Monthly Archives: January 2018

UIW point guard says he’s out for the season

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Visiting Lamar rolled to a 90-69 victory Wednesday night at Incarnate Word, but it couldn’t stop this play as forward Charles Brown III dishes to teammate Simi Socks for the basket.

Incarnate Word point guard Jalin Hart said Wednesday night that he is academically ineligible to play basketball for the remainder of the season after falling short of the required credit hours in the classroom last fall.

Incarnate Word coach Ken Burmeister (left) and point guard Jalin Hart pose together after a practice in November.

UIW coach Ken Burmeister said he couldn’t comment on why Hart has not played in the last four games, noting, “You’ll have to talk to Jalin.”

In the wake of Lamar’s 90-69 Southland Conference victory over UIW at the Convocation Center, Hart expressed regret about the situation.

He said it hurts coming to the games knowing that he can’t suit up.

Signs of trouble for the former Houston area prep standout first came to light on Jan. 6.

He said that he expected to be sidelined for two weeks, “taking care of some business” related to his academics.

At the time, he expressed confidence that he would be able to resolve the situation and re-join the team.

Since then, circumstances have changed.

Speaking after the Lamar-UIW game on the UIW campus, Hart ruled out the possibility that he could return.

He explained that he initially looked into the possibility of taking a class in between the fall and spring semesters at SMU in Dallas.

But he discovered that it couldn’t be paid for by his UIW scholarship.

“I was supposed to take a class in Dallas, but I couldn’t afford it, so that makes me ineligible for the rest of the year,” Hart said. “It hurts me to see my teammates. I know they need me. But, that’s what happens.”

Hart said he plans to continue to attend school at UIW and hopes to graduate by December.

UIW senior guard Sam Burmeister said “it’s a tough loss” for the team.

“But we have a philosophy that the next man steps up,” said Burmeister, the coach’s son. “We have Cody Graham. He’s a freshman, and he’s stepped up pretty good so far. I hope he will continue to do that.

“That’s all we can do. We can’t dwell on it. We have to keep moving forward and think positive.”

With a powerful inside presence, Lamar (11-8, 3-3) shot 54.3 percent in the first half and 49.2 percent for the game in a run-away road victory.

UIW (5-11, 0-6) trailed by 13 at intermission and pulled to within 10 twice in the first five minutes of the second half.

But Lamar, with forwards Colton Weisbrod and Josh Nzeakor dominating down low, never allowed the home team to get any closer.

Weisbrod finished with 26 points and nine rebounds. Nzeakor registered a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Guard Nick Garth hit four threes en route to 25 points off the bench for Lamar, which broke a three-game losing streak.

For UIW, forward Charles Brown III scored 26 on 9 of 15 shooting. Freshman guard Keaton Hervey poured in career-high 20 off the bench.

Starting at point guard for the fourth straight game, Graham registered six points, three rebounds and three assists for the Cardinals.

UIW plays at New Orleans on Saturday night.


Lamar forward Josh Nzeakor makes a quick move for a dunk in the first half.

Texas A&M ends skid by defeating Ole Miss, 71-69

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When a three-point shot left the hand of Ole Miss guard Breein Tyree, it looked good.

It looked good on the way up, and on the way down, and then something strange happened.

Texas A&M finally caught a break.

Tyree’s jumper from 28 feet circled the rim and came out at the buzzer Tuesday night as A&M broke a five-game losing streak, holding on for a 71-69 victory at Reed Arena.

“It went in and out,” Texas A&M center Tyler Davis told the SEC Network. “Thanks to God, it (came) out.”

Davis and Robert Williams combined for 38 points and 21 rebounds as A&M (12-6, 1-5 in the SEC) won for the first time since beating Buffalo at home on Dec. 21.

Bruce Stevens contributed 20 points and nine rebounds for Ole Miss (10-8, 3-3).

Back before Christmas, in the wake of the victory over Buffalo, A&M had won 11 of its first 12 and had climbed to No. 5 in the Associated Press Top 25.

