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Bucks win ninth straight, knock off Wizards without Giannis

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Khris Middleton – File Photo (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images)

For the fourth time this season, the Milwaukee Bucks earned a victory without their star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.  Giannis sat out Tuesday night’s match-up with Washington due to a sore shoulder, but the Bucks still pulled out a 151-131 win over the Wizards at Fiserv Forum.

Khris Middleton stepped up and poured in 51 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead the Bucks (41-6) to their ninth straight victory.  The Bucks scored a franchise record 88 points in the first half.

Eric Bledsoe added 34 points and 10 assists for Milwaukee, which improved to 22-2 on the home court this season.

Bradley Beal poured in 47 points to lead the Wizards.  Thomas Bryant added 18 points and 10 rebounds, but the Wizards dropped to 15-31 on the season.

The Bucks will shoot for their 10th straight win on Friday night when they host the Denver Nuggets at Fiserv Forum.

 

Cubs sign Jeffress to free agent deal

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Jeremy Jeffress (File Photo)

Former Milwaukee Brewers reliever Jeremy Jeffress signed a free agent deal with the rival Chicago Cubs on Tuesday.

The 32-year-old Jeffress had three separate stints with the Brewers before they finally released him on September 1, 2019.  He reportedly signed a major-league contract worth $850,000 and has games-pitched incentives that could add as much as another $200,000.

Jeffress started the 2019 season on the injured list after experiencing shoulder weakness.  He ended up appearing in 48 games, posting a 5.02 ERA.

Jeffress was a first-round draft pick of the Brewers in 2006 and was traded to Kansas City in the 2010 deal that brought Zach Greinke to Milwaukee.  His best season came in 2018 when he went 8-1 with a 1.29 ERA in 73 games with 15 saves.  He also made the all-star team that season.

Jeffress is the second former Brewers player to sign with the Cubs.  They also added utility infielder Hernan Perez.

Antetokounmpo to miss tonight’s game

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The Milwaukee Bucks return to Fiserv Forum tonight against Washington.  They’ll face the Wizards without superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Bucks announced this afternoon (Tuesday) that Antetokounmpo will sit out due to right shoulder soreness.  It’ll be the fourth time this season that Antetokounmpo will have missed a game.  The Bucks are 3-0 in games in which Giannis hasn’t played this season.

It isn’t clear when the injury occurred.  Antetokounmpo played in the team’s last game against Charlotte in Paris and then practiced with the team on Monday.

 

Badgers blow second half lead, fall to #18 Iowa

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Kobe King (Photo by David Stluka)

The Wisconsin Badgers blew a 12-point second half lead, falling to the 18th ranked Iowa Hawkeyes 68-62 at Carver Hawkeye Arena on Monday night.

The Hawkeyes (15-5, 6-3 Big Ten) trailed 57-45 with 7:13 left to play before going on a 19-2 run.  Joe Toussaint’s layup and free throw with 1:20 to go gave Iowa a 60-59 lead, and the Hawkeyes never trailed again.

The Badgers hit just 2 of its last 9 shots and Iowa finished the game on a 23-5 run.

Iowa struggled offensively most of the night, hitting just 20 of 60 (33%) from the field and 3 of 20 (15%) from three-point range.

The game was tied 30-30 at halftime, but the Badgers opened the second half on a 18-8 run and stayed in control until Iowa’s late rally. [Read more…]

Former Badgers & Packers quarterback Tolzien joins Cowboys coaching staff

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Scott Tolzien File Photo – UPI/Robert Cornforth

Former Wisconsin Badger and Green Bay Packers quarterback Scott Tolzien has reportedly been hired by the Dallas Cowboys as an assistant coach.

Tolzien spent three seasons with the Packers under coach Mike McCarthy, who has now hired Tolzien in Dallas.

Tolzien made a pair of starts with the Packers during the 2013 season with Aaron Rodgers sidelined by injury.  He made two more starts during a stint with the Indianapolis Colts.  Tolzien spent seven-years in the NFL.

Tolzien spent the last season scouting upcoming opponents for the Wisconsin Badgers.

McCarthy has also added former Packer Al Harris as an assistant secondary coach and former Packers director of player development Rob Davis as an assistant coach.

Top ranked Badger women’s hockey sweeps rival Gophers

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Senior Presley Norby scored two goals to lead the top-ranked Wisconsin women’s hockey team to a 3-0 victory over second-ranked Minnesota on Saturday afternoon, sweeping the Gophers in the two game series at LaBahn Arena.

