Missouri

Kim English isn't going to kick the NBA's door off its hinges. He'll have to gently open it up, even if the door creaks a little bit along the way. "I think he's a kid that will be great in a role where he has a year or two to learn under a veteran in the twilight of their career," said Ryan Hurd, English's coach at Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass. "He'll run with that. With Kim, you'll find a guy that would take advantage of the opportunity. " English, a Missouri product and Baltimore native, is preparing for June 28th's NBA draft after capping a four-year college career with a strong senior season.

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Coppin State held on for dear life in the final hectic minutes last night against a rallying Missouri basketball team and walked off the court with a 78-70 upset victory that left 13,300 Tigers fans in disbelief.The Coppin win ended an 0-for-16 losing streak by the Baltimore school against Big 12 teams and sent the Eagles players dancing toward their locker room in delight.Senior guard Antoine Brockington, who emerged in last year's NCAA tournament, was once again the hero for Coppin, as he scored a game-high 31 points, with five rebounds and three assists.

ST. LOUIS - A constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage was headed for approval yesterday in Missouri, the nation's first such election since same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts earlier this year. The amendment had garnered 73 percent of the vote with 2,328 of 3,992 precincts reporting. Voters in at least nine other states - and perhaps as many as 12 - are expected to consider similar amendments this fall, so advocates on both sides of the debate were intensely watching Missouri's results, anxious about what they might say about voters elsewhere in the weeks ahead.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The trudge upward continues for Missouri, the team that thought it had arrived, found it hadn't, started over and now has a shot at the school's first Final Four appearance. The 12th-seeded Tigers defeated No. 8 seed UCLA, 82-73, in a West Regional semifinal game last night at Compaq Center. Clarence Gilbert scored 23 points and Kareem Rush scored 20 for Missouri (24-11), which hit 10 three-pointers to move into the Elite Eight for only the third time in the program's history and the first time since 1994.

Several columns ago, I wrote about the 160th anniversary of the foundering of the HMS Birkenhead off the West African coast that established the maritime tradition of "women and children first" when it comes time to evacuate a stricken vessel. My good friend, Helen Delich Bentley, the former congresswoman and former federal maritime commissioner, wrote in a letter to the editor of The Baltimore Sun that I had overlooked one of the most dramatic Atlantic sea rescues of all time, when the Missouri, out of Baltimore, rescued all passengers and crew from the steamer Danmark in 1889.

SOUTH Indiana 74 Duke 73 Kent State 78 Pittsburgh (OT) 73 WEST Oklahoma 88 Arizona 67 Missouri 82 UCLA 73

UCLA (31-2)Opponent .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..ScoreFlorida International .. .. .. .. .92-56Missouri .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .75-74Mississippi State .. .. .. .. .. ..86-67Connecticut .. .. .. .. .. .. ....102-96Oklahoma State .. .. .. .. .. .. ..74-61Arkansas .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..89-78

Illinois vs. Missouri 8:30 p.m. [ESPN] This is pretty big for an opening college football weekend. No. 6 Mizzou, led by quarterback Chase Daniel, can entertain notions of landing in the national title game. But not if the Tigers stumble against the No. 20 Illini in the Arch Rivalry at St. Louis' Edward Jones Dome. Last season, Missouri just got by Illinois, 40-34, as the Illini nearly rallied from 24 points down.