Since then, misfortune shadowed the Aggies through losses to Alabama, Florida, LSU, Kentucky and Tennessee.

Losses to LSU and Kentucky were by one point each, so the victory over Ole Miss felt good.

The Aggies played extremely well in the first half, shooting 61 percent while surging into a 45-37 lead at intermission.

Not to be deterred, the Rebels rallied with their hustle in the first portion of the second half, coming back and over-taking the Aggies.

Ole Miss came from behind to assume four-point leads three times, the last time at 58-54 with 7:15 remaining on a Stevens jumper in the key.

From there, Williams and Davis took over.

Williams, in particular, was brilliant down the stretch with four dunks and a couple of blocked shots.

In the end, it was Davis with a hustle play for the game-winning point.

He spun inside, missed, rebounded the shot and followed it in with 23 seconds to play.

Ole Miss missed two three-pointers in the final nine seconds.

The first was by Terence Davis out of the corner, but the Rebels maintained possession when the rebound went out of bounds off the Aggies.

On the last play, Ole Miss guard Deandre Burnett faced up from the top of the three-point circle, but he was guarded too closely for a shot attempt.

Burnett elected to pitch it back to Tyree, who was open on a longer jumper that rimmed out to give A&M its first victory of the season in a game decided by three points or less.

“I was praying that it would bounce out,” A&M coach Billy Kennedy said in comments posted to the athletic department website. “God blessed us with a good bounce, the right bounce. That’s how good this league is.

“Every game is going to come down to making free throws and tough plays at the end.”

The Aggies were 0-3 in those games up until Tuesday night.

A&M players expressed relief to get the first SEC victory of the season.

“It is a blessing honestly,” Williams said. “I have been praying on it a lot. I feel like we are getting our team back and starting to get it back to where it needs to be.

“We just have to slow it down on the turnovers.”

A&M welcomed back guard Duane Wilson, who hurt his knee in the SEC opener at Alabama.

It was the first time that the Aggies, hit by suspensions, injuries and illnesses, had been able to play with all the players they had hoped to use coming into conference play.

Even with everyone healthy for A&M, Ole Miss nearly pulled it out at the end.

“I did not necessarily want three, but I felt as if for us it was probably such a defensive factor,” Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said. “I thought our guys did a good job of executing and making the extra pass.

“We had a guy with a clean look and unfortunately for us it just didn’t go in.”

Kansas erases 16-point deficit, downs West Virginia

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Trailing by 16 points twice in the first half, the 10th-ranked Kansas Jayhawks started to play with a resolve.

Some might argue that they started to beat the No. 6 West Virginia Mountaineers at their own game.

Kansas came all the way back Monday with a strong defensive effort and timely shooting from Sky Mykhailiuk and Devonte’ Graham to take down West Virginia, 71-66.

As a result, the Jayhawks (15-3, 5-1) assumed sole possession of first place in the Big 12, all while breaking a three-game road losing streak to West Virginia (15-3, 4-2) in Morgantown.

A big play came with less than eight minutes left, with Kansas still down by 10. Graham went to the basket to score, drawing a fourth foul on West Virginia’s best player, Jevon Carter.

As Carter went to the bench, Graham made the free throw to cut the Mountaineers’ lead to seven.

By the time West Virginia was able to get Carter back onto the floor three minutes later, Kansas had the momentum and soon took the lead.

“I feel like when he’s in the game, their offense flow way better,” Graham told ESPN. ‘He create and make plays for others. He’s just an offensive threat. Without him in in the game, they really struggled, and we kind of made a run.”

In the end, Mykhailiuk and Graham carried the Jayhawks down the stretch, combining for 26 points in the second half, when Kansas outscored West Virginia 43-25.

Defensively, Kansas held West Virginia to 10 for 28 percent and 1 for 13 on threes after intermission.

On Saturday, both teams get back into action, with the Jayhawks hosting the Baylor Bears, while West Virginia hosts Texas.

