Sports: U of M, Pistons Lose

College Basketball

The Michigan Wolverines lost to No. 12 Villanova 60-55 in the final the Legends Classic at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn.  JayVaughn Pinkston had the go-ahead basket and game-saving block in the final minute for Villanova.  Pinkston put the Wildcats gave the 56-55 lead with a spin for separation and an easy one-handed bucket with 13.4 seconds left. Pinkston then had a clean stuff on Zak Irvin's dunk attempt off an inbounds pass with 5 seconds left.  Caris LeVert had 16 points for Michigan and put the Wolverines up 55-54 and flexed his muscles in the direction of Villanova players.

Michigan State plays Rider tomorrow night for the Orlando Classic in Kissimmee Florida. Broadcast time is 5:30 on WBCK.  The Spartans play again in Orlando on Sunday.

The WMU Broncos play Long Beach State on Thursday night in the Wooden Legacy Tournament.

The KCC Women’s basketball team lost to the Albion College JV squad, 76-50, as KCC drops to 1-4.

Detroit Pistons

The Pistons lost to the Bucks 98-86 last night at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.   Former Piston Brandon Knight had 20 points and eight assists to lead the Bucks.  Detroit (3-11) has lost five in a row and eight of nine.  Detroit guard Brandon Jennings missed his first game of the season because of a hyper-extended left thumb, injured in the Atlanta game on Friday.  Andre Drummond had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Pistons, and Greg Monroe added 15 points and eight boards. Drummond was averaging 8.7 points coming into the night, but shot 11 of 15 from the floor.

Red Wings
The Red Wings host the Philadelphia Flyers tonight.  Defenseman Brendan Smith is eligible to be activated from the seven day injured reserve list today, but he probably not skate against the Flyers.  Smith had surgery last week to clean out an infected wound on his hand after he cut it during a fight in a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Center Pavel Datsyuk practiced yesterday but is still listed as day-to-day with a groin injury.

Lions

The Lions host the Bears on Thanksgiving.  The Detroit Lions have released tight end Kellen Davis.  The Lions also announced Tuesday that they have signed guard Rodney Austin from the practice squad.  Detroit center Dominic Raiola says he hasn't been fined by the NFL for his cut block during a kneel-down at the end of the Lions' loss to New England on Sunday.  Raiola says he didn't intentionally try to hurt anybody or try to do anything out of the ordinary, and he "would have gotten a FedEx letter" if he had. Raiola spoke with reporters Tuesday but tried to keep the focus on Thursday's game against Chicago.  Broadcast time is 11:30 on WBCK.

College Football

Western Michigan hosts Northern Illinois this Friday morning at 11.  It’s Military Appreciation Day.   I’ve got 2 tickets to the game at 441-9595.  (Need to pick them up today by noon or make arrangements by phone). WMU is 8-3 overall and 6-1 in the MAC.   The Broncos are tied with 9-2 Northern Illinois) and Toledo atop the MAC West Division standings, so it’s a must-win game for both teams.  Each pair of tickets has a free day-pass to Sam’s Club and a buy-one-get-one-free hotdog at Waldo Stadium good for Friday only.

The Michigan Wolverines face off against the Ohio State Buckeyes on the road on Saturday.  Hear it at 11am on Mix 104.9 WBXX.

Michigan State visits Penn State on Saturday.  Hear the game at 2pm on WBCK.

Football Rankings

There is no change at the top of the latest College Football Playoff Rankings.

Alabama, Oregon, Florida State and Mississippi State remain ranked the nation's top four teams.

TCU is still at five, followed by Ohio State, Baylor, UCLA, Georgia and Michigan State jumps back into the top ten after a three-week absence.

NABF Meeting Sunday

The SMABA, the sponsoring body for the NABF World Series held in Battle Creek will meet Sunday November 30th at the Battle Creek Parks & Recreation building (Full Blast) at 11:30am. The meeting will discuss the proposed contract to host the 2015 NABF World Series August 5-9 at Bailey Park. The meeting will vote on accepting or declining the contract, all SMABA members are encourage to attend and the meeting is open to the public.

CMU Players Reprimanded

The Mid-American Conference has reprimanded four Central Michigan football players who refused to shake hands with Western Michigan players during the coin toss.  MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher says it was a violation of the conference's sportsmanship policy. He says a handshake may be a simple gesture but it symbolizes the "ethics and traditions of the game."  Titus Davis, Justin Cherocci, Andy Phillips and Leterrius Walton refused to shake hands with Western Michigan captains Saturday. They later apologized and acknowledged it was "disrespectful."  Central Michigan coach Dan Enos says the four have been removed as captains. Athletic director Dave Heeke also apologized to the Broncos, who won the game, 32-20.

Tigers Lose Carrera

Ezequiel Carrera has decided to become a free agent after the Detroit Tigers assigned him outright to Triple-A Toledo.  The speedy 27 year old Carrera hit .261 in 45 games for Detroit in 2014, and hit .307 for the year in Toledo.   But the Tigers recently traded for center fielder Anthony Gose and didn't think they had a need Carrera.   Carrera has hit .253 in 176 major league games with Detroit, Cleveland and Philadelphia.

Athlete of the Week

It was another fantastic season for the St. Phillip Tigers volleyball team, state champs once again.  One of the leaders is this week's Meijer Athlete of the Week, senior setter Emily Schaub.  The Tigers' captain had 32 assists and 15 digs in their four-set victory over the Leland Comets at Kellogg Arena on Saturday. It was a solid performance following 29 assists in St. Philip's three-set sweep over Waterford Our Lady on Friday afternoon. Schaub is a 4 year varsity player, helping the Tigers win state crowns each year. She has worked very hard as a team leader this year, and played incredibly hard in the state finals.

Go on line today to nominate our WBCK/Meijer Athlete of the Week!   We want to salute local kids who are working hard both on and off the field, and it’s easy to nominate someone you think is deserving of an award.  The winner will get mentioned on WBCK and at wbckfm.com and also get a trophy from Recognition Inc. in Battle Creek. We’ll announce a new WBCK/Meijer Athlete of the Week each Wednesday.