Missouri Valley Tournament: Southern Illinois and Illinois State eliminated in quarterfinals
ST. LOUIS — Isaia Howard scored a career-high 21 points off of the bench to help lead top seed Drake over eighth-seeded Southern Illinois 70-53 on Friday in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
The Bulldogs (28-3) advanced to a semifinal Saturday against Belmont.
Howard added six steals for Drake, which also got 15 points, five rebounds and five assists from Bennett Stirtz and 11 points from Cam Manyawu.
Ali Abdou Dibba led the Salukis (14-19) with 19 points. Drew Steffe added 11 and Kennard Davis 10.
Belmont 76, Illinois State 73
Tyler Lundblade had 14 points and Carter Whitt added 12 points and 11 assists to lead the fourth-seeded Bruins into the semifinals. Belmont (22-10) took the lead with 17:55 remaining in the first half and did not relinquish it.
Dalton Banks led the way for the fifth-seeded Redbirds (19-14) with 19 points, six rebounds, seven assists, three steals and three blocks. Johnny Kinziger added 12 points.
No. 2 seed Bradley played No. 7 Murray State and third-seeded Northern Iowa faced No. 11 Valparaiso in Friday's final two quarterfinals.
Originally Published:
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Miami Herald
14 hours ago
- Miami Herald
After skipping the Preakness, what is expected from Sovereignty in the Belmont?
After several weeks of debate, the 2025 Kentucky Derby winner is back in horse racing's spotlight. Sovereignty, whose connections opted to not run him in the Preakness Stakes, is back for the final race of the 2025 Triple Crown season. The Bill Mott trainee is one of eight horses that will run in Saturday night's Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. Much was made of the decision from Mott and Godolphin — Sovereignty's breeder and owner — to have the horse skip the Preakness, which is the second leg of horse racing's Triple Crown. The choice sparked renewed discussion about the scheduling of horse racing's three Triple Crown events and the modern viability of having three classics run in a five-week period. But, at least temporarily, all that chatter can die down. The focus for the next few days will be on Sovereignty's return in the Belmont Stakes, which features a loaded field. Journalism (the Kentucky Derby runner-up and Preakness Stakes winner), Baeza (third in the Derby) and Rodriguez (a highly touted Bob Baffert trainee) are expected to pose stiff competition for Sovereignty in the Belmont, which will again be contested at a shortened distance of 1 1/4 miles at Saratoga. 'He's improved, as many of these horses have,' Mott said following Monday evening's post position draw. 'This entire group, if you look at their form and the way they've developed over the course of this year, I think they've made steady progress. It should be an interesting race on Saturday.' Sovereignty, who will begin the Belmont Stakes from post position No. 2 near the inside rail, is the second choice in the morning line odds at 2-1. Journalism is the morning line favorite for the 157th running of the Belmont at 8-5 odds. 'I thought being a small field, eight horses, I was going to be happy with whatever post position we got,' said Mott, the 71-year-old trainer who won the 2010 Belmont Stakes with Drosselmeyer. 'I don't think it's a big issue for him.' Jockey Junior Alvarado, who has been aboard Sovereignty for all three of his wins, once again has the mount for Saturday's Belmont. How do Sovereignty's connections expect him to fare in his first outing since defeating Journalism by 1 1/2 lengths over a sloppy and sealed Churchill Downs track to win the Kentucky Derby on May 3? 'Bill has been very happy with him since he's got up to Saratoga,' Michael Banahan, Godolphin's USA director of bloodstock, said Tuesday afternoon. 