MSU Moorhead falls in D-II men's basketball Elite Eight

Bellarmine University kept making its shots in beating Minnesota State Moorhead 92-75 on Wednesday night in the NCAA Division II men's basketball Elite Eight in Evansville, Ind.

The Knights (31-3) shot 60.7 percent and led by six at halftime. The No. 4 Dragons (35-4) fell further behind in the second half, when they scored only 32 points.

Jack Thelen had a game-high 26 points for Bellarmine, a school in Louisville.

Four players scored in the low teens for MSU Moorhead, led by Aaron Lien and Tyler Vaughan with 13 points apiece. Both teams took 61 shots, but the Dragons only made 47.5 percent of theirs.

Former Minnesota Duluth football player Nate Bauer, 26, a member of two NCAA Division II national championship teams, died on Monday in an automobile accident.

Bauer, who graduated in 2012, was a running back for the Bulldogs.

Since last year, he had been a physical education teacher in Menomonie, Wis., his hometown.

• Amanda Zahui B., the Gophers' 6-5 sophomore center, was named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's All-Region 6 team for the second consecutive year, making her a candidate for the WBCA's All-America team, which will be announced April 4.

• Two swimmers and four divers will compete for the Gophers in the NCAA men's swimming and diving championships opening Thursday in Iowa City. Minnesota placed 22nd a year ago.

• The Gophers' baseball home opener with Augsburg on Wednesday was not played because of weather and field conditions; a makeup date was not set.

• The Gophers softball team (27-4) moved up three spots to No. 12 in this week's ESPN.com/USA Softball rankings. Minnesota is on a program-record 13-game winning streak.