Morning State Sports Briefs: Badger men's hoops play Colgate tonight

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MADISON - The University of Wisconsin men's basketball team will host Colgate tonight, and both teams will try to go 2-0.

The 14th-ranked Badgers are coming off an 85-31 home rout of Kennesaw State last Saturday, in which they made 15-of-25 from three-point range. Colgate won its season opener for the first time in three years, edging Binghamton (NY) 78-74 last Saturday night. Senior guard Mike Venezia led the Raiders with 22 points, and he was named the Patriot League's player-of-the-week.

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The UW-Green Bay women's basketball team will try to win its 12th straight home opener tonight when it takes on Toledo. Both are national powerhouses at the mid-major level. Green Bay is No. 1 in College Insider.com's mid-major poll, while Toledo is fifth. Both teams are 1-0. The Phoenix are coming off an 82-59 rout at North Dakota State last weekend. Toledo had a 10-point victory over Dayton last Sunday. Andola Dortch had 17 points, seven rebounds, and four steals in that contest. Toledo won the WNIT Tournament last March. Green Bay has 21 straight regular season contests dating back to last year. That's the third-longest string in school history.

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Also tonight, the UW-Green Bay men are at North Dakota State. Two small college basketball games are on tonight's schedule in Wisconsin, both on the women's side. 11th-ranked UW-Stevens Point hosts Saint Thomas. And Lawrence of Appleton plays at Marian of Fond du Lac.

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Middleton native Jon Turcott has some catching up to do if he wants to stay in the running for a full ride on next year's PGA golf tour. Turcott was tied for 54th place after the opening round of the second stage of the Tour's Qualifying School. Turcott, a former Wisconsin Badger. He's in a four-round tournament which began yesterday in Brooksville Florida. Organizers have not said how many players from the site will advance to the final stage of Q-School -- a six-round tournament. Also, Fox Point native Skip Kendall -- a former full-timer on the PGA Tour -- us starting a qualifying tournament today in Panama City Beach Florida. And Beaver Dam native Dan Woltman, another ex-Badger, is beginning his second stage today in Plantation, Florida.

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Patrick Hodan of Milwaukee Marquette has been named the Wisconsin high school player-of-the-year by the state soccer coaches' association. Hodan was also named an All-American by the national coaches. And he tops a 29-member all-state team made up of players from both large-and-small schools throughout the Badger State. Six of those players have also made the all-region team including Hodan, his Marquette teammates Joe Naughton and Logan Andryk -- Nick Biasiotta and Mac Wheeler of Kettle Moraine -- and Nate Rohde of Brookfield Central. Marquette won the Division-One state title last month with a 6-0 shutout of Kettle Moraine in the title match.

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Milwaukee Wave coach Keith Tozer will be inducted next month into the United Soccer Leagues' Hall-of-Fame. Tozer was among nine inductees announced yesterday. He'll be the first coach inducted into the Major Indoor Soccer League's portion of the Hall-of-Fame. The honorees will be recognized at a banquet on December 16th in Clearwater, Florida. Tozer has won five championships in 20 years with the Milwaukee Wave -- and his teams appeared in the league title match four other times.

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Tyler Huber and Levell Coppage, both of UW-Whitewater, have been named the WIAC football players-of-the-week along with Taylor Goodman of UW-Oshkosh. Huber, a junior receiver, had a career-high 10 catches for 123 yards in Whitewater's regular season finale against La Crosse. Coppage, one of the league's top running backs, won the special teams' award for returning five punts for 112 yards in the Warhawks 17-3 victory. Two of his returns led to a touchdown and a field goal. Goodman, a junior linebacker, had an interception and 14 tackles in a 35-3 Oshkosh win over Stout.

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The WIAC also recognized Blake Huppert of River Falls in men's hockey - Corey Groshens and Kirsten Lickel, both of Eau Claire, in swimming - Phil Devine of Oshkosh and Katie Hausmann of Whitewater in diving - and T.J. Wunnicke of Platteville in wrestling.

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Taylor Winter of Lawrence University in Appleton has been named the women's swimmer-of-the-week in the Midwest Conference. Winter, a freshman from Bayside, won the 500 and 1650-yard freestyle events in a dual meet against UW-Whitewater. Kevin Barbick of Lake Forest is the top men's swimmer.