Oklahoma moves up to fourth in AP Top 25

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The Oklahoma Sooners have climbed to No. 4 in the Associated Press Top 25 for college basketball, according to the poll announced on Monday.

Led by freshman point guard Trae Young, the Sooners moved up from ninth after posting home victories last week over nationally-ranked Texas Tech and TCU.

In a 75-65 victory over Texas Tech, Young bounced back from a slow start with 22 of his 27 points in the second half.

He scored 43 as OU knocked off TCU, 102-97, in overtime.

The Sooners play twice on the road this week, Tuesday at Kansas State and Saturday at Oklahoma State.

Oklahoma hosts defending Big 12 champion Kansas on Jan. 23.

Currently, OU shares first place in the conference standings with Texas Tech, West Virginia and Kansas, all at 4-1.

In the latest AP poll, Villanova remained No. 1, followed by second-ranked Virgina and No. 3 Purdue.

1 Villanova (16-1) Big East
2 Virginia (16-1) ACC
3 Purdue (17-2) Big Ten
4 Oklahoma (14-2) Big 12
5 Duke (15-2) ACC
6 West Virginia (15-2) Big 12
7 Wichita State (15-2) American
8 Texas Tech (15-2) Big 12
9 Michigan State (16-3) Big Ten
10 Kansas (14-3) Big 12
11 Xavier (16-3) Big East
12 Cincinnati (15-2) American
13 Gonzaga (16-3) West Coast
14 Arizona (14-4) Pac 12
15 North Carolina (14-4) ACC
16 Arizona State (14-3) Pac 12
17 Auburn (16-1) SEC
18 Kentucky (14-3) SEC
19 Seton Hall (15-3) Big East
20 Clemson (15-2) ACC
21 Tennessee (12-4) SEC
22 Ohio State (15-4) Big Ten
23 Michigan (15-4) Big Ten
24 TCU (13-4) Big 12
25 Miami (13-3) ACC

Leissner averaging 19.6 points for New Hampshire

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Tanner Leissner says it’s been a ‘fun journey’ during his career at the University of New Hampshire.

Leissner, a senior from Judson High School, has been stepping up the fun lately, averaging 19.6 points and 8.2 rebounds for the Wildcats of the America East Conference.

In the latest AEC statistics, the 6-foot-7, 230-pound Leissner ranks second in the conference in scoring and third in rebounding.

New Hampshire has struggled at 6-11 overall this season but has posted a 2-1 record in conference leading into Monday’s game at UMass-Lowell.

UIW loses seventh straight as SFA rolls, 83-63

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Guard Kevon Harris scored 19 points as the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks handed the University of the Incarnate Word its seventh straight loss, 83-63, Saturday night in Nacogdoches.

The losing streak is the longest for UIW since it joined the Southland Conference in 2013 and started its move up to NCAA Division I.

Last-place UIW (5-10, 0-5 SLC) outscored SFA 8-0 in the opening minutes before the home team started to click.

By halftime, the Lumberjacks (15-3, 4-1) built an 11-point lead at 42-31. But the Cardinals never got closer than seven the rest of the way.

Guard Shawn Johnson led UIW with 11 points and eight rebounds. Forward Charles Brown III and guard Cody Graham added 10 points each.

The Cardinals host slumping Lamar on Wednesday night in an effort to get into the win column in SLC play.

Lamar (10-8, 2-3) has lost three straight.

UTSA coach Steve Henson: ‘We’re searching’

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Senior guard Gerdarius Troutman hits a three with nine seconds left to give Florida Atlantic the lead.

UTSA coach Steve Henson admitted Saturday afternoon that his team is searching for an answer in the wake of a 73-69 home loss to Florida Atlantic.

The Roadrunners have lost three in a row and four of their last five.

“We’re just not playing right,” the coach said. “We’re not playing well enough, not together enough. Not tough enough, the things that we’re always talking about.

“Not playing hard enough on the defensive end of the floor, and the ball’s not moving the way it was earlier in the year.

