Afternoon State Sports Briefs: UW spring football game set for April 20

• University of Wisconsin

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MADISON - Pharmacy students at UW-Madison will get at least a little help from Badger football fans in paying their tuition debt. For the third straight year, Wisconsin will charge five-dollars to see its annual Spring Game.

This time, the proceeds will go to the “Great People Scholarship program” in the pharmacy school. Dean Jeanette Roberts said the program offers financial aid to those in need. She said the UW-Madison is committed to training prospective pharmacists regardless of their socio-economic status. The Pharmacy School is celebrating its 130th anniversary, and the scholarship program started a couple years ago. UW Athletic Director Barry Alvarez said the game generated at least $40,000 in each of the last two years for the UW Nursing School and the Non-Profits’ Center. Just over 10,000 fans attended last year’s Spring Game – which has become a national trend thanks to ESPN. The cable network has highlighted other schools’ spring games that have practically sold out. Wisconsin’s event has never been that popular – but by tying it to a charity, UW officials hoped it would generate a least a little more buzz. Among other things, those at this year’s Spring Game will get their first look at new Badger coach Gary Andersen.

The game will take place on April 20 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. Kick-off will be at 2 p.m. and tickets are on sale at the UW Athletic Ticket Office. You can order tickets online at www.uwbadgers.com.

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The Milwaukee Bucks hope to keep their winning ways going tonight against a very hot Nuggets’ team in Denver. The Bucks are 9-5 under new coach Jim Boylan. They’ve become of the NBA’s toughest offensive teams inside. The Bucks are fifth in the league in points-in-the-paint with just over 44 per game. Milwaukee has averaged 108 points in its last nine victories, while scoring just 91 in each of their five losses. But those numbers can be tossed out the window tonight, since Milwaukee will have to keep up with a run-and-gun Denver team that has averaged 115 in their last five home contests – all victories. Boylan has recently commented on the Bucks’ lack of toughness inside, and it shows in the rebounding statistics. The Bucks average just over four fewer rebounds per game than their opponents since January 19th. That’s the third worst margin in the league.

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Individual game tickets for the Milwaukee Brewers will start going on sale Saturday February 23rd. The team will hold its seventh annual “Arctic Tailgate” on the 23rd at Miller Park. It will feature a number of appearances by former players and mascots, free food and T-shirts to the first two-thousand fans in line at the ticket windows. A limited number of Opening Day tickets will go on sale at the ballpark during the event. The Brewers’ other normal ticket outlets, including the Internet, will have seats for other games.

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It’s been two years since the Denver Nuggets won seven straight games – but that’s what they’re going for tonight against the Milwaukee Bucks in the rarified air of Colorado. Former Bucks’ coach George Karl really has his team humming. The Nuggets have had a pair of six-game winning streaks since the New Year began, and they’re 13-3 during that time. All but three of those games were played at Denver’s Pepsi Center, where the Nuggets are 20-and-3 this season while averaging 108 points. They’ve won their last five at home, averaging 115 in those contests while giving up 104. Opponents shot almost 47-percent in those five games – something Karl wants to fix. Denver is coming off a 113-98 win over New Orleans last Friday night, in which the Nuggets’ defense held the Hornets to 20 points in the final period. Andre Iguodala scored a game-high 24 for Denver that night.

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The Milwaukee Bucks have re-assigned rookie guard Doron Lamb to the NBA’s Development League. Lamb was first sent down a month ago, and he played two games for Fort Wayne where he averaged seven-and-a-half points, three-and-a-half rebounds, and three assists. The Bucks brought him back up on January 21st – but he was never activated in six games. So Milwaukee sent him back to Fort Wayne to give him some playing time. Lamb was the Bucks’ second-round draft pick last year out of Kentucky. He has played in 23 games for Milwaukee in his rookie season, averaging almost three-and-a-half points in 12 minutes.

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UW-Milwaukee and UW-Green Bay will again take part in the ESPN Bracket Buster series – but neither of their games will be televised. UWM will play at Indianapolis, while Green Bay travels to Iowa to take on Drake University. Both those games will take place on Saturday, February 23rd, but the starting times have not been announced. Green Bay and Milwaukee both helped the Horizon League go 7-3 in last year’s Bracket Busters. The event is designed to provide national exposure to mid-major teams, in the weeks before the NCAA Tournament in March.

