Sports : Thursday, 2/9/17

Men’s College Basketball:

WIAC:

La Crosse 70, Oshkosh 60

Whitewater 56, Stevens Point 55

Eau Claire 83, Platteville 66

River Falls 92, Stout 51

Midwest Conference:

Ripon 82, Lawrence 44

Big Ten:

Minnesota 101, Iowa 89 (2OT)

Ohio State 70, Rutgers 64

Women’s College Basketball:

WIAC:

Oshkosh 71, La Crosse 64

Stevens Point 75, Whitewater 57

Eau Claire 72, Platteville 65

River Falls 72, Stout 63

Midwest Conference:

Ripon 83, Lawrence 30

NBA News:

Miami 106, Milwaukee 88

–Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 22 points, but the Bucks fell to the Heat in Milwaukee. Khris Middleton scored six points off the bench in his return to action after missing the first 50 games of the season with a ruptured hamstring. The bucks will host the LA Lakers on Friday night.  

Bucks forward Jabari Parker left Milwaukee’s game Wednesday night against the Miami Heat in the third quarter with a sprained left knee.

Parker was driving to the bucket from the left side of the lane, making minimal contact with a defender with his body before falling to the floor. His left knee did not make contact, and appeared to buckle on the drive with 6:34 left in the quarter. Parker hurt the same knee in December 2014, ending his rookie season after 25 games. The second overall pick in the 2014 draft was averaging a career-high 20.2 points. Parker will have an MRI on the knee today.

The Milwaukee Bucks will own and operate a developmental league team in Oshkosh this fall. The team and the NBA Developmental League announced the formation of the new team Wednesday afternoon. With the purchase, the Bucks become the 20th NBA team to own and operate an NBA D-League team, while the developmental league itself grows to 25 teams. As part of the deal, Fox Valley Pro Basketball will construct a 3,500 seat arena for the new team, to be located on the site of the former Buckstaff Furniture Company plant in Oshkosh. The Oshkosh Common Council recently approved plans for the arena, which will anchor the newly created “Sawdust district” in the city near Pioneer Drive Park and the shores of Lake Winnebago. The overall vision for the project includes a sports bar and a team store on site with future expansion possible.

The Green Bay Packers have released cornerback Sam Shields, who was never cleared from the concussion protocol after getting hurt in the season opener. A seven-year veteran, Shields joined the Packers as an undrafted free agent out of Miami in 2010. He played in 80 regular-season games, having entered the 2016 season as Green Bay’s top cornerback. Shields said he was released on Instagram on Tuesday morning. The Packers announced the move later in the day. Shields was three years into a four-year, $39 million deal signed in 2014.

Sports on the air tonight, boys high school basketball as Fond du Lac hosts Appleton West. Coverage starts just after 7, tipoff scheduled for 7:15. Following that, we will join Badger basketball in progress as the Badgers face Nebraska.