Thursday State Sports Briefs: UW's McCabe leads Team USA to gold medal game

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UFA, RUSSIA - Team USA will play Sweden on Saturday morning for the world junior hockey men’s championship.

Wisconsin defenseman Jake McCabe from Eau Claire helped the U.S. advance to the title game with a 5-1 victory over Canada today. Sweden won the other semi-final, defeating the host Russia 3-2 in overtime.

McCabe scored the first two goals in the U.S. contest, and he assisted on the third one. Milwaukee native Alex Galchenyuk will also play for a gold medal.

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The UW-Green Bay men’s basketball team will try to win its first road game tonight, when it opens Horizon League play at Wright State in Dayton, Ohio. The Phoenix are 0-5 on their opponents’ floors this season – but they’re on a three-game winning streak after a trio of home victories over Illinois-Springfield, South Dakota, and Marquette. Green Bay is 6-and-7 overall. Sophomore guard Keifer Sykes is the Phoenix’ top scorer, with just under 17 points a game. That’s the third-best among Horizon League shooters. Wright State is 9-4, after beating Mount Saint Joseph by nine points at home last Sunday. Jerran Young scored 24 points and six steals in that game. Green Bay’s last road contest was on December 12th in Madison, when the Phoenix lost to UW-Madison by 11.

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The UW-Milwaukee men’s basketball team will open its Horizon League schedule tonight at Detroit. The Panthers are 4-10 overall, after a 95-80 home win over Ohio Dominican last Saturday. Milwaukee shot a season-high 45-percent, while scoring its most points in over three years. Jordan Aaron scored 34 points for UWM in that contest. Milwaukee has yet to win a true road game this season. They’re 0-6 on their opponents’ floors, while Detroit is 7-0 at home. The Titans are 8-5 overall, after beating Canisius by five points at home last Sunday. Junior guard Ray McCallum Jr. had 22 points in that game, along with seven assists and five rebounds – and it earned him the Horizon League’s player-of-the-week honors.

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Conference play resumes tonight in the WIAC, with four men’s-and-women’s double-headers. UW-Stevens Point hosts River Falls. Superior plays at Oshkosh. Platteville is at La Crosse. And Stout is at home in Menomonie against Eau Claire. The Stevens Point men have the early lead at 3-and-0, with Stout, Platteville, and Whitewater all at 3-1. On the women’s side, Whitewater is the only undefeated team in league play at 4-0. Superior is second at 3-1, while Oshkosh and River Falls are at 2-1. In other women’s basketball tonight, Alverno of Milwaukee hosts Concordia-Chicago in the Northern Athletics Conference. In non-league play, Maranatha Baptist hosts Kuyper in Watertown. And Lawrence of Appleton is at home against Finlandia of Michigan.

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UW-Stevens Point and Whitewater have both dropped out of the national men’s basketball Top-10. The Pointers are 11th in this week’s poll from D3hoops.com, after being ranked fifth in the most recent survey in mid-December. Whitewater dropped from sixth place to 12th. The Warhawks are 9-2 overall, after falling to Stevens Point and Saint Norbert last month. Stevens Point is 10-2, after losing a pair of non-conference games to Saint Thomas and Concordia-of-Texas. UW-Stout dropped out of the Top-25, after being 23rd in the most recent D3 poll. Stout received votes in the new survey, along with La Crosse, Saint Norbert, Platteville, and Carroll. North Central of Illinois is the new men’s No. 1

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In the D3hoops.com women’s poll, UW-Whitewater is now ranked at No. 17 and Stevens Point is 18th. Both rose one spot from the mid-December poll. The Warhawks are 10-3 overall, while the Pointers are at 9-3. Oshkosh also received votes. DePauw remains the women’s No. 1.

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Austin Stueck of the Milwaukee School of Engineering is the men’s basketball player-of-the-week in the Northern Athletics Conference. Stueck was named the MVP of the Smokey Ballenger Tournament in Westerville Ohio during the holidays. He scored 22 points in a first-round victory over Otterbein. And in the title game, Stueck made 3-of-4 free throws in the closing minutes to give MSOE an eight-point victory over Trine. Erin Ryczek of Rockford College was named the league’s female player of the week.

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Former Minnesota Twins outfielder Rene Tosoni has reportedly signed a minor league contract with the Milwaukee Brewers. Baseball America reported the move – but the Brewers had not announced it as of mid-day. The 26-year-old Tosoni played in 60 games for Minnesota in 2011, when he batted .203 with five homers and 22 RBI’s. He played in four levels of the Twins’ minor league system last year. That included 21 games in Triple-“A” and 60 in Double-“A.” Baseball America also said the Brewers signed veteran minor league infielder Ozzie Chavez. The 29-year-old Chavez batted .300 in the Dominican Winter League, but did not play minor league ball last season. Chavez was in the Milwaukee farm system from 2001-through-’08.

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The Milwaukee Admirals will try to continue their recent success at home tonight, when they host Chicago in an American Hockey League contest. The Admirals have won five-of-their-last-six home games – and they’re 3-1 against Chicago this season. Milwaukee is coming off a 4-1 loss at Rockford last Saturday, which ended a three-game overall winning streak. The Admirals are in third place in a tight Midwest Division, and Chicago is tied for fourth – just one point behind Milwaukee.

Tags: wisconsin sports, sports, brewers