COLUMBIA Nebraska men’s basketball coach Doc Sadler is no stranger to Marcus Denmon’s scoring capabilities.

“He creates so many problems for you because he can really shoot the basketball,” Sadler said in Monday’s Big 12 media teleconference. “But he’s really not just a one-dimensional player.”

Tuesday’s game

No. 22 Missouri Tigers (22-7, 8-6 Big 12)
at Nebraska Cornhuskers (18-10, 6-8 Big 12)

WHEN: 7 p.m.
WHERE: Bob Devaney Center,Football shirts, Lincoln, Neb.
RADIO: KTGR 100.5 FM/1580 AM
TV: KZOU Channel 17

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Denmon lit up the Cornhuskers when they lost to the Tigers in Columbia earlier this season. His 27-point performance tied his career best. But Sadler is also aware of Denmon’s other strengths,Sevilla shirt, the same strengths that Missouri coach Mike Anderson says he thinks qualify Denmon as a Big 12 Player of the Year candidate.

Sure, Denmon can score. As of Monday, the junior guard is seventh in the conference in points with 484 (16.7 points per conference game).

But what sets Denmon apart is his accuracy. He is fifth in the Big 12 in shooting percentage (50.7 percent). Take into account that the four players ahead of him are forwards and centers, and that makes Denmon the most efficient guard in the conference.

When he escapes a defender and sets his feet firmly behind the 3-point line, the result is usually points added to the scoreboard. That is if he decides to take the shot.

Denmon seems to select his shots like a picky shopper searching for a perfectly-ripe piece of produce. If it’s not there,Kaizer Chiefs shirt, he won’t take it.

Missouri fans often let out audible groans when their leading scorer passes up a shot. They wouldn’t complain if he pulled the trigger twice as much. Even Denmon himself has said he reigns in his offensive production at times.

After bolting to a 18-point first half in Missouri’s win over Texas Tech in February, Denmon added only two more in the second half. He said he was trying to get his teammates more opportunities.

“I was trying to be a little more passive in the second half just because I felt like I could help get some other guys involved,Santos shirt,” Denmon said after the game. “A lot of teams around the country, they have just one key player, and if you can key on him, you can stop the team.”

As much as Missouri’s fans wish he would fire away, Anderson thinks Denmon’s scoring is just where it needs to be.

“He’s playing the game the right way,” Anderson said.

In fact, Anderson said focusing on Denmon’s shooting and scoring is an injustice to the other aspects of his game. To understand what Denmon brings to the table, you have to look at the big picture.

“Everybody gets so caught up in scoring,” Anderson said. “What’s the impact he’s having on our basketball team? To me, that’s what you look at when you are talking about someone that’s a player of the year candidate. I think he’s been playing at that level all year long.”

Anderson pointed out that Denmon is second in the conference in steals (53), as well as a strong rebounder for his size.

On Tuesday, Sadler will likely be more focused on stopping Denmon’s scoring than his steals or rebounds. After the last meeting between the two teams, he is probably hoping some of Denmon’s scoring stays in Columbia. That wasn’t the case when the Tigers came to town last season. Denmon scored 24 points after starting the game on the bench.

COLUMBIA — It’s a good sign of the state of the program when coach Ben Loeb doesn’t remember the last time his Rock Bridge boys tennis team didn’t win districts.

The Bruins clinched the Class 2,Wales football shirt, District 5 tournament Saturday at Rock Bridge before it was postponed. The semifinals for singles and doubles were all taking place at the same time and the Bruins were represented on every court.

“Mathematically,Santos shirt, we’ve won the district tournament,” Loeb said. “It’s just a matter of how many we get in the state tournament.”

Loeb called the semifinals “the money round” because the winners in that round qualify for the individual portion of the state tournament. Rock Bridge has been to six straight final fours in the state tournament and Loeb couldn’t remember the last time the Bruins didn’t win the district tournament.

“It feels good to win (districts) again,” Loeb said. “But it will feel better to get more guys into state.”

Senior Aron Franck was the top seed in the singles draw and made it to the semifinals without much effort in his first two matches. Franck was just about to start his semifinal match when lightning forced the players off the courts,Fulham shirt, and then rain caused the tournament to be postponed. It will be completed 4 p.m. Monday at Rock Bridge.

“I kind of wanted to play the match,” Franck said. “I didn’t want to go indoors because the court speed is quicker.”

The other three semifinals had been under way for a few minutes.

“It’s not something players like,Lazio shirt,” Loeb said of pausing matches. “You get in a flow of playing. When you get an interruption, it disrupts that.”

