Stirtz, Banks lead Drake past Bradley 63-48 for third straight Missouri Valley championship
ST. LOUIS — Bennett Stirtz scored 24 points, Tavion Banks added 13 and top-seeded Drake defeated No. 2-seed Bradley 63-48 on Sunday to win Arch Madness for the third consecutive time.
The Bulldogs (30-3) will be making their eighth NCAA Tournament appearance and fourth in the past five years. They won the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship for the first time since 2019.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Arizona Wildcats head to College World Series after Super Regional comeback
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Baseball mitts and navy caps were strewn about the infield at Boshamer Stadium. Players jumped for joy and embraced one another. The Arizona Wildcats had pulled off a miracle. And now they're headed to Omaha. Advertisement With its season on the brink of expiration, Arizona rallied past No. 5 national seed North Carolina in highly improbable fashion Sunday. Down by two runs in the eighth inning, the Wildcats dug deep and defeated the Tar Heels 4-3 in the third and deciding game of their Super Regional series. Arizona's Casey Hintz shows off the championship trophy after the Wildcats defeated North Carolina in Game 3 of their NCAA Super Regional series on Sunday, June 8, 2025, at Boshamer Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C. Arizona will be making its 19th appearance in the College World Series, its first since 2021 and its first under UA alum Chip Hale, who won the CWS as a player in 1986. The Wildcats will be seeking their fifth national championship. They will open CWS play Friday or Saturday against Coastal Carolina, which defeated Arizona in the CWS final in 2016. Junior shortstop Mason White — a Salpointe Catholic High School graduate whose father and grandfather played for the UA — delivered the winning hit in the top of the eighth, lining a two-RBI single to center field with the bases loaded and one out. Advertisement After the game, White — a lifelong UA fan — barely could comprehend what had just transpired. 'This is just unbelievable,' White said. 'It's almost like a dream. I just can't believe it.' White was Hale's first recruit when he took over the program in July 2021. Hale has guided his alma mater to four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Leading the Wildcats to the College World Series for the first time conjured a range of emotions for the 60-year-old coach — empathy for North Carolina, relief for himself and joy for Arizona's players and supporters. 'I'm just so happy for these kids,' Hale said. 'I'm happy ... for these families. They have grinded so hard, spent so much money coming here and raising these kids, putting them in travel baseball and high school baseball. Advertisement 'And now they get a payoff to go to Omaha. We're going to go there, put our best foot forward and try to win our fifth national championship.' It didn't look promising for the longest time Sunday. Arizona got a badly needed quality start from freshman right-hander Smith Bailey, but the Wildcats couldn't solve his counterpart, freshman righty Ryan Lynch. Lynch pounded the zone with a mid-90s fastball and a sharp slider, landing first-pitch strikes against 19 of the 26 batters he faced. After compiling 10 runs Saturday and 26 hits in the first two games of the series, the Wildcats managed just one run on two hits against Lynch entering the eighth inning. Sophomore Andrew Cain — another Tucson-area product, via Ironwood Ridge High — had one of those two hits. He led off the eighth with a single. Advertisement Then came one of two critical North Carolina errors. Tommy Splaine hit a grounder to second base that had all the makings of a 4-6-3 double play. But UNC's Jackson Van De Brake — whose three-run homer off Bailey in the third inning had given the Tar Heels a 3-1 lead — booted the ball. Cain and Splaine were safe. 'The way this game was going, we just needed a crack,' White said. 'Chip said it before it happened. 'They gave us a crack. That's what this team was looking for. It happened, and we took advantage of it.' Lynch's velocity was diminishing by that point, so UNC coach Scott Forbes summoned another freshman right-hander, Walker McDuffie, to face No. 9 hitter Easton Breyfogle. Advertisement Hale called for a sacrifice bunt. Breyfogle dropped the ball down the third base line. UNC's Gavin Gallaher charged it and fired to first base. The ball, Breyfogle and hulking first baseman Hunter Stokely arrived at the bag at the same time. Breyfogle collided with Stokely's left arm. The ball bounded past the first baseman. Cain scored, Splaine advanced to third and Breyfogle — who was safe — lay injured on the ground. Breyfogle had to leave the game after experiencing concussion-like symptoms. TJ Adams pinch-ran for him. Brendan Summerhill walked to load the bases. Aaron Walton then popped out, setting the stage for White. Advertisement UNC brought in senior righty Aidan Haugh. The Tar Heels shifted their infield to the right side. White swatted the third pitch he saw through the vacated shortstop hole, scoring Splaine and Adams. 