Northwest Missouri basketball stays unbeaten, advances to NCAA Division II title game

The Northwest Missouri State basketball team keeps piling up the victories.

The latest win puts the Bearcats in the biggest game of the season, one for a national championship.

Northwest Missouri rolled past Saint Anselm (N.H.) 76-53 in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II tournament in Evansville, Ind., on Thursday night.

That puts the Bearcats at 37-0 on the season. The next one is the one that matters most.

Northwest Missouri will face the winner of Thursday night’s other semifinal between Southern Indiana and Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.).

The championship game is set for 2 p.m. Saturday and will air on CBS.

Northwest Missouri was in a battle in the first half against Saint Anselm, and the Bearcats had a 31-29 lead at the break.

But the second half was all Northwest Missouri, as the Bearcats dominated and outscored Saint Anselm 45-24.

Trevor Hudgins made 12 of 24 shots from the field — including 3 of 9 three-point shots and led the Bearcats with a game-high 27 points. Hudgins also brought the defense and finished with six steals.

Ryan Hawkins had 14 points with 14 rebounds, four blocks and three steals of his own for top-seeded Northwest Missouri.

Saint Anselm, seeded No. 5 after the final-eight re-seeding, finished its season 26-6.

Drury women beat in semis

In the women’s NCAA Division II tournament, Drury lost its first game of the season on Wednesday night: The top-seeded Panthers fell to Lubbock Christian 69-60 in the semifinals in Columbus, Ohio. Drury finished the season 35-1.

This story was originally published March 28, 2019 at 8:15 PM.