The Drake men’s basketball team went cold late and came up short against Miami 63-56 in the opening round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament on Friday in Albany, NY.

The Bulldogs led 30-25 at halftime as both teams struggled to get into offensive rhythm early. Sardaar Calhoun had 12 points and 6 rebounds off the bench in the opening half for Drake.

Miami grabbed the lead back to start the second half 36-34 but the Bulldogs went on a 10-1 run to go up 44-37 with 12:27 to play. Miami answered back with a 7-0 spurt of their own. Drake still held a six point lead with 6:31 to play but the Bulldogs went cold. Their final field goal came with 5:40 remaining and Miami closed the game on a 16-1 run to win the game.

Nijel Pack finished with 21 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals to lead Miami. The Hurricanes improved to 26-7 on the year and move on to the second round.

Senior center Darnell Brodie had a season-high 20 points and pulled down 9 rebounds to lead Drake. Calhound finished with 12 points off the bench and Roman Penn had 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists.

Drake ends the season at 27-8, the most wins in a single season in Bulldog history.

TULSA, Okla. – University of Iowa senior Real Woods advanced to the NCAA finals at 141 pounds and the Hawkeyes crowned three more All-Americans, going 6-for-6 on the consolation side of the bracket, on Friday night at the NCAA Championships at the BOK Center.

Woods was on Nebraska’s fourth-seeded Brock Hardy from the opening whistle, notching a takedown in the first 20 seconds then added a four-point near fall to take a 6-1 lead after one. In the third, the New Mexico native iced the win with a takedown and a two-point near fall en route to the major.

“It is another step in accomplishing a dream that I set out since I was a little kid,” said Woods, who improves to 20-0 this season. “I like to score points and getting that done immediately is right on theme with what I’d like to do in my ideal match.  I get out there and get right to it.”

Woods advances to the NCAA final for the first time in his career and he extends Iowa’s streak of having an NCAA finalist to 33 consecutive tournaments. Iowa has had at least one wrestler in the NCAA finals in every year since 1990 and in 47 of the last 48 tournaments dating back to 1975.

Woods will face Northern Colorado’s Andrew Alirez in Saturday’s final.  Woods is 1-0 all-time against the Bear grappler, winning 5-4 during the Southern Scuffle in 2021 while competing for Stanford.

In the first semifinal of the evening, top-ranked Spencer Lee was upset by Purdue’s fourth-seeded Matt Ramos, ending his bid for a fourth NCAA title.  Ramos had a takedown and two-point near fall in the first, taking a 4-1 lead before Lee tilted Ramos for four points in the second, grabbing a 5-4 lead.

Ramos picked neutral in the third and Lee got a takedown (that was given via replay), pushing his lead to 7-4.  Ramos escaped with less than a minute remaining and he took Lee feet to back before completing a fall in 6:59.

“He has a good support; his family is with him,” said Brands. “The cliché and easy thing to say is he has to move on, but it’s hard. This is really hard, but you still have to move on.  As easy as it is to say, that is the next step… it seems cruel to say that.  The next step is to take the next step.”

Iowa also dropped a semifinal matchup at 285 when fourth-seeded Tony Cassioppi lost by a 16-1 technical fall to Michigan’s top-seeded Mason Parris at the 5:12 mark.  Cassioppi falls to the consolation side of the bracket where he can wrestle back to finish as high as third.

The Hawkeyes picked it up on the backside of the bracket, going 6-for-6 in the Blood Round and consolation quarterfinals with Max Murin (149), Nelson Brands (174) and Jacob Warner (197) winning to secure All-America honors.  All three wrestlers can finish no lower than sixth place on Saturday morning.

Murin went 2-0 during the session to secure his first career podium finish.  He won a 3-2 decision over Michigan’s Chance Lamer in the Round of 16 matchup before following with a 3-1 decision over Minnesota’s Michael Blockhus in sudden victory.

Brands went 2-0 at 174 to clinch his first career All-America nod.  In the blood round, Brands won a 4-1 decision over Illinois’ Edmond Ruth and he followed with a 6-1 decision over Mizzou’s seventh-seeded Peyton Mocco.  The Iowa City, Iowa, native will finish in the top six after being seeded 11th.

Warner – seeded 14th — gutted out wins in both of his matches to secure his third career top six finish (and fifth All-America nod).  He used a second-period escape and battled on his feet in the third to win a 1-0 decision over Nebraska’s Silas Allred – the Big Ten champion – in the blood round.  He followed with a 4-2 win over Cornell’s Jacob Cardenas in the consolation quarterfinals.

Penn State is leading the team race with 116.5 points.  Iowa is second in the standings with 77 points followed by Cornell (64) and Ohio State (62).

UP NEXT

Session V will take place Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m. (CT).  The session will consist of the consolation semifinals and placement matches for third, fifth and seventh place.

TULSA, Okla. – Iowa State’s David Carr punched his ticket to the 165-pound national finals with a 6-5 victory over Princeton’s Quincy Monday Friday night inside the BOK Center. Marcus Coleman became a two-time All-American with a 2-0 record during the session.

Iowa State sits in eighth place as a team after day two with 44.0 points.

Just over 40 years after their fathers, Nate Carr and Kenny Monday, wrestled for a national title in Oklahoma City, their sons, David and Quincy, wrote the next chapter of the family rivalry in Tulsa.

Carr fell into an early 4-0 deficit Friday evening after Monday got a takedown and a quick tilt for two near fall points. The Cyclone responded with a reversal and eventually ended the first period trailing 5-2.

The Canton, Ohio native went down to begin the second and, after a quick escape, secured a match-tying takedown with 1:08 remaining in the second period. Carr put on a ride for the ages, riding out Monday for the final 3:08 of the match to earn the riding time point and a 6-5 victory.

Coleman secured his second consecutive All-America honor with a narrow 4-3 win over Michigan’s Matt Finesilver in the blood round. The Ames native then, after falling into a 6-0 deficit, pinned Clarion’s Will Feldkamp in 2:43 to advance to the consolation semifinals.

Zach Redding, Casey Swiderski and Sam Schuyler all fell one win shy of the podium.

Redding never managed to get to his offense as he fell, 12-0, to Minnesota’s Aaron Nagao. Swiderski and Purdue’s Parker Filius were knotted 2-2 in the third period when Swiderski was whipped to his back and pinned.

Schuyler suffered a heartbreaker in sudden victory, 3-1, after giving up a takedown on the edge of the mat to Wisconsin’s Trent Hillger.

Up Next
Marcus Coleman is back in action Saturday morning for Session V of the NCAA Championships at 10 a.m. on ESPNU.

Finals are set for 6 p.m. on ESPN.

The Iowa women’s basketball team cruised into the second round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament on Friday with a 95-43 win over SE Louisiana at a sold out Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

National Player of the Year candidate Caitlin Clark led the Hawks with 26 points, 12 assists, and 7 rebounds. Monika Czinano added 22 points and 8 rebounds as Iowa notched their second-most points in program history for an NCAA Tournament game. Iowa improved to 16-1 at home on the season and are now 27-6 overall.

UP NEXT

2-Seed Iowa will host 10-Seed Georgia in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. Tipoff will be at 2 p.m. and we’ll have coverage on KJAN with pregame starting at 1:45 p.m.

Iowa State fell behind 22-2 at the outset and never recovered in a 59-41 loss to Pitt in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Greensboro. The Cyclones’ futility on offense was mind boggling. They made only 14 of 60 shots, including two of 21 from three point range and only topped the 40 point mark during garbage time.

That’s ISU coach T.J. Otzelberger who talked about the slow start.

Iowa State closes the season with a record of 19-14.