Northwest Missouri State and Central Missouri suspended ticket sales for their upcoming men’s and women’s basketball regional due to the NCAA statement on championship events and COVID-19.  The statement on Northwest Missouri’s athletics website:

Northwest Missouri State University athletics is suspending ticket sales for the 2020 NCAA Division II Central Region men’s basketball tournament after the statement today from NCAA President Mark Emmert in regard to COVID-19.

The statement from the NCAA:

The NCAA continues to assess the impact of COVID-19 in consultation with public health officials and our COVID-19 advisory panel. Based on their advice and my discussions with the NCAA Board of Governors, I have made the decision to conduct our upcoming championship events, including the Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, with only essential staff and limited family attendance. While I understand how disappointing this is for all fans of our sports, my decision is based on the current understanding of how COVID-19 is progressing in the United States. This decision is in the best interest of public health, including that of coaches, administrators, fans and, most importantly, our student-athletes. We recognize the opportunity to compete in an NCAA national championship is an experience of a lifetime for the students and their families. Today, we will move forward and conduct championships consistent with the current information and will continue to monitor and make adjustments as needed.

The Southeastern Conference has announced it will conduct the 2020 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament with only essential staff, limited family and credentialed media in attendance at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville for the remainder of the week beginning on Thursday following the recommendation of the NCAA COVID-19 Advisory Panel related to conducting sporting events closed to the public.

In addition, the SEC announced that all regular season contests in all sports on SEC campuses and SEC Championship events will be conducted with similar attendance restrictions effective Thursday, March 12 through at least March 30 at which time the conference and its member universities will re-evaluate conditions.

The SEC issued a statement from SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey:

“In light of recent developments beyond our control related to the spread of the coronavirus, including a recommendation from the NCAA COVID-19 Advisory Panel, and after consultation with our member universities, we have made the difficult decision to hold the 2020 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament in Nashville without spectators beginning with games of Thursday, March 12. Effective immediately, the policy will also apply to other SEC Championship events and on-campus regular season games scheduled through at least the end of March.

“After conferring with local and national health authorities, we remain confident in our ability to safeguard the health and well-being of our student-athletes, coaches and other staff who will be participating as well as the limited number of family members and media who will be in attendance at the tournament.

“We regret the inconvenience and disappointment this decision has caused our fans, especially those who have already traveled to Nashville for the tournament.”

As previously announced, the SEC has implemented the following enhanced health measures for the 2020 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament:

Use of hospital grade disinfectant to sanitize locker rooms before teams arrive and immediately upon departure;
Sanitization of game balls with hospital grade disinfectant after each practice and game;
Sanitization of team benches plus band and cheerleader seating areas following each game;
Hand sanitizers, disinfectant wipes and Lysol spray in team locker rooms;
Hand sanitizers at scorer’s table, in officials’ locker rooms, operations offices and media areas.
For the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament, automatic refunds of ticket purchases will be made to fans who are the original purchaser of the tickets from SEC Office or an SEC university, or a verified purchaser on the SEC Ticket Exchange powered by Ticketmaster. For regular season events, each campus will determine refund policies and procedures.

The SEC Network will televise the entire first and second round of the tournament and the quarterfinals evening session. ESPN will broadcast the afternoon session of the quarterfinals, both semifinal matchups and the championship game.

The SEC remains in continued communication with public health officials and reminds everyone to be attentive to everyday preventive actions identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov).

MSHSAA

MSHSAA released the following statement to its members regarding the COVID-19 situation.

MSHSAA Member Schools,

We are paying attention to the latest news regarding the Coronavirus and any information being circulated by the Center for Disease Control. The following is a link to CDC information that provides guidance for groups and businesses. There is a section for schools on the link.

Center for Disease Control

The CDC guidance, “Schools should continue to collaborate, share information, and review plans with local health officials to help protect the whole school community, including those with special health needs.”

We have contacted the Missouri Health Department and at this time, there are no restrictions or requirements to stop activities with large groups of people. We are developing contingency plans for the possible effects of school closures on the state playoffs, your spring sport practices and/or contests, and are monitoring COVID-19 developments closely.

MO Department of Health and Senior Service

Lastly, you can never go wrong with practicing good hygiene and teaching your students to do the same. We will certainly keep you informed as to any new information we receive from these organizations, or other respectable sources.

Respectfully,
Dr. Kerwin Urhahn
MSHSAA Executive Director

Brett Connolly scored the go-ahead goal in the third period for the Panthers in a 2-1 victory against the Blues at the Enterprise Center.

Mike Hoffman tallied the tying goal on the power play late in the second for Florida, which won its second straight on the heels of a four-game skid.