'I was just trying to put the ball in play — specifically in the air just to get the guy in, tie the game,' White said. 'They'd been shifting me the whole weekend. So I knew: Just stay middle of the field, and it'll find a hole.' Suddenly ahead 4-3, Arizona turned to junior right-hander Casey Hintz for the bottom of the eighth. Hintz had allowed a go-ahead home run Saturday, and he got himself into trouble Sunday by issuing a pair of walks. But Hintz induced an inning-ending groundout to send the game to the ninth. Closer Tony Pluta had thrown a season-high 52 pitches Saturday but was willing to go again with a trip to Omaha on the line. He retired the side 1-2-3, ending the game by striking out No. 9 hitter Carter French with a changeup. Advertisement Pluta set the UA record with his 14th save of the season. Arizona improved to 38-0 when leading after the eighth inning. After the final out was recorded, Pluta looked skyward. He flung his glove to the grass. The celebration was on. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Wildcats head to College World Series, downs North Carolina
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Galvin ends month of headlines with try in Bulldogs win
Lachlan Galvin has announced his Canterbury arrival by scoring a try and taking over as halfback, helping the Bulldogs stay top of the NRL in a 30-12 win over Parramatta. After a fortnight of speculation around his playing position, Galvin was forced to wait 57 minutes before entering the field against the Eels on Monday. When the teenage recruit did come on, he did so at half, with off-contract No.7 Toby Sexton shifting to hooker, in the surest sign yet of the Bulldogs' long-term plan. Galvin responded by being heavily involved in Canterbury's attack, and linking with five-eighth Matt Burton in the lead up to a Viliame Kikau try to put the Bulldogs up 18-12. And, after Harry Hayes crossed to make it 24-12, Galvin capped his arrival in the No.23 jersey by scoring his first try in Bulldogs colours to seal the match. After putting fullback Connor Tracey into space on the right edge, Galvin backed up on the play and ran onto a Josh Curran pass to score after a Jacob Kiraz offload. A TRY FOR THE NEW BULLDOG... LACHLAN GALVIN 🗣️#NRLBulldogsEels Telstra Moment of the Match. — NRL (@NRL) June 9, 2025 Galvin had been one of the most divisive figures in rugby league for the past two months, such was the nature of his highly-publicised exit from Wests Tigers. But there was nothing but love from Bulldogs fans, with a crowd of 59,878 in Accor Stadium on Monday. The 19-year-old's name was chanted before he even entered the field and he earned a standing ovation as he ran on and again with each of his first touches. And the roar was enormous when he crossed late in the match, 10 days after officially putting pen to paper on a three-and-a-half year deal with the Bulldogs. Notable too was how impressive Sexton's kicking game was for Canterbury before Galvin came on. The Bulldogs' regular halfback also entered Monday under intense scrutiny, given he is off-contract and seemingly unlikely to now be re-signed. Canterbury were able to dominate field position for the majority of the match, only for Parramatta's resolute defence to keep them in the contest. Burton scored early for the Bulldogs when he picked off a Ryley Smith pass from a scrum and went 60 metres to score. But the Eels returned the favour moments later when Zac Lomax intercepted a Burton pass and put Mitch Moses into space to score a 90-metre try. The Bulldogs took a 12-6 lead back when Burton went to the shortside in the 20th minute and sent Marcelo Montoya over. However the match swung again when Viliame Kikau was sin-binned for dagerous contact on a kicking Moses just before halftime and the Eels levelled the score on the next set. Canterbury went 14-12 clear when Moses was penalised for a high shot in the 50th minute, before the Bulldogs ran away with it late with Galvin the centre of attention.
Indianapolis Star
2 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
Hard reset on Butler basketball roster begs question: Can Thad Matta's roster structure work?
