State Basketball Roundup: Bucks/Wolves play tonight in Minneapolis

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MINNEAPOLIS - The Milwaukee Bucks will play the Minnesota Timberwolves tonight in Minneapolis. And Bucks’ coach Scott Skiles has talked about changing his starting line-up, as he tries to solve problems with a struggling front-court.

Center Samuel Dalembert and forwards John Henson and Tobias Harris only scored two points among them in Wednesday night’s 14-point home loss to the New York Knicks. Dalembert played the most – and he went scoreless in 15 minutes with four rebounds. Skiles could start Mike Dunleavy at the small forward spot, but he says Dunleavy has been invaluable off the bench. Third-year pro Larry Sanders could start if he wasn’t struggling. He’s only scored 22 points in his last six games. Power forward Epke Udoh has played solid defense off the bench. Center Joel Przybilla started last Saturday night, but did not play in the next two games. And power forward Drew Gooden has not played at all in the regular season yet. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute started at small forward last season, but he’s still getting over knee surgery from this summer. The Bucks are 7-6 going into tonight’s game against the Timberwolves, who are 6-8.

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The Marquette University men’s basketball team struggled to an 82-49 loss at seventh-ranked Florida last night in the Big East-SEC Challenge. The Golden Eagles scored their fewest points in three seasons, and the 33-point margin-of-defeat was the team’s largest since Louisville crushed Marquette by 47 back in 2005. It was also the worst loss for coach Buzz Williams in his four-plus years in Milwaukee. And Williams admitted it was the worst by far in his 179-game career including New Orleans. Florida took control midway through the first half. The Gators led by 14 at the break and 23 later on. Florida out-shot Marquette 51-to-41 percent. The Gators had 11 more rebounds than the Eagles, with a dominating 13-to-6 edge on the offensive glass. And Marquette committed 14 turnovers to Florida’s eight. The Gators had six scorers in double figures, led by freshman Michael Frazier the Second with 17. Their leading scorer, Kenny Boynton, didn’t make a basket until the second half. He had just six points. Starter Pat Young came off the bench, punished because of a bad attitude at practice – but he still scored 10. Vander Blue led the Golden Eagles with 20. No other Marquette player scored in double figures. Florida remains unbeaten at 6-0. Marquette falls to 5-2. Their next game is a week from tomorrow night against Wisconsin.

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The UW-Green Bay women’s basketball team will host Division II Indianapolis tonight. The Phoenix are 4-1, and their only loss was to James Madison in the opener of last weekend’s Cancun Challenge in Mexico. But UWGB came back with a pair of wins over Missouri and Richmond. Green Bay scored the final 20 points of the Missouri game to win by 22. Phoenix senior Sarah Eichler averaged 17 points and shot 73-percent during her three games in Cancun – and it earned her the Horizon League’s player-of-the-week honors. Indianapolis is the sixth-ranked team in Division-Two. The Greyhounds are 4-0, and they’re coming off an 11-point win over the host Regis at a tournament in Colorado last weekend.

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There’s only a handful games on tonight’s schedule for Wisconsin’s Division III college basketball teams. The Carthage men are at home in Kenosha against Hope College. And Maranatha Baptist of Watertown plays a men’s-and-women’s double-header at Lincoln Christian. Most of the state’s Division III teams return to action tomorrow with conference games.

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A small women’s college in Milwaukee said yesterday it would cancel its basketball season. Mount Mary was scheduled to host the Northland College Lumberjills of Ashland last night. But earlier in the day, the school said it could not field a complete roster. Athletic director Michelle Guyant-Holloway said Mount Mary had only three healthy starters – and the coaches tried to convince other students to play, but nobody else would. Mount Mary had forfeited its first five games, including a season-opening tournament at Milwaukee’s Alverno College. Counting last night’s contest with Northland, Mount Mary had 18 games left on its schedule. Guyant-Holloway said the school is looking into possible waivers to avoid going on probation next year. And she apologized to the basketball team’s opponents for the late notice. Mount Mary is a Catholic women’s college in Milwaukee with almost 1,900 students.

Tags: wisconsin sports, basketball, bucks, marquette