Tuesday State Sports Briefs: Big run leads Marquette to easy win

• Marquette University

Marquette University

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MILWAUKEE - The Marquette University men's basketball team shot 71-percent in the second half last night, as they crushed Maryland-Baltimore County 79-46 at the Bradley Center.

The Golden Eagles trailed by one point with just under 17 minutes left – and they then bruised their way to a 37-to-5 run. Twenty-eight of Marquette’s 51 points in the second half came in the paint. At one point, the Eagles scored 10 unanswered baskets. Junior forward Jamil Wilson led Marquette with 15 points. He has now shot 82-percent over his last two games, making 14-of-17 from the floor. Wilson had a career-high 19 off the bench last Wednesday against USC. Davante Gardner had 13 points and five steals for Marquette, which played without their second-leading scorer Vander Blue. He’s still coming off a sprained knee suffered last week against USC. Chase Plummer led Baltimore County with 12 points. UMBC lost its third straight game, and is now 1-4. Unranked Marquette is 5-1, and will play at Florida on Thursday night in the Big East-SEC Challenge.

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Wisconsin has two teams in the Top-10 in the season’s first Division-Three men’s basketball poll from D3hoops.com. UW-Whitewater is ranked third, and Stevens Point is at Number-nine. Whitewater was also ranked third in the D3 preseason poll, and they’re off to a 3-0 start. The Pointers jumped six spots from their pre-season ranking, with a mark of 4-0. Carroll, Platteville, and La Crosse also received votes. MIT is still the men’s Number-One. In the D-Three women’s poll, Stevens Point is at Number-three, after being seventh in the pre-season ranking. The Pointer women are off to a 3-1 start. Whitewater is 14th, down six spots at 3-1. And Saint Norbert of De Pere enters the poll at Number-25 after a 3-0 start. Carthage and River Falls also received votes. DePauw is the season’s first Number-One.

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Don’t expect any changes to the Green Bay Packers’ offensive line. Offensive coordinator Tom Clements sees no changes on the horizon, after a rough performance in Sunday night’s loss to the Giants at New York. The Packer line allowed quarterback Aaron Rodgers to be sacked five times – and he got hit hard two other times. Head coach Mike McCarthy was not available for his normal Monday news conference. But he said after the Giants’ game he would not make any rash decisions because it wouldn’t be the best thing to do. The Packers replaced the injured Bryan Bulaga by moving guard T.J. Lang to right tackle, and putting Evan Dietrich-Smith in Lang’s former spot at left guard. Second-year tackle Derek Sherrod is expected to go on injured reserve, as he continues to struggle with a broken leg from last season which landed him on the physically-unable-to-perform list after this summer’s training camp. The Packers’ only other options at the moment are undrafted free agent rookies Greg Van Roten and Don Barclay. Green Bay is still in the playoff hunt at 7-4. The Pack hosts Minnesota on Sunday.

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New York Giants’ tight end Martellus Bennett saved a man who fell from a railing after Sunday night’s win over the Packers. The man fell while he was trying to grab a glove that Bennett was handing to a child. The boy ducked as the man reached over him – and that caused the man to fall about 10 feet from the lowest seating level at Met-Life Stadium. State troopers quickly hauled him away, and he did not appear to be injured. Bennett had three catches for 44 yards against the Packers. He said yesterday that he simply caught the man, and it was not that big of a deal.

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Green Bay Packers’ receiver Greg Jennings is expected to play against the Minnesota Vikings at home on Sunday. Coach Mike McCarthy said Jennings could have played in last night’s loss to the Giants at New York – but the team decided to wait, so he could get a full week of practice and build up some stamina. Jennings has not played since September 30th, when he suffered a groin injury after scoring his only touchdown of the season against New Orleans. He later had surgery for what turned out to be a core abdominal muscle. McCarthy said he expects Jennings to fully take part in Wednesday’s practice – and if all goes well, he sees no reason the two-time Pro Bowler cannot play against Minnesota. Meanwhile, All-Pro linebacker Clay Matthews is not as far as Jennings in returning. But McCarthy says Matthews is getting closer to recovering from a torn hamstring suffered November fourth against Arizona. For now, McCarthy says he’s not sure how much Matthews will practice this week.

