Latest Mid-America sports
CARDINALS MOVES
St. Louis signs Schafer, Fryer, Lino to contracts
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Cardinals have signed veteran Jordan Schafer and catchers Eric Fryer and Gabriel Lino to minor league contracts that include invitations to spring training.
Schafer spent parts of six seasons playing in the outfield for the Braves, Astros and Twins before making the transition to pitcher. The left-hander went 1-1 with a 3.83 ERA in 40 appearances for the Dodgers organization last season, rising from their Arizona Summer League affiliate to Triple-A.
Fryer appeared in a career high 60 games with St. Louis and Pittsburgh last season, while Lino had made 464 minor league appearances.
St. Louis has also signed left-hander Daniel Schlereth, a former first-round pick of the Diamondbacks, and infielder Dickie Joe Thorn. Both with report to minor league camp for spring training.
NEVADA-MARSHALL-MWC PLAYER
Nevada’s Marshall is MWC player of week; 32 points, beat UW
RENO, Nev. (AP) — Nevada’s Marcus Marshall has been named the Mountain West Conference basketball player of the week after scoring a season-high 32 points, including the game-winner with 0.2 seconds remaining, to knock off Washington 87-85.
The senior guard from Saint Paul, Minnesota added four rebounds and three assists, and scored nine of Nevada’s final 11 points to help defeat the Pac 12 team in Seattle Sunday night.
Marshall sat out last season after transferring from Missouri State. He hit 11 of 24 shots from the field Sunday, including three 3-pointers, and made all seven of his free-throw attempts. He’s averaging 20.4 points per game on the season.
His teammate, sophomore forward Jordan Caroline, claimed last week’s league honor.
The 8-2 Wolf Pack are off to their best start since finishing 29-5 in 2006-07. They host UC Irvine Wednesday night.
UMKC-HARRISON DISMISSED
UMKC dismisses senior guard Harrison for rules violations
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri-Kansas City has dismissed senior guard Martez Harrison, the Roos’ second-leading scorer, after an investigation into his behavior by the school’s Title IX office.
Roos coach Kareem Richardson did not say in a statement Monday what prompted the investigation, but he did say “Martez failed to meet the expectations we have for student-athletes in our program.”
Harrison had been suspended since late-November.
The 5-foot-11 guard from Kansas City averaged 16.5 points through the Roos’ first six games, and was already among the program’s career scoring leaders. He finishes his UMKC career with 1,654 points.
SOC-SPORTING KC-NAGAMURA
MLS veteran Paulo Nagamura announces his retirement
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Sporting Kansas City midfielder Paulo Nagamura is retiring from professional soccer and will join the club’s developmental team as an assistant coach for next season.
The 33-year-old Nagamura spent 12 years in Major League Soccer, winning two MLS Cup championships and three U.S. Open Cup titles. He started 240 of the 269 games he played in MLS with 15 goals and 21 assists.
Nagamura spent the past five seasons with Sporting KC, scoring seven goals in 119 appearances. The Brazilian also played for the Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas USA and Toronto FC.
Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes said Nagamura will be a valuable addition to the Swope Park Rangers’ coaching staff, which will be led by new coach Nikola Popovic next season.
T25-COLLEGE BKB POLL
Villanova, top 11 remain the same in AP men’s hoops poll
UNDATED (AP) – Villanova remains on top of The Associated Press college basketball poll while Southern Cal makes its first appearance this season. Florida State returned to the rankings.
The Wildcats (10-0) received 56 first-place votes Monday from the 65-member national media panel to stay No. 1 for a second straight week.
The top 11 teams remained the same from last week, with UCLA (10-0) second with three first-place votes.
Florida dropped out from 21st after losing to Duke and Florida State. Iowa State, which was 25th, lost to Iowa last week and also dropped out of the rankings. The Cyclones had been ranked for 61 consecutive polls, the third-longest active streak behind Kansas (148) and Arizona (84).
Kansas was third followed by Baylor (8-0), which got the other six first-place votes, Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, Gonzaga, Indiana, Creighton and Louisville.