Rock Bridge’s No. 2 doubles team of freshman Aaron Skinner and sophomore Blake Buchert was trailing 4-2 to the Helias team of Michael Leroy and Tony Stevenson when they had to stop play. Loeb said the next game was going to be crucial and the match had the makings of being a classic.

Senior Arthur Jago and the team of senior Jay Kinderknecht and junior Eemaun Latifi were the other Bruins (21-0) in the semifinals.

The Hickman baseball team’s five graduating seniors took a knee in left field to listen to their coach after their 13-4 loss to Fort Zumwalt South in Class 4 sectionals Thursday at Hickman.

Casey McIntosh,Wales football shirt, Dillan Henke, Roderick Williams, Jeff Johanningmeier, and Jonathan Haas listened intently to coach Dave Wilson, only breaking eye contact to wipe their face of either sweat or tears.

“I just told them I cared about them,Birmingham shirt,” Wilson said. “They taught me a lot this year. Going into a season where their aren’t a lot of expectations they never quit. They supported the young guys. They got better as players. I learned to never give in no matter what because those guys are quality people.”

The coach stood and hugged each one like a father would hug a son. The underclassman followed in their coach’s footsteps as they said goodbye to their teammates.

Members of Hickman’s 2005 state championship team looked on from the bleachers.

“It feels like a family atmosphere,” said Wilson seeing his former players. “That’s the way it should be.”

This year’s Kewpies had lost 17 players from last year’s championship team. Hickman struggled early in the season but managed to win districts May 18 against Helias 10-2 in Jefferson City.

“The team has really matured,” former pitcher Zach Heath said. “We came out to support them.”

Hickman (13-11) gave McIntosh, the starting pitcher,Santos shirt, an early 1-0 lead, but a pair of failed pickoff moves and a fielding error by shortstop Colin Kemble allowed the Bulldogs (21-6) to move ahead 2-1 in the third inning.

McIntosh pitched five complete innings before moving to first. Jeff Johanningmeier replaced him and Greg Kanuckle finished the game.

The turning point came on a Bulldogs grand slam in the sixth to increase the lead to 11-4. The Kewpies allowed five runs in the inning.

Hickman was unable to answer.

Although the season may be over for Hickman and those five seniors, Wilson looks forward to seeing his graduating players again soon.

“We’ll see all these guys out here supporting our young men,” Wilson said. “That’s why Hickman’s a great school.”

COLUMBIA — The Kansas State women’s basketball team began the season with relatively modest expectations.

They were coming off an 11th place conference finish and 4-12 Big 12 record and predicted to finish eighth in the conference in the Big 12 coaches preseason poll.

And after an 8-5 run through a tough non-conference schedule those predictions and expectations looked to be right on target.

Instead the No. 17 Wildcats have rolled through Big 12 play and are in the driver’s seat for a conference title with a 9-1 record and sole possession of first place. The Wildcats’ success has surprised the coaches that picked them to finish in the bottom half of the conference,Manchester City shirt, and even their own head coach.

“I could never have imagined that at this stage in Big 12 play we would be 9-1,” Wildcats coach Deb Patterson said. “I think it’s been a wonderful ride for us, and at the same time there’s no way I could have expected it.”

The Wildcats have become the top team in the conference without the overwhelming individual performances players like Oklahoma center Courtney Paris or Oklahoma State point guard Andrea Riley bring. The Wildcats not only lead the Big 12 in assists and assist to turnover ratio,Sevilla shirt, but they’ve been solid everywhere else.

“We’re not that dominant roster that Oklahoma brings to the floor,” Patterson said. “We’re just going to have to work and play well to win a basketball game. It doesn’t matter who we’re lined up against, we’re going to be challenged.”

While the Wildcats don’t have anyone in the race for Big 12 Player of the Year, they have gotten strong performances from Kimberly Dietz, junior forward Marlies Gipson and junior point guard Shalee Lehning. Dietz is the Wildcats’ leading scorer (15.4 ppg) and has emerged as a strong leader for KSU. Patterson has been especially pleased with Dietz’s eagerness to step forward and score when the Wildcats need a basket.

“She’s wanted the responsibility when times are tough to make the play,” Patterson said. “Coaches can call your number and ask you to try to make a play, but when you’re on the floor and you want to make the play it changes everything. That’s really what Kimberly’s brought this year. She wants to make the play, she wants the responsibility, when her team is in need, to be a factor.”

