HUSKER BASEBALL IN TOP 20 PRESEASON POLL:
The Nebraska baseball team received a preseason top 25 ranking on Monday, checking in at No. 20 in Baseball America’s preseason poll.
The Huskers are coming off a regular-season Big Ten title and their first NCAA Regional Final appearance since 2007 after going 34-14 (31-12 Big Ten) in 2021.
Nebraska is the lone Big Ten team in the Top 25. Texas received the top spot in Baseball America’s poll, followed by No. 2 Vanderbilt and defending national champion Mississippi State in third. No. 4 Notre Dame and No. 5 Virginia round out the top five.
Nebraska opens the 2022 campaign with a three-game series at Sam Houston on Feb. 18-20 in Huntsville, Texas.
SPRING GAME, IRELAND TICKETS AVAILBALE FOR HUSKER FANS NEXT WEEK:
Tickets for Nebraska’s April 9 Red-White Spring Game will go on sale to Husker fans next week. Football season ticket holders will have the first opportunity to purchase spring game tickets on Tuesday, Feb. 1 at 10 a.m., with the public on-sale beginning on Wednesday, Feb. 2 at 10 a.m.
Reserved tickets for the spring game are $10 in advance and will be $20 on the day of the game if tickets remain. Any available club tickets will be $25. Children 8th grade and younger will be admitted for $1 and must secure a reserved ticket in advance.
Fans are encouraged to buy tickets on-line at //Huskers.com/tickets and can also purchase spring game tickets by calling the ticket office at 1-800-8-BIG RED.
LOPER WOMEN UPSET BY UP-START MISSOURI SOUTHERN STATE:
Freshman guard Lacy Stokes made back-to-back shots, her only made buckets in 14 attempts, in the final 1:51 to lift Missouri Southern State over No. 14/12 Nebraska-Kearney, 57-54, Saturday afternoon at the Health & Sports Center.
The Lions (12-5, 9-3) had one of the best weeks in recent NCAA Division II memory as they won at No. 2 Fort Hays State, 54-51, on Thursday night. They are on a five-game win streak and stopped a two-game losing streak to the Lopers (15-3, 10-2).
UNK heads to Northeastern State on Tuesday in a game that was originally set for early January but postponed due to COVID issues within the RiverHawks (4-12, 2-8) program.
UNK MEN FALL TO SHARPSHOOTING MO SOUTH:
The Missouri Southern State Lions shot 53 percent from the field and went 11 of 17 from three-point range to defeat Nebraska-Kearney, 87-75, Saturday evening at the Health & Sports Center.
The Lions improve to 9-7 (6-4) and down the Lopers (7-11, 3-9) for a fifth straight time. This was the only game between the two this winter.
The Lopers host Fort Hays State next Saturday and then Lincoln on Jan. 31 (Mon.) in a makeup game from January.
UNK WRESTLING DOMINATES AT MIDWEST DUALS:
The now third-ranked Nebraska-Kearney wrestling team breezed through the 2022 Midwest Duals, blasting junior college power Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, No. 21 Colorado School of Mines and Western Colorado.
The Lopers improved to 7-3 in duals and bounced back in a big way from a close setback to NAIA power Grand View (Ia.) last Saturday.
At the Buffalo County Fairgrounds, UNK downed NEO 43-3, beat the Oreddigers 38-3 and got past the Mountaineers 32-12. The day included five falls, five tech falls, four majors and two forfeits.
UNK heads to Central Missouri next Thursday.
STORM CONTINUE WINNING STREAK ON SUNDAY:
The Tri-City Storm has won eight consecutive games for the second time this season following Sunday’s 7-4 home win over the Des Moines Buccaneers. Cole O’Hara netted three goals to record the 34th hat trick in the organization’s history.
Tri-City returns to action on Thursday in Game #1 of the 2022 USHL Frosty Cup at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas in a battle against rival Lincoln. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30pm CT.
UNK T&F BREAKS MORE RECORDS IN MARYVILLE:
Myles Bach and Wes Ferguson broke their own school-records Saturday at the Northwest Open in Maryville, Mo.
Bach (Cedar Rapids, Ia.) and Ferguson (Fremont) were either first or second in their event with thrower Cassidy Snyder (Holdrege) placing first in hers.
Bach turned in an 8:14.46 3,000-meter run to be second in a field of 47 while Ferguson helped UNK go 1-2-3 at 800 meters. He ran an even 1:50.00, topping the 1:50.60 he had last February with Bach’s time three seconds faster than the one he ran just last weekend at Nebraska. Nationally, Bach is sixth with Ferguson first (track-converted 1:49.80).
The Lopers return home next Friday for the annual Charlie Foster Invite.
NEBRASKA WRESTLING BEATS NORTHWESTERN:
The No. 14 Nebraska wrestling team grabbed its second straight conference dual win as it won six of 10 bouts, scoring bonus point in three matches, to defeat No. 21 Northwestern 23-12 on Sunday afternoon.