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Two key starters for the Minnesota Vikings must pass concussion recovery tests before they can be cleared to play again, possibly on Sunday at Green Bay. Tight end Kyle Rudolph and strong safety Harrison Smith both suffered head injuries in the second half of Minnesota’s loss at Chicago yesterday. Receiver and kick returner Percy Harvin has missed the last two games with a sprained left ankle. Coach Leslie Frazier had no update on his condition today. Also, three other Vikings were hurt against the Bears – but Frazier said they should be ready for the Packer game on Sunday at Lambeau Field. Those three are running back Adrian Peterson, who hurt a shoulder – right tackle Phil Loadholt with knee inflammation – and linebacker Jasper Brinkley, who had a mild sprain of an AC joint in one of his shoulders.

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Former Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson is having a solid rookie year with the Seattle Seahawks. But three other teams reportedly considered drafting Wilson in the third round in April – and had that happened, Wilson could still be riding the bench. ESPN reported yesterday that Philadelphia, Indianapolis, and Washington had all planned to take Wilson in the third round. But they couldn’t, because the Seahawks were ahead of them. The Eagles ended up taking quarterback Nick Foles, who’s just now filling in for the injured Michael Vick. Indianapolis was also said to be considering Wilson, as a back-up to Andrew Luck – but the Colts took receiver T.Y. Hilton instead. And ESPN said the Redskins were going to draft Wilson as a back-up to Robert Griffin-the-Third. But the ‘Skins ended up taking Kirk Cousins as Griffin’s back-up. Meanwhile, Wilson has thrown for 2,051 yards, 17 touchdowns, and eight interceptions after beating out ex-Packer Matt Flynn for the Seattle quarterback job. Wilson has also rushed for 227 yards on 57 scampers.

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The Chicago Bears benched former Wisconsin tackle Gabe Carimi at the start of yesterday’s home win over Minnesota. Jonathan Scott moved into the right tackle spot, but Carimi entered the game later because of injuries to Chris Spencer and Lance Louis. Despite leading the NFC North Division, the Bears have not had much continuity on its offensive line. Carimi was Chicago’s first-round draft choice in 2011. But Michael Lombardi of the NFL Network said it’s possible that former Bears’ GM Jerry Angelo misevaluated Carimi, as well as offensive lineman Chris Williams from Vanderbilt several years ago.

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The University of Wisconsin football team expects to be almost at full strength when it faces Nebraska on Saturday night in the Big Ten championship game at Indianapolis. Head Coach Bret Bielema said today that receiver Jared Abbrederis and linebacker Chris Borland are expected to practice this week, and to play against the Cornhuskers. Guard Kyle Costigan has been cleared to return, after getting a concussion in the loss at Penn State over the weekend. Bielema also disclosed that Borland had almost missed the Badgers’ Big Ten opener two months ago, a three-point loss at Nebraska. Borland said he had sprained the MCL ligament in his right knee the week before against Texas El-Paso. He went on to play in the Nebraska contest, and had two fumble recoveries and nine tackles against the Cornhuskers.

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University of Wisconsin volleyball coach Pete Waite has resigned after 14 years in Madison. His teams went 305-146. But the Badgers only went 5-15 in Big Ten play this fall – and Waite said it’s time to give somebody else the chance to quote, “take this program back to the top” of the conference. Waite has been a college volleyball coach for 25 years, with an overall record of 571-248. He won his 300th match for the Badgers in mid-September against South Alabama. And Waite is the only Wisconsin volleyball coach to amass 300 total wins and 150 Big Ten victories. His teams made the NCAA Tournament nine times and finished second in the nation in 2000.

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Both Wisconsin and Marquette received votes in both major college basketball polls – but not nearly enough to make the Top-25. The Badgers are 10 spots away from the Top-25 in the AP media poll, and seven spots away in the USA Today-ESPN coaches’ poll. Wisconsin is 4-2 overall, and will host Virginia on Wednesday night. Meanwhile, Marquette is 15 spots away from the AP Top-25, and 18 spots away in the coaches’ poll. Marquette is 4-1. Indiana and Duke are ranked one-two in both surveys.

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Sarah Eichler of UW-Green Bay is the women’s basketball player-of-the-week in the Horizon League. Eichler, a senior forward, scored 52 points in three games at the Cancun Challenge in Mexico during the Thanksgiving weekend. She scored a career-high 26 points in a Phoenix victory over Richmond, while hitting 5-of-6 from three-point range. Also, Milwaukee native Rachel Story of Illinois-Chicago is the Horizon Newcomer-of-the-Week. She scored 28 against Illinois State last Wednesday. On the men’s side, Ryan Broekhoff of Valparaiso and Gary Talton of Illinois-Chicago were named the co-players-of-the-week. And UIC forward Josh Crittle is the top newcomer.

