The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Injuries hitting top teams heading into tourney season
The health of Liz Kitley, Molly Davis and Mackenzie Holmes could go a long way in determining Virginia Tech, Indiana and Iowa’s chances of going far in their conference tournaments this week and the NCAA tournament later this month.
All three suffered injuries on Sunday in their teams’ regular season finales. The teams don’t open up their conference tournaments until Friday.
Kitley, the 11th-ranked Hokies’ the two-time ACC Player of the Year, appeared to suffer a non-contact injury in the third quarter. Coach Kenny Brooks would only say that it was a lower extremity injury. The senior went down hard after a transition shot attempt and left for the locker room before returning to the bench.
Davis injured her right knee in the No. 3 Hawkeyes’ win over Ohio State on Sunday. Coach Lisa Bluder said on Monday in a statement that it was a non-season-ending injury, The 5-foot-7 guard is expected to undergo physical therapy to get ready for the post-season.
“While we feel for Molly that she got injured during Senior Day, we are so thankful that the injury she sustained is not season-ending,” Bluder said. “Our program has appreciated everyone’s support and prayers as we look forward to her return at some point during the postseason.”
After Davis injured her knee in the first half, she returned to the court in a wheelchair and was pushed out to halfcourt for the Senior Day ceremony.
Holmes hurt her left knee in the third quarter on Sunday when she made contact with a Maryland player. The star center hobbled when she landed and headed to the locker room. She returned to the bench later in the game and participated in the postgame senior ceremony.
The fifth-year senior,
who leads Indiana in scoring and rebounding, had to miss time in the past because of injuries to that same knee.
Indiana coach Teri Moren said on Monday that Holmes and Lilly Meister, who hurt her ankle, were doing better.
Key injuries hit men's teams, too
Top men’s teams have also been hit with key injuries heading into tournament season.
• Marquette coach Shaka Smart is optimistic that Tyler Kolek’s oblique injury won’t knock the 2022-23 Big East player of the year out for the remainder of the season. Smart acknowledged Tuesday that “barring a miracle,” Kolek, a 6-3 guard, won’t play in the eighth-ranked Golden Eagles’ two regular-season games Wednesday against No. 2 Uconn and Saturday at Xavier. Marquette had announced Monday that the 6-foot-3 guard would be re-evaluated before next week’s Big East Tournament.
• Texas big man Dylan Disu had to be helped off the court after spraining his left knee in the Longhorns’
93-85 loss at 11thranked Baylor on Monday night. Disu fell to the floor and remained down after getting tangled up with a Baylor player. The 6-foot-9 forward grabbed at his left leg and was tended to for several minutes before he got up. He put no weight on his leg as he was helped to the locker room.
Iowa-ohio St. draws huge viewership
Caitlin Clark’s recordsetting game for Iowa against Ohio State on Sunday attracted more than 4 million television viewers at its peak and was the most watched women’s regular-season basketball game since 1999, Fox Sports announced Tuesday.
Clark scored 35 points and passed Pete Maravich as the NCAA Division I overall career scoring leader during the Hawkeyes’ 93-83 win.
Average viewership was 3.39 million and reached a high of 4.42 million late in the second half. Clark set the record with two free throws just before halftime. No women’s regularseason game on any network had more viewers since 3.88 million tuned in for Uconn-tennessee in January 1999, according to Sports Media Watch.
The game was the second-most watched college basketball game of the season, trailing only the 5.18 million who saw the Michigan State-arizona men’s game that followed an NFL Thanksgiving game on Fox, SMW said.
Ohio State-iowa surpassed the 3.01 million who watched the Boston Celtics’ 140-88 rout of the Golden State Warriors on ABC on Sunday.
Gamecocks chasing perfection
The No. 1-ranked South Carolina women finished the regular season undefeated for the second consecutive year. Only nine teams have been able to win the national championship without suffering a loss all season long. Next up for the Gamecocks is the SEC Tournament where they have a bye to the quarterfinals.
Around the nation
• Lorenzo Romar is out as Pepperdine coach after six years when the Waves’ season ends. The ninthseeded Waves (12-19) play No. 8 seed Pacific (6-25) in the first round of the West Coast Conference Tournament on Thursday in Las Vegas. The Tigers’ coach, Leonard Perry, was reassigned to other duties at the university on Monday. Associate head coach Josh Newman will coach Pacific in the tournament.
• Centennial High product Jared Mccain helped No. 9 Duke defeat North Carolina State, 79-64, on Monday, scoring 14 of his 16 points after halftime.
• Uconn’s men have won three national championships since 2006, including last season. Big East titles have been a different story.
With a 91-61 win over Seton Hall last week, the second-ranked Huskies clinched their first outright Big East title in 25 years. They hadn’t even shared the title in 18 years.