With the win, the Huskers move to 5-2 overall with a 2-2 mark in conference action while Northwestern slips to 2-4 overall and 0-4 in the Big Ten.
NFL PLAYOFFS RESULTS:
DIVISIONAL ROUND MATCHUPS:
AFC:
No. 4 Cincinnatti Bengals 19 – 16 No. 1 Tennessee Titans
No. 2 Kansas City Chiefs 42 – 36 No. 3 Buffalo Bills OT
NFC:
No. 6 San Francisco 49ers 13 – 10 No. 1 Green Bay Packers
No. 4 Los Angeles Ram 30 – 27 No. 2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND MATCHUPS:
AFC:
No. 2 Kansas City Chiefs v. No. 4 Cincinnati Bengals
NFC:
No. 4 Los Angeles Rams v. No. 6 San Francisco 49ers
Local Results & Schedules:
THIS WEEK IN LOCAL SPORTS:
SATURDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- GIRLS BASKETBALL: v. Lincoln Southwest
- LSW 61-42
- BOYS BASKETBALL: v. Lincoln Southwest
- KHS 59-58
- GIRLS BASKETBALL: v. Lincoln Southwest
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- GIRLS BASKETBALL: @ Aquinas Catholic
- KCHS 53-23
- BOYS BASKETBALL: @ Aquinas Catholic
- KCHS 66-32
- GIRLS BASKETBALL: @ Aquinas Catholic
- UNK:
- WOMENS BASKETBALL: v. Missouri Southern @ Health & Sports Center
- MSSU 57-54
- MENS BASKETBALL: v. Missouri Southern @ Health & Sports Center
- MSSU 87-75
- WOMENS BASKETBALL: v. Missouri Southern @ Health & Sports Center
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- WOMENS BASKETBALL v. University of Jamestown
- Jamestown 68-59
- MENS BASKETBALL: v. No. 11 University of Jamestown
- Jamestown 82-52
- WOMENS BASKETBALL v. University of Jamestown
MONDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- N/a
- UNK:
- N/a
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- N/a
TUESDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- SWIMMING & DIVING: Triangular @ Columbus
- BOYS BASKETBALL: @ Omaha Northwest – 5:45 PM
- Pregame on KGFW starting at 5:30 PM
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- SWIMMING & DIVING: Triangular @ Columbus
- GIRLS BASKETBALL: Centennial Conference Tournament
- #4 KCHS v. #5 GICC – 6 PM
- BOYS BASKETBALL: Centennial Conference Tournament
- #2 KCHS v. #10 Columbus Scotus OR #7 Lincoln Lutheran – 7:45 PM
- UNK:
- WOMENS BASKETBALL: @ Northeastern State – 4 PM
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- N/a
WEDNESDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- N/a
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- N/a
- UNK:
- N/a
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- WOMENS BASKETBALL: @ No. 19 Concordia – 6 PM
- MENS BASKETBALL: @ No. 25 Concordia – 7:45 PM
THURSDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- GIRLS BASKETBALL: @ North Platte – 5 PM
- Pregame on KGFW starting at 4:45 PM
- BOYS BASKETBALL: @ North Platte – 6:45 PM
- Pregame on KGFW starting at 6:30 PM
- GIRLS BASKETBALL: @ North Platte – 5 PM
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- GIRLS BASKETBALL: Centennial Conference Tournament @ GICC
- UNK:
- WRESTLING: @ Central Missouri – 7 PM
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- N/a
FRIDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- SWIMMING & DIVING: @ Westside Invite
- GIRLS BASKETBALL: v. Lincoln High – 6 PM
- Pregame coverage on KGFW starting at 5:45 PM
- BOYS BASKETBALL: v. Lincoln High – 7:45 PM
- Pregame coverage on KGFW starting at 7:30 PM
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- SWIMMING & DIVING: @ Westside Invite
- WRESTLING: v. Perkins County
- BOYS BASKETBALL: Centennial Conference Tournament @ GICC
- UNK:
- M/W T&F: Charlie Foster Classic Invite @ Cushing Coliseum – 3 PM
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- M/W T&F: @ Charlie Foster Classic, Kearney
- MENS WRESTLING: @ Sioux City, IA (GPAC Duals)
SATURDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- WRESTLING: @ Garden City, KS Invite
- SWIMMING & DIVING: @ Westside Invite
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- SWIMMING & DIVING: @ Westside Invite
- WRESTLING: @ Doniphan-Trumbull Invite
- GIRLS BASKETBALL: Centennial Conference Tournament @ GICC
- BOYS BASKETBALL: Centennial Conference Tournament @ GICC
- UNK:
- WOMENS BASKETBALL: v. Fort Hays State @ Health & Sports Center – 2 PM
- MENS BASKETBALL: v. Fort Hays State @ Health & Sports Center – 4 PM
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- MENS BASKETBALL: v. Dordt University @ Lynn Farrell Arena – 2 PM
- WOMENS BASKETBALL: v. Dordt University @ Lynn Farrell Arena – 4 PM