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The University of Wisconsin has returned to the Top-10 in the women’s poll from U.S. College Hockey Online. The Badgers are 10-4-2 overall, after a pair of WCHA home victories over Saint Cloud State this past weekend. Minnesota continues to lead the Division I poll at 16-0. Clarkson is second, followed by Cornell.

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Black River Falls native Jack Taylor scored 21 points off the bench for Grinnell College – but it was nowhere near his national record-setting 138-point performance from last Tuesday. Taylor played his first game last night since he had tongues wagging – including those of Kobe Bryant and LeBron James – in the wake of his monster performance six nights ago. Taylor shot 6-of-21 from the floor in a 131-to-116 home loss by Grinnell to William Penn. Taylor was the sixth man last evening, and he hit 3-of-13 from three-point range in Grinnell’s first loss of the season. Last week, Taylor shattered the previous NCAA single-game scoring record of 113 points, set by Bevo Francis of Rio Grande in 1954. Taylor made 52-of-108 shots in that masterpiece – and that included 27-of-71 three-pointers.

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Milwaukee will host the Triathlon Age Group National Championships in each of the next two summers. The nation’s top amateur triathletes will perform in two events – the Sprint National Championship, and the Olympic-Distance nationals. The latter will include a 15-hundred-meter swim in Lake Michigan, a 40-kilometer bicycle race, and a 10-kilometer run. The sprint races include a 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike ride, and a five-“K” run. Next year’s championships will take place August 10th-and-11th – and both the bike races and the running competitions will be run in downtown Milwaukee. Over 3,500 people took part in this year’s nationals in Vermont.

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In men’s college basketball…

UW-Eau Claire 71, Loras 58

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In women’s college basketball…

UW-River Falls 78, Saint Benedict 61

UW-Oshkosh 54, Lakeland 44

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Wisconsin boys' high school basketball

Almond-Bancroft 49, Necedah 37

Belleville 62, Parkview 52

Boscobel 51, Wauzeka-Steuben 33

Bruce 61, Prairie Farm 58

Denmark 63, Southern Door 45

Goodman-Pembine 53, Niagara 43

Hillsboro 54, Kickapoo 53

Kee-Lansing Iowa 56, Seneca 54

Maple Northwestern 68, South Shore 19

Marathon 53, Mosinee 33

North Crawford 58, De Soto 21

Royall 90, Riverdale 32

Scales Mound, Illinois 45, Benton 28

Sheboygan North 71, Hortonville 56

Suring 63, Oconto Falls 41

Westfield 47, Cambridge 43

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Girls' high school basketball

Albany 48, Johnson Creek 36

Alma Center Lincoln 72, Necedah 25

Amherst 67, Oshkosh Lourdes 57

Appleton Xavier 53, Clintonville 26

Arcadia 74, Cochrane-Fountain City 21

Berlin 40, Omro 37

Blair-Taylor 45, Black River Falls 34

Bloomer 67, Somerset 29

Cameron 70, Boyceville 54

East Dubuque Illinois 63, Argyle 39

Elk Mound 75, Eleva-Strum 38

Fennimore 38, River Ridge 25

Fox Valley Lutheran 47, Ripon 9

Freedom 53, Winneconne 27

Gilmanton 64, Plum City 59

Green Bay Southwest 48, Seymour 35

Hillsboro 47, Riverdale 7

Holmen 61, Mondovi 43

Iola-Scandinavia 38, Port Edwards 33

La Crosse Aquinas 57, Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau 29

Little Chute 62, Waupaca 34

Markesan 45, Lomira 27

New London 39, Appleton East 22

Pardeeville 60, Dodgeland 46

Potosi 69, South Wayne Black Hawk 33

Prairie Farm 28, Bruce-Weyerhaeuser 17

Racine St. Catherine's 62, Kenosha Bradford 40

River Valley 45, Mineral Point 41

Sheboygan Falls 46, Chilton 42

Wabeno 50, Northland Pines 24

Westby 77, Brookwood 48

Wild Rose 39, Wautoma 34

Williams Bay 22, Williams Bay Faith Christian 19

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Boys' high school hockey

Amery 6, St. Paul, Minn. Como Park 2

New Richmond 5, Rice Lake 2

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Girls' hockey

Marshfield 3, Northland Pines 2

Stevens Point/Wisconsin Rapids 6, Waupaca 5, OT

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