That mentality hasn’t always been there for Dietz. It has come as she matured from a freshman who was trying to figure out her role to one of three seniors on a team competing for a conference championship.

“It’s probably just my experience,” Dietz said. “I kind of know the ins and outs of Big 12 basketball.”

Lehning is the player who is mainly responsible for the Wildcats having the most assists and best assist to turnover ratio in the conference. She easily leads the Big 12 in assists with 6.3 per game — all others average less than five — and she also scores just over 10 points and grabs seven rebounds per game. It’s that well-rounded stat line that makes Patterson consider her to be one of the best guards in the country.

“She’s a throwback,” Patterson said. “Lehning I think just gives us a chance to be good.”

On the frontline, Gipson recovered from a knee injury that ended her 2006-2007 season after 16 games and is fourth in the conference in field goal percentage (54.5 %) and leads the Wildcats with 8.3 rebounds per game. While her statistics show her impact,Santos shirt, Patterson is especially impressed with her intelligence on the court and her ability to run the defense on the floor.

“She’s kind of like Mike Singletary or a great middle linebacker, somebody that just sees things, communicates it and keeps you really solid in your defense,” Patterson said.

The Tigers have reason to be encouraged that they’ll be able to play with the conference leaders. The Tigers played well in their last two games at Mizzou Arena and almost came up with wins against Nebraska and No. 10 Oklahoma. MU let a 10-point lead with five and a half minutes to play slip away against the Huskers and was tied late with the high-powered Sooners.

“It made us realize that we can play to that level and we can play to that level all the time, not just with spurts all the time,Atletico Madrid shirt,” freshman forward Shakara Jones said.

While MU’s last two home performances serve as warnings to the Wildcats, they aren’t necessary because KSU can’t afford to overlook any team.

“It’s not hard at all for us, it’s not our nature to think anyone we’re going to play is an easy game,” Patterson said. “There’s no such thing for us.”

The St. Louis Rams told Kurt Warner he will be cut after June 1, the quarterback’s agent told the New York Daily News.

Mark Bartelstein, Warner’s agent, told the newspaper that Rams coach Mike Martz informed Warner on Monday of the team’s decision.

Bartelstein said the Rams gave the two-time MVP permission to contact other teams. That process has begun, the agent told the newspaper.

“We’re trying to find the right place and the right situation,Santos shirt,” Bartelstein told the Daily News. “Kurt is in great shape, he’s as healthy as can be and ready to have a terrific season.”

Messages left for Bartelstein at his office and Martz at his home were not immediately returned late Monday night.

By waiting until after June 1 to cut him, the Rams lessen the hit on their salary cap. Warner will cost them $4.6 million this year and $6.7 million next year. He is slated to cost St. Louis $9.5 million this year.

An announcement from the Rams on Warner could come as early as Tuesday, the newspaper reported.

“Does he have to find a starting job to be happy? We’re going to keep an open mind,” Bartelstein said. “Most teams today have their starting quarterback set.”

Warner went to two Super Bowls in his first three seasons as the Rams starter,Italy football shirt, leading the team to the 1999 championship.

But the past two seasons he has been hampered by injuries and relegated to a backup.

Hickman Soccer: The Kewpies lost 2-0 to St. Teresa’s on Monday in Kansas City.

The Kewpies (6-2), who trailed 1-0 at halftime,Peru football shirt, had trouble scoring against St. Teresa’s quick and physical players, Hickman coach Sandy Paulsen said.

“Their backs were very tall and did a good job defending us,” she said.

Jade Mills made two saves in goal for Hickman in the first half and Bess Frissell had five in the second.

YOUTH SOCCER: The Columbia Tornadoes boys’ U-10 soccer team won the Raytown Soccer Club’s K.C. Cup.

The Tornadoes scored 26 goals and gave up two at the weekend tournament en route to a 4-0-1 record. The Tornadoes (34-3-3) have scored 213 goals this season and have finished no lower than second in any league or tournament.

MISSOURI MEN’S BASKETBALL: The Tigers announced the dates for their summer basketball camps at Hearnes Center.

The Tigers will conduct an Elite Camp for high school boys being recruited by Division I college teams on June 11-12 and will run Team Camps on June 13-16 and 20-23. Individual Camps for boys ages 10-18 will take place on June 27-July 1 and July 25-29. The Tigers are also offering a youth camp for boys and girls ages 6-10 on July 12-13.

COLUMBIA – Hickman senior outside hitter Chloe Perkins picked a good night to return to the lineup, but it had nothing to do with Senior Night festivities or simply playing in Hearnes Center.

