J O I N U S O N L I N E S T L T O D A Y. C O M / S P O R T S
SATURDAY • 11.17.2018 • B
THE MUSIAL AWARDS
Sports stories that stir the soul
BEN FREDERICKSON St. Louis Post-Dispatch
< Jean Dolores Schmidt, better known as Sister Jean, will share a stage with Ozzie Smith. AP photo
BLUES FIND THE NET Four goals and solid play by Allen add up to a victory
It’s embarrassing to admit the moment faded from memory. On the sideline of an NCAA Tournament game in 2014, players for a winning Tennessee basketball team turned a handshake line into a procession of hugs. One by one, Volunteers wrapped their arms around Iowa coach Fran McCaffery. Slowly, the stiff coach loosened. He began hugging back. That same morning, doctors had removed a malignant tumor from the thyroid of McCaffery’s 13-yearold son. The coach had hustled from an Iowa hospital to an Ohio arena. Patrick McCaffery would go on to beat his cancer diagnosis. Dad had no way of knowing that then. Cuonzo Martin, the Missouri coach who was then at Tennessee, made sure his Volunteers understood. The cancer survivor could relate. His players hatched a plan. The fiery McCaffery has often gone viral for his outbursts. But this line of spontaneous hugs between a coach and the players who had just See FREDERICKSON • Page B7
Billikens hit road seeking some cohesion Tougher opponents awaiting SLU in NY
JOHANNA HUCKEBA • Post-Dispatch
St. Louis U. coach Travis Ford reacts to a play during Tuesday night’s game against North Alabama at Chaifetz Arena. ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS
Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury defends against Blues center Oskar Sundqvist during the first period Friday night.
BLUES KNIGHTS
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UP NEXT > 9:30 p.m. Saturday at Sharks, FSM INSIDE > Blues get Schenn back — but at right wing instead of center. B8
In each of Travis Ford’s three seasons at St. Louis University, the Billikens have taken at least one extended trip, encompassing multiple games and including plenty of bonding opportunities. The team might never have needed such a trip more than now. The Billikens left two days before their first road game Saturday night at Seton Hall and won’t return until Thanksgiving eve, after facing Pittsburgh at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. In between they’ll see a play, wander Manhattan and search for answers.
BY TOM TIMMERMANN St. Louis Post-Dispatch
LAS VEGAS • For a team in search of scoring, all hands are welcome. So even if Brayden Schenn didn’t figure in the scoring, just having him around was going to be a net gain for a team that had two goals total in the two previous games. “Obviously the last couple of games, we’re not scoring a lot of goals,” Blues coach Mike Yeo said Friday morning. “Schenner brings a lot of things to the table but he finds a way night in and night out to generate offense, to create scoring opportunities.” Schenn had a hand in only one of the Blues’ goals, scoring his first goal in almost a month, but the Blues were able to unlock their stagnant offense in ways both likely and unlikely. Of course, there was Ryan O’Reilly scoring twice for his second multigoal game in 10 days, but there was also Oskar Sundqvist, who owns Vegas like he’s in See BLUES • Page B8
BY STU DURANDO St. Louis Post-Dispatch
See SLU • Page B6 NEWS > No charges filed in SLU Title IX case. A4
Blues center Tyler Bozak (21) and goaltender Jake Allen have their hands full with Golden Knights right winger Pierre-Edouard Bellemare during the second period.
SLU UP NEXT > 7 p.m. Saturday at Seton Hall, FS2 MIZZOU BASKETBALL > Tigers get scare but beat Kennesaw St. B6
Something to talk about now at MU After getting the silent treatment, Mizzou offensive linemen surge BY DAVE MATTER St. Louis Post-Dispatch
DAVID CARSON • dcarson@post-dispatch.com
Paul Adams (third from left) and other Missouri offensive linemen block for quarterback Drew Lock in the Tigers’ season opener.
After a 39-10 loss last month at Alabama, Missouri offensive line coach Brad Davis took a unique approach with the players under his watch. He stopped talking to them. For a whole week. “He still coached us,” center Trystan Colon-Castillo
said this week. “But outside of football he was pretty mad at us. We got the silent treatment.” As the Tigers practiced and held meetings the next week for their game against Memphis, Davis kept the chatter to a minimum with his linemen. He’d just watched his line give up four sacks to the Crimson Tide. The Tigers
produced only 2.3 yards per carry from their top two running backs. Granted, Alabama’s defense has spent the last decade demoralizing the Southeastern Conference’s best offenses, but Davis and Mizzou coaches expected more from their veteran offensive line.
UP NEXT > 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Tennessee, KMOV (4) INSIDE > Five questions for Mizzou, SEC preview, B4
See MIZZOU • Page B4
SPORTS
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