INDIANAPOLIS — Is there a correct way to build a team in today's Big East? Butler is hoping a complete reset — in roster and culture — is the answer to returning the program back to its former glory. The addition of former Guerin Catholic forward Bryson Cardinal means the 2025-26 Butler basketball roster is full, and the Bulldogs can move from player acquisition mode to preparing for the upcoming season. Butler will head into the season with 10 new players; five freshmen and five players added in the transfer portal. Adding 10 new players seems like a lot, and maybe it would've been five years ago, but that number isn't even the highest total of coach Thad Matta's second stint back at his alma mater. Ahead of the 2023-24 season, Matta's second season back at Butler, the Bulldogs add 11 new players to the roster: three freshmen, six transfers and two walk-ons, highlighting Matta's delayed approach to rebuilding his roster. Usually, a coach's first season is when a program experiences its biggest makeover. Instead, Matta added just five new players, relying on several of former coach LaVall Jordan's recruits to lead the team in his first season back on the sidelines. The results were an underwhelming 14-18 campaign, leading to the mass exodus that brought 11 new players aboard the following season. Of the 11 players brought in, three left after their first seasons (Posh Alexander, D.J. Davis and walk-on Artemios Gavalas). Juniors Finley Bizjack and Ethan McComb are the only players left from Matta's initial roster makeover. If they stay for two more years, five of the 11 players will have naturally matriculated out of the program. Is Matta happy with a 45% retention rate? Probably not. Is that the best you can expect in today's age of college basketball? The longtime coach hopes that is not the case. "When you talk retention, that was one of the biggest things: We wanted to retain that team," Matta told IndyStar. "We knew D.J. (Davis) was going to leave, Posh (Alexander) was the one who got us at the end. We hoped we could've retained that class, that would've been big for us. Every situation, every school is going to be different in their ability to (retain)." With the constant offseason movement via the transfer portal, roster retention may be a thing of the past. Xavier first-year coach Richard Pitino has undergone the biggest roster makeover in the Big East with 11 new players, just one is a freshman. First-year Villanova coach Kevin Willard is bringing in 10 new players (seven transfers, three freshmen). UConn is bringing in seven new players (three via transfer portal, plus Indiana Mr. Basketball Braylon Mullins). So, what's the key to retaining players? The answer appears to be developing a program where players put the team before themselves. He said it: What Thad Matta said about Butler's additions via transfer portal, recruiting Bizjak and McComb, the longest tenured Bulldogs on the roster, speak about returning to "The Butler Way," holding each other accountable and rebuilding a winning culture. It takes time to build a solid foundation and with summer workouts beginning Monday, the Dawgs are hoping to establish a new standard. "We made a list of things that we want to enforce every day, that way we can really accomplish what we set out to accomplish and that's win a Big East championship and make it back to the (NCAA) tournament," McComb said. "There's a lot of little, tiny details that we believe we add to creating a culture that we may have lost over the last couple years as a program. We have the right pieces in place and the right guys here. We're all on the same agenda — team over self — to get that done. I think it's going to go a long way for us because we can already see those improvements, even after Day 1." Marquette coach Shaka Smart has built a culture of winning where freshmen are willing to sacrifice for the greater good of the program. Under Matta, Butler has not. Relying on freshmen is extremely risky. Butler has already been burned once, with Colt Langdon coming in, redshirting and leaving before ever playing a game. Finding freshmen willing to wait patiently for their time to play is likely another relic from the past. Cardinal's willingness to redshirt makes him one of the rare exceptions. McComb stayed for two years as a walk-on before getting rewarded with a scholarship. Can Butler find playing time for its four other highly rated freshmen? Are Butler's freshmen the type of players content with not receiving steady rotation minutes early in the season? As blasphemous as it sounds, Butler has to find a way to be more like Marquette and it starts on the recruiting trail. "To me fit is still vitally important," Matta said. "How I do things at Butler, how Butler University operates is still very, very important. We're trying to find guys who have an edge, we want to work, who love the game of basketball. Then we've got to do the best we can do to make them better." Tracking the player movement in the Big East can make your head spin, but there are three plans of action taking place. Marquette is the only school taking an old-school approach of bringing in freshmen and developing them over the course of their careers. The Golden Eagles did not add a single player through the transfer portal this offseason. Others are trying to rebuild rapidly by bringing in experienced transfers. Other schools, like Butler, are taking the hardest route, trying to thread the needle by bringing in experienced players and freshmen simultaneously and letting the rotation work itself over the course of the season. Of the schools also bringing in a significant number of freshmen, none make for a good comparison with Butler. UConn recruits from a different pool than Butler. Its freshmen like five-stars Mullins and Liam McNeeley before him, are expected to come in and be immediate impact players.