With the third game’s scored tied at 1-1 between the Kewpies and rival Rock Bridge,Santos shirt, Perkins,Bayern Munich shirt, having missed several games because of injury, helped save Hickman’s point by diving and keeping the ball up with her hand flat on the floor. Fans yelled in surprise, and once Hickman earned the point moments later,South Africa football shirt, its energized team celebrated the loudest it had all night.

“That’s just an awesome play,” Kewpies coach Greg Gunn said. “When you win a rally like that, that’s huge for momentum. Especially when you have an awesome defensive play like that that saves it for you. And then you’re able to convert and win the point, win the rally and keep the momentum. That was huge.”

Hickman won 25-20, 25-15, 25-21, but Rock Bridge coach Beth Newton thinks the closer scores are indicative of her team’s positive direction.

“We’ve improved a lot,” Newton said about her team, which over the past eight games has gone 5-2-1.

Newton was particularly pleased with freshman Nici Thaler and seniors Courtney Darkow and Alex Perry.

“She’s (Perry) a great server,” Newton said. “When she goes back, we know that she can get on a run, and we needed it at that point.”

Perry served for much of Rock Bridge’s rally to a three-point lead midway through the final game.

Hickman senior middle hitter Leslie Gregory noticed, too.

“They were more prepared for us this time,” she said.

Coincidentally, these teams will play each other again at yet another venue,Real Madrid shirt, Tuesday night in Troy. Hickman is the No. 3 seed in the Class 4, District 9 tournament, and Rock Bridge is No. 6.

“It’ll be pretty interesting just to see them again,” Gregory said.

Newton feels the same way.

“We can always buck up and come at ‘em again,” she said.

Missouri wrestler Ben Askren was awarded the Dan Hodge Trophy on Thursday,Fulham shirt, college wrestling’s equivalent to the Heisman Trophy. It is the second time Askren, a two-time national champion,Juventus shirt, has won the award. Since its creation in 1995, only Askren and Iowa State’s Cael Sanderson have received the award more than once. Sanderson earned the honor three times.

“To be in the same company with Cael winning the top honor, it can’t get any better than that. I’m very excited,Newcastle United shirt,” Askren said.

Askren ended his college career by winning the 174-pound national championship. It was his second consecutive title and marked his 87th consecutive victory. Askren is Missouri’s career wins leader with 153.

FAULK RETIRES: Marshall Faulk sat out last season with a knee injury that threatened to end his career. On Monday he’ll officially close the door on his playing days, announcing his retirement at the NFL owners meetings.

Faulk, 34, was the NFL MVP in 2000 and offensive player of the year for three consectutive years from 1999-2001. He helped the Rams win their only Super Bowl after the ‘99 season and is ninth on the NFL’s career rushing list with 12,279 yards. Faulk is also tied for sixth on with 100 career rushing touchdowns.

“I gave the game my passion, and it gave me a wonderful career and memories that I will always be thankful for,” Faulk said in a release.

BLUES: Marian Gaborik scored twice and linemate Pavol Demitra had a goal and two assists as the Minnesota Wild won their franchise-record eighth consecutive game, beating the St. Louis Blues 5-1 on Thursday night.

It was the fifth loss in six games for the Blues, who are 10th in the Western Conference.

Outshot 12-5 in the opening period,Santos shirt, the Blues still emerged with a lead after Doug Weight converted a 2-on-1 break. It took Minnesota nearly eight minutes to register its first shot of the second period, but the Wild tied the game shortly thereafter. Demitra, who spent seven-plus seasons with the Blues, scored against his former team for the fourth time this season.

TRACK AND FIELD: Teams scores tabulated after the meet show Rock Bridge prevailed against Hickman in a dual meet Tuesday at Hickman. The Bruins won the boys meet 75-71 and the girls meet 87-44.

BOSTON — In a season that has turned sour for Boston, David Ortiz is giving Red Sox fans something to cheer for.

Ortiz hit his career-high 48th home run and Wily Mo Pena drove in two runs to help the Boston Red Sox snap a three-game losing streak with a 9-3 win over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.

Big Papi now stands two home runs shy of tying the single-season franchise record for home runs. Jimmie Foxx set the record with 50 in 1938.

“It seems like it’s a big deal here, so let’s see if we can get it done,” said Ortiz,l.a.galaxy shirt, who went 2-for-3 and scored three runs. “You’ve just got to take a couple of good swings, right? I’ve got plenty of time.”