“We’re searching. We’re searching, and we got to figure it out fast because it doesn’t get any easier from here.”

Florida Alantic (8-9, 2-3 in Conference USA) beat UTSA at the end with a low-post offensive attack led by 7-foot center Ronald Delph.

With the game tied 61-61, the Roadrunners (9-10, 2-4) couldn’t stop Delph in the paint as he scored seven points in a key stretch.

Delph hit three free throws and two shots in close to give the Owls a 68-66 advantage with 1:33 remaining.

From there, UTSA regained the lead by one when freshman Jhivvan Jackson buried a three from the corner.

But in the final seconds, the Owls went up 71-69 when Gerdarius Troutman knocked down a wide-open trey from the wing, off an assist from Anthony Adger.

With time running out, UTSA point guard Giovanni De Nicolao turned it over on the dribble trying to take it to the basket, forcing the Roadrunners to foul.

Troutman hit two free throws with three seconds left for the final points. He led the Owls with 19 for the game.

Three other FAU players finished in double figures, including Delph (15), Justin Massey (14) and Jailyn Ingram (13).


UTSA sophomore forward Byron Frohnen works his way inside for a layup off a miss by George Willborn III.

What has happened to the UTSA offense?

In two games at home this week, the Roadrunners finished with sub-40 percent shooting from the field.

Against Florida Atlantic, the Roadrunners went cold in the second half with 32.1 percent shooting, finishing at 37.1 for the game.

Freshman guard Keaton Wallace and junior forward Deon Lyle, two mainstays of the Roadrunners’ attack, were off the mark against Florida Atlantic.

The two combined for 2 of 14 from the field.

After starting the season with three weekly honors as C-USA Freshman of the Week, Wallace has fallen into an extended slump.

The 6-foot-3 lefty hit 2 of 10 against the Owls to make him 16 of 60 over his last six games.

Freshman Jhivvan Jackson played one of his better games of the year in defeat.

He scored 28 points. Jackson knocked down 8 of 15 from the field, 4 of 8 from three and 8 of 9 from the line.

UTSA leads Florida Atlantic 36-33 at intermission Saturday afternoon.

The Roadrunners rallied at the end of the half by hitting five of their last seven shots.

UTSA’s last bucket was emblematic of how hard it had to work to get a shot against FAU’s defense.

Moving without the ball, Jhivvan Jackson (see No. 2 in the video above) finally gets an open look and buries it.

Guard George Willborn III is leading UTSA with 11 points at the break.

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Jackson didn’t allow adversity to affect his focus

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UTSA freshmen Jhivvan Jackson drives for two against Florida International

For nearly a week after Hurricane Maria pounded Jhivvan Jackson’s native Puerto Rico, he may have been one of the most stressed-out freshmen in the UTSA athletic department, if not on the entire campus.

Jhivvan Jackson (left) and his grandfather, veteran coach Flor Melendez

The first month of the fall semester in September is hectic for anyone in college. But for Jackson, a basketball prodigy who grew up in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, it was nerve-wracking.

Back at home where he once spent carefree days shooting hoops on his grandfather’s backyard court, members of his family – including his mother and an older brother – did their best to hunker down and weather the Category 5 storm that hit the island on Sept. 20.

For five days after 150-mph wind and rain strafed the island, Jackson tried unsuccessfully to find out what had happened. Over and over again, he’d call and leave a message on voice mail.

“I couldn’t get through for about a week,” Jackson said, “because there was no (phone) service. I just believed. I just knew everything was going to be good.”

Finally, on the fifth day, his phone buzzed with the good news he was praying for. His mother was calling to tell him that everyone was OK.

“It just relieved all the stress I had,” Jackson said. “It was stressful.”

All of which makes Jackson’s ensuing rise in stature as one of the top freshmen in the nation this season all the more remarkable.

As UTSA prepares to play a 2 p.m. home game today against Florida Atlantic, Jackson has emerged as the seventh leading freshman scorer in NCAA Division I.

