UNI coach Greg McDermott hopes Wednesday’s win over 24th ranked Creighton is a sign of things to come. The Panthers canned a UNI-Dome record 12 three pointers in an 82-73 win over the Blue Jays and now stand 3-2 in the Valley and 8-5 overall. He says they feel is they play the way they’re supposed to play, they can beat anybody they play. McDermott says any good team thinks that way.Freshman Brooks McKowen is having an impact with 24-points against Creighton, including seven three pointers. He says McKowen is a winner and he saw that the first time he ever watched him play. McKowen feels he is adjusting to the college game and starting to feel more comfortable with the team.The Panther’s host Drake Saturday night. The Bulldogs are 7-6 overall after Wednesday’s victory over Illinois State. Coach Tom Davis says visiting the UNI-Dome will be a difficult chore, as the Panthers have proven they can play with anybody.
Iowa State takes unbeaten conference mark on the road
Iowa State takes a 2-0 mark on the road to play Colorado in Big 12 action. The Cyclones have dropped six of their last seven games in Boulder and coach Wayne Morgan says there are several factors involved in winning on the road.Morgan says it’s mostly about ability and then being able to compete and execute. Morgan has been happy with the start but realizes the conference season has just begun.
Grinnell looks to stay unbeaten
The Grinnell College men look to stay unbeaten tonight when they host Ripon in Midwest Conference play. The Pioneers are 10-0, their best start in 40-years, but coach Dave Arsenault says the players don’t talk about it much. He says he’s not sure the kids are as conscious about history as everyone else, but he says they seem to be aware they’re doing something special. Arsenault says the team gets more confident with each game. He says they have people doing things they don’t even know they’re capable of doing.Grinnell hosts St. Norbert tomorrow night in what Arsenault says will be a tough weekend, with the first back-to-back conference games. Grinnell is averaging 136 points per game.
Simpson and B-V meet in key cage match
Two of the top teams in the Iowa Conference women’s basketball race collide tonight as Simpson hosts Buena Vista. Simpson leads the conference race with a mark of 4-0, B-V is one of three teams with one loss at 4-1. These are the top two scoring teams in the league but Simpson coach Brian Niemuth says both teams have also played good defense.Niemuth says they still have not discovered a way to shut down Buena Vista’s Amy Meggers, who leads the conference in scoring at just under 23-points per game.Niemuth says they will take a team approach to defense as opposed to focusing on Meggers, alone.
Sioux City Bishop moves to Texas
The leader of the Sioux City Catholic Diocese is leaving town. The Bishop Daniel Dinardo is leaving the Sioux City Diocese to work as an assistant to the Bishop of the Galveston and House Diocese in Texas. The Galveston-Houston Diocese has over one-million Catholics — ten times the number in Sioux City. A panel of priests in Sioux City will select a priest to serve as an administrator until the Pope appoints a new Bishop. A timetable hasn’t been set for appointing a new Bishop.
Man jailed for claiming to be a cop
A man jailed in Iowa City faces charges after his attempt to be a cop backfired. Police say 32-year-old Darrel Irvine was stopped early Thursday morning for going the wrong way.He went down a one-way street and when an officer approached, he presented a badge. It looked like a police officer’s badge, from Lincoln, Nebraska. After a check, however, the badge number turned out to be one that was not currently active. Iowa City police sergeant Brian Krei says the man’s current address is in Coralville but he used to live in Lincoln, and at one time was an officer on the Lincoln police force. Krei says he was a former police officer, but doesn’t currently work at any police department. Irvine will now face more charges in connection with the incident. Krei says there’s a charge of impersonating a police officer and another of OWI, drunk driving. Records show Irvine worked for the Lincoln police department from December 2001 to April 2002.
Magnet helps with tricky surgery
While you can use a magnet to stick notes to your refrigerator, magnets are also being used to enhance surgery at the University of Iowa. Two giant magnets, each weighing a thousand pounds, are being used to maneuver tiny metal-tipped tubes, or catheters, with great precision through the body. Dr. Brian Olshansky , director of electrophysiology at U-I Heart Care, was among the first to use the magnetic surgical system, which was developed in Iowa City.Dr. Olshansky took part in the first heart procedure using the technology last week “and it was amazing. We were able to get into the smallest nooks and crannies of blood vessels that we would’ve had an extremely hard time doing otherwise and we had no trouble.” He says the tip of catheter inside the heart has a small magnet, and the magnets outside the body are several thousand pounds and allow them to turn and twist the catheter. Magnetic medicine is still the subject of experimentation, but Dr. Olshansky says it will be revolutionary for its surgical applications. It’s proven successful in placing catheters in the heart. The next tests will be done on the lung. This is a first in Iowa while seven similar magnetic systems are now on-line in the U.S. and only 11 worldwide.
