1/3/24 Hometown Broadcasting Sports Wednesday
3 January 2024 Sports
From Wayne Mausser
Tyler Wahl scored a season-high 19 points, Steven Crowl had a double-double and No. 21 Wisconsin turned up its offense in the second half to beat Iowa 83-72 on Tuesday night.
After the game was tied 32-all at halftime, Wisconsin (10-3, 2-0 Big Ten) pulled away by shooting 58.3% in the second half to win its third straight.
Wahl was a model of efficiency, shooting 4 of 6 overall and 11 of 13 on free-throw attempts. He also had eight rebounds.
AJ Storr had 16 points for Wisconsin, and Max Klesmit finished with 15. Crowl added 14 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.
Tony Perkins scored 25 points and Owen Freeman had 14 points and 13 rebounds for Iowa (8-6, 0-3).
Wisconsin point guard Chucky Hepburn was in the starting lineup after suffering a lower-body injury in the Badgers’ last game, an 80-53 rout of Chicago State on Dec. 22. He scored four points in 25 minutes and made a couple of huge plays to give Wisconsin a double-digit advantage.
Before the game, a moment of silence was observed in honor of former Milwaukee Bucks owner and U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, who died Wednesday at the age of 88. Kohl donated $25 million to the University of Wisconsin to help fund construction of the Kohl Center, home to the Badgers’ men’s and women’s basketball teams and men’s hockey team since the facility opened in January 1998.
The Packers are back on the practice field today getting ready for the Bears Sunday at Lambeau Field. If Green Bay (8-8) wins they can sew up a Wild Card playoff spot. Chicago comes in at 7-9. The Packers beat the Bears in the first game of the regular season 38-20.
Green Bay blew a chance to earn a fourth straight postseason berth last season when its four-game winning streak ended with a 20-16 loss to the Detroit Lions that was four-time MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ last game with the Packers.
The Packers (8-8) have overhauled their roster in the year since, but they still have plenty of players who experienced that heartbreaking finish. It remains very much on their minds as they prepare to host the Chicago Bears.
The Packers have a remote chance of reaching the playoffs even if they lose to Chicago.
The Packers have had two of their three highest-point totals of the season over the past two weeks, as the latest win followed a 33-30 victory at Carolina. The Packers had their highest scoring output since their season-opening win at Chicago.
The defense bounced back from three straight poor performances by getting four sacks and allowing just one touchdown, on a drive that began at the Green Bay 7-yard line.
Meanwhile, the Packers signed CB Anthony Johnson to the practice squad. The transaction was announced Tuesday by General Manager Brian Gutekunst.
Johnson (6-2, 205), a rookie, joins the Packers’ practice squad for the second time this season. He was originally signed as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Virginia by the New Orleans Saints on May 12, 2023, but was released after training camp. Johnson appeared in 55 games with 27 starts in five college seasons for Virginia (2021-22) and Louisville (2018-20), posting 138 tackles (94 solo), seven interceptions, three forced fumbles and 38 passes defensed. He will wear No. 40 for the Packers.
Former Green Bay Packers center Ken Bowman has passed away. Bowman, who was living in Arizona, died unexpectedly from natural causes on Dec. 27. He played for Green Bay from 1964-73. Bowman had turned 81 years old on Dec. 15.
A native of Milan, Ill., Bowman played college football at the University of Wisconsin and was picked by the Packers in the eighth round of the 1964 NFL Draft.
Bowman became a starter in the eighth game of his rookie year and then started all 14 games, plus two postseason games, when the Packers won the 1965 NFL Championship.
After the 1966 season, in which Bowman battled injury, he started in 85 of 98 games over his final seven seasons in Green Bay.
Purdue remained atop the AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll for the third straight week Monday, while Gonzaga dropped to No. 24 after a loss to San Diego State but kept alive its streak of 142 consecutive weeks in the poll.
The Boilermakers picked up three more first-place votes and had 49 of 63 from the national media panel, easily outdistancing second-place Kansas, which received five first-place nods. Houston remained third despite keeping its perfect record intact with a victory over Penn and picking up the other nine first-place votes.
UConn and Tennessee each moved up one spot to round out the top five following Arizona’s loss to Stanford on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs fell 11 spots from No. 13 after their 84-74 loss to San Diego State. Gonzaga has been ranked in every poll since Jan. 11, 2016, but that streak is in jeopardy after coach Mark Few’s team dropped to 9-4 with no Quad 1 wins this season.
The Bulldogs were 11th in the preseason poll and climbed as high as seventh before three losses in their past five games.
Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd knows something about missed defensive assignments. The Wildcats, who spent two weeks at No. 1 earlier this season, fell from fourth to 10th after the Cardinal rolled to a 100-82 victory in their Pac-12 matchup.
The Wildcats’ second loss in three games allowed a bunch of teams to jump ahead of them: Kentucky climbed two spots to sixth, Marquette moved up three spots to seventh, North Carolina rose to eighth and Illinois climbed two spots to ninth.
Oklahoma began the next 10, with Big 12 newcomer BYU right behind. Colorado State climbed back to No. 13 to match the best ranking in school history, set earlier this season, while Duke, Memphis and Clemson were right behind the Rams. FAU dropped from a program-best seventh to No. 17 as voters grappled with the odd resume the Owls have put together this season. They beat Texas A&M and earned a marquee win with a double-overtime victory over Arizona, but they lost to Bryant and were upset by Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday night.
Baylor was No. 18, with James Madison and Texas rounding out the top 20. The final five in the first poll of 2024 were Wisconsin, unbeaten Mississippi, Providence, struggling Gonzaga and Auburn, which is ranked for the first time this season.
In the NBA tonightt the Bucks are at Indiana to take on the Pacers.
Boys and Girls Basketball Schedule 1/2/2024
Boys:
Laconia 70, Winneconne 59
Wautoma 64, Lomira 57
Saint Mary’s Springs 73, Oakfield 49
Lourdes Academy 73, North Fond du Lac 48
AOshkosh North 75, Kimberly 70
Kaukauna 89, Oshkosh West 56
Fond du Lac 63, Appleton North 60
Hortonville 84, Neenah 82
Clintonville 65, Waupaca 46
Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau 76, Mauston 55
Central Wisconsin Christian 72, Princeton/Green Lake 58
Horicon 60, Fall River 52
Girls:
Lomira 48, Kewaskum 43
Omro 44, Berlin 39
New London 69, Winneconne 61
Shawano 67, Waupaca 38
Hortonville 62, Neenah 60
Kimberly 71, Oshkosh North 44
Appleton North 53, Fond du Lac 46
Mauston 76, Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau 41
Westfield 52, Randolph 49
Wisconsin Dells 78, Black River Falls 21
Central Wisconsin Christian 55, Princeton/Green Lake 50
Lourdes Academy 83, Dodgeland 23
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