Sports: Billups Jersey #1 Retired by Pistons Tonight

The Pistons will retire Chauncey Billups' number one jersey during a halftime ceremony tonight at the Palace as they play the Denver Nuggets.  Billups joined the Pistons as a free agent in 2002 and spent eight-years in Detroit.

NBA

The Golden State Warriors are now 47-4 -- the best record after 51 games in NBA history.

The Clippers have suspended star forward Blake Griffin for four games without pay for punching a team staff member in Toronto last month. The $859,442 Griffin will lose will be donated to charity.

In the MAC

Western Michigan lost to Miami of Ohio, 45-44 last night at University Arena in Kalamazoo.  The Broncos fall to 9-15 and 3-8 in the Conference.  Down by seven with 3:48 to play, Western Michigan came back to tie it behind a Thomas Wilder 3-pointer, a Seth Dugan layup and two Wilder free throws.  WMU is at Bowling Green tonight.

Eastern Michigan beat Central Michigan 71-56.

KCC Basketball

The KCC Men’s and Women’s basketball teams head to Indiana today to play Ancilla College.

Big Ten Basketball

The #8 MSU Spartans lost an overtime game at Purdue, 82-81.  The Spartans were down by 18 in the second half, but came back and almost won it.  Denzel Valentine had 27 points for the Spartans.  He hit a key basket to tie it at 81 with just seconds left, but on the ensuing inbound pass, Valentine was called for a foul. Purdue took the lead on a foul shot.  They missed the second, but the Spartans couldn't control the rebound.  MSU’s Bryn Forbes, coming off a 29-point shooting exhibition in a win at Michigan, was 1-for-7 from three and scored seven points. Eron Harris was 1-for-8, including two missed dunks to go with one Valentine missed at the start of overtime. Tum Tum Nairn could miss another month or more for Michigan State. Nairn has now missed six games since being shut down Jan. 15 with a foot injury.  Tonight at 7, it’s the Tom Izzo Show on WBCK.  MSU hosts Indiana this Sunday ….Hear the game at 12 noon on WBCK.

High School Boys Basketball

Battle Creek Central 66, Portage Northern 54. Juan Warren had 16 with 10 rebounds.  Julieon Cooper had 12.

St. Philip 53, Colon 52. Ben Swagler with 15.

St. Joseph at Lakeview …cancelled due to weather.

Athens 66, Tekonsha 38

Bellevue 78, Hillsdale Will Carleton Academy 10.  Cam Shaw scored 14.

Niles 36, Gull Lake 29

Olivet 54, Quincy 50  Delbert Redfield with 19 points.

Marshall Academy 68, Battle Creek Academy 37.  Issac Mead had 31 points for the Griffons.

Delton 54, Maple Valley 44.  Cogan McCoy had 22 points.

Concord 92, Climax-Scotts 60.

Girls Basketball

Portage Northern 44, Battle Creek Central 42.

Lakeview at St. Joseph cancelled.

Pennfield 55, Eaton Rapids 50 in OT.  Jessica Roan had 18.

Bellevue 54, Hillsdale Will Carleton Academy 9.  Bailey Whitcomb with 18.

Athens 39, Springport 37.  Jillayne Wheeler had 12.

Factoryville Christian 31, Calhoun Christian 28.

Athens 39, Springport 37.

Delton Kellogg 35, Maple Valley 23.  Lindsey VanderVeen had 11.

Jonesville 46, Homer 44.

Gull Lake 55, Niles 43

Concord 72, Union City 24

Red Wings

The Red Wings host the Ottawa Senators tonight.

Newton-Press Conference

Panthers quarterback Cam Newton says he's a bad loser and isn't apologizing for his post-Super Bowl news conference.  The NFL MVP gave short one- and two-word answers and abruptly left his interview podium after a short period of taking questions.  While cleaning out his locker at the team facility, Newton told reporters, "Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser." He went on to say, he wouldn't conform to anyone else's standards.

NASCAR Changes

NASCAR has announced a dramatic overhaul of its business model, shifting to a franchise-like system that is intended to provide actual value and financial stability to team owners.  The change gets away from the independent contractor model that is dependent on sponsors which has been used since NASCAR's 1948 inception.  A total of 36 charters will be available to organizations that have fielded Sprint Cup cars in every race since 2013.  A charter guarantees revenue and a position in what will now be a 40-car Sprint Cup field, down from 43.  Every organization is allowed a maximum of four charters

Sports Star of the Week

Our WBCK/Lassen Automotive High School Sports Stars of the Week is Jacob Brubaker.   Jacob just scored his thousandth point at Marshall, the first basketball player to do it in 10 years.  The senior guard scored 29 points Monday night in the win over Homer for the Redhawks’ 11th straight win. Brubaker is averaging 24 points a game and just short of seven rebounds a night. He was able to reach the milestone in the middle of his third year on varsity.

Jacob will be a finalist to win a $600 scholarship from Lassen Automotive.  At the end of the school year, we’ll have a drawing from our Sports Stars of the Week at their showroom on Columbia Avenue.   If you know of somebody, or have some pictures to share, go to wbckfm.com and send ‘em our way.

Tigers

There are only 8 Days until pitchers and catchers report to Lakeland. (Wed)

The Associated Press (AP) and Michigan Radio Network contributed to this report.