joe Wieskamp

The Hawkeyes are already in Indianapolis and will spend most of the time in their hotel this week.

Iowa center Luka Garza says preparations for the opener will begin after a couple of days in quarantine.

After having last year’s tournament cancelled Garza says they are anxious to get started.

Tipoff on Saturday is scheduled for 5:25 PM at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum.

 

 

DES MOINES — It may be the play in round but Drake is in. The Bulldogs play Wichita State Thursday in the First Four. It is the Bulldogs first ever at-large bid. Drake coach Darian DeVries.

The Bulldogs were forced to wait an entire week after losing in the Missouri Valley Championship game a week ago.

The Bulldogs watched as Georgetown and Oregon State posted upsets on Saturday to steal two bids.

Leader scored Tank Hemphill has been sidelined since undergoing foot surgery back on February 11th. He could be ready for Thursday’s game.

Tipoff on Thursday night is scheduled for just after 5:25 at Mackey Arena on the Purdue University campus.

 

 

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Chloe Bibby scored 21 points, and No. 7 Maryland showed off its depth in a 104-84 victory over Iowa on Saturday in the Big Ten Tournament championship. The Terrapins shot 51% from the field in their 13th straight win. Diamond Miller had 15 points and seven assists, and Katie Benzan finished with 14 points and six assists. Maryland led 55-37 at halftime and 79-57 after three quarters. Monika Czinano scored 22 points for Iowa, and Caitlin Clark finished with 21. Mason City native Megan Meyer played about five-and-a-half minutes but did not score for the Hawkeyes, who find out later tonight who they will play in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

 

 

MOLINE, Ill. (AP) — Gabi Haack hit six 3-pointers and scored 22 points to lead Bradley to its first NCAA Tournament with a 78-70 win over Drake in the championship game of the reconfigured Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. Haack had a pair of 3-pointers in a 14-2 run in the fourth quarter that gave the fifth-seeded Braves a 76-66 lead with 2:37 to play. Drake, the second seed, was 2 for 6 with four turnovers in the last seven minutes. Bradley was scheduled to play league champion and 17th-ranked Missouri State in the semifinals on Saturday but the Bears, probably an NCAA Tournament lock with a 21-2 record, pulled out over a positive COVID-19 test in the Bradley party. Grace Berg scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Drake.

 

MASON CITY — The Mason City School Board tonight will consider a resolution that would request the reorganization of the Central Iowa Metropolitan League and the formation of a new athletic conference that would include Mason City High School. The resolution would end Mason City’s membership in the CIML at the end of the 2021-22 school year. Mason City along with Marshalltown, Fort Dodge, Ames, Ottumwa, and the five Des Moines Independent School District high schools are in the planning stages of a new conference. The resolution states that the CIML lacks parity among its current member schools and therefore results in contests between teams that are competitively mismatched and results in an effect of discouraging participation of students from those schools including Mason City. It requests that the Iowa High School Athletic Association and Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union form the new conference as soon as possible that takes into consideration those factors that will ensure a competitive environment for all member schools and participants. The school board meets tonight at 5:30 at the administration building. You can watch the meeting through the school district’s website.

 

 

 

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Anthony Edwards scored a career-high 34 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 13 points and the short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves held on to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 114-112. Ricky Rubio added 15 points and had eight free throws in the final seconds. The Timberwolves have won two of their past three games and are 2-6 under new coach Chris Finch. Damian Lillard scored 38 for Portland. The Trail Blazers had won four of five and beat Minnesota 125-121 the previous day. Gary Trent Jr. added 21 points for the Blazers and Carmelo Anthony had 16 off the bench.

 

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Nick Bonino and Kevin Fiala scored in a three-goal third period and the surging Minnesota Wild beat the Arizona Coyotes 4-1 Sunday. Victor Rask and Joel Eriksson Ek also scored for Minnesota, now within two points of Vegas atop the West Division. Minnesota, 11-2-1 in its past 14 games, has won four straight overall and seven in a row at home. Phil Kessel scored for Arizona in the second of three straight games between the teams.