'He came out of the Derby in good shape, and he had a couple of breezes that Bill has put into him up there. He seems like he's responded well… So by all accounts, Bill and his team up in Saratoga have been particularly pleased with how well he's been doing.' Sovereignty posted a career-best 104 Beyer Speed Figure in that Derby triumph, which delivered Godolphin its first victory in the Run for the Roses. Godolphin, a global racing outfit, has tasted victory in the Belmont Stakes before. Essential Quality — who, like Sovereignty, is a Kentucky homebred for Godolphin — won the 2021 Belmont after finishing third in that year's Kentucky Derby. This year's shortened Belmont distance of 1 1/4 miles at Saratoga figures to work well for Sovereignty, whose three career wins have come at distances of 1 1/16 miles (twice) and 1 1/4 miles in the Derby. 'I would anticipate that'll be fine for him,' Banahan said of the Belmont distance for Sovereignty, who began his racing career with a fourth-place effort in a maiden special weight race at Saratoga last August. 'I suppose if it was a regular Belmont at Belmont Park, that'd be another question to answer going that far (1 1/2 miles). But it certainly looks like a mile and a quarter was well in his wheelhouse in the Derby and (we) anticipate that it shouldn't be any issue at Saratoga as well.' Sovereignty looking to win both the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes History is on the line for Sovereignty on Saturday at Saratoga. Sovereignty is aiming to become the first Kentucky Derby winner to also win the Belmont Stakes since Justify's Triple Crown campaign in 2018. Because Sovereignty didn't compete in the Preakness Stakes, there's also another piece of horse racing history available to him. He's looking to become the first horse to win the Derby and the Belmont, but not the Preakness, since Thunder Gulch in 1995. Only 11 horses in history have managed to win both the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, but not the Preakness Stakes, in the same year. They are Zev (1923), Twenty Grand (1931), Johnstown (1939), Shut Out (1942), Middleground (1950), Needles (1956), Chateaugay (1963), Riva Ridge (1972), Bold Forbes (1976), Swale (1984) and Thunder Gulch (1995). Of course, one of the reasons Sovereignty is in this position is because of the decision to not race in the Preakness Stakes. Since Justify won the Triple Crown in 2018, four of the seven horses that won the Kentucky Derby have skipped the Preakness. That list includes Country House (who won the 2019 Derby following a postrace disqualification), Mandaloun (the 2021 Derby winner after first-place Medina Spirit failed a postrace drug test), Rich Strike (2022) and Sovereignty. Mott was also Country House's trainer. On Tuesday, the Herald-Leader asked Banahan what his thoughts were on the Triple Crown scheduling debate that was reignited by the choice to not run Sovereignty in the Preakness. 'I think that'll be up to the racetracks to really come to a decision on what they think is going to be the best for those three races in the Triple Crown, and going forward, if and how they need to evolve,' Banahan said. 'There have been probably plenty of debates about it, but we were pretty confident that it was the right thing to do for our horse and with the spacing of his races so far, he's responded very well with that.' After running second in the Florida Derby on March 29, Sovereignty had a five-week break before running in and winning the Kentucky Derby. That's the same gap Sovereignty will have between the Derby and Saturday's Belmont. 'We looked at the opportunities that were going to present themselves for him after the Derby and we felt that the best thing for him, and to have a career through the whole season and maybe into next year as well, was spacing his races a little bit,' Banahan added. 'Bill Mott, who's trained horses for us for a long time, is very judicious about where he wants to place his horses and we put a lot of faith in the recommendations that he would give us as well.'