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The Concordia-Mequon women can clinch the Northern Athletics Conference North Division title outright, with a win tonight at home against Marian. The Falcons are 13-2, three games ahead of Alverno and Maranatha Baptist which are tied for second. Concordia has clinched at least a share of the division crown with two weeks left. Alverno hosts Milwaukee School of Engineering tonight. Maranatha Baptist is at home against Edgewood. Also, Wisconsin Lutheran – which has clinched the South Division crown at 14-0 – is at home tonight against Benedictine. In men’s play, Maranatha is at home in Watertown against Dayspring Bible.

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Taylor Koth of Ripon College has been named the men’s basketball performer-of-the-week in the Midwest Conference. Koth, a senior forward, had 32 points and 10 rebounds in Ripon’s three-point win over Carroll last week. He made all 13 of his free throw attempts in that game, while averaging 27-and-a-half points in a pair of league contests. Alissa Hersh of Grinnell is the honored women’s player.

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The Marquette University women’s basketball team will go for an upset tonight, when it plays at third-ranked Connecticut. The Huskies are 20-1 overall with an eight-game winning streak. They’re 7-1 in the Big East after beating Saint John’s by six points last Saturday. Marquette comes in at 3-5 in the conference and 11-10 overall. The Eagles are coming off a four-point home win over DePaul last Saturday. The victory was Marquette’s third in its last eight. One of those losses was against U-Conn – an 85-51 romp by the Huskies in January 12th in Milwaukee. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis is Connecticut’s top scorer with 17 points a game. Katherine Plouffe leads Marquette with 13-and-a-half points and eight rebounds per contest. The Eagles are 0-7 lifetime against UConn.

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Garrett Vetesnik of UW-Milwaukee has been named the Horizon League men’s indoor field athlete-of-the-week. Vetesnik, a senior, had a career-best pole vault of 4.95 meters at the Meyo Invitational last weekend in South Bend, Ind.. He placed third among 23 competitors at the meet, with the second-highest vault in UWM history. Jennifer Neider of Youngstown State was the top female indoor field athlete. Also, Diana Diel of Milwaukee is the Horizon League’s female swimmer-of-the-week. The junior Diel won the 100-and-200 freestyle events in a dual meet against UW-Green Bay. And she was part of the winning 400-freestyle relay team. Justin Hill of Cleveland State was the top male swimmer. Mitchell Spaeth of UW-Green Bay won the league honors for men’s diving. Spaeth, a senior, swept the diving events against Milwaukee. He had a career-high score of 342.07 in the three-meter event, and a season-high 313.13 in the one-meter dive.

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Alex Oman of UW-Stout and Kristen Nett of UW-Superior are the WIAC men’s and women’s basketball players-of-the-week. Oman, a junior forward, made six free throws down-the-stretch to help Stout beat Platteville by three points. And he scored 22 in a win over Superior. Nett, a sophomore guard, scored 16 points in 16 minutes against Stout. And she had five steals in a win over Oshkosh to go with 16 points and three rebounds. The UW-Oshkosh distance medley relay team of McKenzie Kelly, Stephanie Kahn, Kylee Verhasselt, and Christy Cazzola was picked as the WIAC women’s indoor track athletes-of-the-week. Dan Sullivan of Stevens Point received the men’s track honor. Marcus Smith of Whitewater and Jena Weigel of La Crosse were recognized in indoor field events. The conference also gave weekly awards to Jordan Singer of Eau Claire in men’s hockey – Joe Devroy of Whitewater and Emily Shandley of Oshkosh in swimming – Caleb Bentley of River Falls and Tessa Kahring of La Crosse in diving – Anna Gleason of Winona State and Sheree Romesburg of La Crosse in gymnastics – and Nazar Kulchytskyy of Oshkosh in wrestling.

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Justin Ward of Lakeland College in Sheboygan is the men’s basketball player-of-the-week in the Northern Athletics Conference. Ward, a junior forward, had 20 points and 22 rebounds against Aurora last Saturday. He also had three blocked shots. Katie Luethe of Concordia-Mequon is the honored women’s player. The junior forward helped the Falcons clinch at least a share of the NAC North Division crown last weekend. Luethe had 17 points and 11 rebounds in a win over Rockford, and 19 points and eight boards in a victory over Maranatha Baptist.

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