OU men headed to Horizon semis in Indy; UDM men, OU women bounced
HOME team in caps.
Oakland 87, Youngstown State 83 (OT): The Golden Grizzlies almost let it slip away, going scoreless for nearly two minutes after grabbing a 71-66 lead with 3:25 remaining in regulation. But Daniel Oladapo’s layup, assisted by Jalen Moore, with 1:28 remaining tied the game at 73, and the two teams headed to OT.
In the extra period, it was all Moore and Oladapo, as the duo combined for nine of OU’s 14 points, including another layup by Moore with 50 seconds left that ended up as the winning basket. Both Moore and Oladapo had doubledoubles for the No. 3-seeded Golden Grizzlies; Moore had 20 points, 11 assists and five rebounds, while Oladapo had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Rashad Williams led OU (11-17, 10-10 Horizon) with 22 points and freshman Micah Parrish added 12 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the field. Garrett Covington led the No. 6seeded Penguins with 30 points.
Oakland advances to the Horizon League semifinals in Indianapolis beginning on Monday. They’ll play No. 4-seeded Northern Kentucky, which squeaked by Detroit Mercy on Tuesday night. The winner of that game will advance to Tuesday’s final.
Northern Kentucky 70, Detroit Mercy 69: The third time was anything but the charm for the Titans on Tuesday night in Highland Heights, Kentucky. With four seconds left, the Norse’s David Bohm went up for a layup. He missed, but gathered the rebound off the glass. Another shot and another board off the glass. Finally, on his third attempt, just before time expired, Bohm sent the ball up and into the basket to clinch a spot in the Horizon League semifinala for No. 4 seed Northern Kentucky.
It was a heartbreaking finish for the No. 5seeded Titans (12-10, 10-6 Horizon), who went scoreless over the final 3:45 of play, including a missed free throw by sophomore Noah Waterman on the front half of a one-and one with 14.5 seconds left. Waterman finished with 19 points, thanks to 7-for-9 overall shooting and five 3-pointers on seven tries. But his lone free throw attempt opened the door for the Norse’ last-second comeback.
Two other UDM players scored in double figures: Bul Kuol led the Titans with 20 points and added three assists and two steals. Junior guard Antoine Davis, who had scored at least 20 points in 12 straight games and entered Tuesday third in the nation in scoring at 24.3 points a game, was helpf to 16 on 5-for-13 shooting, with four 3s on 11 tries. Davis had five assists but also had five turnovers, as many as all of his teammates combined.
The Norse were led by Horizon League Freshman of the Year Marques Warrick, who scored 20 points after averaging 15.9 this season. Warrick shot 7-for-14 from the field, 4for-9 from 3-point range and added three rebounds and two assists. His teammates combined to shoot 5-for-22 from 3-point range.
Northern Kentucky advances to the Horizon semifinals on March 8 in Indianapolis.
Horizon women
The No. 4-seeded Golden Grizzlies struggled with their shot, hitting just 36.4% of their attempts from the field and 27.8% of their 3-pointers. The No. 5 Jaguars, however, did not, hitting 49.2% and 54.5% respectively. That was enough to put OU (12-12, 12-8 Horizon) in a 27-15 first-quarter deficit it couldn’t climb out of in Indianapolis.
Three-time Horizon League Player of the Year Macee Williams dominated for the Jaguars, putting up 28 points (on 12-for-20 shooting), nine rebounds and two assists. Only two Golden Grizzlies scored in double figures, led by Kahlaijah Dean, who had 13 points despite shooting just 3for-14 from the field. Autumn Kissman added 10 points and five rebounds for OU.
Islanders 2, DEVILS 1: Semyon Varlamov made 28 saves and came within 14 seconds of his fourth shutout, and New York beat New Jersey. Rookie Oliver Wahlstrom broke a scoreless tie with a wicked wrist shot early in the third period. Aaron Dell made 18 saves in his second start for New Jersey.
RANGERS 3, Sabres 2: Pavel Buchnevich had a goal and an assist and Igor Shesterkin stopped 22 shots for New York. Chris Kreider and Alexis Lafreniere also scored for the Rangers, and Adam Fox had two assists. Sam Reinhart and Tobias Rieder scored for Buffalo.
PENGUINS 5, Flyers 2: Kasperi Kapanen scored two goals for Pittsburgh. Bryan Rust scored his seventh, and Cody Ceci and Mike Matheson added goals for Pittsburgh. Joel Farabee scored twice for the Flyers.
BLUE JACKETS 4, Red Wings 1: Joonas Korpisalo made 19 saves, Columbus scored three second-period goals and won its first game played in front of home fans in more than a year. Cam Atkinson had a short-handed goal and an assist, and Riley Nash, Jack Roslovic and Boone Jenner also scored for the Jackets.
CANADIENS 3, Senators 1: Carey Price
made 26 saves as Montreal defeated Ottawa to give Canadiens rookie head coach Dominique Ducharme his first NHL victory. Jeff Petry, with a goal and two assists, Brendan Gallagher and Tyler Toffoli scored for Montreal.
Canucks at JETS, late: The Jets are 137-1 in division games. Winnipeg has scored 69 goals and is sixth in the league averaging 3.3 per game. The Canucks are 9-14-2 against the rest of their division. Vancouver averages 10.9 penalty minutes per game, the third-most in the NHL.
Hurricanes at PREDATORS, late: The Predators are 10-11-0 against the rest of their division. Nashville averages 9.4 penalty minutes per game, the eighthmost in the NHL. The Hurricanes are 14-6-1 against the rest of their division. Carolina ranks fifth in the league averaging 5.8 assists per game.
Lightning at STARS, late: The Stars are 6-6-4 against the rest of their division. Dallas is last in the NHL shooting 27.8 shots per game. The Lightning are 14-4-1 against Central Division teams. Tampa Bay is second in the NHL recording 9.7 points per game, averaging 3.6 goals and 6.1 assists.