The Royals missed out on the chance to sweep their first road series since July 11-13,Santos shirt, 2003, when they won three straight against the Texas Rangers. Kansas City has gone 86 consecutive road series without a sweep,Manchester City shirt, the longest stretch in franchise history and the third-longest in the majors since 1923.

“Sweeping these guys at home would have been nice,” Kansas City catcher John Buck said. “But the next step in the learning process is not to be satisfied with two wins and obviously go after that third one.”

Mark Redman (9-9) allowed five runs and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings, snapping his two-game winning streak. Redman had allowed one run in 16 innings in his two previous starts, a 2-0 win over Minnesota on Aug. 29 and a 7-3 win over the Chicago White Sox on Sept. 3, but was touched early by Boston.

COLUMBIA — Having dropped two of its final three matches,Santos shirt, including one at Texas A&M, the Missouri volleyball team’s postseason hopes were anything but guaranteed. But the Tigers managed to claim one of the last at-large slots in the 64-team NCAA tournament, their eighth straight tournament appearance.

“I’m really excited,” sophomore Lei Wang said. “Texas A&M was one of the things we were worried about, but they didn’t make it and we did.”

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That was the good news. The bad news came when MU learned it would head to Seattle to meet the No. 6 seeded Washington Huskies at 9 p.m. on Friday. The Huskies have been to the past three Final Fours. But senior Na Yang wasn’t worried about the difficulty of the match.

“Any team can beat any team,Italy football shirt,” Na said. “We just have to play our best.”

The Huskies enter the tournament at 26-3, with all three losses taking the full five games. That includes an 11-1 mark at home, with the only loss coming to No. 1 seed Stanford.

“We’re going to have to prepare and do the best we can and hope we can execute some things,Juventus shirt,” coach Wayne Kreklow said. “But I’ve got no false illusions that this is going to be anything but one of our toughest matches of the season.”

Kreklow said that other than an injury to freshman Catie Wilson, the Tigers will be relatively healthy. Wilson will not practice this week,Inter Milan shirt, but should be available to play.

If the Tigers defeat the Huskies, they would meet either Brigham Young or Mississippi in the second round. MU already faced Mississippi once this year, losing in five games to the Rebels. The Tigers have never played Brigham Young.

It was the play that could have ended Missouri’s losing streak,AS Roma shirt, redeemed a tough night from the field and regain the trust of some fans.

Instead it was the play that turned jubilation into frustration.

With seconds left, Missouri’s Kevin Young made a basket that would have tied the game and was fouled, meaning a successful free throw would have given the Tigers the lead.

A traveling violation negated both as Houston hung to beat Missouri 57-55 and win the consolation championship of the Guardians Classic on Wednesday night at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.

It was Missouri’s third straight loss. The Tigers’ most recent win came against Houston Nov. 16 at Paige Arena in the regional championship.

“I for one was celebrating at one point,” Missouri coach Quin Snyder said. “I thought we tied the score and were going up one, but that wasn’t the way it happened.”

Young’s traveling violation came with 16.2 seconds left and Missouri trailing 55-53. Young received the ball in the left block, turned toward the basket, made a tough shot and was fouled. As Missouri started to celebrate, referee Karl Hess blew his whistle and called Young for traveling.

“I thought it was a good point,” Missouri’s Jason Conley said. “I thought Cap went up and scored,Dortmund shirt, but then I saw the ref say, ‘No, no, no,’ and I just knew it was a travel.

“It was a tough play, but you can’t blame the whole entire game on that one play. There were a whole bunch of things that went on in the game that we have to see the film and change.”

With one second left, Missouri’s Linas Kleiza had the opportunity to make up for earlier struggles and send the game into overtime.

His last-second try in the lane rolled out.

“We got Linas the ball right where we wanted to and it’s just a tough break,” Thomas Gardner said. “The shot rolled in and out, but that’s the shot we wanted.”

Kleiza, the team’s leading scorer this season, finished with nine points on 2-for-15 shooting. Part of his struggles could have stemmed from an elbow he took to his right eye with 14:20 left in the second half.

Not long after, he missed 3-pointers on three straight possessions. He shot air balls on the first two.

“We were in his face,Bordeaux shirt,” Houston coach Tom Penders said. “He didn’t get too many open looks. We were hoping he’d stay on the perimeter most of the night and we did a good job of staying on him, hand in the face.

“We wanted other people to beat us. If Horton was going to go off, he was gong to go off. If the big fella was going to score inside, he was going to score inside. But we were going to try and not let Kleiza, Conley and their shooter,Santos shirt, Thomas Gardner, beat us.”