Chris Driedger denied 26-of-27 shots in the win.

Colton Parayko scored the lone goal midway through the second for the Blues

Jordan Binnington made 32 saves for the Blues, who have lost two-of-three following an eight-game winning streak.

St. Louis visits the Ducks tomorrow night.

Gaige Prim led five Missouri State players in double figures with 17 points and 8 rebounds to push the sixth-seeded Bears past Indiana State, 78-51, here Friday in the quarterfinal round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

Lamont West and Tulio Da Silva poured in 14 points apiece for the Bears (16-16), while Keandre Cook tacked on 13 points, and Isiaih Mosley scored 10. Da Silva’s game-high 9 rebounds also helped MSU to a 45-26 rebounding advantage on the night.

Third-seeded Indiana State (18-12) got 14 points apiece from Jordan Barnes and freshman Jake LaRavia.

It was the largest margin of victory by Missouri State in its 30-year history at Arch Madness and its highest offensive output at the event since 2004.

MSU’s win capped an upset-crazy quarterfinal day at the Valley Tournament. Top-seeded Northern Iowa fell to No. 8 Drake. No. 4 Bradley topped No. 5 Southern Illinois, and No. 7 Valparaiso knocked off No. 2 Loyola in overtime to set up the semifinals. On Saturday, Drake and Bradley play at 2:30 p.m., in advance of the Valparaiso vs. Missouri State semi at 5 p.m.

Friday was the first time in tournament history the top three seeds all fell in the quarterfinal round.

After leading by 10 at the half, Missouri State kept the Sycamores at length most of the final period. Before the first media timeout, the Bears had tacked on 15 points and extended their lead to 48-30 after a 3-pointer by Cook. [Read more…]

Tulio Da Silva scored 12 of his game-high 14 points in the second half to help lift Missouri State to a 65-52 come-from-behind win over visiting Evansville here Tuesday in the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both squads.

Lamont West and Isiaih Mosley also poured in 13 points apiece to help the Bears’ cause.

MSU (7-7, 1-0 MVC) fell behind by 13 in the early going, but overcame a sluggish start by shooting 59.3 percent in the second half and outscoring the Purple Aces by a 48-22 margin over the game’s final 22 minutes.

Evansville (9-5, 0-1) got 13 points from K.J. Riley and 12 from DeAndre Williams who also snagged a game-high 10 rebounds.

The Bears made just seven of their first 22 shots to start the afternoon, while Evansville used runs of 10-1, 8-3 and 7-2 to take a 30-17 lead with 2:20 left in the opening half. But with just under two minutes remaining before the break, Mosley splashed home his second 3-pointer of the opening stanza to put a dent in the deficit. Tyrik Dixon then stole the ensuing inbound pass and converted a quick layup to whittle MSU’s deficit to 30-22.

Both teams would add a free throw before the intermission to give the Aces a 31-23 lead at the halfway point, but Missouri State came out throwing haymakers in the second half. [Read more…]

Antti Raanta made 38 saves and the Coyotes ended the Blues’ eight-game winning streak with a 3-1 victory at Gila River Arena.

Phil Kessel scored to break a 1-all tie in the third and Nick Shmaltz lit the lamp on an open-netter with under a minute to play as the Coyotes ended a three game drought to win their 1,300th franchise game.

Tyler Bozak scored the lone goal for St. Louis, which dropped to 26-9-and-6.

The Blues visit the Avalanche tomorrow night.

Sophomore Torrence Watson scored a career-best 24 points on a career-high eight 3-pointers as Mizzou Men’s Basketball (8-4) downed Chicago State, 91-33, on Monday night at Mizzou Arena. Watson set a new Mizzou Arena single-game record for 3-pointers with eight triples.

The 58-point win marked the largest margin of victory for Mizzou since beating Chicago State by 72 in 1995. The final non-conference matchup before SEC play saw Mizzou’s highest scoring half and the least amount of points scored by an opponent this season.

Mizzou jumped out to an early lead thanks to stout defense and outside shooting. At the midpoint of the first half, the Tigers had forced seven Cougar turnovers in seven minutes, and Mizzou didn’t allow a field goal in the final six minutes of the opening frame. Watson punctuated a high-octane first half offensively with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, one of Mizzou’s season-high 16 triples on the night.

Mizzou came out strong to launch the second half, extending its lead out to 39. Watson caught fire for the Tigers, scoring 18 of his 24 points and making six of his eight treys in the final 20 minutes. Mizzou would again record its highest scoring half of the season with 46, which was capped off with triples from walk-ons Evan Yerkes and Brooks Ford, who each scored their first career points. Twelve different Tigers found the scoring column in the rout.