Only the likes of Trae Young at Oklahoma, Marvin Bagley III of Duke and Collin Sexton of Alabama rank ahead of Jackson, who leads the Roadrunners with 18.4 points per game.

A proud grandfather’s support

Veteran Puerto Rico basketball coach Flor Melendez, who is Jackson’s proud grandfather, said it isn’t a surprise to him that his grandson could set aside the family’s storm-related concerns to focus on school and basketball.

“It’s not a surprise for me,” Melendez said after a recent practice at the Convocation Center. “Jhivvan start to play at six years old. Practice. Practice. Six, seven, eight years old. Every day, working hard. Shot. Shot. Ball handling. Behind my house, on the court, I see him. Shot. Shot.”

Jackson’s grandfather has a long track record of success in the sport.

According to an online bio confirmed through the FIBA communications office, he played for the Puerto Rican national team in the 1968 Olympics.

Later, after a pro career, Melendez started coaching in the late 1970s and coached national teams for Puerto Rico, Argentina and Panama, along with pro teams in Spain and Venezuela.

In Spain, in the late 1980s, he said he coached former Spurs great George Gervin for TDK Manresa.

In 2004, Melendez served as an assistant coach for the Puerto Rican team that defeated the Tim Duncan-led U.S. squad at the Athens Olympics.

Jackson knows him more on a personal level, as the man who put up the basketball court behind his Bayamon home.

It became a haven where Jackson and his older brother, Jalen, would play for hours on end as kids.

Later, both brothers moved to the Dallas area to live with their father, Leroy Jackson, a Panamanian who played in the early 1990s at Oregon State.

Signing with UTSA

Jhivvan Jackson, a 6-foot combo guard, enjoyed a standout four-year career at Euless Trinity High School through 2017.

After a single recruiting visit, he signed with UTSA coach Steve Henson in early signing period at the start of his senior season.

“He just said he knew it’s where he wanted to be,” said his mother, Yanira Melendez.

By the next summer, Jackson reported to summer workouts at UTSA., ready to go to work.

Now, about halfway through his first season with the Roadrunners, he has notched two 30-point games and six others in the 20s, all while shooting 42.6 percent from the field and 36.7 percent from three-point range.

Henson said he is surprised with his young combo-guard’s efficiency.

“Big scorers (from high school) usually come in and struggle with their percentages,” Henson said. “They find a way to get it in the hole. But it takes more shots to do it. With Jhivvan, he’s hanging in there at a very high level.”

Jackson, who plays off the bench, said he didn’t know he was the No. 7 freshman scorer in the NCAA.

“It really just comes down to how much my teammates and my coaches trust me with the ball and give me the right to make plays” he said. “They trust me to do that.

“That’s really what I’m doing. Trying to win as many games as possible for this team. Just, making the right play and making everyone better.”

UTSA has lost two in a row, including a 79-76 setback at home Thursday night against Florida International.

Jackson likely won’t let it get him down for too long.

Weathering the storm

After all, he comes from a basketball family that knows how to fight through adversity.

Last fall, his brother and his grandfather braved the hurricane in Bayamon by wading into thigh-deep water in front of the house to unclog debris from the sewer drains in the road.

“They both had to be tied together with ropes so that the current wouldn’t get ‘em,” Jackson said. “The current (in the water), the wind, it was bad.”

How did they know to take such action?

“Just years of experience,” Jackson said, matter of factly. “There’s a lot of hurricanes that come through Puerto Rico.”

Only recently has electrical power been restored at his grandfather’s home after one of the most intense storms in history.

“In the center of the island, they probably won’t get power for six months,” Jackson said. “Maybe a year. It’s crazy.”

Asked if the delay in service makes him mad, he said it does.

“Of course, but you always got to believe in the man on top,” the UTSA freshman said. “(God), he got us. He looking over us. All we can do is pray and hope things get better. That’s how things are now.