New York Post
15 hours ago
- New York Post
2025 Belmont Stakes predictions: Three picks for Saturday's race at Saratoga
Gambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our links. Read our editorial standards for more information. SARATOGA SPRINGS — The 2025 Belmont Stakes is being billed as a heavyweight fight between Sovereignty, the winner of the Kentucky Derby running out of the No. 2 post, and Journalism, the Preakness winner and Derby runner-up running out of the No. 7 post. The oddsmakers could barely separate the two horses, identifying Journalism as the 8-5 favorite on the morning line, but putting Sovereignty right behind at 2-1. When you convert those odds to implied probabilities, you get a 38.5 percent chance that Journalism finishes first, and a 33.3 percent chance that we see Sovereignty in the winner's circle. In other words, the odds are telling us that there's nearly a 75 percent chance that the winner of this race will be one of the two favorites. That poses an interesting predicament for handicappers. Whom do you pick? And how do you best set up a betting card based on the horse you're backing, whether it's Journalism, Sovereignty or none of the above? If you think Journalism is going to be your winner … Journalism proved at the Preakness that he can win a race no matter what the horse racing gods throw at him. He was bumped and squeezed at the quarter-turn at Pimlico, but fought his way through the chaos to nip Gosger for the win. It was a remarkable effort. He also ran an impressive race at the Derby, just to be passed by Sovereignty, who will be a threat to do so again on Saturday. The presence of Sovereignty in this field does change how I think Michael McCarthy and Umberto Rispoli will approach this race. I think Rispoli will hold back Journalism a bit longer, preventing a repeat of what we saw at the Derby, where Sovereignty had enough runway to catch him. That kind of race setup would benefit No. 6 Baeza, another stalker, and potentially No. 5 Crudo, who will likely be near the lead, but behind No. 3 Rodriguez out of the gate. Trifecta box: 5-6-7. Baeza breezes during his morning workout at Saratoga Race Course. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect If you think Sovereignty is going to be your winner … The Kentucky Derby is always chaotic, but a sloppy track added to the volatility on the first Saturday of May. Somehow, Sovereignty was completely unaffected by the havoc at Churchill Downs and ran a flawless trip, aided by the pace setup. There was a lot of pace in the Derby, which allowed Sovereignty to sit back in the mid-pack, which is exactly what this elite closer wants. If you are convinced that Sovereignty is going to win the Belmont, you're expecting Saturday's headliner to set up similarly, with Rodriguez, Crudo, and perhaps Baeza setting a cracking pace, while Sovereignty remains in his office. Once they turn down the stretch, Sovereignty will make his move, hoping that the pace was too hot to sustain for the front-runners, leaving him to duke it out with Journalism and another closer like No. 1 Hill Road. Tying Sovereignty to Journalism is no way to land a big score, but Hill Road opened at 10-1 and should drift further as money piles up on the top three contenders. Exacta box: 1-2. Get the lowdown on the Best USA Sports Betting Sites and Apps If you think someone else is going to be your winner … The best path to an upset Saturday is to go gate-to-wire, and the two horses that have the chance of pulling that off are Rodriguez and Crudo. Though Rodriguez will rightfully be the trendier horse, Crudo is going to be a much bigger price, plus he just wired the field at the Sir Barton Stakes on Preakness Day. Repeating that feat in this race will be unlikely, but you're going to get a big enough number to have a sprinkle on Todd Pletcher's best shot for his fifth Belmont win. Win: 5. Why Trust New York Post Betting Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Yahoo
Nation's No.1 LB Reported to Visit Another College Powerhouse as Recruiting Battle Intensifies
Nation's No.1 LB Reported to Visit Another College Powerhouse as Recruiting Battle Intensifies originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Five-star prospect Tyler Atkinson is deciding where he should play college football, and another powerhouse school has added its name to the list. Advertisement Atkinson, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound linebacker for Grayson High School in Lawrenceville, Georgia, broke the record for tackles with 197 as a sophomore before recording 166 tackles, 13 sacks, an interception and a forced fumble as a junior in 2024. He led the school to a 6A state championship last season by defeating Carrollton High School, 38-24. Power-five programs such as Georgia, Clemson, Auburn, Ohio State and Alabama are on Atkinson's radar, with the Bulldogs leading at 30.9 percent, according to his On3 player profile. However, recently, he visited the Dabo Swinney-coached Clemson Tigers and seemed pleased with what he saw from the program. 'The official visit was OFFICIAL,' Atkinson wrote on X Sunday. 'It was the definition of 'feeling like a priority.'' Five-star linebacker Tyler Atkinson makes a visit to watch the Ohio State Buckeyes Schmidt / Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images He has also been linked to Kirby Smart's Bulldogs as a Georgia native and student-athlete at Grayson. The linebacker has been on the school's campus multiple times since middle school to create a sense of familiarity with how Smart operates his defense. Advertisement As Atkinson's recruitment intensifies, he will visit the Oregon Ducks next, according to On3 reporter Hayes Fawcett. If he commits to the Ducks, he will join a linebacker core already composed of freshman Gavin Nix and sophomore Blake Purchase, who could still be on the roster by the time he joins in fall 2026. A date for Atkinson's visit has yet to be announced. Related: Cade Klubnik Encourages Tigers Fans To Support A Cause Pivotal For Clemson Student Athletes This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 4, 2025, where it first appeared.