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Milwaukee Brewers' hitting coach Dale Sveum is a finalist for both the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs managerial openings. Sveum interviewed with both clubs in the past couple weeks -- and both will give him second interviews this week in Milwaukee, where baseball's general managers and ownership groups are meeting. Sveum is speculated to be the leading candidate in Boston, where he was the third base coach in 2004-and-'05. Pete Mackanin and Sandy Alomar Junior have also made the final cut for both teams -- and former Brewers' pitching coach Mike Maddux is still in the running for the Cubs' job. Sveum says both teams should be making their decisions soon, and it's a big week for him.

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Madison golfer Steve Stricker says he's healthy and ready-to-go for the President's Cup that begins Thursday in Melbourne Australia. A herniated disc has bothered Stricker for much of this year. He pulled out of a Fed-Ex Cup playoff tournament in September with weakness in his left arm and hand. Stricker refused to have surgery so he could ready to help represent the U-S in the President's Cup against a team of foreign-born players. Stricker said he practiced with his brother-in-law, Mario Tiziani of Madison -- and after playing two practice rounds at Melbourne, Stricker said he felt fine.

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University of Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson says tight end Jake Byrne is one of the unsung heroes of the Badger offense. The senior was considered a viable pass-catching threat at the team's pre-season camp. But he only has one catch for 14 yards, and that came in Week-Two against Oregon State. Byrne has become a very effective blocker, and offensive coordinator Paul Chryst has lined him up against key defensive ends in pass-blocking situations. Also, Wisconsin has enough other weapons in an offense that has averaged 46-and-a-half points a game. Wilson says he hasn't had the chance to throw to Byrne for a touchdown but he still quote, "a spectacular player." Wilson calls Byrne a very efficient pass protector who's strong and intelligent. The Badgers are getting ready to play at Illinois on Saturday.

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Coltan Ellis of UW-Eau Claire made the national small college Team-of-the-Week from D3football.com Ellis, a sophomore safety, broke up two passes and had nine tackles in Eau Claire's 27-21 win over UW-River Falls last Saturday.

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UW-Green Bay is two spots away from the Top-25 in the new AP women's college basketball poll. The Phoenix is 1-0, after crushing North Dakota State 82-to-59 on the road last weekend. UWGB will play its home regular season opener tomorrow night agaisnt Toledo. Baylor tops the AP women's media poll, followed by Notre Dame and Tennessee.

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UW-River Falls is the only Wisconsin school to make the Top-10 in the new women's Division-Three hockey poll from U.S. College Hockey Online. The Falcons are ranked fifth after a 4-0 start. River Falls was also ranked fifth a week ago. The Rochester Institute of Technology still tops the poll at 6-0. Norwich is second, followed by Middlebury and Plattsburgh.

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Wisconsin schools swept the weekly football awards in the Northern Athletics Conference. They are Jesse Muldrow and Travis Turnquist, both of Wisconsin Lutheran, and Ethan Lane of Maranatha Baptist. Muldrow, a senior running back, rushed for 138 yards and scored all three touchdowns in Lutheran's 23-21 win over Benedictine. He caught a 34-yard scoring pass and had TD runs of 59 and three yards. Turnquist won the special teams award for blocking an extra point and returning it for two points in the win over Benedictine. Lane, a junior linebacker, forced three fumbles and had a sack in Maranatha's 24-20 victory over Rockford.

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SCORES

In men's college basketball...

Viterbo 73, UW-River Falls 63

UW-Stevens Point 80, Lawrence 58

Concordia-Mequon 63, UW-La Crosse 57

Saint Norbert 65, UW-Oshkosh 50

UW-Superior 74, Northland 72

UW-Eau Claire 63, Saint Scholastica 41

UW-Platteville 64, Luther 57

Ripon 82, Marian 71

Edgewood 61, Lake Forest 54

Wisconsin Lutheran 81, Silver Lake 55

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In women's college basketball...

UW-Whitewater 82, Carroll 60

UW-Eau Claire 68, Saint Scholastica 58

UW-Superior 72, Northland 46

UW-Platteville 69, Millikin 61

UW-River Falls 50, Gustavus Adolphus 43

UW-Stout 95, Crown 33

Loras 63, UW-La Crosse 52

UW-Oshkosh 65, Lawrence 56

Beloit 63, Concordia-Mequon 55

Carthage 61, Saint Norbert 48

Alverno 98, Mount Mary 41

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