“Things are getting better in Puerto Rico, and I’m happy for that. People are starting to get power, most people.”


Jhivvan Jackson hits a step-back three against FIU

Florida International hangs on to beat UTSA, 79-76

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UTSA sophomore guard George Willborn III fires up the home crowd down the stretch with a tomahawk dunk.

Trailing by a dozen points with 12:10 remaining Thursday night, the UTSA Roadrunners finally started to show some spunk against the Florida International Panthers.

They started pushing the pace. Attacking the basket. Putting some pressure on the visiting team.

Unfortunately for UTSA, it was not enough.

The Panthers held off the fast-closing Roadrunners 79-76 before 1,218 fans at the Convocation Center.

“We had some opportunities to win,” UTSA guard George Willborn III said. “(But) … we can’t wait until the last minute of the game to try to get things going.”

With the victory, FIU improved to 8-9 on the season and 2-2 in Conference USA. UTSA, in losing its second straight, fell to 9-9 and 2-3.


FIU’s Eric Lockett drives to the bucket early in the second half.

The Panthers’ backcourt dominated the game.

Point guard Brian Beard produced 20 points, eight assists and four rebounds. Trejon Jacob had 16 points and Eric Lockett 15.

When Jacob and Lockett weren’t hitting long three-pointers, they were dominating on the glass. The two combined for 15 rebounds.

For the most part, FIU held UTSA’s top scorers in check. At the half, Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace were a combined 1-for-11 from the field.

Jackson got going in the second half, finishing with a team-high 22 points. But Wallace struggled throughout, shooting 0-for-7 from the floor and 0-4 on three-pointers.

Willborn, making his first start, finished with 15 points, 7 rebounds, a steal and a block.


UTSA forward Byron Frohnen gets to the hoop in the first half.

Florida International led, 47-37, at intermission on the strength of its long-distance accuracy.

FIU hit seven three-point shots, including three by Jacob.

UTSA, meanwhile, couldn’t get its offense out of neutral.

The Roadrunners shot 38.7 percent from the field and turned it over six times in falling behind by double digits at the break.

Coming up

UTSA hosts Florida Atlantic at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Texas battles to beat TCU 99-98 in double overtime

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Playing on emotion for a cancer-stricken teammate, the Texas Longhorns claimed a 99-98 victory in double overtime Wednesday night against 16th-ranked TCU.

“We all had one mind-set — win this for Andrew Jones,” Texas guard Matt Coleman told the UT radio broadcast in Austin. “Unfortunate news what he has. It’s sad. I know he wants to be out here with us.

“So, we just had one mind-set, win this for Andrew.”

Jones, a sophomore from Irving MacArthur, is hospitalized with leukemia.

The diagnosis was released by the family through the UT athletic department earlier in the day.

Texas coach Shaka Smart said it’s been a difficult few days for the Longhorns.

“After we talked to the team yesterday about Andrew, they were really, really upset,” Smart said. “(I was) just trying to help the guys understand what we could do over the next 24 hours.

“I said, ‘Well, no one should have a bigger ‘why’ than you guys when you take the floor.’ ”

Trailing by two points with less than a minute remaining in the second OT, the Longhorns retaliated when Coleman drove for a layup to tie it, 98-98.

On the other end, TCU’s Desmond Bane missed a jumper with 13 seconds left.

After the Longhorns rebounded for possession, TCU forward Kenrich Williams fouled Jericho Sims.

Sims stepped to the line and hit the first of two free throws for the game’s final point.

TCU’s Jaylen Fisher missed a driving layup with a second left.

Guard Eric Davis scored 22 points off the bench to lead the Longhorns.

Both forward Dylan Osetkowski (20 points, 6 rebounds) and Coleman (17 points, 12 assists) played 49 minutes.

For TCU, forward Kenrich Williams hit 7 three-pointers en route to a game-high 26 points.

Horned Frogs forward Vladimir Brodziansky added 19 points, including a bucket at the end of regulation and at the end of the first overtime to extend the game.