Wisconsin News and Sports
The UW-La Crosse Eagles moved closer to a regular season WIAC title by knocking down UW-River Falls 87-77.
The Eagles (15-7, 9-2), who shot 55% from the field for the game, can wrap up at least a share of the regular season WIAC title with another win.
WIAC Scoreboard
UW-Oshkosh 71, UW-Eau Claire 49
UW-Whitewater 104, UW-Platteville 86
UW-Stevens Point 65, UW-Stout 61
Amherst native Eric Konkol hired as head basketball coach at Louisiana Tech.
One of the best basketball players to ever come out of Amherst, Wisconsin, is now in charge of his own hoops program.
On Monday, Eric Konkol was introduced as the new head men’s basketball coach at Louisiana Tech University. For Konkol, the move means he’ll be a head coach for the first time in his career.
Konkol was one of the most decorated prep stars from Amherst, holding several school scoring records. Following high school, he went to play for Bo Ryan at UW-Platteville, joining the team a season after they won the national title in 1995. Following the 1997 season, he transferred to WIAC rival UW-Eau Claire and played through his graduation in 2000.
Once his playing days were over, Konkol immediately got into the coaching side of basketball, holding assistant positions at Tulsa, Tennessee, North Dakota State, George Mason, and Miami.
Konkol takes over a Bulldogs team that went 27-9 last season and reached the quarterfinals of the NIT. He replaces Michael White, who left the program to take the same position at the University of Florida.
AUDIO: Konkol says playing in the NCAA Tournament is among the many goals for the Bulldogs :11
AUDIO: Konkol thanks the many people who have supported him :23
UW-Oshkosh ended a 15-game losing streak against 4th-ranked UW-Stevens Point, upsetting the Pointers 50-47 in the semifinals of the WIAC tournament.
Alex Olson hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 1:13 to play that turned out to be the difference. Charlie Noone sank a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to seal the win.
Oshkosh (16-11) moves on to face UW-Whitewater (23-3) in the WIAC Championship game. The Warhawks advanced to the title game by rolling to a 82-60 win over UW-Eau Claire.
The WIAC men’s post-season tournament opened Tuesday night with quarterfinal games.
UW-Eau Claire knocked off UW-River Falls 81-79 and UW-Oshkosh knocked off UW-Platteville 59-55.
UW-Whitewater and UW-Stevens Point had byes into the semifinals.
Thursday’s Semifinal matchups:
UW-Eau Claire at UW-Whitewater
UW-Oshkosh at UW-Stevens Point
Whitewater is the number-1 seed. If they beat Eau Claire on Thursday night, they’ll host the championship game on Saturday. Stevens Point drew the number-2 seed in a coin flip with Whitewater.
After a slow start, top-ranked UW-Whitewater scored 35 straight points on the way to a 45-13 win over Franklin in Franklin, Indiana.
Franklin (0-2) jumped out early, scoring on their first two possessions and led 13-7.
Whitewater (2-0) quarterback Matt Behrendt found wide receiver Jake Kumerow for three touchdowns two get the Warhawks offense rolling. Behrendt had 224 passing yards and four touchdowns. Kumerow had 9 catches for 128 yards.
Local college scoreboard
Marian (Ind.) 24, UW-Oshkosh 20
St. Thomas (Minn.) 46, UW-LaCrosse 0
Simpson (Iowa) 22, UW-River Falls 6
UW-Platteville 26, Dubuque 21
UW-Stout 21, Loras (Iowa) 17
St. John’s (Minn.) 31, UW-Eau Claire 7
North Central (Ill) 51, St. Norbert College 17
Beloit 27, Grinnell 23
Ripon 24, Rockford 14
Carroll 34, Benedictine (Ill.) 6
Augsburg (Minn.) 55, Concordia 45
Adrian (Mich.) 40, Carthage 14
Trinity International 49, Wisconsin Lutheran 22
Top ranked UW-Stevens Point opened a 3-game lead in the WIAC following a 74-50 win over UW-Eau Claire last night.
Tyler Tillema had 24 points and Clayton Heuer added 18 points for the Pointers, who improved to 19-0 on the season and 10-0 in conference play.
The Pointers shoot for win number 20 at home against Superior on Saturday.
WIAC Scoreboard
UW-Whitewater 80, UW-Platteville 68
UW-La Crosse 66, UW-Oshkosh 65
UW-Stout 67, UW-River Falls 48
The UW-Whitewater Warhawks host the 2013 NCAA Division III softball regional, which starts today.
The Warhawks are the t0p seed in the 8-team, double-elimination field. They’ll open play at 10am this morning against Finlandia. The Warhawks are making their 16th post season appearance and fourth in the last six years.
The tournament could last until Monday. Following is the opening round schedule.
10am #1 UW-Whitewater vs. #8 Finlandia
noon #4 Carthage vs #5 Luther
2pm #3 Eau Claire vs. #6 North Central
4pm #2 Illinois Wesleyan vs. #7 Benedictine (IL)
After just one season, Kyle Green has resigned his position as head coach of the UW-Eau Claire men’s basketball team. Green made the announcement at a news conference this week.
Green led the Blugolds to a 15-10 overall record and a 7-9 mark in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) this past season.
Green was given the job in May of 2011 after a national search, replacing former coach Terry Gibbons on May 18, 2011 to become the ninth coach in program history.
A nationwide search for Green’s replacement will begin immediately.
The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) has three of its teams make the NCAA Division III men’s basketball tournament which starts this Friday.
UW-River Falls won the WIAC’s automatic bid by winning the conference tournament on Sunday. UW-Stevens Point and UW-Whitewater also received bids into the field on Monday. First round games are played on Friday night.
UW-River Falls (20-7) will host Edgewood (22-6). UW-Whitewater (23-4 will host Northwestern (Minn.) (17-10) and UW-Stevens Point (20-7) will meet Illinois Wesleyan (19-7) in Holland, Michigan.
Midwest Conference champion Carroll (16-9) will also face Transylvania (23-4) in Lexington, Kentucky.
Four WIAC women’s teams, Stevens Point (23-4), Eau Claire (20-6), River Falls (21-6) and Whitewater (22-6) are all in the field.
St. Norbert College is looking for a new hockey conference. The five Division 3 UW schools in the Northern Collegiate Hockey
Tim Coghlin & Tim Bald
Association (NCHA) have informed St. Norbert College and St. Scholastica that they’re leaving for the WIAC to start the 2014-15 season.
The five UW schools playing in NCHA are River Falls, Eau Claire, Stevens Point, Stout and Superior. Their eventual departure leaves St. Norbert and St. Scholastica as the two remaining members in the NCHA. The seven current NCHA members have been playing together since the 1996-97 season.
St. Norbert College Athletic Director Tim Bald said they want closure as soon as possible, without being hasty.
AUDIO: Tim Bald wants to find a new home ASAP :22
Five of the current seven teams in the NCHA have captured NCAA Division 3 titles. It’s a good hockey league with a lot of talent. That’s why Green Knights coach said he’d be surprised if they didn’t stay together, just in a different league. [Read more…]