Norby, who is a native of Minnetonka, Minnesota, moved her way closer to the century-point club with two points while leading the Badgers (23-2-2-1, 13-2-1-0 WCHA) to move Wisconsin back into the drivers seat of the WCHA race.  Wisconsin sits in first place in the league with 40 points, while Minnesota (20-4-3, 12-4-2-1 WCHA) is in second place with 39 points.

After a scoreless first period. Norby scored past Gophers’ goaltender Sydney Scobee with 15:32 left in the second period.  She doubled the lead just 10 minutes later off a feed from Delaney Drake to send the Badgers to the locker room up 2-0 after two periods.

Junior Daryl Watts put the game out of reach with 32 seconds remaining with an empty-net goal.

Senior goaltender Kristen Campbell made all 22 saves to add a fourth shutout this season and a 28th career shutout to her record.

It’s the second time in three years that the Badgers have swept the Gophers at home.  UW improved to 9-7-0 all-time against Minnesota at LaBahn Arena.

The Badgers also won the series opener, 5-4 on Friday night.  They’ll take on St. Cloud State at LaBahn Arena this Saturday, Feb. 1 at 3 p.m. and then wrap up the series on Sunday at 2 p.m.  Both games are sold out.

Morrow leaves Marquette basketball

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The Marquette Golden Eagles will face Butler on Friday night without senior forward Ed Morrow.

Morrow has been on an indefinite leave for personal reasons since Jan. 15 and now has informed coach Steve Wojciechowski that he is leaving the program for good.

Morrow averaged 3.4 points and 3.4 rebounds in 16 games for the Golden Eagles this season.  But his playing time went down with the emergence of 7-foot graduate transfer Jayce Johnson.

Morrow transferred to Marquette after playing two seasons at Nebraska.  He sat out the 2017-18 season because of transfer rules.

Last season, Morrow appeared in 33 games and averaged 5.6 points and 4.5 rebounds in 15 minutes per game.

Pettine retained as Packers Defensive Coordinator

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Mike Pettine

Despite a complete defensive meltdown in Sunday’s NFC Championship game, a 37-20 loss at San Francisco, the Green Bay Packers have decided to retain Defensive Coordinator Mike Pettine for his third season in Titletown.

The Packers ranked ninth in scoring defense (19.6 points allowed per game) this past season, but dropped from 15th to 18th in yards (352.6).

The Packers struggled at times to stop the run this season, but nothing like Sunday, when the 49ers ripped off 285 rushing yards, only having to throw it eight times against Pettine’s defense.  Niners running back Raheem Mostert did most of the damage himself, rushing for 220 yards on 29 carries with four touchdowns.

At his season ending press conference on Wednesday, LaFleur said, “They definitely out-coached us.  I [Read more…]

Brewers to have new ballpark name in 2021

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Miller Park

The home of the Milwaukee Brewers, Miller Park, gets a new name starting in 2021.

Miller Park becomes American Family Field starting January 1, 2021.

The name change is part of a long-term sponsorship agreement between American Family and the Brewers, announced one year ago.  The agreement includes American Family having naming rights for the ballpark beginning in 2021 and continuing for 15 years.

The ballpark logo and other branding elements will be announced later this year.

As part of the sponsorship agreement, American Family also acquired naming rights to the Brewers spring training complex in Maryvale, Arizona.  That complex, which completed an extensive renovation last year, is named American Family Fields of Phoenix.

Three Packers named to the Pro Bowl

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Za’Darius Smith

Green Bay Packers WR Davante Adams, DL Kenny Clark and LB Za’Darius Smith have been named to the NFC Pro Bowl roster today.

Adams (Atlanta Falcons WR Julio Jones), Clark (Los Angeles Rams DT Aaron Donald) and Smith (Chicago Bears LB Khalil Mack) are all replacing players who are unable to participate due to injury.

It marks Adams’ third straight trip to the Pro Bowl (2017-19), making him the first Packer WR to make three straight Pro Bowls since Sterling Sharpe (1992-94).  Despite missing four games due to injury, Adams registered his second career 80-plus-reception season (83 in 2019, 111 in 2018), which is tied for the fourth most in franchise history behind Jordy Nelson (three), Donald Driver (four) and Sharpe (four).

This is Clark’s first trip to the Pro Bowl after being named an alternate in 2018.  He tied his career high from last season with six sacks in 2019, with 4.5 sacks coming in the final four regular-season games.  Clark finished second on the team with a career-best 89 tackles (52 solo).

Smith is making his first career Pro Bowl in his first season with Green Bay.  He registered 13.5 sacks, ranking No. 6 in the NFL and tying for the fifth most in a single season in franchise history (since 1982).  Smith was tied for No. 1 among NFL linebackers in QB hits (37), and No. 2 in total pressures (50.0) during the regular season.